As well as the exterior of the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS being transformed in the body and paint shop, Lydia’s been getting pieces from the engine bay in a better state for re-painting. This piece was sandblasted to get
Tamas and Lydia have been tidying up the 1973 MG B GT V8 in various ways. It’s not in for a full restoration so a sympathetic touch was required. There was fraying carpet in places and where it had come
The 1998 Honda Integra went into the paint bay at the end of last week. The body shell and bonnet have been primed and the doors and boot panel have been coated in the final coat of new white paint.
Lydia has been taking the flaking paint off the engine block for the 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4. It’s going to get re-painted, so a smooth surface is required. The block was cleaned several times first to get grease and
We’ve found that the paint was flaking off the steering rack of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, so it was taken into the paint shop. There, Lydia blasted as much paint off as she could with an air gun and
Lydia has been helping Matt with the headlights for the 1978 Lancia Beta. After the paint was found to be flaking off them, they were taken into the paint shop, where Matt removed the existing paint completely and then primed
Matt has been sanding and polishing the lacquer of the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 3 body shell after it got painted last week. This process will give the car its final finish.
Lydia has been continuing her prep work again for the 1998 Honda Integra Type R. This time around she’s been sanding down the primer on the various panel pieces for the wing mirrors and the fuel cap. They were all
Matt’s been continuing his transformation work on the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3. The outside of the body has now been painted Fern Grey to match the inside! There are photos and a small write-up of the inside and the
Just a quick update here to show photos of the 1973 Jaguar E-type Roadster Series 3’s hood frame that’s recently been painted by Chris in the paint shop.
After Scott’s repair work on the offside sill of the blaze orange 1979 MG Midget, the car has since been taken into the paint shop where it had the sills re-painted and the underneath was sealed. This car was a
Chris and Lydia have been continuing their work on the 1998 Honda Integra Type R in the paint shop. As before, Chris has been spraying primer onto various panels from the car, including the front and rear bumpers, the sills,
Chris has been re-painting the engine for the 1973 purple MG B GT V8. He painted the engine in sections, masking up along the way with tape.
Our classic 1982 Porsche 911SC has just had its final colour applied in the paint booth and is looking fantastically shiny and fresh! We’re looking forward to seeing the final details such as the bumpers and whale tail painted and
Our talented paint shop colour matched, masked up, primed and painted our 1993 Mini Rover side panels before it was sent back to Ted at Team C Racing (Formerly known as Anglian Mini Centre).
The Daytona entered the Paint Bay today under the trusted hands of Scott, one of our classic car technicians. We’re very fortunate that so many of our engineers are multifaceted in their skills, allowing us to, at times, dedicate one
Step by step, our Peony red 1960 541S Jensen gets closer to actually being Peony Red. We’ve been referring to it with its colour but its been nothing more than various shades of white or metal for quite a while.
Our TR5 has been colour matched today by our friend and partner, Dean, from GB Refinish.
Great to see the 1967 Austin Mini 850 we worked on making progress back at Electric Classic Cars! Here they show the gear shifter going through forward, neutral and reverse gears in the Tesla powered mini The Mini came in
Our lovely 1994 Range Rover TDI is almost finished with its new paint spray. Its recently been masked up and prepped for paint with a base coat and a clear coat applied. Tomorrow it will receive some final shoots in
Our Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541S is getting closer and closer to evolving into a beautiful Peony Red classic. Before it can be painted, our workshop technicians Paul and Scott are assembling and fitting the parts before its sent back
Our 1994 Range Rover TDI has had all its dents repaired, corrosion sanded out and treated. Its also been masked up and sprayed with filler primer over the weekend. It now has satin black door frames and bumpers as well.
It’s another Meet The Team Monday! This Monday we’re pleased to introduce our Paint Shop Manager, Darren! Darren started his career with cars in a similar way to many of our technicians did, by studying an apprenticeship, “I’ve always been
Our 1966 Reliant Scimitar was given a bumper refresh this week. After some minor damage to the rear bumper, Darren in our paint shop has been at work getting it sorted. “It’s a pretty unique bumper in a way” Darren
Paintwork continues on the 1963 Morris Minor 1000 as the doors and wings get some specialist paintwork treatment from our expert paint shop technician Chris. “I’ve got the car ready for epoxy and polyfan primer,” describes Chris. “Then the doors
In the Bridge Classic Cars Paint Shop, Chris has been working on our 1967 Jaguar E-Type. He’s done a superb job repainting the bonnet of this series one. Chris has also painted the newly reshaped light covers for the same
Another major stage in the restoration of our 1961 Mini has been hit. Darren has completed painting the body shell. After a polish it’s looking absolutely stunning in the sunlight. Our Mini has been painted in the original cherry red
The next job for Paul and Chris to tackle is the wing mirrors of our Nissan 300ZX. Paul removed the damaged wing mirrors from the vehicle and has passed them over to Chris in the Paint shop. Chris firstly prepared
This beautiful 1982 Porsche 911 has just left the paint shop after it’s repairs by Darren. The front nearside wing had a nasty scratch that needed addressing. The rear spoiler had suffered the effects of having slight moisture and also
We’ve been making great progress on our 1973 Triumph TR6 restoration. Within our in-house paint shop, Darren has been working hard on our Triumph TR6 body. Originally brown, Darren has taken the bodywork back to bare metal to ensure the
As well as the exterior of the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS being transformed in the body and paint shop, Lydia’s been getting pieces from the engine bay in a better state for re-painting. This piece was sandblasted to get the original paint and corrosion off in preparation.
Tamas and Lydia have been tidying up the 1973 MG B GT V8 in various ways. It’s not in for a full restoration so a sympathetic touch was required. There was fraying carpet in places and where it had come unstuck and screws had come out that were holding panels in place. Another thing was there were various painted pieces from the engine bay that had become corroded underneath the paint, so these were either sandblasted or ground down to remove the paint and corrosion, before re-painting.
The 1998 Honda Integra went into the paint bay at the end of last week. The body shell and bonnet have been primed and the doors and boot panel have been coated in the final coat of new white paint.
Lydia has been taking the flaking paint off the engine block for the 1963 Jaguar Mk II 3.4. It’s going to get re-painted, so a smooth surface is required. The block was cleaned several times first to get grease and dirt off. She used an air gun, to begin with, to blow off as much as possible, then a mini air sander for the worst bits that were on a flat surface, and sanded the curved flaking areas by hand. Once all the sanding was done, the engine block got blown again with an air gun to remove debris and then cleaned over a few times. Lydia finally masked up any areas that aren’t getting painted. It’s now ready to go in the spray booth!
We’ve found that the paint was flaking off the steering rack of the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona, so it was taken into the paint shop. There, Lydia blasted as much paint off as she could with an air gun and then took the rest off with a combination of a blade, a grinder attachment on a drill and thinners with a red scotch pad. The steering rack is now clean and masked up, ready to go in the spray booth.
Lydia has been helping Matt with the headlights for the 1978 Lancia Beta. After the paint was found to be flaking off them, they were taken into the paint shop, where Matt removed the existing paint completely and then primed them. Lydia then sanded down the primer to obtain a smooth finish for the final painting stage. They’re now all masked up again and ready for the spray booth!
Matt has been sanding and polishing the lacquer of the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 3 body shell after it got painted last week. This process will give the car its final finish.
Lydia has been continuing her prep work again for the 1998 Honda Integra Type R. This time around she’s been sanding down the primer on the various panel pieces for the wing mirrors and the fuel cap. They were all gone over with 500 grade gold soft pads, followed by grey scotch and then panel wipe to clean the sanding and paint dust off.
Matt’s been continuing his transformation work on the 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3. The outside of the body has now been painted Fern Grey to match the inside! There are photos and a small write-up of the inside and the newly painted front frame in yesterday’s blog post, which you can access by clicking here.
There are other parts that are now in the line-up to be painted, so watch this space!
Lydia has also continued sanding down the primer on parts for the E-Type. This time, the door hinges. They were gone over with 500-grade soft pads, grey scotch after and cleaned off with panel wipe.
Just a quick update here to show photos of the 1973 Jaguar E-type Roadster Series 3’s hood frame that’s recently been painted by Chris in the paint shop.
After Scott’s repair work on the offside sill of the blaze orange 1979 MG Midget, the car has since been taken into the paint shop where it had the sills re-painted and the underneath was sealed.
This car was a competition car, back on the 26th of July, and we’ll be delivering it to its rightful winner tomorrow!
Chris and Lydia have been continuing their work on the 1998 Honda Integra Type R in the paint shop.
As before, Chris has been spraying primer onto various panels from the car, including the front and rear bumpers, the sills, the registration plate panel, the spoiler and the wings.
Lydia has then been sanding down this primer, using either a block sander, DA sander or by hand. She covered each panel in black guide coat beforehand to help see how much sanding needed to be done. You can read about last week’s work on them here. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/more-stages-of-the-prep-work-for-the-honda-integra/
Chris has been re-painting the engine for the 1973 purple MG B GT V8.
He painted the engine in sections, masking up along the way with tape.
Our classic 1982 Porsche 911SC has just had its final colour applied in the paint booth and is looking fantastically shiny and fresh! We’re looking forward to seeing the final details such as the bumpers and whale tail painted and seeing the finished product.
Our talented paint shop colour matched, masked up, primed and painted our 1993 Mini Rover side panels before it was sent back to Ted at Team C Racing (Formerly known as Anglian Mini Centre).
The Daytona entered the Paint Bay today under the trusted hands of Scott, one of our classic car technicians. We’re very fortunate that so many of our engineers are multifaceted in their skills, allowing us to, at times, dedicate one technician to an entire restoration. We of course get our specialists involved in these instances, but its great to see an individual technician lead a restoration from start to finish. This is what we’ve done with Scott, who’s a very experienced and talented classic car engineer. Assigning him to just one restoration means that he will see the total project from start to finish, taking on multiple disciplines. Under the supervision of our paint specialist, Scott tackled the primer stage of painting our Daytona.
Here we see him focusing on masking up and cleaning the body of the car, wiping clean all the elements in the preparation of the primer.
The cleaning process is an important part of the primer preparation as it removes any dust or debris that may interrupt the primer.
The next step was for Scott to apply the black epoxy primer on the chassis and engine bay. This black layer is a non-porous, high-bonding, anti-corrosive primer.
Scott’s next task was to spray on Polyfan Primer which is a polyester filler primer.
The final step was to apply an anticorrosive primer onto the underside of the Daytona. These steps can take all day as each layer must dry before applying the next. The advantage of this is that the paint booth is kept warm, making a cosy workplace during these cold winter days.
If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know we love getting behind the scenes shots and behind the behind the scenes shots! Here’s Ellie, our in house photographer and latest member to the marketing team, snapping Scott prepping the Daytona.
Step by step, our Peony red 1960 541S Jensen gets closer to actually being Peony Red. We’ve been referring to it with its colour but its been nothing more than various shades of white or metal for quite a while. Soon, we’ll be able to honestly call it Peony Red.
Chris has been applying the guide coat onto the body and smoothing down all the surfaces, ready for it to be masked and painted.
The Jensen is now sat in primer and once dried, will be painted the infamous Peony Red.
“Colour is a power which directly influences the soul.” – Wassily Kandinsky
Our TR5 has been colour matched today by our friend and partner, Dean, from GB Refinish. Before Dean was able to assess the colour, one of our paint technicians had to polish part of the car so that the CME Colour Matcher can work its magic without picking up any dust, as that will affect its accuracy. We’re needing to add some paint touch-ups to the TR5 but didn’t know the exact colour as it was painted elsewhere but this is where Dean comes in!
Dean uses a nifty piece of equipment called the CME – Colour Explorer. This clever device used LED technology which asses the colour and creates unique codes for the surface that it has scanned. This scanning is done at several angles and when complete, Dean will then plug the device into his computer where it will provide the unique codes that will relate to an exact colour.
This is an incredibly useful tool when trying to colour match on classic cars that may have bespoke or ‘extinct’ colours that would otherwise be impossible to find. Dean’s expertise and equipment mean we can find the exact colour needed to ensure that each classic retains its original colour. Having Dean as a partner and contact at Bridge Classic Cars means we can provide specialist paint services.
Great to see the 1967 Austin Mini 850 we worked on making progress back at Electric Classic Cars! Here they show the gear shifter going through forward, neutral and reverse gears in the Tesla powered mini
The Mini came in earlier in the year needing bodywork restoration and a fresh lick of paint.
You can see its journey with us here.
Our lovely 1994 Range Rover TDI is almost finished with its new paint spray.
Its recently been masked up and prepped for paint with a base coat and a clear coat applied. Tomorrow it will receive some final shoots in time for its photoshoot!
Our Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541S is getting closer and closer to evolving into a beautiful Peony Red classic. Before it can be painted, our workshop technicians Paul and Scott are assembling and fitting the parts before its sent back to the Fabrication bay for it to be properly fitted.
Once the fabrication bay has finished with the body work, it’ll be placed in the capable hands of our paint shop pro, Darren, who will begin the paint and prep process.
Here’s a reminder of the colours we’ve chosen for our Peony Red Jensen. It’s going to be dual-toned, with a grey roof and peony red body. These are the colours requested by the client.
Our 1994 Range Rover TDI has had all its dents repaired, corrosion sanded out and treated. Its also been masked up and sprayed with filler primer over the weekend. It now has satin black door frames and bumpers as well. We’re looking forward to seeing its new form once painted!
The next stage was to sand the roof and doors before spraying a blue base over the body and then coat it in a clear lacquer.
Darren started his career with cars in a similar way to many of our technicians did, by studying an apprenticeship, “I’ve always been into vehicles since I was a teenager” Daren tells us.
Darren studied his apprenticeship at the formerly known Potters Ford dealership in Framlingham, Suffolk, and has kept it local ever since. Darren joined our team in January 2019.
During his time studying general mechanics, Darren was given the choice to specialise and took the option to focus on Strip Fitting. From there he progressed to working with the paintwork.
“I still prefer doing body and paintwork because you get to see the rewards at the end.”
As our Paint Shop Manager, it’s down to Darren to ensure that the paintwork on each of our cars is matched, made, and added, as well as overseeing all the work that goes on in our Paint Shop.
Fun fact: one of the most popular cars in Darren’s birth year was the Ferrari 1973 Berlinetta Boxer. When launched, it competed with the Lamborghini Countach to be the fastest supercar you could buy.
Our 1966 Reliant Scimitar was given a bumper refresh this week. After some minor damage to the rear bumper, Darren in our paint shop has been at work getting it sorted.
“It’s a pretty unique bumper in a way” Darren tells us. “As it’s fiberglass, but it’s painted to look chrome.”
Darren sorted out the small chips and scratches then blended the colour so the bumper looks as good as new!
Paintwork continues on the 1963 Morris Minor 1000 as the doors and wings get some specialist paintwork treatment from our expert paint shop technician Chris.
“I’ve got the car ready for epoxy and polyfan primer,” describes Chris. “Then the doors and wings in a high build primer to perfect the finish.”
The car’s paintwork will be finished very soon now, we’re looking forward to the next stage of the restoration where the project moves to the trim shop.
In the Bridge Classic Cars Paint Shop, Chris has been working on our 1967 Jaguar E-Type. He’s done a superb job repainting the bonnet of this series one.
Chris has also painted the newly reshaped light covers for the same black E-Type. Top work, Chris
Another major stage in the restoration of our 1961 Mini has been hit. Darren has completed painting the body shell. After a polish it’s looking absolutely stunning in the sunlight.
Our Mini has been painted in the original cherry red paint colour. This is a much stronger red than the more maroon tone of the Mini 30’s cherry red paint.
Smashing work, Darren. When paired with the cream wheels and details, this little mini will look incredible.
The next job for Paul and Chris to tackle is the wing mirrors of our Nissan 300ZX.
Paul removed the damaged wing mirrors from the vehicle and has passed them over to Chris in the Paint shop.
Chris firstly prepared the mirrors for paint, repairing the damage. He’s masked up the glass, rubbed them down, filled with filler, rubbed down filler and then applied primer.
Chris then gave the primed mirrors one more thorough rub down, ensuring the surface is perfect before paint.
He then applied the colour coat and top coat lacquer. Great work!
The mirrors will now head back to Paul to be installed into the vehicle.
This beautiful 1982 Porsche 911 has just left the paint shop after it’s repairs by Darren.
The front nearside wing had a nasty scratch that needed addressing. The rear spoiler had suffered the effects of having slight moisture and also needed repainting. Using our State-Of-The-Art paint matching system, Darren has been able to perfectly repaint the effected areas in the exact colour matched paint. The best compliment with repairs like this is not knowing any work was ever done. As always, a superb job from the Paint Shop.
This lovely vehicle is now in our Trim Shop for a roof-lining repair.
We’ve been making great progress on our 1973 Triumph TR6 restoration.
Within our in-house paint shop, Darren has been working hard on our Triumph TR6 body. Originally brown, Darren has taken the bodywork back to bare metal to ensure the stunning magenta paintwork on the TR6 is perfect. He started by repairing, sanding and priming the Triumph body, ensuring the surface is 100 percent smooth before going into the spray booth for colour. This wonderful magenta was an original factory option offered by Triumph on the TR6 and our customer has chosen this colour for his vehicle.
Mauro has been making great progress working on our TR6’s chassis. He’s fitted new coil springs, brake cylinder, front brake discs, front brake callipers, brake lines, front and rear hubs, rear drum brakes, bushes, ball joints and shock absorbers so far. We’ve also fitted our fully restored suspension arms and uprated bushes to improve ride quality.
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