pre-war riley

Sealed Tight – Fuel/Oil Tank of the 1905 Riley 9HP Refurbished

The tank for the 1905 Riley 9HP has been completely refurbished and tested prior to it being painted and reinstalled by Bridge Classic Cars.

Although the original tank was in fairly good condition, it did require a full refurbishment. Old school lead soldering and modern TIG welding in the same piece cause their own unique problems which had to be overcome during the refurbishment.

The tank is actually segregated to hold both petrol and oil in the same unit, so it has to be completely sealed.

The refurbished tank does feature the original brass fittings.

Updated – Lamps for the 1905 Riley 9HP Updated and Refinished

The lamps from the 1905 Riley 9HP have arrived back at the workshop of the Bridge Classic Cars Suffolk HQ and they look absolutely phenomenal. And, they’re hiding a small surprise.

Along with the lamps being sent off to a specialist to be entirely refurbished and reconditioned, we have taken the decision to have them upgraded to run much newer electric bulbs inside of the classic shells. This upgrade will be a welcome one for if the car is ever used in the darker hours of the day and also for the safety of the car instead of the use of paraffin or other gasses/fuels used to light and run the original lamps over 110 years ago.

With the shells, the finish on the refurbishment is truly incredible. It’s such a joy to see what these would have potentially looked like at the turn of the last century as this Riley left the production workshop.

A Rare Find – Finding the Original Radiator for our 1905 Riley 9hp

Sometimes there is such a thing as fate. Thanks to the incredible work of Hilary Mackay at Beech Auctions, one of the most important pieces of the puzzle for the 1905 Riley 9hp is back on its way to rejoining the car.

During a house clearance, Hilary came across an old radiator tucked away. Thanks to her exceptional knowledge of vintage and antique objects, she identified it to be pre-1920s. With the Riley mark on the radiator shell, she looked online to see about pre-1920s Riley’s and came across our project. Seeing as how there are only 3 9hp’s left in existence, it was deduced that this could in fact be our missing radiator.

With that, Bridge Classic Cars had to get hold of it.

Now with it on its way to our Pettistree Workshop, we cannot thank Hilary enough for her help and tracking us down to let us know this rare find and even rarer opportunity.