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trim shop

Hood work begins.

August 26, 2021

Kath has been starting the work on the 1989 TVR S2 rear window replacement on the soft top. Yesterday she removed the hood from the

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Tatty back window.

August 25, 2021

The clear PVC back window is starting to de-laminate and coming away at places, so we’ve ordered a new piece as a replacement. Kath has

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TR5 Trim Continued

February 25, 2021

Kath and Brian have continued their work with the 1968 Triumph TR5 and are now tackling the rear quarter. Kath has added foam over the

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Workshop Walkaround

December 9, 2020

Grey Jensen gets furnished Our trim team has been fitting the rear centre section in place, cutting out sound deadening and glueing it to bodywork

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Tr6 fully covered

December 3, 2020

Our trim shop expert, Kath, has been busy making multiple covers for the magenta Triumph TR6. The hood and tonneau now have covers that have

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Another piece of the puzzle

September 3, 2021

Brian has been re-covering another piece from the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. This time, the glovebox.

He started the process by removing the original covers from the metal box that makes the glovebox. He then used these original pieces as patterns on the new fabric, headlining fabric for most with one piece of leather. The headlining fabric pieces were glued onto the inside of the glovebox first, with the back piece having board underneath the material to give it structure and stability. Once this was all glued into place, Brian put the leather piece onto board as well, before glueing it onto the metal. All the material was wrapped around the edges to give a neat finish. Another piece of the Bentley interior finished!

Porsche 911SC gets back into shape

September 2, 2021

The work on the 1982 Porsche 911SC is now complete.

The Porsche has been in the trim shop after coming into us at the end of last week, getting its original upholstery freshened up and put back in. When it came to us, the carpets weren’t in, the door cards weren’t attached correctly, the pockets for the doors weren’t attached at all, there were a few bits of carpet panel that were loose and the stitching on the steering wheel had come undone. Kath has been busy resurrecting all of these issues over the last couple of days. As you can see, as well as creating interiors from scratch, the trim shop team are also perfectly capable of putting original ones back into good shape if customers prefer to not have a complete overhaul. If this is something you would be interested in for your classic car, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Bentley’s black trim continues

September 1, 2021

Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. This time it’s been dash panels, the instrument cover, door cappings and various other panels. The process for all of them involved taking the original black leather off, followed by any foam that was on the panels, and then sanding off the old glue left behind on the wood and metal forms. Brian used the original leather pieces as patterns to mark out around on the new black leather. He replaced the original foam with new 3mm foam. The foam was glued on first and then the leather wrapped over it. Some of the panels, as you can see, just have leather covering them.

1982 Porsche 911 incoming!

August 31, 2021

This 1982 Porsche 911 has recently arrived. The list of jobs that need addressing is the following: the door-bins need fitting, the leather restraint straps on the rear seat need fixing, the upholstery needs reviving with some form of treatment, the passenger window needs fixing because it’s stuck, the steering wheel needs re-stitching, the under-dash panels need to be stuck back down and/or repaired, a battery cut-off switch needs to be put in and the battery is flat so needs to be put on charge.

The first stop will be the trim shop.

Finished TVR Hood and a General Tidy-Up.

August 31, 2021

Kath has now finished repairing the hood on the 1989 TVR SII 2.9 V6. In the last blog post, we heard about how she was removing the old PVC window out of the hood, because of it becoming delaminated and coming out of the seam at the corners. She used the original as a pattern to mark out around and cut out on a sheet of new clear PVC. Once cut out, Kath applied contact adhesive to the outside edge of the PVC and slotted it in between the layers of hood fabric at the seam edge and left it to dry. She could then sew down the same lines where the previous stitching was to fully secure the window into place. New leather strips were sewn onto the corners. The hood could then be glued to its frame. The vertical bars on the hood frame that is attached to the car had flaking black paint on them. So these were sanded down and then re-painted. The pieces that hold the hood in place at the front and where the front roof panels slot into it, had flaking paint on them too, so these got re-painted in the same manner. The hood could then be attached to the car again. Kath also reglued various pieces of fabric that were coming away around the inside of the TVR.

Having a tidy.

August 27, 2021

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.

Jensen Tool Tray!

August 26, 2021

This tool tray is from the Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541S. It hasn’t got any tools that were in it, so the customer is going to source those separately. Kath is going to shape a new piece of foam and cover it in black vinyl to match the dash. This piece of foam is the handle part, and the piece you see while sitting in the car. The tool tray sits underneath the dash, on the passenger side, and slots in like a draw into a metal frame.

Hood work begins.

August 26, 2021

Kath has been starting the work on the 1989 TVR S2 rear window replacement on the soft top. Yesterday she removed the hood from the roof frame. This involved taking out the metal plates that are on the front, and slot it into place when it’s up. The rubber seal was removed next, in order to start taking the fabric of the hood off the foam on the middle bar of the frame. Kath scraped the old glue off the foam. The removed hood was placed on a table and another bar was removed from it, before unpicking the old PVC window from the surrounding fabric. The old foam and glue that was left on the fabric was then scraped off. Tomorrow, Kath will be cutting out the new window from clear PVC and stitching into place, making sure to go through the same original stitch holes.

Tatty back window.

August 25, 2021

The clear PVC back window is starting to de-laminate and coming away at places, so we’ve ordered a new piece as a replacement. Kath has been removing the old one this morning in preparation.

Headlining finished for the 1990 BMW.

August 20, 2021

Brian has finished creating the new headlining for the 1990 BMW 750 iL. After taking the original fabric off the board and cleaning the board up, a grey nyylon brushed headlining foam was used to re-cover the board, which was similar to the original. Brian gradually glued the new fabric on, pressing into the curves and contours to get a neat finish, and trimmed away where any holes were for attachments and panels. After he had re-covered the board, Brian then set about rejuvenating the sun visor switch panel. Once that was done, the headlining board was put back into place in the car, along with the sun visor switch panel and all the panels and pieces that were taken out of the car to get the board out. Another job finished!

Carpet re-fresh continues for the DB 2/4.

August 19, 2021

Kath has been continuing her work on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4’s carpet. This time, she’s re-made the left-hand footwell carpet, right-hand boot side panel, right-hand rear floor, right-hand rear under-seat, right-hand rear corner, right-hand rear sill, rear quarter panel (which needs the wood in still) and rear scuttle panel.

Headlining work begins on the BMW.

August 19, 2021

Brian has been getting on with renewing the headlining in the 1990 BMW 750iL. He started off by removing all the panels and parts that went onto the headlining and were holding it in place. Once these were all taken off, the board with the headlining on could come out via the boot of the car. Brian could then start taking the original headlining fabric off the board.

Front squab fitting for the Lilac Jensen!

August 13, 2021

In the trim shop, Brian has been fitting the front squab seats of the 1960 Jensen 541R to their foams and frames. These seats were created and sewn by Lydia a little while back. You can read about the process here and here.

Brian started the fitting process by glueing and stapling the front squab “faces”/fronts to the frames, making sure the leather was nice and tight with no wrinkles. The staples went around the back of the wooden frame. The back of each seat was then attached with staples that went into the piping flange. 3mm plywood was cut out to the correct shape using a paper template for the bottom of each seat, this was wrapped in the white leather/glued onto the wood. This plywood was nailed onto the bottom of the seats with tacks and does the job of hiding the staples and raw edges of the leather.

Starting on the Aston Martin carpets!

August 13, 2021

Kath has been starting on the carpet for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4 this week.

The list of carpet pieces she’s made includes the front tunnel carpet, the rear under-seat carpets, the carpet that goes underneath the front of the gearbox, the top gearbox carpet, the gearbox tunnel carpets, the right-hand and left-hand foot well carpets, the carpet that goes around the throttle peddle, the rear foot well carpet and the rear boot-side panel carpet.

Each piece of carpet has got binding around some or all of the edges. This is made from the dark grey leather that was chosen, and is sewn on, right-side to right-side of the leather and carpet. It’s first stitched along the edge, and then the leather gets folded over to the under-side of the carpet and gets sewn again. The new carpet is grey to match the leather binding, whereas it was green and white carpet originally, with green binding.

Front bases now finished for the Aston!

August 6, 2021

Kath has been fitting the second front base seat cover to its foam and frame for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. It’s exactly the same process as the other front base, which you can read about here.

Another re-covering for the Bentley.

August 6, 2021

Brian has been re-covering these rear quarter backboards for the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. They came to us as bare wood, without the original leather on. Brian put some poly-flex filler on parts where it wasn’t flat and sanded this down. He then cut some 3mm foam out for the top part and glued this onto the wood. New leather was marked out and cut out to cover this foam and was glued below the foam and underneath at the sides.

Hand-sewn straps for the DB 2/4!

August 5, 2021

Another little update on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4 coming your way!

In the trim shop, Kath has been re-covering the door straps. She began the process by taking the original leather off one of them and using it as a pattern for both of them on the new leather. Once cut out, she sewed the new leather piece onto each one, by hand. The way that it was sewn couldn’t have been done by machine.

DB 2/4 seats coming along.

August 5, 2021

Kath has been doing more seat work for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. This time around she’s been fitting the front base seat covers onto their foams and frames. She’s already sewn up the new front bases, which you can read about here.

The process started with Kath adding sections of new foam to the original, where it had deteriorated, and blending it in. She then cleaned off old glue from the wood around the straps and re-painted it. She also tightened up the straps after becoming loose from age. Kath took the original strip of wood from the gap in the foam, cleaned it up and attached it to the end of the calico piece that was sewn into the new front base seat. This piece of wood gets attached to the underneath of the foam and straps frame and helps keep the middle piped section down into place. Kath glued a piece of black calico to the wooden frame, to give a neat finish behind the straps. The front base seat could then finally be stapled onto the wooden frame. After that was done, the metal seat sliders were fixed onto the underneath of the seat and the matching front squab was attached to it on top.

Kath is now in the process of fitting up the other front base, so stay tuned!

Dash tray work on the Aston.

August 4, 2021

Brian has been continuing the interior trim work for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4.

This time, he’s been working on a pair of dash trays and a pair of under dash panels. For the dash trays, Brian started the process by taking off the rubber lip that went around the hole, then took off the original fabric pieces. He cleaned off as much original glue from the metal frame of the under dash panels. He then lay out the new headlining fabric chosen for the car, and placed the original fabric pieces on top of it, using them as patterns. Once marked out around, Brian cut out the new fabric and the first piece to glue onto the metal was the centrepiece. Glue was applied to the back of the fabric and to the metal and then Brian slowly attached the fabric to it, after the glue had gone tacky, making neat cuts around the hole so the material sat nicely. The inside sides were also covered in headlining fabric. Brian then cut out grey leather for the outside of the under dash panels. These pieces were glued on, then the finishing touch was to place the rubber lip back on.

For the under dash panels, Brian simply took the original headlining fabric off them, sanded down the excess old glue, used the original fabric pieces as patterns on the new headlining fabric, cut out, and glued the new material onto them.

Progress on Aston Martin panels!

August 3, 2021

Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4.

This time it’s been the lower A posts, the dash side panels, the rear seat front rail and the boot side panels. He took the original leather off all of them and cleaned off any old glue that was left behind. He then used the original leather pieces as patterns on the new leather, marked out around them and cut them out. The new leather pieces were then glued onto their associated panels, and any foam was added where need be.

Finishing the Vanden Plas headlining!

August 3, 2021

Brian has been finishing the headlining fitting for the 1981 Rover SD1 Vanden Plas.

In this last post about it, you can see that he was glueing in the sunroof section. https://bridgeclassiccars.co.uk/headlining-work-continues-for-the-vanden-plas/ The board with the main piece of headlining on slid in from the back of the car. Brian had to take out the panels with the seatbelts attached, to put the headlining back in, and then they got put back into place.

Don’t forget, you can win this car! Just click on the following link to find out more information about the car and how to enter! https://www.bridgeclassiccarscompetitions.co.uk/product/1981-rover-sd1/

Bentley dash panels get a new lease of life!

July 30, 2021

Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Chinese Continental.

This time, he’s done the panels that go underneath the dash, the dash rail panel, corner panel, the metal plate that goes with it, padded dash panels, and front-seat support wood.

He stripped the original leather off all of them, and any old foam that was underneath. Then sanded off the old glue. Most of the metal panels had 3mm foam glued onto them first, before adding the new leather on top and glueing underneath. The rest of the panels just had the new leather glued directly onto them.

The start of the Aston Martin seat fitting!

July 30, 2021

Kath has been starting to fit the front squab seats and their carpet backs to the frames.

She began by stapling the sides of the front squab to the wooden part of the frame. She then trimmed back the foam on the flutes, to lay nice and flat on the back. Then she stapled the front of the squab to the wood of the seat frame, making sure it fitted nicely. Piping was then stapled around the back edge. The carpet back was placed on top of this, just inside the piping.

The first front squab is now ready! Exactly the same process will be carried out for the second one.

Alvis Hood Renovation Begins

April 6, 2021

Our 1940 Alvis came in last week to have its hood restored and that process has begun today. Brian and Lydia have been taking apart all the pieces including the rear panels and seats so that they don’t get damaged in the process. Lydia has been marking out where the stitches are on the fabric.

Brian has been stripping off al the old material from the front trim panels and recovering them in a new material to match the headliner. He has also removed and recovered the side trim panels and b post panels.

TR5 Trim Continued

February 25, 2021

Kath and Brian have continued their work with the 1968 Triumph TR5 and are now tackling the rear quarter.

Kath has added foam over the raised section in the boot and positioned the carpet over the foam to get an idea of how it would fit. Once happy, Kath could then glue the foam sections down and pack it out around the fuel tank. Once the foam is stuck down, Kath could then lay in and glue down the carpet in sections, pulling the carpet over the edge and down into footwell so that it fits tight. Once in place, Kath could trim around the corners, and get started on the hand brake gaiter section.

The hand brake gaiter section needed to have foam packed around the hand brake with an 11mm scrim foam piece so that the get carpet fits nicely. Once in position, the carpet can be glued down, making sure the fabric is pulled taught to ensure a fitted finish.

The next step was to fit the rear quarter panels and the door panel which clips onto a board. Kath found that she needed to adjust the panel around the wheel arch and the bottom section for seat belt eyelet first before fitting the sections. Once she had fitted the drivers side rear, Kath could then fit the passenger side and attach the carpet fasteers to footwells so that the mats don’t move about.

Finally, Kath could secure the carpet down in the upper foot well around the pedals and focus on the rear cockpit panel which needed to be screwed into place. Kath cut holes out for the hood mechanism and fit the hood mechanism in place so that it’s ready for the hood.

Brian started on the seats and their frames. He began by fitting the rubber diaphragm to the base seat and added foam around the front edge. He then glued the base cover to the upper foam and secured the lower foam in place underneath. The next step was to glue the base foam and cover to the seat frame and add extra foam around the front edge. By pulling the cover tight around the frame and clipping it in place, Brian could then glue the rear flap to the frame.

Jaguar XK150 Trim Commences

January 29, 2021

This iconic motor recently came in with us and is here for a partial re-trim. The carpets that are being fitted have been bought from elsewhere but are being fitted by our specialist trim shop team. Brian is currently taking a lead with the work and fitting the carpets into the vehicle.

Brian has been glueing the sound deadening into the gearbox tunnel section and glueing vinyl to sides of the dash. He’s also been glueing the moquette material to the rear wheel arch section and front of the rear seat section. The foam has been glued to the rear ‘diff’ tunnel and fitted rear seat bases as well.

He’s then cutting the rear seat back boards into shape, glued the foam to the boards and then stapled covers to the boards. The rear seat pads have been fitted in place as well. Once Brian had glued the sound deadening to the tunnel, he could then glue the carpet section on top.

Suited And Booted

December 14, 2020

Our 1960 Black Jensen 541R has had its new boot door trim fitted by our talented trim shop team!

As ever, the process to get this boot trim fitted included careful measuring out of the material, binding the edges and glueing into place. This is all done by hand, making each installation bespoke.

The Jensen has also received new bolts for its bumper as the old components were not fitted nor attached as they should be. The easier resolution to this problem was to replace the fixtures to allow the bump to it tighter to the body.

Workshop Walkaround

December 9, 2020

Grey Jensen gets furnished

Our trim team has been fitting the rear centre section in place, cutting out sound deadening and glueing it to bodywork behind where seats go.

The rear squab section has also been fitted in place, the carpet has been cut to be placed in front of the rear seat base, the rear seat section has been fitted in place, and the leather has been glued to the seat subframes.

Sound deadening has been installed in the rear footwell & tunnel sides, passenger side, passenger side bulkhead, and the front footwells.

The door frames are also undergoing some modifications so that the window glass sits more comfortably. The doors will need to be taken apart and re-welded back together.

Peony Red Jensen

Our Peony Red 1960 Jensen 541s has had new door catch fixing plates installed. Our technicians have also made a cover to go over them to stop them from falling down into the sills of the car. They have then been welded into position.

TR6

The Triumph TR6 is on the road to recovery with the final tweaks being done. The engine levels have been checked as have the gearbox and rear axels. This stage is mostly a pre-drive service to make sure everything is in the right place and ready for the car to be driven for the first time. The battery holder needs to be installed and the engine to be tuned. Once these last details are done we can turn it on and see how it drives and address any teething problems that may arise.

Amphicar

The Amphicar is currently going through another in-depth stage of troubleshooting the electrics. Much like the TR6, our technicians’ are applying the final checks in preparation for starting the car up for the first time.

Peugeot 504

The Peugeot 504 is almost finished! The exhaust and break lines have been installed as well as the seat belts which have been added by our technician Scott.

Black Jensen

The black 1960 Jensen 541R has come out of paintwork recently to address the corrections made. All the chrome has now been re-installed so it’s looking shiny and new!

1984 Lada 1200

Our Lada is one of our most recent patients. We diagnosed it with rusting sills and floor, which is being addressed and corrected by one of our fabricators, Ant. These refurbishments are done through a series of stages that include welding and applying filler to resolve the ageing. Think of it like getting a dermatological facial!

1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 V12

Our blue jaguar e-type is awaiting its chrome bumper and new steering rack to be fitted. The sun roof has also been fixed. This included taking apart the faulty switch and cleaning the components and then insulating the terminal. Once fitted back together, the sun roof was back to working perfectly again.

Gold Jensen

Our gold and red 1962 Jensen 541S has had its oil changed and water purged from the engine by our engine specialist, Ady.

Austin 7 Nippy

Ady is also working on the Austin 7 Nippy engine which is currently at COLTEC to be assessed.

Nissan 300ZX

The exhaust has been reinstalled into our Nissan as well as the link pipe between the two exhaust manifolds.

Tr6 fully covered

December 3, 2020

Our trim shop expert, Kath, has been busy making multiple covers for the magenta Triumph TR6. The hood and tonneau now have covers that have been created out of black vinyl. Velcro has been sewn on and all the individual parts are then sewn together. Kath has also made a bag for the jack which followed a similar pattern to the tool bag.

Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.

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