Craig Ranson

Managing Director – Bridge Classic Cars

The digging commences

Carrying on from yesterday’s post, showing the blueprint of our extension, the workmen began yesterday by drilling and digging up the ground for the foundations

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The ECMC Charity Run

Last Sunday, the 29th of August, East Coast Mini Club came to visit us. The club was doing its annual charity run, raising money for

Read More »

VW Autojumble

Suffolkbugrs are bringing the Autojumble back at a great new venue, with loads of undercover trading space. Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 8UH Entry –

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Squeaky Clean Volvo!

You might have seen from yesterday’s blog posts that we have bought a “run-around” car, a green 1998 Volvo V40. Well after getting a much-needed

Read More »

Extension work begins!

We’re going to share the blueprint for our extension that’s going on the side of the workshop building. The workmen have arrived today to officially

Read More »

Fully charged LIVE 2021

Source: Fully Charged LIVE online Fully Charged OUTSIDE will be taking place at Farnborough International on the 3rd, 4th & 5th September 2021. The 2021 show

Read More »

Having a tidy.

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

Read More »

Do you like TR3s?

Just launched! Our competition to win this bright red 1958 Triumph TR3! If you follow this link here, it will take you straight to the

Read More »

The digging commences

Carrying on from yesterday’s post, showing the blueprint of our extension, the workmen began yesterday by drilling and digging up the ground for the foundations to be laid.

Bentley’s black trim continues

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.

Aston Martin gets another step closer to the paint shop

Lydia has been getting the bonnet of the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4 a step closer to the paint shop. The front inside edge had a lot of red oxide left on it so Lydia went about removing as much as she possibly could with thinners and a red scotch pad. There are some parts that aren’t budging so James will look at grinding those out.

More tidying-up of the TVR.

After having a new clear PVC window sewn into the original hood of the 1989 TVR SII 2.9 V6, the rest of the roof needed a bit of attention. The two panels that create the roof in front of the hood has black vinyl covering the underneath. This had various cracks running throughout due to age and wear and it was coming unstuck at the edges. The first decision made was to try and re-glue the edges down, clean off the dirt below the edges of the vinyl, try and glue the cracks together and paint any non-black edges, to take a sympathetic approach so it fitted in with the wear and tear of the rest of the car. However, after Lydia started to try this approach, she wasn’t happy with the results so decided to take the old worn-out vinyl off and start again. Before the vinyl was taken off, the rubbers were peeled off very carefully and with a blade where it was tricky to do by hand. Any remaining glue that was left on the fibreglass was sanded off and cracks in the fibreglass were filled. 3mm foam was cut out and glued on first, making sure to press into the edges and corners to get the shaping right. New black vinyl was then cut out, using the original pieces as patterns. The vinyl was glued over the 3mm foam and pressed into the edges and corners again. You can see in the photos below where the original vinyl was coming away from these edges, which is why it was so important to make those edges as sharp as possible. Lydia went around the sides of the panels to make sure the exposed edges of vinyl looked neat, trimming along the way with a blade. The last step was to re-glue the rubbers on.

The ECMC Charity Run

Last Sunday, the 29th of August, East Coast Mini Club came to visit us. The club was doing its annual charity run, raising money for the charity, Mind Suffolk. They managed to raise a grand total of £1,200 for the mental health charity. What an awesome achievement, well done everyone! The run started at 9:30 am at the Ram Meadow car park and was open to both members and non-members, and finished at Bridge Classic Cars. Take a look at our photos from the day. Did you come along on the day? If so, you may spot yourself or your Mini in one or two of the photos.

Well done to Chairman Tom and the entire team behind the event. It was a pleasure to have the club at our workshop.

If you run a car club and are looking for a location to hold an event or have a similar charity run coming up, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us!

The repair process of a Riley chassis…

After coming back from the sandblasters, the chassis of the 1951 yellow Riley RMB is looking a little corroded so James is going to have to repair these sections. Lydia has begun the process by making cardboard templates of these parts, cutting where necessary to get the shaping right. These templates will be used by James to mark out around on the new metal. The original corroded metal will be removed and the new will be welded into place.

Recovering the Porsche 911 wheel

The stitching had started to pull away on our Porsche 911 SC steering wheel.

Kath has stripped the wheel of the existing leather and successfully managed to re-stitch it back in to position.

We fully expected to have to recover with new leather but once off the wheel we could see that the integrity of the leather was still beautiful so decided to keep with the originality.

VW Autojumble

Suffolkbugrs are bringing the Autojumble back at a great new venue, with loads of undercover trading space.

Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 8UH

Entry – Adults (£2), Kids (Free) – Show & Shine (£1 Charity Donation – raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care)

Camp – £9.50 per plot, EHU £15 per plot -arrive from 3pm on Saturday

Undercover Trading Space – Autojumble (£20), Craft Plot (£12), Trade Plot (£25)

New in, Vauxhall VX220!

This green 2003 Vauxhall VX220 has just arrived with us. It was actually bought from us back in 2019, so it’s back on familiar ground. It’s only in for a small number of reasons: there’s a squeaking noise when it goes over bumps, which could be down to suspension issues, the customer wants it serviced and put through an MOT and it’s going to get a pre-delivery inspection.

Squeaky Clean Volvo!

You might have seen from yesterday’s blog posts that we have bought a “run-around” car, a green 1998 Volvo V40. Well after getting a much-needed clean, our “run-around” car is going to have a service in our workshop to check over everything.

Spotted in Corfu: VW Campervan!

Charlotte’s been on holiday in Corfu and while she was there, she spotted a yellow VW Campervan and a pink classic Vespa Scooter. Even when she goes away, she can’t keep away from the classic vehicles!

Our Run-Around Car!

We’ve just bought this 1998 Volvo V40 to use as a run-around car for the business. It will be used a lot for filming the competition videos, the ones you see when each one launches, where Charlotte is seen driving the cars and talking about them. It’ll be getting a good clean for sure!

A Red MGB GT V8!

Potentially arriving at our workshop is the red 1975 MGB GT V8.

Honda now in the workshop!

After last being seen in the painting bay, the 1998 Honda Integra Type R is now in the workshop!

Paul is now taking care of it and has taken everything out of the engine bay.

He’s also repaired and welded the chassis section where the captive nuts cover is.

As you can see, the radiator and air conditioning condenser are in desperate need of repair so these will be overhauled prior to being refitted.

More evidence of Jaguar’s dirty fuel line!

You may have seen the blog post from last week about the fuel line problems that Dave discovered on the 1971 Jaguar XJ6. If not, here’s a link straight to it. Here are some more photos and another video to show just how bad the problem turned out to be.

Repair work on the Riley.

James has been continuing his work on the yellow 1951 Riley. The air vent for the second panel was sandblasted last week, so could be welded into its new surrounding. James then used the finished one to determine how much metal to trim off the end. Back in July, he had to do some welding repair work on the left-hand wing. He’s now repaired the other wing. The subframe came back from the sandblasters and showed how much corrosion there was. James has started to make cardboard templates for the parts that need replacing, to mark out new pieces of metal for fabrication.

1982 Porsche 911 incoming!

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.

Extension work begins!

We’re going to share the blueprint for our extension that’s going on the side of the workshop building. The workmen have arrived today to officially begin the work! As usual, there’ll be photos popping up along the way, so keep watching for updates.

We thought it might also be a nice idea to look back at when our existing buildings started off as a blank canvas and were transformed into what you see today!

Fully charged LIVE 2021

Source: Fully Charged LIVE online

Fully Charged OUTSIDE will be taking place at Farnborough International on the 3rd, 4th & 5th September 2021. The 2021 show will be back with a bang, with more visitor attractions and more exhibits than ever before, all in a safe outdoor environment.

The guys from Electric Classic Cars will be there with our Tesla powered 1967 Austin Mini 850.

Update; on the stand over the weekend we saw BAFTA-winning presenter and YouTuber Maddie Moate from Maddie Goes Electric enjoying the electric Land Rover.

Finished TVR Hood and a General Tidy-Up.

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.

Small update on the Aston Martin.

A small update on the 1955 Aston Martin DB 2/4. The panel that is inside the boot, where the lock is, was corroded and had paint left on it. Lydia took it into the sandblasting in order to remove all of this.

Possible Future Projects: Renault 5 GT Turbo, Triumph 2000

We are currently in discussion on a couple of exciting projects that may be entering the Bridge Classic Cars workshops in the not too distant future.

Having been parked up for sometime we have our Renault 5 GT Turbo in need of some serious sill repairs. As you can see from the pictures, the areas underneath have suffered from corrosion and this will most certainly have affected the strength. These will need to be addressed in order to get the car successfully through an MOT and back on the roads.

It is most definitely a car worth saving and would bring a smile to many many faces if seen back on the road.

Next we have a dry stored Triumph 2000. Having been in the same family for many years the current owner would like to see phase 1 of the project being to get the car back on the Suffolk roads safely. A good, thorough clean will unveil what work will need to be carried out but we certainly expect a bit of welding and brake work to be key milestones on this one. Another great car to see back on the road and hopefully with us sometime in the future.

Small update on the Riley.

Here’s an update on the 1951 Riley RMB for you. It was found that there was hidden corrosion in between the layers of metal on one of the air vents. In order to get to this, James drilled through the spot welds and eased the metal apart. Lydia then went about sandblasting the main piece of the air vent to remove the corrosion and paint. She also removed existing layers of paint off the side and back of the body shell of the Riley.

More paint prep for the Ford Capri.

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.

Having a tidy.

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.

Do you like TR3s?

Just launched! Our competition to win this bright red 1958 Triumph TR3! If you follow this link here, it will take you straight to the page where you can find out more information about the car, see more photos and a video and buy tickets for your chance to win! So what are you waiting for?…

The magenta GT6 is here!

The much-awaited arrival of the magenta 1974 Triumph GT6 is here! It left Scotland yesterday for its long journey to us here in Suffolk. Thankfully, it’s turned up looking and sounding great! We’re going to get it detailed by our trusty Viper Auto Valet man, Colin, just to give it a little spruce up.

Ford Mustang – researching parts

It’s proving a bit of a challenge sourcing parts for our 1967 Ford Mustang right hand drive converted classic. Many suppliers across the UK are eager and willing to help us find replacement parts but as you would imagine, a lot of original components have had to change as part of the conversion. Parts begged, stolen and borrow from other vehicles…like the Vauxhall Cavalier steering rack.

Through a good friend and colleague of ours, John from Norfolk Brake and Clutch Specialists, we have a guy able to overhaul the steering rack. Fantastic news as this was our first major obstacle.

Now we are speaking with Mustang specialists from all over the UK to help us on our recommission journey.

Who would’ve thought a classic Mustang would be so challenging!

Ford Capri goes monochrome!

It’s priming day for the 1983 Ford Capri 1.6 LS! But let’s go back to the end of last week for this blog post, when Matt was marking out with masking tape where he could spot dents were on the exterior of the car. He then masked up the front windows and sun-roof to avoid any damage, and began the process of sanding, filling and sanding again all over the car, using both a DA and block sander for the large areas and then using red scotch to go over the shiny bits lefts behind. The work has continued this week. It’s going to be a sympathetic paint job because we’re not taking the windscreen out, so can’t go all-out on it. Thankfully, Matt has found very little corrosion in the process.

Repairing the exhaust manifolds.

Scott has been repairing the exhaust manifolds for the 1979 Arrow Ferrari Daytona. They’re made of stainless steel and were cleaned up before being painted in black high-temperature paint to make them look like genuine Ferrari.