August 2019

1973 Triumph TR6 Strip Down

Work continues on the strip down of our 1973 Triumph TR6. THe car is now fully stripped and the parts are being organised into the relevant areas, whether they need to be restored or replaced.

Triumph TR6 Strip Down and Chassis Clean

The body is now off which gives Mauro and Andrew access to more parts needing to be removed. We are assessing what parts require restoration and what will be replaced with new. Once segregated, all parts will be labelled and neatly stored in a particular order ready for work to commence on the restoration.

The chassis and large component pieces have been subjected to a thorough blast with a heat pressure washer to remove years or grime and build up.

Classic Car Showroom – Progress So far

With a constant flow of traffic to our classic car showroom it is difficult to juggle the last few pieces of decoration and interior work as well as keeping the places stocked and busy.

All of our current stock is now on site and the indoor photo studio and social space is being built alongside. We have had a good couple of weeks with sales which means some cars will be leaving us very soon.

As always, if you have a car to sell get in touch. Our showroom is the perfect spot to sell your classic and with our very reasonable commission rates we can take the hassle away from you.

1965 Ford Mustang – Full Service

Recently purchased by the current owner and intended on being his everyday drive back and forth to work, our 1965 Ford Mustang is fresh in from the US.

In our workshops to have a general look over and to carry out a full service ready for the road.

Silverstone Auctions – August 2019

Our 1984 Ferrari 308 GTS will feature in the Silverstone Auctions Ferrari & Porsche 2019. Showcased here to their 25,000 Instagram Followers.

Viewing will take place as follows:

From 1.00pm to 5.00pm on Friday 20th September;
From 9am Saturday 21st September.

The auction takes place on Saturday 21st September 2019.

10.30am – Automobilia – a selection of Ferrari and Porsche themed collectables and memorabilia.
12.30pm – A Sale of Ferrari’s in association with Ferrari Owners Club GB.
2.30pm – The Porsche Sale in association with Porsche Club GB.

The sale takes place in the IXL centre at Dallas Burston Polo Club located in the spectacular Warwickshire countryside. In addition to refreshments being available within the sale venue the site also boasts its own Country Pub – The Millstone Hare.

Porsche Club GB will be running a number of member events throughout the day .

Bridge Classic Cars at Great Dorset Steam Rally

The Fifty-First Great Dorset Steam Fair

The show has something for everyone, whatever your interests! Maybe you are a collector, a steam fanatic, an exhibitor, a heavy horse fan, an avid camper, a music fan or just on holiday in the South of England over the August Bank Holiday weekend and fancy an excursion to what is described as the most remarkable show on earth!

Browse through our website and you will find everything you need to know about the show, whether you have visited it before or if you are a complete beginner. You can contact us with enquiries to do with anything relating to the show by just clicking on the contact us button.

You can see all of our features detailed on this site, and keep track of days to go, check trade stand prices, information on exhibiting, see details of tickets for visitors, advanced booking incentives, camping and entertainments amongst other valuable information.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair is a typically British event offering a unique blend of nostalgia and entertainment. Come and soak up the special festival atmosphere whether as a day visitor or taking in the full five days by camping on site. There is no other event like it anywhere in the world which is why over 200,000 visitors attend each year both from the UK and from all over the World!

Fitting our Jaguar E-Type with the new aluminium radiator

Alicool produce Intercoolers, radiators, oil coolers, fuel tanks and aluminium fabrication work. The company was set up thanks to the coming together of industry leading professionals. Their design and drawing team have 25 years’ experience in aluminium cooling products and have worked on projects from super car cooling packages in air, water and oil to radiator design for cooling in the vintage and fast road market place.

Our 1972 Jaguar E-Type has been fitted with a lightweight 66mm high performance alloy core radiator. Over 45% more efficient than the original copper and brass radiator. This radiator will keep race or road cars perfectly cool even in high ambient conditions. Alicool water cores are vacuum braised in a controlled atmosphere to comply with IS09001 quality assurance standards. Available with oil cooler for automatic models.

Station 1-1-9 Cars & Croissants

Part of the Station 119 BrewHaha Beer Festival this weekend was the annual CarCrazedFool Cars & Croissants at Station 119.

Hosted by the CarCrazedFool, it was an opportunity for anyone and everyone to showcase their eclectic mix of Supercars, Sportscars, Retros and Hot-Rods…and enjoy a coffee and croissant too.

Bridge Classic Cars were invited along to spend the morning with the Station119 team and we saw lots of familiar faces including some of our customer’s with their cars too.

Source: Station 119 – It all started when…

“We started brewing in 2014 in a shed in the back garden, this was after falling in love with craft beer in the USA.

Taking inspiration from the history of our local USAF bases we named our brewery Station 119 also home to our friends at The Red Feather Club.

After two years of brewing in the shed we graduated to our current premises in Eye, Suffolk. 2018 saw the arrival of our new 20 HL brewhouse and fermenters.”

Photographs from our day out at Station 119

We caught up with our good friend Matt Woods Photography whilst there and he’s handier with a camera. Check out his photos:

Thanks to the CarCrazedFool and Station 119 for the invite and look forward to the next event.

Anglia Car Auctions – Saturday 24th September

Almost £1.4 million was reached under the hammer on Saturday when 173 of the 234 cars on offer were sold.

Bridge Classic Cars spent the day with Rob, Lyn and the team at Anglia Car Auctions for their classic car auction.

Some notable results included the 1974 blue Jensen Interceptor MK III £34,980, 1991 Mazda RX7 Turbo II Cabriolet £8,480, 1986 BMW 735i SE Auto £9,328, 1959 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud I LHD (project) £13,992, 1965 Jaguar E-Type Series I 4.2 FHC £47,700, 1988 Mercedes R107 500SL Auto £28,620, 1991 Saab 900 Turbo 16V Carlsson £14,204 and 1994 BMW E34 M5 £14,840. 

1961 Francis Barnett Progress

Our bike is currently with Steve at JAL Restorations being fully restored. Since our last post we have made huge leap forward in the restoration projects. Here we have the latest images from the build.

Repairing our E-Type Door Hinges

Due to excessive play, Dave has stripped back our original Jaguar E-Type door hinges and rebuilt them to house a new centre pin.

Stripping down our 1973 Triumph TR6

Mauro and Andy continue to work on stripping our 1973 Triumph TR6.

We will soon be in a position to remove the shell from the chassis ready to remove the engine, gearbox and running gear.

As we always say, it’s good to take lots of photographs for future reference points…

Re-visiting the underside of our Amphicar

We have made the decision to revisit the underside of our Amphicar. the reason being is that we collectively felt that it could be better. We stripped back what had already been done, repaired and repainted.

We are all now much happier with the results.

Morris C8 Engine

Our Morris C8 engine is now out of the truck and Ady has started to work on the strip down. A lack of oil has chewed the bearing and scored the crank shaft. As expected, deposits of metal shards can be seen in the sump.

Building up the Jaguar E-Type doors

Mauro is currently in the process of building up the 1972 Jaguar E-Type doors. The chrome work is being refitted, the rubbers are going back into position and the window and frame is now, once again, secured.

Preparing our Volkswagon Golf for paint

Chris is busy in our paint shop preparing our 1986 Volkswagen Golf cabriolet for re-spray. All external components have now been removed including the trims, windows, doors, boot lid, bonnet.

Work begins on the interior re-trim

The seats belonging to our 1972 Jaguar E-Type are now in the process of being stripped, blasted and the frames painted, as we prepare for the full colour change re-trim.

The interior will be recreated in Cinnamon using an existing pattern from upholstery specialists Aldridge Trimming.

The full kit is now with our in-house upholsterer Donna has she will make the necessary tweaks to ensure they fit perfectly.

All internal components; cushions, wadding etc will all get assessed and replaced where necessary.

Source: Aldridge Trimming

Aldridge Trimming Ltd, is a family run business that has been established for well over half a century and three generations. The business was founded in the 1930’s and initially provided a local general trimming service for cars of the 20’s and 30’s era. Over the years, the business has evolved and expanded and we now employ 28 staff and have gained a world-wide reputation for quality British made interior trim, to original standards. 

As well as the mail order side of the business, they provide a bespoke trimming service for owners who bring their vehicles on-site. With a large workshop covering 20,000 sq ft and twenty skilled trimmers and machinists, they have the capacity to provide trim fitting services for well over 100 classic cars per annum. 

Whilst mainly focusing on the Jaguar Marques (specifically from the 1950s onwards), they also support Austin Healey, Triumph, Mercedes (from 1964 onwards) and Ford cars from the 60’s and 70’s era. They can manufacture anything from a sun visor to a complete interior trim set for virtually any classic car including many modern vehicles (if the customer can supply original patterns) and they are constantly adding to our product range. 

Recently featured on Channel 4’s “Car S.O.S.“, they were involved in restoring 5 cars to their original condition. 

Fuzz Townshend visits Aldridge Trimming

Following our features in ‘Car SOS’ over the years, Fuzz Townshend came and had a look around our workshop to show you what we get up to on a daily basis, hope you enjoy!

Posted by Aldridge Trimming on Wednesday, 27 March 2019

1980 Austin Morris Mini City

Our 1980 Austin Morris Mini City is in our workshops this week for its annual MOT.

Whilst in, we will look at a little oil leak that has developed and we’ll also give it a full service.

Triumph TR6 repair complete

The repair of our 1975 Triumph TR6 front section is now complete having been unfortunately involved in an accident on the way to this year’s Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sportscars.

We were on a strict deadline to repair the car due to other Triumph commitments. Although these appointments were not essential they are mighty important.

We successfully completed the repairs in time for the next event and the car is now back on the road. We also managed to source a new old stock, very rare US bumper.

Removing the Morris C8 Engine and Gearbox

We have successfully managed to remove the engine of our 1944 Morris C8. Ady can now get it on the bench ready for the rebuild to commence.

No oil pressure has knocked out the big ends. The crank shaft bearings are badly scored and the pistons are heavily scored. We will now need to re-bore the engine to house larger pistons.

Work starts on our 1996 Mini body shell

Andrew has now started to cut out the corroded areas of our Mini body shell.

This is a joint project between Bridge Classic Cars and Team C Racing. The shell is with us at Bridge Classic Cars to be repaired, prepared and painted. At that point, it will then go back to Team C Racing for the restoration and rebuild to be completed.

Mini Body Shell Restoration

In our workshops for a full body shell restoration we have our 1996 Rover Mini Cooper 35th Anniversary.

Work will commence very soon with the majority of the work being carried out by our bodywork and welding expert Andy.

Rebuilding our 1953 Mercedes 220

With all the new parts sourced and the existing parts restored we can now put our engine back together ready for a test run.

New Arrival: 1977 Ford Escort RS2000

We have now arrived home with our latest addition, our 1977 Ford Escort RS2000. Sourced specifically for a client, we now await his visit and instruction as to what, if any, work he would like carried out.

Whilst on the road returning, we have received a wonderfully useful email from the previous owner:

“I hope the new owner gains as much enjoyment from the car as I have.

I’ve attached the scan of the original advert from when Geoff bought it.

Spec below:

When Geoff bought it, it was subjected to a full restoration, which included new genuine front wings and bonnet, and good second hand doors, some patches to the floor pan and round the heater assembly, and a full respray in signal orange.

New rear spoiler, and new roof gutter trims. All suspension parts were blasted and powder coated, new bilsteins and springs, and vented front discs with granada spaced calipers. Lowered 1″. He then used it for a while  on and off, dry storing it in between use.

I bought it in 2012. Because it had been stood, it needed recommissioning, the extent of which included; new front discs and pads, new rear cylinders and shoes, new Janspeed exhaust ( on Mk1 rear bracket so it doesn’t dangle too low) new twin front down pipe, new heater motor, new 42mm core uprated radiator, new silicon coolant hoses, new heater matrix.

Underside cleaned and 3 coats of black stone chip. Since then it’s been treated to the following in my care; diff oil seal and Diff re adjusted. Alloys diamond cut and lacquered. new Uniroyal tyres, genuine series X group 1 down draughts and K+N panel filter (couldn’t source a group 1 air box) Vulcan ultimax unleaded stage 3 big valve head with FR32 cam and rolling road tune (the RR tune was done with the standard head and FR31 cam though so there’s potential for further power improvements) Xr4i 5 speed box with the RS short shift fitted. Period Britax twin tone air horns, which are essential for piping back at people when you’re out on the road.”

This car is already turning heads with a few people, online and in person, enquiring as to whether it is available for sale.

Triumph TR4 – Accident Damage

Last week saw an unfortunate incident between two classic cars on their way to Helmingham Hall Festival of Classic and Sports Cars.

One of the vehicles, our 1975 Triumph TR6, is currently with us having undergone a full repair using original American parts to suit the American specification of the vehicle.

The second, our 1963 Triumph TR4, is currently awaiting approval from the insurers. As you can see, the car has suffered extensive damage to the rear but unfortunately this has affected areas inside the vehicle that will need replacing or repairing.

Hopefully, once the insurers have assessed the damage we will get the go ahead to get her back on the road looking absolutely gorgeous very very soon…

Stripping our 1973 Triumph TR6

Mauro and Andy L have been busy stripping our 1973 Triumph TR6 to a bare shell ready for the restoration to comment.

Due to the importance of this very special car we are under strict instruction to restore to the original factory specification.

Our Triumph TR6 is the last right hand drive CP Series made for the UK market, built in Sept 1973, registered. The car comes complete with heritage letter as confirmation. The chassis CP 77716 confirms this and the last two; 77717 and 77718 were left hand drive exported.