November 25, 2020

Workshop Walkabout

There’s been a lot going with week already and its only Wednesday! Take a look at what’s been going on s far. Range Rover Sport

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Workshop Walkabout

There’s been a lot going with week already and its only Wednesday! Take a look at what’s been going on s far.

Range Rover Sport 2016

One of our directors, Gordon, had his Range Rover Sport’s tyres refurbished, ready for the cold winter months ahead. Now fully refurbished, Gordon’s Range Rover is ready to take on the elements.

Jaguars New Stripes

As seen in our blog yesterday, the 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Car has now been finished! This has been an incredibly exciting project that has been in progress since 2016. Over the last few days, the finishing touches have been added such as the pinstripes on the bonnet and fine-tuning the engine. The bonnet itself has also be re-installed to make sure it fits after the recent engine works.

Craig’s Mercedes 500SL

Our other director, Craig, is in the process of choosing the leather for the interior and the spray finish for the fuel tank. It’s deciding details like this that make classic cars so personal to their owners.

Morris Minor

One of the more notable updates on the Morris Minor 1000 is the new hood. The trim shop has done a fantastic job yet again to make the perfect custom hood, allowing this Morris Minor to be more usable throughout the changing seasons. Our technician Scott has also been trying to figure out the reason for the play in its front wheels. The mystery is yet to be solved…

The front suspension has also been tightened, the curtesy light wiring is being installed and Adam is troubleshooting the electrics.

Grey Jensen 541R

Lots of little updates for the Grey Jensen 541R such as preparing the door rim before it goes to the trim shop, stripping the bonnet ready for paint, made the curtesy light switch by hand, installed the hand brake cables and panhard rod as well as the speedo drive.

Triumph TR5

Our 1968 Triumph TR5 is awaiting its interior but it has had its heater installed!

Blue E-Type

Our blue 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 is awaiting on a new steering rack, clutch slave cylinder and bumper to be fitted. The parts have been ordered so the E-Type should be looking good as new in no time!

Ford Transit

This lovely 1953 Ford Transit is almost ready to leave us now. We’re just waiting on some new 6 volt bulbs for the headlights and then it’ll be ready to go!

Blue Jensen

We’re giving the blue Jensen a general nut and bolt service. It came in to have its clutch, exhaust and breaks replaced which have been or are in the process of being fixed.

Peony Red Jensen

The Peony Red Jensen 542S has had its seats made up. The next step is to complete the set and install them. Our trim shop never fails to impress us with their stunning interior projects.

Peugeot 504

The Peugeot 504 has now had all its interior trim completed. The last few pieces include making and fitting the hood which had to have the leather glued to the frame once made up.

Black Jensen

The black Jensen is visiting our paint shop for some touch-ups and corrections in the paintwork.

1988 Nissan 300ZX

Ady our engine specialist has taken apart both exhaust manifolds on the Nissan 300ZX.

Amphicar

The fuel pump has been rewired, two bilge pumps are set to be added, the brakes have been bled, the grease nipples re-greased and the heater has been ordered.

Range Rover TDI

A new gear stick gaiter has been made and fitted by the trim shop. Our range rover is making steady progress to be completed soon.

Black Spitfire

Although we don’t have the Black Spitfire back with us, we do have the task of replacing the half shafts. We’re hoping we can order in new pieces however we may need to take these apart instead and refurbish them ourselves.

Life In The Fast Lane

We’ve recently acquired what we believe to be an original 1972 Chevron B20, one of just 7 ever made and raced for Formula 2.

The original owner of this B20 was one of the partners of Chevron, who recently passed away. His son then took on the car and has come to us for Bridge Classics to sell it on his behalf. We’ll be selling the Chevron just as it is, no modifications made.

We believe that this car was re-built in 1972 after it was crashed on the track.

The engineers who built this particular B20 was Steve and Nial from Chevron who now own their own company called Red Rose Racing.

History

This vehicle has had quite a dramatic life. It’s been raced by Peter Gethin who won at Pau in 1972. It was also raced by Vic Elford and John Watson with a 1900cc Cosworth FVC in the Rothmans 5000. It was then believed to have been leased by Ed Reeves for David Morgan to race in the Torneio in Brasil at the end of 1972 however Morgan, unfortunately, crashed it in practice. It’s said to have been “extremely badly bent” as a result of hitting the barrier head-on, with Morgan unhurt but having to be cut out of the wreckage.

Interestingly in the naming of Chevrons cars, there were no recurring master numbers such as 11, 22, 33 etc. This was due to a superstition held by founder Derek Bennett who had been in an accident where the number 11 kept being linked to the crash. From then onwards, he made the decision to avoid naming his cars after those master numbers. However, this didn’t spare our B20 from its serious crash in 1972.

Keep your eyes peeled for the official photoshoot coming soon!

Jensen Bodyshell Preparation for primer

As we progress to the final stages of our 1960 Jensen 541S body preparation the next major step is to fully assess our fibreglass work, to ensure we have covered all grounds before coating the full body shell in a primer ready for paint.