News

Francis Barnetts PDI

Mauro is carrying out a thorough Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) on our classic bike before it makes its way down to the south coast to winner,

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Riley Completed

Our 1953 Riley RMS has been completed, having had its overdrive removed and it now awaiting collection from the client.

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Ford Anglia Service

Our 1959 Ford Anglia has been polished and is now being inspected as part of its service. We’re replacing the oil cylinder as we found

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MGB GT V8 Engine Strip

Ady has stripped the engine of our 1973 MGB GT V8 so he can diagnose the issue with it.

Francis Barnetts PDI

Mauro is carrying out a thorough Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) on our classic bike before it makes its way down to the south coast to winner, Mike Parsons tomorrow. We do thorough PDI’s on all our competition vehicles to make sure they’re running perfectly before they meet their new owners.

DB2/4’s Dissassenbly Continues

Scott has continued the disassembly of our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark I by taking apart the mechanics piece by piece so we can access the engine.

Scott has also been removing some more of the wiring loom and then the the engine.

Final Adjustments On Our Grey Jensen

After the client came to see his two Jensen’s, he’s asked for some small modifications which has included changing the yellow Jensen badge to blue, adding mesh grills into the front side vents and we’ve noticed a few places where we wanted to touch up the paint. This Jensen will be leaving us very soon after its long restoration journey with us.

Mercedes CLK 200 Finished

Our 2006 Mercedes CLK200 came in for some small paint and bodywork touch ups which have now been completed. The wheel arch dent has been worked out and the front bumper which suffered from stone chips has been repainted.

Austin Healey’s New Parts

Our Austin Healey 100 has had a brand new temperature gauge and sender as well as having the radiator reconditioned to solve the blockage and leaking. We’re also fitting wing mirrors and need to adjust the handbrake.

A DB2/4’s Unfortunate Run In

One of our clients who’s storing his 1997 Aston Martin DB7 with us got in touch after seeing our DB2/4 project to say that his father, John Langley, used to own a DB2/4 however it had an unfortunate run-in with a lorry.

We’re told that whilst on the motorway, a lorry pulling into the side of the DB2/4 and the result was gruesome of the car. Although John survived it, we’re told they still miss that car.

Mercedes Mechanical Mistake Cost Them The Race

Mercedes found themselves at the heart of disaster at the Monaco GP as Valtteri Bottas’ front right tyre couldn’t be removed during a pitstop on lap 30. This left Valtteri no option but to retire his car

Mercedes have still not been able to remove the wheel due to a damaged wheel nut and can only be removed back at their workshop where it will all need to come apart.

“We eventually didn’t get the wheel off, it is sat in our garage with the wheel still on it,” Mercedes technical director James Allison said, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “It will have to be ground off, get a Dremel out and painfully slice through the remnants of the wheel nut. We will do that back at the factory.”

Team boss Toto Wolff added that it had “never happened to that extent before” and was “something we need to understand”.

The instance happened after the pit stop gun wasn’t applied at a clean angle, causing it to chip away the driving faces of the nut.

Even rival team Ferarri tried to help remove the wheel after the race but with no luck.

Mistakes can be made when working on cars, from the simplest of errors to the larger issues, each in their own is easy to make and often comes with frustrating consequences, but its all part of working with complex machinery.

You can read an in-depth review of the mechanical blunder here or alternatively, click below.

White Jaguar E-Type Leading And Trim

The Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series 3 is back in the fabrication bay for some leading. The selection of photos below show inconsistencies in the front over-riders that need addressing to obtain symmetry and leading the spot-welded joints on the shell to ensure there is no cracking or sinking of fillers and paint later on.

We’ve also received the trim pack for our E-Type which is in a sophisticated muted green:

Behind The Scenes – 1989 Jaguar XJS

We set out a week or so ago to shoot with Charlotte and our 1989 Jaguar XJS at Bentwaters. We were lucky that the rain stayed away and the sun came out to help brighten up our visuals.

This stunning classic is up for grabs over on our competition website.

Tweaks On The Grantura

Our TVR Grantura has had a few tweaks made including a new rev counter, fuel gage and hand brake cables.

Riley Completed

Our 1953 Riley RMS has been completed, having had its overdrive removed and it now awaiting collection from the client.

Fiat 500 Parts Finally Arrive

We’ve bene waiting on the parts for our 1969 Fiat 500 Abarth for many months as they were stuck abroad due to a shipping error. Now, finally with us, we can get started with replacing and modifying the steering rack.

Ford Anglia Service

Our 1959 Ford Anglia has been polished and is now being inspected as part of its service. We’re replacing the oil cylinder as we found a leak. We’re also replacing the fuel pump and need to take it for a test drive.

Lydia has also been making a new boot carpet for our Ford. She made the pattern out of paper first and then used it as a guide for the material. She then checked that it fit, trimmed some excess around the sides and will now sew on the binding around the edge.

Race Car’s New Clutch

We’ve now received the new clutch for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car which can be fitted to replace the faulty one. We’ve also manufactured a bracket for the starter motor as it wasn’t engaging. Once everything is fitted back together again, it will need a test drive to understand if it is running correctly or not.

Triumph Stag On The Home Straight

Our 1973 Triumph Stag is looking worlds away from what it did when it came to us just a few months ago. We’ve sent off the steering rack which is being overhauled due to a leak and the rear brake shoes and brake flexihoses are being replaced. After this it will just need to be started and test driven to see how it runs.

New Seat Covers For Ford Model T

Kath has been tasked with making some new leather seat covering for the 1915 Ford Model T. The seats are relatively basic however fresh new leather will certainly brighten them up.

Kath marked out and measured the seats to be recovered as well as marking out where the sewn in diamond would sit, which she tasked Lydia with later making. She then looked into making some piping and how to adjust the patterns to accommodate the button holes in the square back.

Peony Jensen Tweaks And Adjustments

Our 1960 Peony Red Jensen is having its newly built dashboard fitted by Tom and the chrome adjusted by Paul.

Kath has continued with the door side panels and had now completed the passenger side. She has screwed in the panels for the air vents, added carpet fasteners and was then ready for Tom to work on the dash and Paul to work on the chrome.

Work Van Needs Some TLC

We’ve had to replace the flywheel, prop shaft and clutch as well as the front lower ball joints as the clutch was slipping. Now with new components, our work van should be good to go again soon.

The new parts came in today, allowing Mauro to get cracking with the replacements.

MGB Tundra In For Service

This classic tundra MGB Roadster is in for a simple check up and service as it has been stored with us since its completion.

MG TD In For Service

This pristine 1952 MG TD is back in for a service and a check over. Stay tuned to see what may need to be done on this lovely classic.

Mercedes CLK200 In For Paint

We will occasionally get in cars that push the term ‘classic’. This 2006 Mercedes CLK 200 isn’t quite classic status but its certainly on its way to being a modern classic at 15 years old. This lovely red convertible has come in for some paint and dent corrections on the front bumper and rear quarter panel upper wheel arch.

DB2/4 Continues Its Dissasembly

Scott has been stripping down our 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 in preparation for bodywork. This has involved taking out chrome, door cards, electrics and mechanics, all the interior and wiring.

Behind The Scenes On Thursday’s Live Draw

We had an exciting live draw with two winners announced, Mike Parsons won our 1953 Francis Barnett Trials Motorcycle with ticket number 130 and Iain Baker won our 1964 Land Rover Series IIA with ticket number 1248. A big congratulations to both winners, we hope you love them as much as we do!

We had some minor technical issues thanks to the weather but we appreciate everyone’s paitence as we continue to improve our live streams.

Jaguar XK8 Finished

We’ve now finished our 1997 Jaguar XK8 which is now looking as good as new – you’d never be able to tell that we’ve taken apart and rebuilt those rear wheel arches! This Jaguar will now head home with its owner, ready to take on the roads again.

Jaguar’s New Fan And Radiator

Our Jaguar MK1 has had a new fan and radiator fitted as it came in with an old fan that had started to bend and get caught by the radiator. We’ve now replaced both elements so it has a brand new fan and radiator.

Brown Mini Prepped

Our brown 1978 1275 GT Mini is all rubbed down, masked up and ready to paint. The front and sill has been stone-chipped and was then painted.

Peony Red Jensen’s New Dash And Door Cappings

Tom has been working on building up the dashboard for our 1960 Peony Red Jensen 541S. A keen eye for detail and a steady hand is needed to build up dashboards as it is a tricky job.

Brian has been adding wood to the front door to make the capping fit correctly. He’s then covered the door capping and new board for the side panel and added in a seat belt slot. Lastly he added the pipping between the side panel and rear quarter panel and glued it all in place.

Faulty Flywheel Replaced

We’ve now got the new clutch in for our 1967 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 Race Car which suffered from a faulty flywheel. Now with the new part, we hope this one will be able to handle the speed.