1956 Jensen 541

Seat Runners

As our 1956 Jensen 541 continues to make good progress through its restoration journey here at Bridge Classic Cars, Paul has been assembling the seat

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541 Rebuild Progress

Paul has continued rebuilding our 1956 Jensen 541. He has modified the clutch and started making the mounts for the seat belts. Paul then went

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541 Progress

Here’s what Paul has been up to with our 1956 Jensen 541: Finish and fit adjuster for dynamator Finish wiring in engine bay Refurb and

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More Rebuilding

Paul has continued rebuilding our 1956 Jensen 541. He has: He also made and fitted the brake pipes to the servo, repaired the exhaust manifolds

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Rebuild Progress

The rebuild of our 1956 Jensen 541 by technician Paul has carried on recently. Paul fitted the engine and gearbox to the car before cleaning

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More Jensen Progress

The heat shield on our 1956 Jensen 541 has been finished and the throttle pedal has been fitted. The vacuum valve and heater pipes were

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More Paint And Wiring

Chris has applied dtm gloss to various components of our 1956 Jensen 541. While he was doing this, Paul finished wiring the loom into the

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More Progress

Classic car technician Paul has been continuing his work on our 1956 Jensen 541. He has fitted the brake pipes and rear shoes as well

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Brakes And Axle Supports

Classic car technician Paul has manufactured brake pipes for our 1956 Jensen 541. After fitting these to the car, he then fabricated axle support straps

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541 Progress

Paul has been working on our 1956 Jensen 541. He made and fitted the fuel tank before fabricating parts for the driver’s side footwell and

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Rebuilding Continues

Classic car technician Paul has been continuing the process of rebuilding our 1956 Jensen 541. He has fitted several more components as well as fabricated

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Jensen Front Suspension

Classic car technician Paul has been working on the front suspension of our 1956 Jensen 541. After removing the worn bearings, new parts were fitted.

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A New Coat Of Paint

Some good progress has been made on our 1956 Jensen 541 recently. After being prepped and primed, the body and various components have been painted.

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Priming A Jensen

Our 1956 Jensen 541 has had the fibreglass on the inside and exterior of the roof completed. The body of the car had its coating

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Good As New

Our friends at Wyatt Polishing recently completed some restoration work and zinc plating for a number of seat runners and bonnet struts for the Jensens

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Bonnet Panel Levelled

The bonnet of our 1956 Jensen 541 has been panel levelled by classic car technician Al. Once that had been completed, the bonnet was ready

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Inner Arches

Classic car technician Al has been working on our 1956 Jensen 541 lately. Recently, he has been focused on continuing the painting of the chassis

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Chassis Painted

Since returning from the sandblasters, the chassis of our 1956 Jensen 541 has spent some time in our paint shop being painted. It’s not very

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Suspension, Glovebox, And More

Both Paul and Lydia have been working on our 1956 Jensen 541.

Once Paul had changed over the rear suspension leaf springs to the correct ones, he carried on fitting the door trim.

Lydia then made a glove box for our classic Jensen. It’s small in size as it has to fit into the dash around an air duct and wiper motor linkage. Lydia fitted the box she had previously made, then covered the front panel with red leather.

Unfortunately, due to the unique nature of the Jensen, the passenger seat didn’t fit next to the tunnel. Because it was made so long ago before the tunnel was ever fitted, we could not envisage this problem occurring. Lydia has test-fitted the seat into the vehicle and made alterations so that it will no longer fall on the gearbox tunnel, even when it is in its most forward position.

The door surrounds were then finished and the dash and extra wiring were also fitted for the fan motor and screen washer pump.

Seat Runners

As our 1956 Jensen 541 continues to make good progress through its restoration journey here at Bridge Classic Cars, Paul has been assembling the seat runners and drilling the mounting holes for these. The seat belt mounts have been fitted to the gearbox tunnel and the work has begun on fitting the door trim and the fabrication of a cage for the striker plate bolts.

Paul also fitted the chrome trim to the roof edge and aligned and pre-drilled the rear window hinges. He then went on to fit and align the front side panels before fitting the rear side window hinges. He also started fitting the aluminium ground panels.

541 Rebuild Progress

Paul has continued rebuilding our 1956 Jensen 541. He has modified the clutch and started making the mounts for the seat belts.

Paul then went on to fit the wiper motor before finishing fitting the seat belts. He has also started fabricating new seat runner mounts ready to be welded in place.

Boot Carpet And More

Lydia has been looking at the boot carpet in our 1956 Jensen 541. She has templated and made the boot carpets, which are unique to each car. She has shaped and moulded the sides to fit the rear curves in the boot, and then completed it with a large over mat. She will finish glueing everything down when the wiring has been finalised.

Paul has also been working on our classic 541. He has made and fitted the earth cable, fitted the distributor vacuum pipe, cut a hole in the gearbox tunnel to make access to the speedo drive and fabricated a cover. He has also made and fitted the wiper motor mounting plate, and designed and made the seat belt mounts.

541 Progress

Here’s what Paul has been up to with our 1956 Jensen 541:

Finish and fit adjuster for dynamator

Finish wiring in engine bay

Refurb and fit tank sender unit

Fabricate engine breather pipe

Fabricate cover for fuel tank inspection cover inside boot

Modify brake pipe mounts and brake pipes to allow fitting of wings

Modify of wing to make room for the steering box,also modify steering box mount,fit engine breather pipe

He also fitted and aligned the o/s front wing,connect wiring to gearbox for over drive, fit gear lever and over drive switch,fabricate spacer for oil filter body and refit oil filter,fit clutch push rod.

More Rebuilding

Paul has continued rebuilding our 1956 Jensen 541. He has:

  • Assembled oil filter body ready to fit
  • Fitted water pump
  • Shortened steering arm and fit,
  • Fabricated and fitted gearbox tunnel inspection plate
  • Find exhaust manifolds and offer up to engine to check fitment
  • fit rocker cover
  • fit oil filter housing,
  • Take rear suspension measurements
  • Fabricate mounting plate for new brake servo and fit servo

He also made and fitted the brake pipes to the servo, repaired the exhaust manifolds ready for coating, checked and balanced the carb mixture screws, replaced the bulkhead heat shield, made and fitted the king lead, and carried on with the electrics.

A New Shade – The 1956 Jensen 541 Gets New Wheels

With our 1956 Jensen 541 project moving quickly now, the team have had a chance to try out some new ideas for the car. One of which being the cars wheel colour.

This 541 is going to be fitted with wire wheels and to change things slightly, the team have opted for the dark red wheels you see here. This adds a beautiful flash of colour to the dark exterior and makes this car unique in its own way.

Rebuild Progress

The rebuild of our 1956 Jensen 541 by technician Paul has carried on recently. Paul fitted the engine and gearbox to the car before cleaning and preparing the oil filter housing for paint. He modified the wiper spindles to take new fittings, before making and fitting the starter motor main lead.

Paul then started to prepare the carbs ready to fit.

The water pump was fitted and measurements were taken to machine pulley to size. Paul fabricated the starter motor cover before starting to assemble the carbs and making seals and gaskets.

The Restoration Continues

Classic car technician Paul has continued his work on our 1956 Jensen 541. Here is a list of the work completed recently:

  • Finish rear brake
  • Fit splined hubs for spoked wheels
  • Fit parts to gearbox ready to fit to engine
  • Fit clutch to the engine
  • Fit modified fuel filler pip
  • Fabricate back plates for rear indicators and fit indicators
  • Locate parts for gearbox ready to fit to engine
  • Fit the last piece of the bulkhead heat shield
  • Fit the gearbox to the engine and start fitting auxiliaries
  • Fabricate the blanking plate to cover the fuel pump aperture

More Jensen Progress

The heat shield on our 1956 Jensen 541 has been finished and the throttle pedal has been fitted. The vacuum valve and heater pipes were also fitted.

Paul removed the handbrake mounts before painting and refitting them.

Paul made a finishing strip for the rear shelf of our 541 to hide some holes where the suspension mounts poke through. Lydia used foam built up in layers to graduate the slope to the wooden bar. She also applied a very thin layer of foam to the shelf to smooth over any imperfections in the fibreglass. Next, this was covered with a layer of black leather. 

Sound Deadening And Brakes

Lydia recently covered the gearbox tunnel of our 1956 Jensen 541 with sound-deadening material. Paul has also made and fitted the brake pipes from the master cylinder to the main pipe connector.

Paul then went on to build up the engine bay ready for the engine and gearbox. He also fabricated the rear brake wheel cylinders backing plate and fitted it in place before fitting the gearbox tunnel, and bonnet hinges. He then cleaned and painted the servo valve.

More Paint And Wiring

Chris has applied dtm gloss to various components of our 1956 Jensen 541.

While he was doing this, Paul finished wiring the loom into the dashboard and fabricated a gearbox mount. He then went on to fit the floor boards and fuel line before cleaning the gearbox tunnel ready for repair.

Once this was done, Paul modified the old bumper mounts to fit the new chassis.

Lots Of Work Complete

Our 1956 Jensen 541 has made a lot of progress recently.

Paul has finished the dash mounts and has started work on the wiring. After fitting the loom, he began work wiring some of the electrical components into it.

The headlining has been fitted on our 541 too. Lydia made it from a cream vinyl with an embossed pattern. New holes for the roof bars had to be drilled as the previous holes had been repaired and filled in. Lydia then heated the vinyl and pulled it into place, making sure to remove all the creases as she went. She trimmed the excess away and tidied up the edges to make sure that the rubber for the front and back windscreens fit as they should.

Lydia then moved on to the side panels. She first covered the panels in a layer of scrim foam as the fibreglass was very bumpy. This helps to smooth out the thin headlining material. She then covered them in headlining material.

Christian got involved in the recent work too by fabricating a steering column spacer.

Repairs And Modifications

Classic car technician Paul has been working on our 1956 Jensen 541. He fitted the heater box and fabricated various parts before fitting the handbrake cable and welding the bracket in place.

He then modified the chassis to enable the fitting of the wiring loom.

More Progress

Classic car technician Paul has been continuing his work on our 1956 Jensen 541. He has fitted the brake pipes and rear shoes as well as assembling parts for the heater box.

Brakes And Axle Supports

Classic car technician Paul has manufactured brake pipes for our 1956 Jensen 541. After fitting these to the car, he then fabricated axle support straps ready for them to be painted.

541 Progress

Paul has been working on our 1956 Jensen 541.

He made and fitted the fuel tank before fabricating parts for the driver’s side footwell and welding these in place.

Rebuilding Continues

Classic car technician Paul has been continuing the process of rebuilding our 1956 Jensen 541.

He has fitted several more components as well as fabricated steering box mounts and the pedal box.

Steering rack bracket

Monty has made up a new steering rack bracket to replace the existing one on our 1956 Jensen 541.

Better than new – Retrimming the dash panels on our 1956 Jensen 541

Brian has been hard at work in the Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop working on getting the various interior trim pieces and panelwork done on our 1956 Jensen 541.

He took the original dash panel section and after removing the old covering, sanded the piece down to remove any residue or adhesive which may have been on the surface. After a deep clean of the piece, Brian could work on getting the piece perfectly wrapped in the stunning dark red leather before test fitting the various dials and switchgear into the piece.

Jensen Front Suspension

Classic car technician Paul has been working on the front suspension of our 1956 Jensen 541.

After removing the worn bearings, new parts were fitted. The components that make up the suspension were then checked and cleaned ready to be assembled.

Paul then put the front suspension and brakes back together.

More Paint Work For Our 541

Our 1956 Jensen 541 has continued its stay in the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop as classic car technicians Chris, Al, and Mauro have been finishing off the painting of the body and other components.

Mauro has been painting various engine bay components black, while Chris spent some time polishing the newly painted body.

A New Coat Of Paint

Some good progress has been made on our 1956 Jensen 541 recently. After being prepped and primed, the body and various components have been painted. As you can see from the images below, the new colour looks great and was the perfect choice from the owner of this classic car.

While Chris was painting our 541, classic car technician Brian was working on the interior. He cut out the under-dash panels along with the kick panels and air vent holes.

Priming A Jensen

Our 1956 Jensen 541 has had the fibreglass on the inside and exterior of the roof completed.

The body of the car had its coating of epoxy primer while the back of the doors were prepped ready to be fitted up too.

It’s always good to see progress like this being made and it will be an exciting time when the car is painted in the near future.

Good As New

Our friends at Wyatt Polishing recently completed some restoration work and zinc plating for a number of seat runners and bonnet struts for the Jensens currently in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.

When components like this look as good as they now do, you can tell that the fully restored cars they become a part of will be as beautiful as ever.

Bonnet Panel Levelled

The bonnet of our 1956 Jensen 541 has been panel levelled by classic car technician Al.

Once that had been completed, the bonnet was ready for polyester primer to be applied as it moved on to the next stage of its restoration journey in the Bridge Classic Cars workshop.

Inner Arches

Classic car technician Al has been working on our 1956 Jensen 541 lately.

Recently, he has been focused on continuing the painting of the chassis and its numerous components.

As well as painting the rear inner arches of this soon-to-be beautiful classic car, Al also painted the door frames too.

Work will continue on our 1956 Jensen 541 and it is great to see progress being made in its restoration.

Chassis Painted

Since returning from the sandblasters, the chassis of our 1956 Jensen 541 has spent some time in our paint shop being painted.

It’s not very often that you see the chassis of a car in this state so it’s always interesting to see this stage of restoration work.

Epoxy Primer For Our 1956 Jensen 541

Classic car technician Alan has been doing more work on our 1956 Jensen 541.

After repairing the roof and bonnet of this classic car, Alan turned his attention to the doors. He removed the door skins from the frames so he could apply epoxy primer to both sides.

Epoxy primer was also applied to the front wings and sill covers too.

This is part of the preparation for the body to be repainted.

Off To The Sandblasters

The body of our 1956 Jensen 541 has been carefully removed ready to be sent for sandblasting.

While the body of this rare vehicle is out of the workshop, classic car technician Alan has been doing some work on the bonnet, boot lid, and bonnet flap. These have all had a coating of epoxy primer ready for the final coats to be added later on.