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1957 Jensen 541R

Jensen Dash Trimming

February 4, 2020

Kath has been working on both of our Jensen 541 R’s within the Bridge Classic Cars Trim Shop. She has been simultaneously working on interior

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Jensen Owners Club Visit

August 1, 2019

David Turnage from the Jensen Owner’s Club has visited today to inspect our three Jensen’s. In order to register the cars, a representative from the

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Chroming various parts

July 17, 2019

Images back from Tony at Wyatt Polishing as he continues to work through the various re-chroming and re-polishing projects we have given him. Here we

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Our Jensen 541R Interior

May 7, 2020

Our 1957 and 1960 Jensen 541R interiors have completely taken over our trim shop as Brian and Kath return to work.

They get straight into the rebuild of our Jensen interiors and as you can see, a lot of the original components are beyond repair so many new templates are being made using the original patterns.

The Jensen rear quarter are being remade using new boarding and foam padding before being recovered in black leather.

The original leather work has been stripped, removed and being replaced with brand new material.

1957 Jensen 541 R: Now in Primer

March 31, 2020

Chris has been working hard in the paint shop recently. He’s been working on our Jensen 541 R restoration. The car has now been painted in filler primer and masked up. The doors have been painted with an extra step of filler primer as they are aluminium. Now the body is in final primer and has been fully sanded and smoothed. As soon as our workshops reopen we will be ready for the very exciting colour coat phases of painting.

Great work, Chris.

1957 Jensen 541R Bodywork Goes Into Paint

March 18, 2020

Chris has been working on our 1958 Jensen 541R. He’s now finished off the last fibreglass repairs on the underside of the bonnet and completely stripped down the body panels for painting. He’s begun the first layers of filler primer on the boot, bonnet and side-skirts. It’s crucial at this phase to ensure the surface is absolutely immaculate before colour paint is applied. It’s only by taking extreme care now that we achieve the perfect finished product. Great work, Chris.

1957 Jensen 541R Fibreglass Prep

March 13, 2020

Chris, one of our specialists in Bodywork and Paint has been working his magic on our fibreglass bodied, 1957 Jensen 541R.

He’s strengthened the bonnet by layering in fresh fibreglass. Chris has also built up fibreglass on the corners of the bumper to ensure the panel gaps and fitment is absolutely perfect. Our Jensen is now heading into the paint shop for final bodywork preparations and primer coats. Top work, Chris.

Jensen Interior Restoration Update

March 13, 2020

Kath, Bridge Classic Cars’ interior trim specialist has been making wonderful progress on both of our Jensen interiors.

Firstly, Kath begun by sewing up the new black leather seat covers before moving on to refurbishing the upper panels near the headlining. She then began assembling the front and rear seat bases, the rear seat middle section also required trimming in fresh leather.

Kath then began stripping the interior side panels and centre console, ready for reconditioning.

The seats are now complete and ready to be fitted back into the cars. They have been refitted to the highest quality and will look absolutely stunning fitted back into the vehicle. Great work, Kath!

Jensen Perspex Ready for Fitting

March 12, 2020

The perspex is now ready to be fitted to both of our Jensens. Using the old perspex as a template, the fresh perspex was made to the exact same shape as the original was.

These are now ready to be fitted to both cars.

Strengthening the fibreglass bonnet

March 5, 2020

Chris and Dave have joined forces for the latest Jensen task.

Within the fibreglass bonnet moulding are channels. Within these channels should be metal bars used to strengthen the structure.

These are missing on many of the Jensen’s we see so whilst Chris has been working on the fibreglass Dave has been assisting with the fabrication of new metalwork.

1957 Jensen 541R – chrome and panel fitting

March 4, 2020

Chris has been working on re-fitting the chrome around the windows and door tops. This exercise is done to ensure all lines and re-shaping work has been carried out perfectly and that all components will once again fit as they should when it comes to rebuilding the car after paint.

All panels around the car are now lining up beautifully so we are now very close to carrying out the paint preparation.

1957 Jensen 541 R Fibreglass work

February 28, 2020

Chris has been working with our Jensen’s fibreglass bodywork.

He’s applied new fibreglass to damaged areas, building it up layer by layer to achieve a strong bond. It’s then sanded back to match the sculpture and lines of the vehicle.

Chris has also ensured the boot trim and side panels line up and are fitting perfect before the first layers of primer are applied to the vehicle.

1957 Jensen 541R Bodywork fitting

February 28, 2020

Chris has been working hard on our Jensen 541R this week. He’s been fitting up the bodywork, making sure the fitment is perfect before it’s painted.

Dave’s newly modified hinges now mean the door opens and closes perfectly. Chris has installed the door catch and adjusted the hinge so the door closes with precision.

There was a crack apparent in the drivers side door so it was welded up before we move onto paint preparation.

Jensen Components for Chroming

February 27, 2020

We’ve got a few more Jensen components that are ready to be chromed. We can’t wait to see the A pillar windows fitted to the car and shining once more.

Jensen 541R Panel Fitting and Paint Preparations

February 27, 2020

Dave and Chris are hard at work on our 1957 Jensen 541 R. Dave has perfected his custom built B posts. He’s let in new metal where necessary to ensure the vehicle’s structure is perfect.

Chris is now fitting up the body panels, ensuring the fitment, gap and shape of the panels is spot on. It’s now going into the paint shop for paint preparation.

Now that the panels are all fitted perfectly, Chris has been removing them in preparation for paint. We ensure the fitment is spot on before it goes into paint incase any tweaking or bending needs to be made which cannot be done once the paint is applied.

1957 Jensen 541 R Interior Strip Down

February 12, 2020

Kath has begun stripping down our Jensen interior. She will carefully clean and then mark out all interior fabrics and use these as reference for the new leather. Once the seats and interior trim is all stripped down, we can then work on building them back up with brand new foam and leather.

Jensen 541R Custom Door Hinge

February 12, 2020

Dave has done a wonderful job fabricating new hinges for our Jensen 541R. He’s had to weld in a box section in order to extend the Jensen’s ‘A post’ towards the rear of the car. This has allowed to doors to sit in their correct position. The Jensen will go to our in-house paint shop for bodywork to ensure the door sits perfectly flush. Great work, Dave!

Jensen Dash Trimming

February 4, 2020

Kath has been working on both of our Jensen 541 R’s within the Bridge Classic Cars Trim Shop. She has been simultaneously working on interior components for both of our Jensen 541 R restorations.

The Jensen dials have also arrived in to the workshop, ready to be fitted and wired in to the newly trimmed dash.

Great work, Kath! These new interior pieces will shortly be installed into both cars.

1957 Jensen Door Hinge Fabrication

January 24, 2020

Dave has been working on our wonderful 1957 Jensen 541R. He’s had to convert the door hinges to allow the doors to correctly fit.

To do this Dave has cut out the old door plate and fabricated a new door plate, using our 1960 Jensen door as reference to match it perfectly.

He’s then had to modify the ‘A Post’ on our Jensen to sit 4 inches further forwards towards the front of the vehicle.

In order for Dave to check the fitment on the vehicle, the new hinges have been temporarily tacked together with a mild copper. This is strong enough to take the weight of the door during the test fitting process, yet also easy to remove when we undertake the final welding.

Only once we have the perfect fitment will Dave fully weld up the door hinges and get the panels ready for painting.

Jensen 541 R Chromework

January 15, 2020

Chromework has arrived back at the Bridge Classic Cars workshop for our two Jensen 541 R projects.

Pictured below is a selection of some of the chrome components that will be fitted to the completed restorations.

Jensen 541R Bespoke exhaust images

January 14, 2020

Work continues on both of our gorgeous Jensen 541r’s. Below is a gallery of the custom fabricated exhaust that’s fitted to the 1957 Jensen 541r. Demand Engineering, one of the country’s best exhaust fabricators have made this beautiful stainless steel system for our Jensen.

The exhaust headers have been finished in a lovely satin black, heat resistant paint.

1957 Jensen 541R Bonnet Prep

December 19, 2019

Our 1957 Jensen Bonet has been down to the paint shop for preparation. It will be fully prepped and primed before it receives its colour coat. There is a couple of quite substantial cracks that will need repairing for a perfect surface to be achieved.

Jensen 541R Custom Exhaust Fabrication

November 6, 2019

Our one-of-a-kind Corvette powered Jensen 541R is having custom fabricated stainless steel exhaust system made and fitted. We had originally designed a system that took the manifold above the engine but due to our customers request we’re re-routing the system underneath. We’ve had to ensure the exhaust misses the steering column and alternator. We’ve avoided too many sharp bends in order to maintain efficient airflow.

Jensen 541R Spare Wheel Carrier

October 9, 2019

In order for Demand Engineering to commence work on the bespoke exhaust systems for our Jensen’s firstly we needed to fit up the newly manufactured spare wheel carriers in order to get exact measurements.

We have also fitted up the tank and new spoked wheels with tyres.

Our Jensen chrome work arrives…

October 1, 2019

Our heavily pitted hinges Jensen 541R hinges made their way down to London to be assessed with a view to repair by the guys at Douglas Metal Finishing . The results are outstanding…

Douglas Metal Finishing is one of the leading UK Chrome Platers with their established factory set up in South East London. They have the ability to Chrome pretty much anything you can think of.

Whether you want to chrome your classic car or your old scooter we can do the lot. With over 80 years experience we have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in chroming to ensure a top quality end result.

Massive investment in the latest technology enables Douglas Metal Finishing to offer a wide range of finishes. Their up to date satin plant means they can offer satin or bright finishes in nickel, chrome or any of their four shades of Gold.

Jensen Owners Club Visit

August 1, 2019

David Turnage from the Jensen Owner’s Club has visited today to inspect our three Jensen’s. In order to register the cars, a representative from the club is required to verify the paperwork and confirm the authenticity of the vehicles.

And, as always, he arrives in style…

Jensen 541R: Skirts and front wing work

July 30, 2019

More images from the body work preparation. Here we have the fibre-glass front wing/arches as well as the side skirts being perfected; to remove all blistering and get them repaired and ready for paint.

Chroming various parts

July 17, 2019

Images back from Tony at Wyatt Polishing as he continues to work through the various re-chroming and re-polishing projects we have given him.

Here we have bright work from our TVR Grantura, Jensens 541R’s and Jaguar E-Type.

1957 Jensen 541R bodyshell ready for refit

July 12, 2019

We are delighted with the ‘snug’ fit of our 1957 Jensen 541R bodyshell. Having spent some time perfecting the fibreglass shape and removing all signs of the years of cracking and wear within the moulding, the body shell is now ready for re-fit.

We are yet to secure the body shell to the chassis but our test fit results are fantastic with it being one of the best fits we have ever seen on the many Jensen’s we have worked with.

Jensen brightwork ready for refit.

July 11, 2019

We have now stripped back, cleaned and plated the seat runners and bonnet stays.

We have also received delivery of our brand new rear brakes, hubs and caps ready for refit too.

Bridge Classic Cars are award winning Classic Car Restoration and Maintenance specialists. Your pride and joy is in safe hands with our expert Classic Car Technicians. Take a look at our awards here.

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