Fabricating a new set of caliper carriers

Having just one set of carrier calipers we set to work fabricating a new set so that both vehicles had a set.

Jensen brightwork ready for refit.

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.

Fabricating spacers for our Jensens

We have successfully fabricated the spacers for the front member and suspension for both our Jensen 541R’s.

Jensen 541R Rear Axles Painted

We inspected the diffs for wear before media blasting and painting the rear axles.

Coopercraft International – Uprated brakes for our Jensens

Established in 1991, Coopercraft very quickly earned an excellent reputation for restoring and maintaining classic cars, in particular Jaguars.

In the mid 1990′s, with his life long passion and expertise for all things Jaguar, including preparing and racing his Jaguar 420 with great success, Peter Cooper was conscious that the braking performance of these classics was inadequate for modern-day use.  This led to the design and development of  specially manufactured uprated braking systems for Jaguars and other marques.

Coopercraft pioneered this concept and continue to be market leaders with a quality product which is endorsed worldwide.

It was Jaguar in the 1950′s who introduced the disc brake system, stealing a march on the competition at Le Mans where they enjoyed a superiority over formidable opposition to win this historic race in 1953 with the C type, following this with a hat trick of wins in 1955, ’56 and ’57. 40 years on and the link between Jaguar, disc brakes and racing proved to be the catalyst which has led to many safer Jaguars and other classics being enjoyed by their discerning owners, across the globe!

Now known as Coopercraft International the business is owned and managed by Peter and Debbie Cooper, who continue to research, develop and produce new products to add to their popular range of uprated braking products. We offer a full fitting service in conjunction with our classic maintenance and competition preparation.

This brake kit has been designed to replace the original Dunlop cylinder assemblies, easily fitted to the original carriers and retaining your original handbrake mechanism.   The cylinders incorporate  a modern style seal and piston and are designed to work in conjunction with our uprated front brake kits.

They are available in steel with a smart zinc plated finish and stainless steel pistons, also available as anodised billet aluminium cylinders and pistons for competition use, complete with a set of pads.

Braided stainless steel brake hoses and higher friction brake pads are also available to further increase the performance levels.

These kits will be fitted to both our 1960 and 1957 Jensen 541R projects.

Brand new fuel tank pickups

Our brand new fuel tank pickups have arrived this morning from Chris and the guys at Four Ashes Garage. Because of the rarity and complexity in the fuel tank pickups, our old units have been returned to Chris for a future rebuild.

Who are Four Ashes Garage

They are a family owned leading independent Aston Martin Specialist with a combined experience of over 100 years on Aston Martins, based near Stratford-upon-Avon in the Heart of England, the Company has been owned by Jean Moss and Chris Adams since January 2003.

Jean is the daughter in law of Four Ashes Founder Jack Moss and widow of Michael Moss, Jack’s son who died in 1982,  Chris Adams was a family friend of Jack and family before working at Four Ashes from the early 1970’s when he joined as an apprentice technician, a proper technician with 5 years extensive training (5 years at college on day release & evenings, hard work!! ) on engines, gearboxes, suspension, brakes, axles, bodywork & vehicle refinishing.

Chris is also long term partner now husband of Jean, Chris helped with vehicle repairs from an early age (6!) with his father’s haulage business before working at Four Ashes and has run his own workshop in between Four Ashes stints, specialising in high performance cars including many Aston’s, racing of classic cars and rallying, eventually involving Works type Opel Manta 400’s in the Republic of Ireland.

Chris rebuilt his 1st Aston cylinder head when just turned 17, by 18 he was rebuilding 40% of the Aston engines that came through Four Ashes hands, including all of the race engines for MYT 625, the Racing DB2 that the garage owned, which is now owned by Chris and Jean.

They have been servicing, rebuilding, restoring and racing Aston Martin cars for well over 40 years, Chris has nearly 44 years experience with the marque.

Our Jensen chassis have now been painted

Both of our Jensen 541R chassis’ have now been painted in POR15 Top Coat Chassis Coat Black. In the new year we will be able to start work on reassembling the chassis’, to get them back on their wheels.

POR15 Top Coat in Chassis Black (was Chassis Coat Black) is a direct to metal coating designed to work incredibly well in all applications where there is a need to preserve substrates susceptible to corrosion

Chassis Coat Black paint has a smooth, satiny semi-gloss finish, and is probably more correct as original for under hood and chassis components for cars produced in the USA from the early 1950’s to today.

POR15 Top Coat can be applied directly to metal substrates, with no need for a primer or undercoat, and is formulated to form a robust barrier that sheds moisture to provide long lasting protection.

POR-15 Top Coat has excellent adhesion and when used over POR15 Rust Preventive Paint the products create a system works to provide a permanent barrier to corrosion.

• Non porous and will not crack, chip, or peel
• Amazing scratch and abrasion resistance
• Not sensitive to UV light
• Can be applied over POR-15 or other paints.

Media-blasting the Jensen axles

Both Jensen axles are now removed and ready for the trip up the A14 to Agriblast.

Our new stainless steel fuel tanks have arrived

Our brand new stainless steel fuel tanks for both the 1957 and 1960 Jensen 541R’s have arrived from the Jensen parts specialists at Richard Appleyard Parts.

Amendments have been made to both Jensen 541R chassis’

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Our team have had a crazy busy few days preparing both Jensen chassis’ ready for paint. A few amendments needed to be made prior to paintwork but as well as these configurations the media blasting has uncovered a couple of unexpected imperfections in the structure which need to be addressed.

Rot has unfortunately found it’s way in to the rear of chassis 328 so these areas have had to be cut away and metalwork refitted.

As well as this we have re-applied metalwork into the rear section behind the rear seats, we’ve moved the battery tray and brackets which were initially in the wrong place and work on a couple of areas at the front which required some attention.

1957 Jensen 541R – chassis 328

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”23965,23966,23967,23968,23969,23970,23971,23972,23973,23974″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]1960 Jensen 541R – chassis 493 required a little less work. Some similar areas needed to be worked on but we also had to make improvements to the rear arches which required extensions.

The welding work on both chassis’ are now complete so tomorrow we can start on the preparation and paint.

1960 Jensen 541R – chassis 493[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”23975,23976,23977,23978,23979″][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Jensen radiators ready for refurb…

Here we have a set of radiators all ready for the trip over to Sheldrake & Wells in Ipswich for their complete overhaul. In amongst the collection we have the radiators from our 1957 Jensen 541R and 1960 Jensen 541R.

Overhauling the heater matrix’

Both heater matrix’ have now gone off to the guys and girls at Sheldrake & Wells in Ipswich to be overhauled.

Chromework, Pedal Box, Air Filter.

Sorting through the chrome work of our 1960 Jensen 541R

1960 Jensen 541R – chassis 493

Brian has also successfully stripped, cleaned and repainted both the pedal boxes and heater boxes from both our Jensens.

Chassis’s and Parts ready for media blasting

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The chassis’ and parts are now ready to go for media blasting. We expect these only to be away for a short period of time.

1957 Jensen 541R – chassis 328[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24177,24178,24179,24180,24181,24182,24183″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It’s every restorer’s nightmare – spending £1000’s returning a classic car to its original glory, to then find it rotting from the inside out. By cleaning shells right back to bare metal, you can see exactly what condition the metalwork is in, and therefore what work needs to be done for the best restoration.

1960 Jensen 541R – chassis 493[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24184,24185,24186,24187,24188,24189,24190″][/vc_column][/vc_row]