1963 Bentley S3 Continental

Bentley black trims

A fresh new look to the black trim on our Bentley Continental. The existing wooden pieces have been stripped and cleaned of any excess glue.

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Another piece of the puzzle

Brian has been re-covering another piece from the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. This time, the glovebox.

He started the process by removing the original covers from the metal box that makes the glovebox. He then used these original pieces as patterns on the new fabric, headlining fabric for most with one piece of leather. The headlining fabric pieces were glued onto the inside of the glovebox first, with the back piece having board underneath the material to give it structure and stability. Once this was all glued into place, Brian put the leather piece onto board as well, before glueing it onto the metal. All the material was wrapped around the edges to give a neat finish. Another piece of the Bentley interior finished!

Bentley’s black trim continues

Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. This time it’s been dash panels, the instrument cover, door cappings and various other panels. The process for all of them involved taking the original black leather off, followed by any foam that was on the panels, and then sanding off the old glue left behind on the wood and metal forms. Brian used the original leather pieces as patterns to mark out around on the new black leather. He replaced the original foam with new 3mm foam. The foam was glued on first and then the leather wrapped over it. Some of the panels, as you can see, just have leather covering them.

Bentley black trims

A fresh new look to the black trim on our Bentley Continental. The existing wooden pieces have been stripped and cleaned of any excess glue. New black material has been shape and fixed to the parts ready for refit.

Another re-covering for the Bentley.

Brian has been re-covering these rear quarter backboards for the 1963 Bentley S3 Continental. They came to us as bare wood, without the original leather on. Brian put some poly-flex filler on parts where it wasn’t flat and sanded this down. He then cut some 3mm foam out for the top part and glued this onto the wood. New leather was marked out and cut out to cover this foam and was glued below the foam and underneath at the sides.

Bentley dash panels get a new lease of life!

Brian has been re-covering more panels for the 1963 Bentley S3 Chinese Continental.

This time, he’s done the panels that go underneath the dash, the dash rail panel, corner panel, the metal plate that goes with it, padded dash panels, and front-seat support wood.

He stripped the original leather off all of them, and any old foam that was underneath. Then sanded off the old glue. Most of the metal panels had 3mm foam glued onto them first, before adding the new leather on top and glueing underneath. The rest of the panels just had the new leather glued directly onto them.

Pockets for the Bentley!

Brian has been making the pockets for our Continental Bentley. These sit inside the door panels and are made up of two parts. He took the original foam and leather off the “fronts” of the pockets and took the original leather off the “backs”. He then cleaned up the metal for each piece, before gluing new foam and leather onto them.

Brian has also been working on the frames that sit underneath the front base seats in the car. He took the original leather off each one and replaced with the new leather. Straps were also made that attach underneath these frames.

Door interior work continues for the Bentley!

Brian has been continuing his work on the interior for the Continental Bentley.

He began off by taking the original leather and foam off the door cappings, and then cleaned up the wood. New 3mm foam was cut to shape and glued into place. New leather was then cut out, using the original pieces as patterns. The new leather was glued on top of the 3mm foam and trimmed to shape for each capping.

Meanwhile, Kath has made the carpet that attaches to the door panels. The new carpet was cut to the correct shape and then bound with leather around the outside edge. These finished carpets were then glued onto the bottom edge of each door panel by Brian.

Bentley Interior Refresh Continues!

Brian and Kath have been busy continuing to make the new interior for the Continental Bentley.

Brian took the old covers off the front door armrests and rear quarter panels. The rear quarter panels become armrests once in the car, sitting either side of the rear seat, in this two-door car.

Kath sewed up the front door armrests, which comprised of new leather pieces cut to shape, using the original pieces as patterns. Piping was created and sewn around the curved edge.

She then sewed up the new rear quarter panels, using the original pieces as patterns again, on the new leather. Piping was made up again and sewn in between two pieces.

Brian was then in charge of fitting the new covers onto the original forms. The front door armrests went back onto their shaped foams and the rear quarter panels were pulled tight and stapled on the underneath. These will then get attached to wooden boards before going back in the car.

Brian has also re-covered the front door panel with 3mm foam and leather, which are both trimmed to shape and glued into place.

Next up in the making will be making new pockets for the inside of the doors, which will be made from a combination of leather and carpet!

Bentley Continental Seats Re-covered

Lydia has been working on recovering a pair of Bentley Continental seats. She has done the whole process from start to finish by hand. She’s replaced the foam, cut new leather from templates she’s made from the old cover, fitted, stitched and glued the new seats together with a keen attention to detail.

Continental Bentley gets a refresh!

One of the recent projects in the trim shop has been to make new seats for a Series 3 Continental Bentley. The old seats were getting a bit tired looking so it was time for a cleaner look!

Lydia was behind taking off the old covers and making the new ones. She started by taking the base seats and removing the old covers off, before moving onto the front squabs and then the rear seats… All were held in place using various methods.

The new base seats were the first to be made. These were a simple construction of a large piece of leather cut to shape with a piped skirt sewn around the sides.

The front squabs were created next. These had an armrest in the side of each one. The “faces” of the front squabs were fluted, with a surrounding piece of leather sewn around it, with piping, and then a piped “skirt” around that. The armrest comprised of a main piece that wrapped around the middle of the armrest form, and then two piped sides. There was a tab that was sewn in and formed the purpose of being able to pull the armrest out of the seat. The back of the front squabs had a backboard, covered in the leather, and then a binded carpet below it.

The rear squab seat was next. This was a similar design to the front squabs, consisting of fluted faces and an armrest in the middle of them. The armrest this time was a large blockish design, which came out on a screwed mechanism. Their was a covered backboard on the top half.

The rear base was the final one to make. This was a similar design to the front bases, comprising of plain design “faces”, with a piped “skirt” wrapped around the sides and sidebands. The other end of the “faces” was French-Seamed.

Once all the new covers were sewn up, it was time for Brian to fit them back on the original frames, using similar methods to the original ones, to attach them. All the seat frames were spring-based and in great usable condition.

Bentley Continental’s New Seats

Lydia has been working on re-doing the seats on a Bentley Continental. She’s totally recovered them with new leather which she fitted after testing her template patterns. After many weeks of sewing, gluing, measuring, testing, fluting, adding calico and piping, the seats are now finished.

Bentley Continental Gets New Interior Trim

We’ve recently had some interior come in from a 1963 S3 Continental for a total re-trim. These seats and pieces of trim are looking tired and well loved, and in need of some TLC. Our trim shop will soon start recovering these seats and making them look brand new again.