The final process to get the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration ready for its first coats of paint has been completed by the Bridge Classic Cars
The body team at Bridge Classic Cars are continuing at full pace to get the 1987 Mercedes R107 500SL ready to head into the spray
The 1987 Mercedes 500SL is in with the Bridge Classic Cars body shop to be prepared for its upcoming paintwork. Our technician Mauro has been
The in-house paint and body team here at Bridge Classic Cars have begun work on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL. Mauro, one of our paint team,
The in-house restoration technicians at Bridge Classic Cars have been working through the final parts and pieces for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration which is
The in-house paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars has always got something in the state of the art spray booth. This time, it’s some of
Brian is our lead in-house trimmer at Bridge Classic Cars. From our Suffolk HQ, Brian and Lydia create handmade, bespoke interiors for our customer’s restoration
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop has recently been making several new interior pieces for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL currently in for restoration. Lydia,
Tamas, one of our amazing in-house restoration technicians here at Bridge Classic Cars, has been inspecting and cataloguing the parts and pieces from the 1987
The stunning 1987 Mercedes 500SL that is in for restoration at Bridge Classic Cars for our director, Craig, has started its journey towards completion. The
The in-house Trim Shop at Bridge Classic Cars can create just about anything. This time, our lead trimmer Brian has been trimming the armrests for
Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration team have been busy assessing and cataloguing the next round of parts from the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration project. Tamas,
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration team have been busy cleaning and cataloguing the parts for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL which is in with ourselves
The art of interior trim is something our in-house trim experts have mastered over years of experience. A great example of this is the door
Interior trim is one of the key elements of any restoration, and we here at Bridge Classic Cars have got probably the best in-house trim
Craig’s Mercedes 500 SL restoration has taken a back seat recently but Brian has been working on covering the centre console by pulling tight the
The trim shop has started on Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL trim which is being done in a Claret red. Kath has been painstakingly pouring over
Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL seats are still in the capable hands of our in house trim shop. Lydia has been leading the charge with the
Lydia has been focusing exclusively on Craig’s 500SL Mercedes interior restoration. Over the last week or so shes been working on the seat covers, re-working
Lydia has been making the second front squab seat cover for our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. This included taking the cover off the frame which is
Lydia has completed another seat cover using the same process as before. Brian and Kath have also been working at creating a cover for the
Lydia has continued the work with Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL. Here we can see her sewing the piping on to the skirt for the seat.
We’ve been working on a plastic speaker panel for Craig’s Mercedes 500SL that needed to be stitched back together. This was done by attaching the
Lydia, one of our trim shop technicians, has been working on preparing and creating the interior for Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL. A while ago Craig
Craig has recently decided on a colour for the interior of his 1987 Mercedes 500SL. The trim shop has just started tackling the trim which
Our director Craig has had his Mercedes 500SL in for restoration for a while now. There are many choices to be made when you’re not
There’s been a lot going with week already and its only Wednesday! Take a look at what’s been going on s far. Range Rover Sport
Now the exterior colour of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has been chosen we are now on to the decision of our interior. All interior components
Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had its colour transformation initiated with a prep mask being applied in the engine bay. It then continued to have
Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had its primer and flattening completed by our technicians Ant and Chris. This stage allows the bodywork to be perfected
The final process to get the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration ready for its first coats of paint has been completed by the Bridge Classic Cars body shop.
Mauro has been working on getting the last few pieces of the classic Mercedes ready for its date with the paint booth. Mauro has been meticulously going through the whole car piece by piece to make sure everything is in perfect shape before the first layers of final primer are laid onto the body and panels. This involved several hours of sanding in places with very limited access but needed to be done for the best finish possible.
Along with that, Mauro removed the final parts and pieces from the doors of the 500SL to be able to sand inside the doors so the paint shop can get the best finish possible inside and out.
We’re so excited to see the 1987 Mercedes 500SL finally go into the Bridge Classic Cars paint shop for the first steps of its paint process.
The body team at Bridge Classic Cars are continuing at full pace to get the 1987 Mercedes R107 500SL ready to head into the spray booth.
Mauro has been working on getting every single surface of the iconic grand tourer into perfect shape for our painters to lay down the first coats of ”Selenit Grau”. That is the new chosen colour of the 500SL, originally available on the 280SL Pagodas in the 1960s.
The body team have also worked on getting the window regulators and all brackets, hinges, door strikers etc off of the car and catalogued. Not only for assessment but also to gain access to the inside of the doors to prep them for their new colour.
It’s all moving ahead with the 1987 Mercedes 500SL, and we’re excited to show you the next phase of the restoration on this classic Mercedes.
The 1987 Mercedes 500SL is in with the Bridge Classic Cars body shop to be prepared for its upcoming paintwork.
Our technician Mauro has been working on getting the bodywork in the best order possible before it’s handed over to the paint team. He has been making sure that every panel is flat and smooth before the body goes in to be re-primed and then its full colour and clear coats are applied.
Things are moving quickly on the R107 500SL so make sure to check in on the Bridge Classic Cars news page for updates.
The in-house paint and body team here at Bridge Classic Cars have begun work on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL.
Mauro, one of our paint team, has been getting some of the panels and pieces ready for paint. The team is working on getting the boot lid and fuel cap have been getting worked on to match it up to the rest of the car in terms of its body lines and panel match.
After this is done, it will all be cleaned down thoroughly and stored while the rest of the car is being worked on.
The in-house restoration technicians at Bridge Classic Cars have been working through the final parts and pieces for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration which is in our Suffolk HQ workshop.
Tom, one of our in-house restoration technicians, has been going through parts for the 1987 Mercedes R107 500SL to check their condition and to make sure anything missing can be sourced ahead of time.
Each piece has been carefully photographed and noted for the car.
The in-house paint shop at Bridge Classic Cars has always got something in the state of the art spray booth. This time, it’s some of the parts for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL.
Alan, one of our paint experts, has been working on preparing the parts from the legendary German luxury convertible to go in front of his paint gun. He made sure to clean each part thoroughly and ensure they had all been dried and warmed before beginning laying the first coats onto the pieces.
Expect much more on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL very soon here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page,
Brian is our lead in-house trimmer at Bridge Classic Cars. From our Suffolk HQ, Brian and Lydia create handmade, bespoke interiors for our customer’s restoration projects which are well and truly world-class.
Today on Brian’s table is the armrest covers of the 1987 Mercedes R107 500SL. Lydia and Brian have worked together to create these pieces for the ’80s luxury convertible. The covers were hand-cut and sewn for the best fit possible around the original armrests themselves. Tailored perfectly to suit each component. Brian, using his years of skill and craft, carefully stretched and moved the leather around every curve to get it laying just right. Then, with the minimal amount of heat possible, he began working the leather into place across the adhesive behind it.
After both the covers were finished with their bright new chromework, Brian could begin work on the next stage of the interior of the R107. The door caps, these pieces were carefully stripped back to their core and assessed by Brian to see if they were reusable. They were actually in fantastic shape!
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house trim shop has recently been making several new interior pieces for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL currently in for restoration.
Lydia, has taken the hand-cut pieces which Brian had previously made for the armrest covers and began to stitch to the pieces to cover to create the new covers which will be stretched and secured onto the armrests of the classic Mercedes convertible.
Keep a lookout on the Bridge Classic Cars news page for more updates on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration.
Tamas, one of our amazing in-house restoration technicians here at Bridge Classic Cars, has been inspecting and cataloguing the parts and pieces from the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration project we are currently carrying out.
Each individual piece has been carefully inspected and noted down on a manifest to identify if anything is missing and what condition each part is in. This is a very important part of any restoration project we undertake here so if anything is needed to be ordered or sent away for refurbishment it can be done in time for the cars final assembly.
Tamas has gone through hundreds and hundreds of parts for this car, each of them has been individually wrapped and then put away into our parts department for safe keeping.
The stunning 1987 Mercedes 500SL that is in for restoration at Bridge Classic Cars for our director, Craig, has started its journey towards completion.
The bodywork and paintwork are the next jobs on the list to get started on which has been entrusted to Garry. He will get the body of the R107 prepared and ready for the first coats of colour to be laid across this beautiful 1980s Mercedes.
Expect to see lots more on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL very soon on the Bridge Classic Cars news page.
The in-house Trim Shop at Bridge Classic Cars can create just about anything. This time, our lead trimmer Brian has been trimming the armrests for the 1987 Mercedes R107 500SL.
Beginning with the original piece, Brian hand-made a template for the new pieces which would find their way onto the armrest of the handsome R107.
Carefully careful traced his patterns onto the same stunning red leather that the rest of the car has been trimmed in. Then, with millimetre precision, Brian cut out the templates ready for when they will be stitched and finished by hand.
Expect to see much more on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page.
Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration team have been busy assessing and cataloguing the next round of parts from the 1987 Mercedes 500SL restoration project.
Tamas, has been going through each individual part to check its part number and operation/condition for when the car comes back in for final assembly. This is a crucial part of any restoration project so that replacements can be sourced or pieces can be sent off for refurbishment.
Expect to see a lot more on the 1987 Mercedes 500SL here on the Bridge Classic Cars news page very soon.
The Bridge Classic Cars in-house restoration team have been busy cleaning and cataloguing the parts for the 1987 Mercedes 500SL which is in with ourselves for restoration. Our in-house restoration technician Tamas has been meticulously going through every component which was removed from the car to evaluate and note its condition and part number if needed.
Some of these pieces will be sent out to specialists for refurbishment or refinishing but others will have particular treatments and processes done to them in-house.
To see all of the parts our technician has gone through, see the gallery below!
The art of interior trim is something our in-house trim experts have mastered over years of experience.
A great example of this is the door cards on our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. These are all being entirely made in-house in our trim shop. The fit and finish of our interior pieces is world class thanks to our amazing team.
The door cards themselves were fabricated from scratch in order to best match the originals ensuring an extremely close fit to the same standards as they would have left the Mercedes trim shop in 1987, if not even better.
All of the associated trim pieces for the doors are also being retrimmed with the same level of care and attention to detail as the rest of the car which is currently under going full restoration here at Bridge Classic Cars.
Keep a look out on our News Page for more updates on the masterpiece of German engineering.
Interior trim is one of the key elements of any restoration, and we here at Bridge Classic Cars have got probably the best in-house trim shop bar none. Take for example this classic car, Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL which is having a whole new interior done by our in-house trimmers. The fit and finish on these custom-made interior pieces are worthy of an article in themselves.
Those of you following the project will know that the original interior was a, once upon a time, dark royal blue but as part of the restoration of the car here at Bridge Classic Cars, the whole interior is being retrimmed in a deep and beautiful Claret Red.
Starting with the original door cards as a template to work from, our in-house trim experts got to work creating new door cards from scratch in order to create the best fit and keep them as close to the originals as possible. Once the new door cards had been shaped, finessed and test fitted it was time to choose the right hide. Matched to this amazing example of 1980s German luxury performance was stunning deep Claret Red. Every mark, indent or locator was carefully and skillfully transferred onto the new door cards by hand to ensure they were an exact match for the existing interior trim pieces.
The deep red colour of the door cards was carefully selected to match the previous material used through the 500SL. The centre console, dash covering and all the other refinished trim work all match up thanks to the expertise and attention to detail that our interior team at Bridge Classic Cars has and the devotion to their craft.
Craig’s Mercedes 500 SL restoration has taken a back seat recently but Brian has been working on covering the centre console by pulling tight the fabric and glueing down the stitching.
The trim shop has started on Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL trim which is being done in a Claret red. Kath has been painstakingly pouring over the dash, making sure the intricate details of the holes and curves are perfectly catered for and covering in bespoke fabric, which has been pulled taught and glued back by hand. Dashboards are one of the interior details that many people forget about in their car but is the most likely to show signs of wear and sun damage. Being exposed to the sun and regularly act as a shelf for all kinds of ornaments, car dash’s can take quite the beating in their lives and often need re-covering to give it a new lease of life. Kath made a paper pattern first which she followed up by making a mock-up out of black vinyl before cutting and fitting the leather.
Brian has been working on removing the old covers from the rear quarter panels. Brian started at the end of the panel, glueing the leather cover onto the panel. He worked along with the panel slowly, glueing down parts one bit at a time to make sure the leather was pulled tight. Brian also had to work around details such as the speaker hole where he had to sand the edges of the board so it was smooth before applying the glue. Once it was sanded down, he glued the leather onto the back of the panel, sewing on flaps, fasteners and rivets to finish.
Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL seats are still in the capable hands of our in house trim shop.
Lydia has been leading the charge with the interior, creating each seat cover by hand. Brian has also lent a helping hand with the frame and hind mechanisms. Lydia has recently been heating and stretching the fabric, applying sprays of water to help steam and stiffen the leather in the process.
Brian has been fitting the cover to the base of the front seat, pulling the cover tight around the frame and glueing the flaps at the back and hog ringing the rear flap. He has fitted the cover to the front squab seat and glued the centre in place. Pulling the cover around the frame, Brian works on fitting the material tight to the frame and securing it into slots on the side of the frame. The next step included Brian cutting headrest holes out and fitting the plastic trims. With the cover fitted, all that’s left to do is to fit the metal runners and sliding mechanisms to bottom of the base frame.
Lyda has added foam to the shoulders of the front squab seat frame. This ensures the cover fits well enough. Lydia then glued inside for the flute lines to stick to which helps give it definition. Lydia then glued new leather to the backboard which goes with the squab. The backboard slots into place at the back, the sides tuck under the frame to hold in place and plastic ring inserts are added for the headrest poles to go through and connect the seat and headrest. Lydia made slits and holes in the sides of the squabs for the mechanism pieces to slot into place and finished by cleaning up the parts and putting the mechanisms in place.
Lydia has been focusing exclusively on Craig’s 500SL Mercedes interior restoration. Over the last week or so shes been working on the seat covers, re-working the original material and creating new covers.
Lydia began by adding a layer of scrim foam over the top and sides of the frame to replace the old worn out padding which had turned hard. She then drew a line down the centre of the seat to make it easier to identify the middle of the cover. Once this is done, Lydia placed the cover over it and pull the calico inside it. Once fitted, she could pull it tight and glue it in place.
Lydia then applied weight to the frame springs and pulled the other edges of the cover over and under the frame. She then glued down the side flaps around the frame, cleaned up the bolts that screw into the bottom of the seat, and made a hole on each side for them.
Lydia has been making the second front squab seat cover for our 1987 Mercedes 500SL. This included taking the cover off the frame which is something.
Lydia had to start with loosening the sides from the frame by levering the cover off. The next step was to remove the plastic parts by holding the cover down in the centre and shimming the components out. Lydia could then start peeling the cover off the frame completely and take off the plastic rings for the headrest at the top of the squab. The next step is to remove the leather cover and rework that.
Lydia has completed another seat cover using the same process as before. Brian and Kath have also been working at creating a cover for the dashboard.
The dashboard process included measuring out and cutting the leather and cutting out holes for the dials, sewing around the edges to make for a neat fold and fit, and then sticking it all to the dash and then turning over the fabric, pulling it tight to create a neat fit.
Lydia has continued the work with Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL. Here we can see her sewing the piping on to the skirt for the seat. Each detail and design is thoroughly thought through and done by hand.
Lydia has recently completed the glove compartment for the door of the Mercedes 500 SL. This process included skiving the edges of the leather that’s going to recover it, which makes it easier to fold over the edges. The next step was to sand down the vinyl to be recovered in leather.
Lydia has also marked the leather for the seat. It’s her first seat cover that she’s made from scratch and it is looking great so far! The first step was to take off the current base front seat cover and use them as patterns to make the new ones. She’s then cut out the new sidebands and mounted them onto the foam.
Lydia made a mock-up of the fluted design to make sure that the measurements are correct before making the final version. She then measured and marked out the real fluted face once the mock-up was correct. The fluted face was sewn on, the sidebands mounted and cut out, and the piping made up. Lydia then cleaned up the rod that goes inside the flap with wire wool. Once this was all done, she clipped everything together.
We’ve been working on a plastic speaker panel for Craig’s Mercedes 500SL that needed to be stitched back together. This was done by attaching the two pieces together via plastic welding.
Lydia, one of our trim shop technicians, has been working on preparing and creating the interior for Craig’s 1987 Mercedes 500SL. A while ago Craig decided to go with a Claret red to dress the interior of his custom classic, and now the interior trim creation begins
Lydia has been focusing on preparing the gearstick holder. Once stripped, it is ready for recovering by sanding and filling. Lydia makes the first draft of the paper patterns, she then cuts out vinyl for a vinyl draft copy. By sewing the vinyl together, Lydia can see how the cover would fit and address any issues that may arise. Once the first draft is made, Lydia then makes a second draft paper pattern, makes it in vinyl and re-addresses how the parts come together. This process also allows her to test out how much topstitching to sew on and if her measurements are correct. From these drafts, Lydia took the decision to add topstitching all over as she believed this would be the most efficient design.
Once the drafts have been made and corrected, Lydia can start making the real leather cover. She does this by marking up the second vinyl draft so that she can take it apart and use the pattern pieces as a guide for the leather. Once the leather is all marked up and ready for cutting out, the leather pieces can be sewn together, topstitched all over and fit.
Craig has recently decided on a colour for the interior of his 1987 Mercedes 500SL. The trim shop has just started tackling the trim which will be done in a Claret red.
Lydia has been prepping the windscreen panels for recovering, which have been done in the claret leather. The sanding and filling of the front window panels has been completed, allowing for Lydia to get started on the next step. The cover is first marked out in paper, then leather and then sewn and glued together.
Our director Craig has had his Mercedes 500SL in for restoration for a while now. There are many choices to be made when you’re not only restoring your classic but also redesigning it. Some of those choices are more interesting than others. One of the more fun choices in the customising process is choosing the colour of the interior. There were many options, all of which took on brown and orange tones to contrast with the bright blue exterior.
After taking a while to think and decide, Craig took the decision to go with… none of these options. But instead went for a rich Claret, a beautiful burgundy red!
There’s been a lot going with week already and its only Wednesday! Take a look at what’s been going on s far.
One of our directors, Gordon, had his Range Rover Sport’s tyres refurbished, ready for the cold winter months ahead. Now fully refurbished, Gordon’s Range Rover is ready to take on the elements.
As seen in our blog yesterday, the 1967 Jaguar E-Type Race Car has now been finished! This has been an incredibly exciting project that has been in progress since 2016. Over the last few days, the finishing touches have been added such as the pinstripes on the bonnet and fine-tuning the engine. The bonnet itself has also be re-installed to make sure it fits after the recent engine works.
Our other director, Craig, is in the process of choosing the leather for the interior and the spray finish for the fuel tank. It’s deciding details like this that make classic cars so personal to their owners.
One of the more notable updates on the Morris Minor 1000 is the new hood. The trim shop has done a fantastic job yet again to make the perfect custom hood, allowing this Morris Minor to be more usable throughout the changing seasons. Our technician Scott has also been trying to figure out the reason for the play in its front wheels. The mystery is yet to be solved…
The front suspension has also been tightened, the curtesy light wiring is being installed and Adam is troubleshooting the electrics.
Lots of little updates for the Grey Jensen 541R such as preparing the door rim before it goes to the trim shop, stripping the bonnet ready for paint, made the curtesy light switch by hand, installed the hand brake cables and panhard rod as well as the speedo drive.
Our 1968 Triumph TR5 is awaiting its interior but it has had its heater installed!
Our blue 1973 Jaguar E-Type Series 3 is awaiting on a new steering rack, clutch slave cylinder and bumper to be fitted. The parts have been ordered so the E-Type should be looking good as new in no time!
This lovely 1953 Ford Transit is almost ready to leave us now. We’re just waiting on some new 6 volt bulbs for the headlights and then it’ll be ready to go!
We’re giving the blue Jensen a general nut and bolt service. It came in to have its clutch, exhaust and breaks replaced which have been or are in the process of being fixed.
The Peony Red Jensen 542S has had its seats made up. The next step is to complete the set and install them. Our trim shop never fails to impress us with their stunning interior projects.
The Peugeot 504 has now had all its interior trim completed. The last few pieces include making and fitting the hood which had to have the leather glued to the frame once made up.
The black Jensen is visiting our paint shop for some touch-ups and corrections in the paintwork.
Ady our engine specialist has taken apart both exhaust manifolds on the Nissan 300ZX.
The fuel pump has been rewired, two bilge pumps are set to be added, the brakes have been bled, the grease nipples re-greased and the heater has been ordered.
A new gear stick gaiter has been made and fitted by the trim shop. Our range rover is making steady progress to be completed soon.
Although we don’t have the Black Spitfire back with us, we do have the task of replacing the half shafts. We’re hoping we can order in new pieces however we may need to take these apart instead and refurbish them ourselves.
Now the exterior colour of our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has been chosen we are now on to the decision of our interior.
All interior components are now down off the shelf and in the Trim Shop with Kath and Brian ready to be rebuilt to our bespoke specifications.
The colour will be chosen within the coming weeks, very little will be original and the interior will be completely transformed…so watch this space!
Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had its colour transformation initiated with a prep mask being applied in the engine bay. It then continued to have prime and topcoat added.
Soon it’ll have a whole body of fresh paint.
Our 1987 Mercedes 500SL has had its primer and flattening completed by our technicians Ant and Chris.
This stage allows the bodywork to be perfected and smoothened and allows the next layer of paint to stick.
This is the last stage before the colour paintwork begins.
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.
