1978 MGB Restoration

Not all restorations are a down to the shell 'nut and bolt' job, but are more a case of a thorough recommission.
This late MGB roadster was in reasonable order as it was on the road and working. However it was a little tired, with a few dodgy previous repairs, multi coloured paint and in need of some mechanical work.

Both the rear wing/sills had been badly patched and filled in the past. Both sides were cut out, the ends of the sill repaired, and the the lower portion of the wing re-made. A few small repairs were needed to the passenger door, and the drivers door was replaced with a new item. A few other small areas received attention, but on the whole the shell was in amazingly good condition. The car was then stripped of its glass, trim, lights and external items and was re-painted in its original colour.

The engine bay had been painted with underseal at some point in its life, and generally looked a mess. All sundry components were removed, cleaned and painted, wiring tidied and repaired, and the engine bay stripped and repainted back to body colour. The engine was partially rebuilt, with a modified head, new fast road camshaft, followers and timing chain. The carburettors were rebuilt with needles to suit and k&n filters and a new sports exhaust system was fitted. The before and after pictures speak for themselves.

The interior was re-fitted with new carpets and new sports seats, and all new trim panels. All exterior components were cleaned and/or painted before being re-fitted and new stainless side trims were used.
The suspension and brakes were checked and rebuilt with new parts as needed. Finally the car was extensively injected with cavity wax, and the underside coated with a high quality under body sealant to hopefully keep things good for years to come.

New Workshop

For anyone who has noticed the lack of posts recently, this has been down to it being a very busy year, rather than lack of things to write about.
One big piece of news is that I have moved to a bigger workshop located on the same site (so the address on the website still applies).

As well as being larger, the new workshop has a divided area to keep the cutting, grinding and messier activities separated from the cleaner jobs.

For Sale - Triumph 2000 Mk2 1972

VEHICLE IS NOW SOLD

Selling on behalf of a customer, I have worked on and looked after this car for him for the last 4 years, but due to commitment to other vehicles he has now asked me to sell his 2000 for him.

Very original Mk2 Triumph 2000, covered just over 60,000 miles with history to prove - comes with the original bill of sale, service book and hand book. Paint is mostly original, and still polishes up quite nicely. interior is totally original and the seats look like they've hardly been sat in.
Fitted from new with various factory optional extras including power steering and automatic transmission.
Drives perfectly, everything works as it should and really is a very enjoyable place to be. The auto box is surprisingly enjoyable to use and with the power steering makes this a very easy classic car to drive.

Fitted with many new parts such as stainless exhaust, rebuilt carbs, new hoses, power steering pipes and much more.

Recent MOT with no advisories, and is tax exempt.

If you are interested and would like to know more about the vehicle please call me on:

07872 654139

Offers around £2600

VEHICLE IS NOW SOLD

Triumph Spitfire - finished and ready for action

The last time I wrote about this project, it was no more than a painted body shell, but as I write this, the car is all ready back with its owner and being given some gentle mileage to bed everything in. Hopefully the following pictures will show how the cars turned out, and ill endeavour to explain what was done to turn this car from wreck to racer.

Virtually every single component of the car was rebuilt or re-conditioned along with countless modifications to make the car suitable (and legal) for some weekend motor sport, such as sprinting/hill-climbing and track use. The boot and front end (including the valances) are fibreglass to reduce weight.

Sitting on its AVO dampers and stiffer springs (see previous posts) the suspension has also been put together with adjustable rear tie bars and a few other mods to prevent the dreaded 'tuck under' these cars are known for. With careful setting up of front and rear camber and tracking, the car is predictable and planted, and due to strengthening in the shell, along with the full roll cage, scuttle shake is totally banished.

On the inside, FIA legal Recaro bucket seats have been squeezed in (quite literally) along with four point harnesses. All the internal trim panels have been replaced with sheet aluminium (the boot being effectively 'fire-walled' from the main cabin) although the original dash board has been refurbished and retained. The original centre console now houses a battery cut out switch and extra gauges and switches.

The engine was rebuilt 'in house' with bigger valves, lightened and balanced internals and many other internal modifications to produce a unit that was docile enough to be drivable on the road, yet should give 50% more power than in standard form (despite its externally standard appearance). An oil cooler, electric fan and US spec radiator have been used to keep everything cool, and electronic ignition and electric fuel pump to keep everything reliable.

The wheels are currently refurbished GT6 items with road going yokohama tyres, the idea being that a second set of 'track' wheels and tyres can be purchased when needed to suit the cars future use.

I'm sure this wont be the last time this car appear on this site and I look forward in the future to further setting up the car and getting it ready for what ever events the owner decides to use it for.

Not just restoration projects...

I have to admit that I don't get around to posting the latest news quite as often as I would like. Mostly the news and pictures displayed here show ongoing restoration projects, due to the fact that showing pictures and explaining the finer points of greasing a trunion doesn't make for the most gripping read. However, at least 50% of the work we do here is servicing and other smaller jobs on classic and cherished vehicles.
Just to give an idea of what's going on in between the projects, here's just some of the cars that have been under the spanner in the last few months.

This selection shows the wide variety and range of work undertaken. Everything from working on the suspension and brakes of the XK120, preparing the A40 Somerset for a trip to France, a complete engine rebuild on the 73 midget and many other servicing, body and mechanical repairs on lots of other vehicles.

A long overdue update....

Unfortunately Ive been a bit lazy with the updates lately, so ill try and catch up with whats been going on with various projects last year. Firstly, the Triumph Spitfire race car.
The body was prepped for paint, including the underside and inside, every surface will be body colour and finish.
The underside was painted first, then the inside of the vehicle. These were then masked off while the outside of the vehicle was painted.
With the body mounted back on the rolling chassis, the doors and boot lid were prepped, painted and hung. All panel gaps had been checked during the build/welding stage.with the shell rolling on the chassis and painted, the real build work can start.

Triumph Spitfire competition car - latest

The spitfires chassis is now painted and all the suspension has been rebuilt and fitted. New polybushes have been used throughout, New bearings, new drive shaft joints and everything has been painted. A lowered rear swing spring is fitted along with uprated front springs. Adjustable AVO dampers have been used - the fronts being adjustable for height as well as damping.
Rebuilt GT6 uprights have been used on the front, as they are stronger and provide bigger brakes - with new discs and refurbished callipers being used.