Minor Car Repair Projects

ASTON MARTIN DB7

Projects do not always run smoothly and this DB7 was one of those times. The original brief on the car was to arrange a maintenance & service programme, nothing difficult here then UNTIL… customer suffers a breakdown at speed on a main road the car jut cutting out on him. Suspected was the alarm or immobiliser system. Not having the specialist diagnostic equipment a few calls to an Aston Martin specialist and the car was transported to them to diagnose…the issue a specialised relay has suffered from water ingress and failed. Once running again, we removed and resealed the headlights to stop them misting and checked the breather system to them, a common DB7 issue. The car had all the carpets removed and completely dried out, and new door seals fitted. Mechanically we carried out a full service using genuine Aston Martin parts and fitted new brake pads all round. Body wise we carried out an underbody wax treatment and a full machine polish to bring back the lustre of the paint. A great Google review followed to the delight of the team:

“I thank Andy, Jason and the team at AM restoration for their vision and fortitude in accepting a project a bit out of their experience! An Aston Martin db7 which was a non runner but with good body work .The car had suffered water ingress over the years with bad door seals and aggressive power washing which had caused electrical faults on the car to fail on me while driving on A38 very embarrassing in a db7!The team at AM under my direction and Jason’s advise started my list of needs to do .Eventually the car was alive again and running and the needs to be done list completed, which on hand over I received a very handsome head turner .Well done AM restoration team and many thanks .CJC.” – ★★★★★

HONDA CIVIC LSI

We are starting to see a few Japanese vehicles through the workshop , and recently were asked to work on this Honda Civic. The car has been in the family for many years and the owner is carrying out some tasty engine modifications. The bodywork was starting to show its age, and repairs to the rear arches were in order. We purchased some rear arch panels, as close as we could find to the correct shape, so as to cut down on fabrication time. We then set about removing only the corroded sections and also repairing areas of the inner arch to sill closing panels, correcting some previous historic repairs. Filler work complete, the car and panels went into the the booth for primer. After sanding the primer we applied the top coat code BG33P Paradise Blue Green Metallic. A new rear badge was sourced by the owner from abroad and once fitted, final polishing completed and waxoil treatment done the car was collected by a delighted customer.

MGB RACE REPLICA

Recently in for some body repairs we had this MGB race replica. Left outside by a previous garage while they were doing some mechanical repairs this MGB started to suffer from paint lifting on the top of the rear quarters. Damp had managed to get under the layers of paint and primer and they had started to lift. On removal of the paint we found some thankfully only surface rust. After discussion with the customer this was cleaned back to bare metal, a rust inhibitor treatment applied followed by NOVOL anti-corrosive primer. The areas then had a small skim of filler to correct imperfections, primed and painted.

TRIUMPH SPITFIRE

A new customer to our ever increasing client base recently purchased this Spitfire. On a previous visit we carried out a ‘health check’ and it was picked up that the sills had the start of some rust. After some discussion the client decided that the areas needed treating and protecting. First we took the areas back to bare metal, followed by applying anti corrosive primer, carrying out any filler work, applying a fine stone chip for further protection and finally painting in base and clearcoat in Java Green.

FIAT 124 S COUPE

A very stylish Italian car joins our workshop. A new customer who we carried out some mechanical work for decided he would like to have door mirrors not wing mirrors. We have removed the old mirrors, welded up the holes on both wings and painted them which now makes the car look a lot sleeker. While in we discussed underside protection (an area much overlooked). It was decided to carry out an underbody wax treatment. Cleaning off the old underside protection (that had been applied over mud) revealed more welding work which we completed before applying the new coating. This highlights that the underside of your car is as important or more so than the shell and regular, preventative work can save £££’s in the long run.

TR7 RESTOMOD

This very nice TR7 Restomod returns to the workshop. The remit was to repair accident damage caused by a set of gates. Due to the normal body seams being deleted on the car this reduced our options where to loose any possible paint edges. After a discussion with the customer and the fact that the paint is in such nice condition it was decided to paint/lacquer the side, front panel, opposite wing and rear deck panel. Sometimes you just have to go that bit further to achieve a high-quality finish and do right by the car.

VW Golf

Looking the part we saw the arrival of this VW Golf. The owner was looking for a quality repair to get through an MOT. Happy to oblige we carried out welding of the inner sill and fitted a section of outer sill before applying stone guard and paint.

VW Corrado

A great looking Coupe by VW. We have a particular soft spot for these cars. Currently, Andy owns a supercharged version, and Jason has also owned one in the past. This particular car was in need of repair work around the screen, with some areas needing fabrication and finishing with paintwork on the A pillars and roof.

Daimler Double Six

A great looking Coupe with an interesting history, starting its life abroad as a left-hand drive model. This was booked in for some minor rust repairs on the rear arch and inner front arch, a paint refresh of part of the rear quarters and doors, and finally, to sort out a sagging headlining by fitting a new one and trimming the cantrails to match.