Welcome to the first of a regular series of posts about the rare, interesting and exciting cars that come into the workshop each week. We hope you’ll find it informative and that it gives you a taste of the variety of work we undertake for our customers.
Porsche 911 Turbo
The stunning Porsche 930 turbo you can see on the right of the picture was in for preventative maintenance, the owner getting the underside cleaned up and returned to the original Porsche flexible, textured stone chip. This particular 930 is especially rare in that it’s completely virgin – having never been welded – and as a result is exceptionally good underneath, right down to the factory-correct cadmium plated oil, brake & fuel lines. In the workshop we removed all the splash shields, cleaned the underside gently but thoroughly, and finally applied a layer of clear Waxoyl to keep her preserved for a long time to come. Now it’s been cleaned the original Baltic Blue paintwork on the underside looks as good as the bodywork you can see in the pictures!
Ford Mustang GT 350
This American muscle car icon lives in our specialist storage facility as its owner – a self-confessed road-trip enthusiast – lives in Australia. Twice a year we prepare the car in readiness for a pan-European blast. Last year, in preparation for a trip to Istanbul & back we converted her to a five-speed gearbox to give the car ‘longer legs’ and greater long-distance appeal. This year, we were focused on mileage related fettling to ensure turnkey reliability. We took a look at the hydraulics & replaced the PAS pump, renewed the rear wheel cylinders, adjusted the valve clearances, popped her onto a rolling-road to tune the Holley carburettor and finally, gave her a thorough service.
The car is now ready for our customer to collect and embark upon an epic drive to Slovenia with his daughter. We can’t wait to hear all about their adventure when they drop the car back off to us.
Mercedes W107 280 SL This lovely Signal Red SL is a very low-mileage & structurally sound example of the marque that paid a visit to the workshop for some preventative maintenance.
Her owner has recently retired and now, having more time, is keen to use & enjoy the car more. We’ve rectified some vacuum leaks so the central locking system works correctly and fettled and serviced the car ready for its increased usage. These fantastic cars were produced from 1971-1989, the second-longest production run on any Mercedes model and are known for their build quality & reliability. This car really is ready to go wherever you want her to take you.
BMW 2002 Tii
Apart from the 2002 turbo, the Tii – with its mechanical fuel injection – is the most collectible of the breed, and as you can see from the picture, this one is completely correct and ready for the next 20 years.
What a different story it was six months ago! Our customer bought this car from a (now defunct) dealer who assured the new owner that it was straight and honest. From initial appearance, one would have thought so. However, when we started to delve a little deeper we discovered that it had been very poorly repaired about 15 years ago (when the cost of the new, replacement panels it needed probably exceeded the then value of the car) and was going to require a lot of structural work to make it one of the very best.
So, into the body shop she went. The rear arches were solid filler, as were the rear sills. Once removed, all that remained were huge rot holes that had been hidden for years. All in all, we replaced the inner and outer rear arches, complete outer sills, front wings & A-posts, inner-wing box sections, a boot floor and rear valance.
We then resprayed her in correct Chamonix white and reassembled. Now this 2002 Tii is as good as it can be and she can join the owners’ MkII Jaguar in their garage.
BMW M5
The newest car in the picture by some distance and still a 15-year old vehicle, this low-mileage, low-owner e39 M5 was over for its annual MOT and once-over to keep it in A1 mechanical & cosmetic condition. Mechanically, she needed some rear suspension arms and swivels whilst bodywork-wise it was just a case of catching a little bit of bubbling at the bottom of the n/s/r wheel arch, a known e39 weak spot. Our final job was to adjust the non-standard Tubi exhaust system that makes the car sound great but can allow annoying vibrations into the cabin. Last year we fabricated custom shims for it, and this year we heated and tweaked the back section to provide greater clearance behind the rear axle, which should solve the issue once and for all.