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For the last year or so we’ve been making bodies for MG M Types.

The tally now stands at three and pictured here is one of two currently in the workshop awaiting to be covered in fabric.

We have been extremely fortunate to have the help and guidance of one of the preeminent experts in pre war MG’s David Cooksey. David has not only provided help he has also provided his templates and patterns from his time when he was building these body tubs!

If you would like a brand new body made for your MG M type, please get in touch.

After a small amount of fettling the wheel arches were fitted.

Since my last post about the Aston Martin a lot of work has been done to it.

The biggest item done has been the rear wheel arches. I decided to make the replacement arches as a laminate. I made a set of thin sections of ash and a former into which the shape of the wheel arch.

All in all they turned out very well.

31/11/15

Today I went to look at this glorious car from a bygone era.

There is a fair bit of work needed to the body frame.

The seat bases have provided a good feast for the woodworm!

18/11/15

Today I removed the rear wheel arches from the Aston. The plywood panels have de-laminated and the ash has suffered quite extensively from rot and woodworm.

I will be taking patterns from the originals and construct new replacements.

The Latest commission for Sowerby Ash framing arrived today. Its a 1924 Renault NN saloon.

As you can see the weather was not being very kind so as soon as it arrived it was taken straight inside.

This is a huge project and there is a lot of work ahead for me.

As the project progresses I will be adding more updates.

Another frame has left the workshop. This time it was a Morris 8 two seat tourer. Unlike the Rover 8, this was a restore/rebuild rather than making a frame from the ground up.

The customer was delighted with the finished work as the following email states.

Dear Stephen,

Just a short note to say a big thank you for the work completed on my Morris 8 Pre Series Tourer Ash frame.  You came to me recommended and your work is of the highest quality.  The frame is now back and I will be mounting it on the reconditioned chassis and then repanelling.  I will forward some pictures when it is in place and arrange for my Jaguar dashboards to come to you when they are out of the cars.

Thanks again, its always good to find a professional service that measures up to expectations.

Recently I undertook the restoration of the decorative interior of a Freestone and Webb bodied MkVI Bentley.

The Bentley had spent a fair proportion of its life in the USA and at some point someone had attempted to restore it before. Unfortunately they had not done the job to quite the same attention to detail as the craftsmen who had originally made it. There were sections that had been re-veneered in a completely different veneer from the original burr walnut. And if that wasn’t bad enough some sections had been covered in Fablon!

It took a fair amount of time to get the substrate cleaned and prepped for the new burr walnut veneer. The new sections of burr walnut were eventually applied to the substrate, which was then placed into my veneer press and glued up.  

Once all of the veneering was complete and I was happy that they were ready for lacquering I applied three coats of base lacquer and four coats of top coat. Once fully cured I then started the burnishing and polishing process.

The finished results speak for themselves and suffice to say my customer was very pleased.

After months of work the 1921 Rover Eight Two seat tourer has left my workshop and gone back to the customer. Very pleased with the finished body and the customer is delighted.

Welcome to my new web site about the repair and renovation of vintage cars