Sparrow Automotive

29/04/2026

Our 1st year apprentice Theo, rebuilt this engine last week, his first engine rebuild on his own. All his own work from start to finish. This included stripping the engine, fault finding and checking for wear, cylinder head checks for cracks, cleaning and grinding in valves, lapping in cylinder heads, checking condition of barrels and pistons, honing of the barrels, fitting new rings, fitting new seals and gaskets. He has also needed to learn how important cleanliness is and how to manage his time.
He had watched and helped with a few engine builds previously, but he was nervous about doing one all by himself. No need to have worried. This standard 602cc 2cv engine ran like a Swiss watch. Ollie, one of our older tech's, is going through setting the timing dynamically while the engine is run in the test rig. Once it had been run for a about 20 minutes, it's allowed to cool before the head are re-torqued and valve clearances checked and adjusted.
Once it had been confirmed that it was all leak free, it was removed and reunited with the rest of the car.
We are trying to bring on young talent and involve them the classic motor trade. Theo is attending the Bicester Heritage site and doing a 3 year course run by the
We are very proud to support them.
All our staff are fully trained vehicle technicians which means you know that the person working on your car is qualified to do so.

14/04/2026

We often bang on about fuel hose.
It's something that most people don't even think about.
Its pretty important stuff considering what it transfers and that it can sometimes be under pressure.
It's very common to see the sort of deterioration you can see here in the pictures. Ethanol, which is pretty much in all pump fuels these days, will cause issues with hose not designed to carry it. The hose needs to be Ethanol resistant, you'd be amazed at the amount that is being sold, that's not.
Add to this age and heat and there is a real chance of a problem, which at the minimum, could be a breakdown or at worst, a fire.
Get your specialist or garage to check your hoses and replace them if you can't prove what specification it is. The proper hose isn't cheap but it's cheaper than the issues it can cause.

31/03/2026

We've had a real mix of cars in over the last week or so. Here you have a 720cc Ami 8 estate, an 800cc Barbour 4x4 2cv, a lovely 1972 GS 1220 Club and an early Pembleton which has had a 652cc engine upgrade. We have also had anotherBX GTI turn up that's got a hydraulic leak. Really nice to have some variation in our work.

29/03/2026

Special job last week for a good customer who wanted these Citroen BX seats fitted to his 2cv.
We often find taller people struggle to get the seat where they want it, or if the do, the seat isn't fully in the runners,this is pretty dangerous. We have seen some very scary seat installations over the years!
There are runner extenders for standard 2cv/Dyane which do help keep the seat in its runner.
With the BX seat (and pretty my every other car seat) having a better runner system than a 2cv, we won't put replacement seats on 2cv bottoms. A custom frame that has multiple pick up points is the way to go.

21/03/2026

Early Pembleton in for some work to give it a bit more performance.
The original engine was shown to be quite worn on a cylinder leakage test.
The upgrades consisted of an increase to 652cc, different camshaft of our own spec, high flow valves, cylinder head porting, increased compression, lighter flywheel and alterations to the jetting on the twin carbs and changes to the ignition maps.
Overall, it's given this little car a nice boost in performance which is exactly what the owner wanted.

15/03/2026

At the end of last week, we had a water cooled Citroen in.
Flo brought her lovely BX GTI 8v in for a radiator, cooling system flush and an LHM change. The car is in lovely condition and has been well looked after.
We found a small fluid leak at the rear, so it will be back once we have received the part we need. Looking forward to it.

10/09/2025

Here at Sparrow Automotive, we don't like to blow our own trumpet. However, we are quite happy for someone else to do it.
Below is an email received yesterday from a new customer with a mid 80's 2cv that came in for steering work. Upon road testing the car, it was clear that there were other faults the customer wasn't aware of, even though it had been through other specialists.
We pointed these out and priced the work.
Sometimes, age and experience count for a lot. Here, there are a lot of both.
Below is his email. It's not the sort of thing we would normally post, but we do like a happy customer and always aim for complete satisfaction.
Our 90 plus 5 star Google reviews should prove that.
The above picture isn't relevant, but it's one we like.
😊

Hi Pete,

WOW! It's not the same car!

I would have never thought that re jetting the carb would have made such a difference!

Travelling up the a49, with its wide sweeping bends was a delight, the engine being willing right through the rev range (the flat spot of old was gone),the speeds I was cruising at were at least 15mph higher than I was used to.

Not only that, the brakes were now so much better, and the looseness in the steering was now gone.making the whole package much more usable and enjoyable!

Thanks a lot, Pete. You certainly know your stuff.

Cheers, Steve ***********

24/07/2025

This is Fred. He was very poorly.
He is a recent Beachcomber rebuild that's been done here at Sparrow Automotive Ltd.
This car is a one owner from new. Bought when the owner was 18 years old.
This car had been well used over the years and then left in a garage for a long time. It was in a pretty poor state, requiring a new chassis, brakes, engine work, bodyshell rebuild, new interior, and roof.
It now has a special 652cc VGS engine kit with some of our extras, it bombs along very happily.
We are really glad to see it back out on the road and being used for lots of trips.

11/06/2025

2 hard-working A series utility vehicles.
Unusually, both in Jaune Helianthe.
The AZU delivers bread around Herefordshire and Worcestershire for
The pick-up is used on a small holding and move hay, straw, and goats around.
Both af these clock up a fair milage each year, it's good to see them being used properly.

09/06/2025