Retro Restoration

03/06/2026

Gwyns 61 back from the media blasters. Under estimated how long it would take to mask it out to protect the original paint before we Epoxy in the inner arches and underside. Almost there now though. Once that's done we can carry on with the metalwork 👍

21/05/2026

Few photos of 51 Tempo just before it was collected after fixing the damage to the door hinges and some localised metal and paint repairs. Such a cool truck 😎

18/05/2026

Excited for this year's Pre79 aircooled show. Last years show was great and we have been working hard on making this year's show even better. Hope to see you there.

Excited to say the TICKETS ARE NOW LIVE for next years Pre79 aircooled show.
Camping now included in the weekend ticket price!

We will be opening the show earlier on Saturday next year to make the show more of a 1.5 to 2 day show with a selection of aircooled cars, aircooled traders, food vendors and a bar and live music on Saturday. Music till late.

Sunday is still the main show day all about the cars from 10am till 4pm.

https://buytickets.at/pre79aircooled/1888447

14/05/2026

Rich brought his super original, low mile, low owner, UK Fasty for us to recommission.

We have started removing the wings for better access ready for the chassis and inner arches to be dry ice blasted. We have a couple of repairs to do to the front arches and bumper hanger once back from dry ice blasters.

We will be removing the engine before it goes for access to the engine bay and because the engine will be having a refresh as it has low compression on one cylinder. Also going to repaint the tinware and go through the engine bay retaining as much of the originality as possible. Note all the factory hardware 😎

We have replaced both front door trims/scrapers as they had rusted away and started to catch on the glass.

Rich supplied a set of NOS blue wing beading to replace the black sections which will be fitted after dry ice.

Also planning on going through all the brake system, suspension and steering components and will replace the fuel lines with top quality ethanol resistant while we are at it.

Such a cool car that we have the privilege of working on, not many UK cars left as un messed with as this 👌

11/05/2026

We spent the weekend over at Gavin pink at The Paint Shop learning about the NOVOL for Classic Car UK / NOVOL for classic car system.

The whole NFCC system is lovely - The polyester primer, epoxy primers and water based base coat were all really nice to work with. The direct gloss and Premium flow clear gave a lovely flat finish out the gun.

We already use a few Novol products and really like them so will be offering the complete NFCC system for restoration work, and the Novol Spectral range for general paintwork.

Thanks for a great weekend Gavin and Duncan.

01/05/2026

Repaired the hinges on the 1951 Tempo Matador - The door opens and closes lovely now as it should with good gaps.
We found a bit of rot on the quarter panel while prepping it ready to fix the damage caused by the door opening too far, so we got that repaired before painting.

There were a few areas of bodywork that needed some attention on the roof and quarter. Sorted those and got it painted today.

Still need to paint the door next week. It's been repaired, prepped and ready to go.

The rear arches have been straightened out and prepped ready for paint too so all 4 arches will be repainted black next week then its ready for collection.

29/04/2026

Stanford Hall and Hessisch prep - New clutch, front and rear gearbox mounts, starter bush, and a nearly nos exhaust muffler fitted. Starts and drives so much better now. Love this car, it's so original and un messed with. It's never been apart other than the back wings and running boards and I'm pretty sure thats the first time the engine has been out. Still loads of little jobs to do but going to be getting as many miles on this as I can over the next couple of months.

28/04/2026

We have a few videos on YouTube of the metalwork on the UK 56 Beetle we are restoring at the moment. If you are interested, here is the playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNWcbEsGdAlUTqzOKsFCuOR_3Coj20Vyh&si=eC6sXqdhDCqk-6B7