Restoration & Preservation

We specialise in the preservation and restoration of all makes and marks of classic and sports cars. Our services include everything from scratch repairs to full restorations. This is a one stop shop for all our clients needs.

If we can’t do it in house, thats not a problem as over the years we have forged relationships with many outside contractors for the likes of Chrome plating, Powder coatings, Wooden dash refurbishment, Engine machining, casting etc. Together we can return your vehicle to its original condition & specification.

Great care is taken with all classic car restorations. Many restorations over the years have been, and remain to be prize winning examples.

Mercedes Benz world in Surrey (below)

Its quite humbling when Mercedes UK find the quality of our restoration good enough to purchase & put on permanent display at their headquarters in the UK 

The car as discovered in the early 80’s it belonged to a lighthouse keeper (above)

                                                               Our rhd Porsche 356A Coupe in the paint booth

Our rhd Porsche 356 at the 2013 Porsche Concours winning both its class & overall 

The Border Reivers Pre-A Coupe takes the top award at the 2016 Porsche Concours, winning again both it’s class & overall

 

    Winning international concours awards for over 30 years

 

 

 

 

Border Reivers Porsche 356A Speedster.

Winning at the Porsche National Concours  (premier class) Silverstone international

 

 

 

 

 

Roy Kunz Detailing our 356 before the Concours (above)

Tom in California 1998 (above) when he purchased the black speedster (below) someone had changed the colour in 1976 to yellow. It was fully restored by Tom.

Tom and Richard working at the Porsche factory in Stuttgart (below)

Getting taught how to straighten the then current 993

Colin McRae / Robert Reid Rally winning Ford Escort NUS 877P (below) Converted to Group 4 (widebody) by Colins Uncle (below) Group 4 widebody being removed and put back to standard narrow body as rallied by Colin McRae (below) What should have been a straight forward job,grew arms and legs as we found body damage filler, poor gaps & more. We decided to renew the outer bodypanels. Doing the job correct is the Border Reivers way.

Porsche 911T. This is how our Porsche arrived (below) prior to our preservation works

Refit starting after restoration (above).

            The finished car (below)

Another international find. This 1957 Porsche 356A in right hand drive (below) was purchased by Tom in Cyprus. It was so beautiful & rust free, the only thing that was non original was the paint it had been painted at some point & the colour changed to white

Cutting the new paint back before polishing it to a mirror finish

And what do our customers think of our workmanship

Tom,

The 911 Speedster arrived safely and is now tucked up cosy.

Had a really good look over the car yesterday and it really is superb!
I am absolutely delighted with the finished article. Thank you to you and your team for a sensational job.

Best Scott (October 2014)

The above is from a new customer who contacted us through our website. We carried out a complete mechanical overhaul and service, a complete re-trim in the original special order Can-Can red leather, 2 new front wings and a full repaint.

And for the same client this Daimler SP250 (below)

Thanks Tom
I have just taken delivery of the Daimler SP250 and it is fabulous.
The quality of the paintwork and brightwork is absolutely stunning. It is hard to believe that you can achieve that quality of paintwork on a glassfibre body. Your team is to be congratulated. I cannot wait for the next sunny day to take it for a run!
Sincere thanks for a job expertly done.
Regards Scott (July 2015)

We often get calls from people, who love their car as it’s become part of the family however sometime life just passes bye and the old car in the garage gets neglected. When they realise that they will never get around to putting it back on the road, they offer it to ourselves . Now with improved values in classic cars it allows Border Reivers to restore more of these wonderful gems.

This Austin Healey Sprite is an example of a barn find offered to ourselves after 40 years in storage. A few years back this would have been broken for spares however with the increase in values its now feasible to restore and preserve.

In storage since 1969 due to failed motOriginal steel bonnet included (above)All new floors inc boot floor paintshop (above)

Also some preservation being done to this early pull handle MGB roadster (below)

The finished article

(Below) Our 2016 Monte Carlo Rally entrant before and after the Border Reivers treatment. It was transformed from a stage rally car, to a rally capable, marathon car suitable for the likes of the Monte-Carlo Historique.

Our Porsche 911/964 race car (below) had just been painted before our purchase however it was apparent it had a fair amount of filler on the body so we stripped it back to the metal and found some repairs were 3 inch thick with filler,we removed the equivalent of 6 tins of bondo/filler. It should be quicker now !!!

Before (above)

Some hideous previous repairs being stripped out (above)

In primer & the interior colour being applied (above)

Ready for the top coat (above)

Top coat being applied

and the finished car (below)

Fresh engine rebuild (above).

 

This clients Porsche 911E is receiving a full bare metal repaint (below)

New front crossmember (above)

The finished car (above) and the owners comments ….. (December 2016)

Hi Tom

I finally picked the Porsche up from the freight company today (Melbourne) and it is even more divine in real life!

You and your team have done an amazing job – I am very grateful for the attention to detail – thank you.

The file and books with the car are quite extraordinary. It really makes me feel that this car has been cherished for a very long time. I’ll try to live up to that level of care for the foreseeable future!

I’ll send you some pictures when I get it properly registered and out on the open road.

Anyway, I hope that you are well and business is good. My parents arrive from Sussex in a few weeks time for a Xmas visit so I’m looking forward to taking my father out for a spin. I can blame him for my love of nice cars 😉

Thanks again for everything, Tanya

Tanya with her newly registered Porsche 911E in Australia, Jan 2017 (above) 

Our 2nd Reivers Edition (currently going throught the workshop, below)

As found above

  

Auld faithful. Our 1957 VW Pick-up gets a fresh lick of paint (below)

The strip down (Totally rust free, just slightly off colour)

New top coat (white)

Masking off for the blue

Ready for clear coat

The clear coat

Finished above

When it’s not dragging our 356 around its hauling boats (Monaco) 2015 (above)

We’re frequently asked about kidney bowls on 911’s. Not a major issue if the rest of the cars good.

You can see from our bodyshop images, just whats involved in doing them correctly. We cut through and remove the quarter panel/rear wing to get proper access to the bowl/post areas & whilst we are in their its false economy not to fit a new B’post at the same time. Once the new panels are welded & treated the rear wing section is re-welded back into place. This is on a 911 Turbo we did for a client.

Wing, bowl & b’post removed

Bowl being tried up (below)

The finished article (below)

2nd example below (930 Turbo)

Another exciting project ( THE REIVERS EDITION ) a RHD Porsche 356A from 1958 seen below in South Africa (the year is 1974)

Jump 42 years. (the years 2016) The car is found in Amsterdam, any excuse to visit Amsterdam, right?

*Note the kitchen drawer handle on the boot lid on both images*

 

The real stripping starts now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Floors now in place (welding almost finished)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rear bumper (below)

Long range tank (below)

Modifying the hood to accept the long range tank whilst allowing for a quick fill filler cap

 

Primer 

Time to 1st fit all parts before primer to ensure the perfect fit

Car in Epoxy primer

Etch primer and seam sealer

1st coat of stone guard

The car is given a dark guide coat to ensure the whole car is blocked out properly.

At this stage the panels are refitted to ensure a final perfect fit

Mechanicals 

Whilst the bodywork is being restored. The engine, gearbox and all the mechanicals are also being restored/rebuilt or replaced.
As it’s an all matching numbers car we are eager to preserve all the main components. The mechanicals as in the pictures below have been stripped to the last nut.
Properly cleaned, zinc plated / chromed /powder coated / painted,  whatever is needed to bring them back to an as new condition. Bagged and tagged ready for the reassembly .

Rebuilt Gearbox (below)

The finished car