Partial restoration
Your vehicle may not always be in need of a full restoration, but it may just require a little body work, or a refresh of its paint, an overhaul of its powertrain or some attention paid to the interior. At Thornley Kelham we’re equipped to deal with every part of the process of restoring a car, and we can pick and choose the skills and services most appropriate to your vehicle. We would be delighted to help.
Bodywork
Given the cost of a body restoration, we are always happy to try and find flexible ways of staging the work, and costing the various options. For example, extensive repairs of say, a pair of vintage wings or replacement with newly-made, accurate reproductions? Whatever work needs doing, or decisions need taking, we work with you to keep within agreed budgets as much as possible.
Paintwork
Your car may not need to be completely stripped, primed and repainted. You may instead simply be looking for paint repairs of certain damaged sections, or for us to bring new life to painted areas of the interior. Our services do, for example, extend to detailed airbrushing – we can repaint old dials and gauges either as original or to match other instruments on your dash; and sign writing, which will be used in house on both commercial and historic competition vehicles.
Coach Trimming
We are happy to carry out retrims of your car’s interior as a standalone project. We undertake all aspects of the craft, from a full retrim, to hoods and headlinings, tonneau covers and hood bags, carpets and rubber matting. If you are fortunate your car may have an original interior which simply needs revitalising – or even just a thorough clean. In many ways this is the best option – a patinated but sound leather interior adds a wonderful feel to a car. We have carried out leather recolouring and renovation – a job we entrust to an outside specialist – in fact the only person Jonathan Connolly recommends. Whilst only possible within a limited spectrum of colours close to your original, it can prove an attractive and cost-effective way to restore a tired interior.
Engine/Mechanical
In-house at Thornley Kelham we have both a machine shop and an engine building shop where we create bespoke parts for vehicles and rebuild engines from the ground-up. If any part of your classic car requires mechanical work, our team will be equipped to help. Whether you believe you require a complete gearbox overhaul, some subtle engine tuning or a more detailed assessment of your car’s overall mechanical condition we will have the necessary experience and expertise to help.
