About Artisan MetalCraft
Artisan MetalCraft officially opened in July 2017. Based in Isleham, Cambridgeshire, roughly 25 minutes from Cambridge and 25 minutes from Bury St Edmunds.
Since opening, a wide variety of work has come through the doors, from all over the UK. The majority of work is Automotive based, but not exclusively...... from making Aluminium Fuel Tanks for Historic Race cars to full metalwork restorations on classic cars.
If you require an item to be hand made to a high standard then don't hesitate to get in touch.
About Me
Where do I start.........Leaving school at the age of 16 I had the chance to start a 4 year Advanced Modern Apprenticeship at a well known Motorsport Roll Cage company. I was moved around to each department for two years until the company went into receivership (now under new owners).
After that I started working for a local architectural metalwork company where I finished my Apprenticeship and gained my NVQ's. With the skills I had learnt it was clear that I was to be more involved with work that needed finesse and an eye for detail, this is where I became one of the main TIG Welders/sheet metal Fabricators.
After 11 years at that company I left to start my own business, Artisan MetalCraft.
If i'm not working on customers projects you'll find me working on my own projects. Coming from a family of Engineers and Petrol heads, it all started with classic Mini's, VW's and BMW's..... Some of which are still in my ownership.
Click on the images to see more of each vehicle, or for two full in-depth Build Threads on the M3 Powered BMW or the Classic Mini click the Pistonheads Buttons to the right (you'll need a few hours and a cup of tea).
The MK1 VW Caddy
Back in 2011 I bought this as an 'unfinished project', which I soon learnt wasn't such a good idea taking on someone else's work, it was bodged to say the least... full of fiberglass and filler with a quick spray job to make it sellable.
Things soon escalated, From rolling around on the driveway with a welder to eventually taking over my parents garage, the caddy was stripped down and all the bodges repaired, I even resprayed it in the garage... I am in no way a body worker/sprayer but I wanted to give it a go.
Then the modifications began,
The rear axle was flipped to lower it, and shortened for the deep dish wheels.
The wheels are fully Bespoke, I took some 13" steel wheels, cut the centres out and modified them to take 15" Dishes and Barrels. Sprayed the centres mint green and fitted 1974 Golf trims.
The Roof Rack and Luggage Rack are bespoke polished stainless steel, with white ash slats.
It has a Bespoke interior, A Bench Seat I Custom made which meant relocating the handbrake..... which I got from a bay window Camper, then modified it to fit in the Dash.
The side trims are all stainless steel strip, which were shaped and then polished to a mirror finish, these usually go unnoticed.
The Caddy is far from perfect, it was never intended to be a show car but built to be used.... but it still managed to win a few trophies.
There's many things I would like to revisit on it after 9 years, but I'd rather leave them as they are so I can see how far my skills have progressed.
The E46 BMW Compact Build ~ M3 Power
I bought this back in 2009 as a 325TI, It was used as a daily vehicle, driven all over Europe and numerous trips to the Nurburg Ring.
That was until the end of 2016, when it started to use an excessive amount of oil. It sat in the driveway for months until I decided what to do.
A road worthy E46 M3 donor car was bought, which I used for a while before stripping it for parts. And again, things escalated a lot.
Every part of the M3 undercarriage/running gear was stripped, media blasted and painted.
The entire underside of the Compact was bare-metaled, treated and recoated before fitting the M3 items.
It was a full nut and bolt rebuild.
The M3 engine had all the "preventative maintenance" before fitting.
There is far too much to list on here for all the Bespoke and One-off items in this build, with 1300+ hours into this it's quite a build! Click the above button for the Project Mpact Thread on PistonHeads.
The Classic Mini Build - not one for the purists.
Back in 2004 I was in an accident in my first car, a classic mini and said I'd never own one again.......
Three years later in 2007, I bought another but with a Metro Turbo engine, straight cut gearbox and all the 'go faster' bits.
But the body shell was a bit of a patchwork quilt, I tinkered with it for a couple of years but engine wasn't the most reliable.
I soon stripped it, the body shell was blasted to reveal some awful repairs. A massive amount of Heritage panels were ordered, not that they fitted well.
The only untouched panel was the passenger rear quarter.
Then the modifications began,
A full panoramic R53 Mini sunroof was 'fitted', the rear arch tubs remade and raised 30mm, entire boot floor fabricated to relocate the fuel tank...... the list goes on. I'm also planning on fitting a non-Mini engine, I'll update this as I go, it's going to be quite a build!.