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Ok, it's Friday and there's more news on the restoration front. Arrived home yesterday after the bodyman had left and had to run a few errands, so wasn't able to sit still long enough to post about what work has been done. Happy to report that the bootlid is now smooth as an egg and fits perfectly in the opening. He managed to get a superb gap all around it. I'm amazed. I can finally open and close the lid without it scraping down one side.

When i got in tonight i found that the rear panel is all rubbed down and smooth to touch. Nothing much really to get excited about here as it was in good shape to start with. It was matt black before from a Halfords spray can. Looks so much different seeing it in primer and so much bigger when the lights and number plate are taken off. I think i'll have it the same colour as the rest of it when the colour goes on. I didn't like the matt black look anyway. I thought it
was ok when i did it but the finish you get from a can never seems to stay that way for very long. I'll post pics if i can find some of how it was. What a difference. I keep going out to the shed for another look. I'm at home tomorrow so i'll be able to pick this guy's brains a bit and take some good pics of work in progress.
I'll also be able to make a start on the wiring loom and other bits that i have to do to get it running again. Really happy with how this is moving along.

Pics on the way.

Thanks, TQ. Excellent rate of progress. I'm at home today but i wasn't able to do any work cos the bodyman wouldn't have it. He needs to work alone and in peace apparently. Don't know how he copes when he's at his workplace if that's the case. Whatever, if it helps him to get the job done then i'll stay out of his way. Today he managed to get both of the sills refitted and one side is already levelled off and ready for primer! I'm so pleased, this is coming along much faster than i thought it would. I have some pics that i'll post a bit later on. They don't look like much compared to what i've posted so far but having seen what he's done i have every confidence that it'll be ok.

The panel gaps at the back are just superb. Bodyman says that he'll work the doors and get the same gaps around them so it's all uniform. This bloke really knows his stuff. At this rate i'd better start looking to find an upholsterer to get it retrimmed cos this geezer reckons he'll have the doors and sills in primer by Tuesday 2.00pm. That's only 3 days from now. Last week i would have said it wasn't possible but looking at the car now i'm not so sure. I'm really surprised at how it's shaping up. I had another paintshop over to see it a couple of weeks ago and the bloke told me that they wouldn't do it. When i asked if he could at least tell me how long a job like this one would take he said a minimum of 6 months, probably closer to 10 months. I don't know. I suppose it just shows that you really do need to hunt around and talk to more than one person.

I have some mates stopping by later on to have a look at what's been done. They'll be stunned. I'll sort out some pics and post them up as soon as i can.

Yep, i have a wireless connection so that i can update from my shed. Handy for reference photos as well. Havn't posted in a couple of days due to bad connection. It seems ok with text but doesn't like images very much. Have some more to share coming up.

My shed PC is always logged into this forum. It's my default forum.

Yep, this guy is flying. He isn't an easy bloke to talk to. I spent last Saturday in the shed with him and he didn't talk once, other than to answer something that i had asked. He eats more than he talks. I've never seen another human eat so much food and i mean that. My wifes mates came over last week just to watch for themselves. I should give Guiness world records a call.

Anyhow, bodyman finished his work on Thursday morning just gone and the car was hauled off to their bodyshop to have the primer applied. I'll post up some pics of how it looked when it was rolled out into the daylight. I'm really happy with the results. This guy is way more fussy than i am. He measured and marked out the gaps around the doors with a pencil and then shaved the excess off very carefully. There were a few places that he re-worked before the truck arrived, even though they looked brilliant from my point of view. He's filled out a daily log which i will get a copy of when the job is finished and i'll post up the exact time the job has taken. I'll also add up how much pizza and chinese food it took him to get the car looking like it does now.

I'm very satisfied with how it looks now. I had Colins pics to act as a target and i reckon my bloke has done it. I can't fault anything so far.

Pics on the way.

Here's a couple of pics with the primer. I'm amazed at the difference.

Bromley Pageant of Motoring - The biggest one day classic car show in the world.

And todays winner as chosen by Etypeaters goes to a346 skm

Undecided on a shade of blue, TQ, not green. Couldn't have it in green. I'm too used to seeing it in blue. Besides, i won't have to send my logbook off to the DVLA if i leave it in blue. If only i could just pick one. I've seen plenty that i like.
Thanks, Colin. I'm dead pleased with how this guy did his thing. All the door and bonnet rubbers are present. This was one of Bodymans' requests. There were a couple of things the estimator guy said i would have to do and that was to leave all the rubbers on. I see why now. Another one was to make sure that the doors would open and shut accurately, regardless of how it looked in the aperature. I showed him pics of your car to act as a kind of target.

Thank you for the comments, fellas. I seem to be having an issue with the pics, TQ. I have had to take some from out of my forum album to make room for new ones but doing this seems to have deleted some of the ones that i posted in this thread earlier. Is this correct? If so, how can i expand my album space?

Or can't i?

I'll add a few pics when i know what's going on.