Bodywork is not my forte, so a lot of hard work here, pulling, pushing, shoving, bending, filling, swearing etc. trying to get everything lined up as best as possible. It is amazing how some of these cars were built. The roof bracings are in totally different places on each side, accuracy was not a strong point in those years. The front end is a nightmare. In the factory the whole thing was assembled and then swung into place, being held with basically four bolts each side and one spring mounted bolt under the radiator, them shimmed to fit. Watch those old 50's movies very carefully, when the leaping car lands the front ends do all sorts of alarming things. When I finally fit the front up I will make sure I am stone cold sober!

Meanwhile, we are almost ready to get her painted. All metal work has been sprayed with self-etch primer filler, flatted, and I am almost happy with it. Then it's down to that old four letter word: CASH - then the real fun can begin. Sharon will be pleased when all the parts start disappearing from the spare room/conservatory /lounge/understairs etc. and the rooms become part of the house again instead of an extension to the garage. Personally I can not see what the problem is!! Anyway, I have been told to move the dashboard off the dining room table as everyone is waiting to eat - very inconvenient.

I sent the interior parts of to the platers (I use the term loosely) in the vague hope of finally rebuilding the dashboard, having at last got around to sorting out the instruments. The statutory fortnight elapsed, a quick phone call to arrange collection. Greetings were exchanged and a box of nicely wrapped parts handed over. Opening packet one, a fine chrome ashtray materialised and an amount of money changed hands. In the cold light of day a better examination could take place . . . the whole lot, excluding the ash trays were handed back to be stripped again. My cheese sandwiches had a better finish than some of the parts. To be slightly fair, some of the parts did have pitting in some difficult places and the detail may have disappeared with the polishing tool, but all in all a fairly s**t job. I am going to clean them up myself this time and let's hope the results are better than the last ones. Doesn't anybody do a good job at a reasonable price any more?

Having seen how each mark showed up or did not plate, I knew what I had to try and do.. In a way I can understand why some people are disappointed with the results they get. To clean mazek is b***y hard work. This system has worked for me and it is a lot cheaper than I originally thought. Obviously (?) this system is only really practical if you are prepared to do most of the work yourself and it is either almost impossible to find a replacement part, or the cost is out of your price range.

As already mentioned, get your favourite bits stripped, this did not cost me anything (I like that bit). I opted to mount a cutting disc into a drill in a drill stand, then by carefully using the edge for tricky bits and the flat underneath to try and keep everything in a reasonably flat plane, the grinding began. Just do a bit at a time so it does not get too hot and you will be surprised how many pit marks will start to disappear (and in some cases get bigger). Everything now starts to look like something from Chernobyl - but panic not. Smaller grinding balls, cones and discs were utilised for all those important little places one cannot normally reach. Finally using as fine a disc as I could find to get the best finish.