Having taken the dog to the vet today, an old English Bulldog who needs more than a little TLC, and seen Rob to discuss the painting process I didn't actually get much done.  What I did do was make a couple of shims for the door hinges and fit them.  I forgot to photo them though, donut, but it doesn't matter anyway as I made them from 1mm aluminium and they moved the door precisely 0mm, I need to make some more.

I am getting the car in paint though, two weeks on Tuesday which is fabulous news.  I have a lot of little things to do before then and I guess I need to start getting some stuff done instead of thinking about it.

• Seal hole in shroud at rear
• Cockpit trim
• Check windscreen and pillar fit
• Fix hanging loom to the rear of car    
• Fit screws to rear of bonnet apature on front shroud
• Fit M6 bolts on front O/S wing bottom edge
• Organise car transporter
• Get £800 together 
• Door gaps & shims
• Flat whole car
• Check bonnet / boot fit

Rob suggested that I flat the existing primer down and we re-prime it when it is in the paint shop which pleased me greatly as I am conscious that there are a few defects in the current primer.  He also thought that he knew somebody who could transport the car, great again.  

My wife reminded me that I had £500 that she had saved for me with her running exploits last year that I had clean forgotten about.  This is miraculous in several ways.  Firstly, it means that I have enough money to get the car painted and that is very good, very, very good indeed.  Secondly, I'm a hard working teacher that therefore has money challenges as a way of life so how the hell could I forget £500 in just a month, doh.

I should be able to do all the little bits and pieces required before the anticipated date.  I am super excited about this.  Once the car is painted it is nearly there.  In the UK currently I don't need a government test for the car or vehicle tax so all I need to do to drive it on the road is insure it.  Now the car runs, maybe not that well but it runs.  I will need to buy the seat foam and build the seats and buy the windscreen glass and fit that  but then I am away.  I guess that is a tad simplistic but it does feel like I could be out in the car this Spring and that is super, super exciting.

I gradually worked my way round the car putting the panels on for what I hoped was the last time.

Having done that it was pleasing to stand back and look at it as a car.  With all the panels the same colour it really looks like it is getting closer to the end.

I checked the cockpit trim and discovered that it was original as the numbers match the body number.  When I have changed so much of the car it seems a little daft to worry about such things but it felt nice all the same.

I started work on the rear trim which is something I have been a little worried about as all three sections I have are all miles out.  However, I found that two of them were much more malleable than I first thought and started to take shape.  I eventually settled on one and started to screw it on.  I added a couple of holes on the corners so that I could use extra screws and it is starting to take shape.

A lovely sunny Sunday in London can mean only one thing in January, it is freezing cold.  I had about 8 of the M3 bolts to tighten on the bottom of the rear shroud and to do it I had to have the garage door open.  For once I was fast.

Once done I set about the rear wings.  This is, I hope, the last time I see the inner wheel arch.

I have the small cross head screws on the front edge of both wings to fit tomorrow as I need some paint to dry.  Off for a bath I think.

Having enjoyed the new daily driver so much I am starting to think that the policy of keep modern vehicles for years is flawed.  Now say, if I were 24 and in possession of a brand new Porsche 911 I might be tempted to keep it for a life time but I'm not 24 and I don't have a 911 so I am going to change the car regularly.  I got to thinking that perhaps I should change the motorbike a little more often as well.  This killed Saturday.  Only window shopping now but everybody knows that is how it starts.

Sunday meant a little garage time.  I have watched a clip of the wonderful Australian chap who restored his 100/6 and video'd the lot and in it he modified a G clamp to install the rear shroud rivets so I thought I'd have a go.  I just couldn't get it to work and, well, I got bored and gave up.

I spent the day screwing up M3 flat head screws, it was particularly tricky to get the nyloc nuts on the screws.

I am pleased with the foam tape that I installed between the shroud and the boot floor.

Whilst working near the fuel tank I had become concerned that it stinks of petrol so I put a post on the AH Experience site to see if this is common.  A chap from California sells a stick on kit that effectively takes the fumes from the cap vent hole and exits them out of the boot area for $15 so I bought one.  Frustratingly the postage is also $15, flippineck.

I have three cockpit trims for the rear shroud and none of them fit well.  The first pair of photos are from the best of the bunch, I have some work to do here.

I met Rob in the pub last night and he is happy to paint the car at half term, 6 weeks tomorrow.  This feels really exciting.  I need to get the panels on properly and get all the cockpit trim on in that timeframe.  I probably need to get a move on with it all.

Take a look at this Daddy, not really designed for the London commute.

I noticed on one of my photos of other peoples 100 restorations that they had some type of tape stuck over the joint between the rear shroud and the boot floor which persuaded me to carry out the foam strip modification which I had planned years ago.  I wanted to do this as the joint between the two panels is not great and I don't want a gap.  I stuck the foam strip on then fitted the shroud for the final time, I hope.

I had also decided ages ago that I would use screws instead of rivets to connect the two panels.  Largely because I wanted the option of being able to remove it again in case it is needed.  I am not unhappy with the finished look.

The rivets that are supposed to go into the rail that crosses the rear end are looking too tricky to install so I will probably go with the screws there as well.  This is a trial fit.

Tomorrow is Christmas day and at the weekend I am lucky enough to be driving to Chamonix in France to go snowboarding for a week so it will be a while before I post again.

I fixed the leak, well at least I hope I did, by applying some plumbers tape to the thread and re-installing it.  I used yellow tape following a recommendation from Restonation.  Looking at this picture though I am now worried that the issue isn't the thread leaking but rather it is my soldering.  I really hope not as the tanks are approx £400 and that would hurt, a lot.

The tank back in place along with some Araldite on the joint as an extra precaution.

So I noticed a load of holes on the U channel that the boot lid sits in and began wondering what they are about.  I scour the Ahead 4 Healey's and Moss websites and find nothing so dig through some old photos and see on one that there appears to be some rivets on them.  I call AH4H who tell me that they have recently started selling these but not yet listed them at the grand price of £0.35 each so I bought a load.  I decided to drill the holes out for them in the inner body panel and paint the holes for rust prevention.  This means that I could not fit the shroud for the last time today, oh well.

 So I procrastinate by looking at the cockpit trim for the doors.  When I was speaking to AH4H I ordered a load of the screws needed for this as well.  Now at some point recently somebody told me that the way to fit these trims is to screw them up from the centre out and it occurred to me that it would be much better to do this before I paint the car.  Whoever it was that told me how to do it also made a passing reference to me having aluminium doors and hoped that, for my sake, they fitted as this method wouldn't work with ali.  I tried them on the doors today and to my great relief they fitted on the passenger side perfectly and reasonably well on my side, phew.

I will check the paperwork with the car to see it the numbers on the trim match the body number.  I'm not fussed if they don't, just curious.  As it is I haven't fitted the body number plate on the car and actually I realise that I don't have any number yet fitted, I guess I probably should do that.  Part of the reason for my indifference is that the Heritage Center couldn't find my car listed and so I don't have a certificate for it, a shame.  Now, I am not worried about the resale value as I am not going to sell it so it is just a thing that annoys me for some reason.  I am very pleased that they fit though.

After a few days of pre-Christmas festivities I was determined to get the rear shroud on for the final time but, as ever, I got side tracked.  About a week after I fitted the fuel tank for the final time I saw a part advertised on one of the suppliers websites that appeared to be a foam washer for the base of the tank and my heart sank.  I bought the part and have been waiting to fit it ever since.  I wanted to fit it before the shroud went on for the final time as it would be easier without the should in the way.

Now during the filling phase I have been pretty lazy at keeping the car clean as you can see below.  I discovered that this had a real advantage.

It can't be seen clearly in the picture below because in the process of making the discovery I cleaned off most of the filler dust.  In the area around the tank fuel pipe the dust had gone an odd light green colour.  When I wiped it I realised it was damp and on smelling it I became aware that it was contaminated with fuel meaning that I had a leak.  Damn. 

I have managed to get this nut undone and lift the pipe but not completely remove it.  I will get some plumbers sealing tape tomorrow and have a go at fixing it as I assume this is where the leak was.  I feel a little frustrated with this in some ways.  Whilst I am glad that I found the leak I am disappointed that I am having trouble with the tank again having spent so much time on it.  I did see one advertised second hand recently and wondered if I should have bought it but there is a part of me reluctant to give up on it having invested so much time on it so I didn't.

I did also fit the shroud and drill out the holes on the bottom of the boot floor which I subsequently painted prior to final fitment tomorrow.