The tyres are now on the wheels and looking fabulous.

I bought new spinners from MWS and they also look fabulous.

Together and on the car I am delighted with how they look.

During the past week I had fitted the rivets to the seat backs.

I turned my attention to the wipers having read a post on the Austin forum that showed how to strip them down so I am again, striping down the wiper unit but this time I will also go to the two areas I didn't before, the armature and the final gear used to drive the wipers.

I did glue the second seat back strip in place.

I then set about installing a few of the bits that I had painted blue a while back.  I am very unsure about the bonnet rod bracket, will have to look for photos of that area on other peoples cars  to check.

I had another go at the grille and feel a tad happier about it now, will wait for the paint to dry on the washers and then trial fit.

I striped the air filters down, de-rusted and painted them.

I then turned my attention to the wiper motor.  I striped it and cleaned the old grease out and then re-assembled it but the damn thing still didn't work. 

I glued one half of the wooden seat back to the car first of all so that I could hopefully do the second half just before I retire for the day.  Then I got distracted by the new stick on number plates that arrived this week.  I lightly rubbed down any high spots in the lacquer, degreased it and went for it.  The plates looked massive when I held them but seem proportionate on the car.   I'm not sure why but I don't feel like small plates would work on this car, I may change my mind in due course but for now it is full size with white numbers.

I fitted the panels that sit behind the grille next and am pleased with the look.

Now, I have had a recent problem with the horn.  Every time I turn the battery cut-off switch on the horns blast constantly.  I had disconnected them to avoid having to deal with the issue but now that I have fitted the panels above I had to reconnect them which means I needed to deal with the issue.

I tracked down a short circuit between the wires to the steering column and decided to bite the bullet and remove the horn push.  The reason for the hesitancy is that this means all the recently added oil can poor out of the steering box, a very odd design.  I discovered the problem (you can just see the silver wire showing through the insulating material below) and rectified it.

I went to try the wiper motor but couldn't get any joy although it is not at all clear how to wire it up.

Whilst waiting for the needles I decided that I had enough information on the seat cover now to allow me to strip off the remaining original seat back.  It didn't seem as rusty as the passenger side seat but had more actual damage to it which I can only assume is due to more use?  The top of the seat back was a tad weak and bent out of shape so I decided to make a supportive plate and weld it in.  The holes where the seat mounts to the base were also elongated so, again I decided on welding on some support.  Also, the actual shape of the seat wasn't as good as the passenger side.  In other words it didn't align with the base as well as the passenger side had done.  Also, frustratingly, the join I had made in the material covering the base signed up in an unfortunate position to the back, damn.

I had exhausted my supply of POR15 paint so used a new tin of Hammerite which doesn't look quite so smart, hey ho, the POR15 was three times the price and I think I have done all the painting I need to so it will do, especially as it is to be completely covered.

I turned my attention to the bonnet catch mechanism.  The bracket below sits on the underside of it and I can see it is handed but I don't know what way round it goes.  Some research needed.

I went to trial fit the mechanism and asked my wife for a hand as I knew I wouldn't be able to do it single handedly and then changed my mind and opted for a set of rivet nuts instead.

I am going to drive to Southampton tonight after work to collect my wheels which is really exciting.  Also, the leather needles arrived in the post after a month or so which means I can finish the first seat this weekend, also very exciting.

Last night, Friday night, I was sat on the sofa having a chilled discussion with my wife when this email came through from Richard at Tudor wheels to say that my wheels were read and was accompanied with this photo.  How damn cool so they look, I am totally over excited.

Today I went to the garage to continue on the seat cover.  I followed the photos on the Boras Motor Corporation website, they have been so helpful that I emailed the company and the owner emailed me back to thank me for my feedback.  It was nerve wracking cutting the leather all the same.

And it wasn't easy, so much so that I sliced a little piece of my finger off in the process, donut.

I don't think the finished product is very photogenic.  In real life the creases shown in the photos hardly stand out.  I am very happy with it.  My only frustration is that the job can't be finished because I don't have the curved needles required to stick up the very last section.  I have ordered some but they are taking months to arrive, damn.