by Andy Perman.

After a long delay in my blogs caused by lockdown 1 pausing all my work, then returning to work in June and still having to complete a year’s work in 6 months, I’m putting finger to key again now the Christmas holiday is here, so I’m taking a break from eating, drinking and lounging about to pick up the story which if you remember left off at the tail end of 2017, I’d arrived at my local garage and looked over a crashed VDP. It was time to do a deal!

I marched inside………..

‘I’m interested in the VDP’ I said to the now surprised owner, ‘can we have a chat’?
Oh, Err, OK was the reply. I was just going to get the displacers removed so I can sell them on EBay then scrap the rest as it’s not worth anything now it’s crashed, he said.. Thinking fast I said ‘OK, what do you reckon you will get for your displacers’? Worth 200 quid each all day long he said. They probably aren’t if not re-gassed but I let that go. OK I said, ‘I’ll give you £800 for the car and save you the trouble of taking the displacers off and arranging for scrap collection’. Err, OK I guess came the reply. ‘Brilliant’ I said, ‘let’s do the paperwork’

With the paperwork done and the money pressed into his hands, the chap left and I got the chance to have a chat with James the garage owner who was now wearing a massive grin. I need to ask a favour, Can I store the car here in your workshop until I get some storage and body shop sorted out? Already cleared that space over there for it he said, and give these guy’s a call in the New Year, they do all our refinishing, whilst handing me a business card. Perfect, a plan was forming, I needed to find a secure dry garage locally, get the bodywork repaired and tell the wifey I’d just bought another car! No pressure!

​After pushing the car inside and pulling a sheet over it, I said thanks again and drove home wondering how I was going to break the news to my wife.

It didn’t go too badly on reflection; I think she only swore twice but then calmed down significantly when I explained I’d be keeping it in a garage, not on the drive. Plus I added, all car parts are always £20 so it will be an investment!
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I phoned around the next day and got put on a waiting list for garages (who knew there was such a thing) and I phoned the body shop number James had given me. Ah yes, the chap said, we have spoken to James and already taken a look at the car this morning. All easily repairable but there is a problem. You are 28th in the queue so you’re looking at around August time before we can start, is that still OK? Perfect I said it will give me a chance to make it to the top of the garage waiting list!

With the blue VDP effectively parked as a project for the next 8 months I turned my attention to the Mirage one; the Enthusiasts group were having a meet in February at the Coventry Transport Museum, which gave me a few weeks to carry out some winter jobs. I’d ordered a set of new ball pin joints and a higher rated alternator which I wanted to fit. I’d also received a set of bronze bushes which were made by a fellow Allegro owner to replace the nylon ones inside the steering rack so I wanted to get that done too.

​As always I left things till the last weekend before the show so had a lot to do! The ball pin joints didn’t take long as they were brand new so no messing about with shims! The alternator also was a simple bolt-on job which gave me an extra 25 amps of power. The steering rack was slightly more complicated as it required complete disassembly on a part that was really designed to be replaced and thrown away. No boring details but the job went smoothly but took a long time as there were so many parts and stages!

The following Saturday morning dawned bright and c c c c c c cold! But the drive up and back went fantastically and was a great chance to have a chat and catch up with everyone. Even our intrepid Eric Dalton drove all the way from Montrose (Scotland) to be there. Fairly sure the show has been covered in detail by Mike or Gar in a previous blog so I won’t dwell but it was great to meet everyone again.

The next few months nothing really happened, I didn’t make the Brooklands show due to work commitments but had received a call from the body shop saying they were still on track and were anticipating starting the VDP in August. They also said there would be some trim parts I might like to source in the meantime. After a few posts on the owner’s pages a friend of mine said ‘I’ve a whole boot lid you can have that has all the trim items attached to it. Do you want to come and get it?

Well there were skid marks on the drive the following weekend, my friend owns a LOT of classic cars so it would be a fun day. First stop was his underground garage where he keeps a few of them, and lots of parts so we picked up the boot lid which was in great condition but painted brown; no problem the body shop can paint that, but plenty more of that later. We were just loading up when another friend rocked up and said ‘are you coming to Waterloo classics now’? Jon said. ‘I’d forgotten about that, shall we go in the model T’? Gods yes! Anyone that has been in one knows they are huge fun, but on the streets of London are truly terrifying! They have two speeds, about 10 miles an hour, or about 40 miles an hour! Nothing in between, so after getting the model T started 5 minutes later we were bouncing round the streets of London at what seemed pantaloon filling speeds! Huge scary fun.

The next few months, May through to July there were a number of my usual shows plus a tour of the Peak District organised by Phil Allin. A brilliant weekend, already well covered in a previous blog and over a thousand miles clocked up. I managed to call in to Caudwell Mill on the way home which is a fascinating place with lots of history, however they were currently modifying the mill's turbines to generate electricity giving a modern use for the old machinery, as I said fascinating and well worth a visit.

2nd week in July I got a call from the body shop saying they were ready to take the car the following week and could I get any parts to them in readiness. So the following week I took the parts into them to find they had already picked up the car and wanted to speak to me. I was walked round the car by the paint guy who started pointing out things I hadn’t noticed, plus a fair few dings and battle scars I had. He said ‘we can repair the damage and paint the affected areas but it will look like a crash repaired car, or we can do the whole car for £800 more’….. well I nearly bit his hand off, just do the whole car please. A decision I’m so pleased I made.

August was a busy month, there was the steam rally over the first weekend, one of my favourite shows as there is so much to see and do. Then the following weekend was the Somerset and Scrumpy tour where the Gar weather was on point, actually flooding a few peoples tents so badly they went home! Again, well covered in a previous blog.
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The following weekend was MOT time, which passed with no problems and the inspector commented on the number of miles I’d clocked up, over 2.5K in the year. Whilst I was there I got a message from the council saying I was next on the list and a garage had become available in a block that was 5 minutes walk from my house and would I come and sign the contract and collect the keys. Result!

​Then during the last week the body shop said the car was ready, would I like to pick it up!

To be continued………..

by Gar Cole.

The Group grille badges have always been received warmly by our members with very positive comments in the quality and detailing. A common question I'm asked is why it takes over 8 weeks to make just 60 - 80 badges, well last year I was invited to our suppliers workshop for a tour; if you're interested in top quality old-school British craftsmanship then read on.

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There are no computers on the shop floor, just old-looking mechanical presses and other interesting devices. The badges start by being stamped out from a sheet of 2.5mm thick steel. Once the desired amounts are cut they are individually smoothed around the edges with a belt wheel, then placed into a clamp where there are stamped with our design using our custom tool head.

Now the artistry starts; the writing and outer edges of the flag are raised with the coloured areas recessed from the press, the white, red and blue enamel paint is applied by hand (fascinating to watch), the outer lettering is also covered in white paint at this point as is the centre writing in the middle of the flag in red paint.

Once applied the badges are 'cooked' in the oven for 30 mins at 220f. Following this they are allowed to cool and 'stabilise' for 24hrs. The next process is to lightly sand the leading face; this carefully removes all the enamel paint from the raised surfaces of the lettering, outer ring and the flag borders which re- exposes the base steel metal on the raised surfaces.

After cleaning , the coloured areas are filled in with a type of wax using a tiny pipette - this protects the paint from the next process. The badges are then dipped in a large bath of bubbling steaming chemicals firstly for a short 20 seconds, then twice more, each time progressively longer to build up the 'Rose Gold' plating which interestingly is their most expensive finish - we do like quality in this group.
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Following the plating process they are hung to cool again, then the protective wax covering the paint is dissolved in a solution. Finally the newly-plated rose gold finish is polished to a bright shine on a finishing belt machine. All very labour-intensive, but the quality speaks for itself; currently available to buy below.