By Anthony Osborne.

Having been disappointed with the evening meal at the Arch Inn I was pleased to find that breakfast was up to the standards that we had been enjoying. I didn’t spot any croissants!
We set off for the loch Broom Filling Station where copious litres of E5 petrol were taken on board the convoy, replenishing the tanks after the previous day’s run.
We had a brief stop at Loch Kirkaig to admire the view and stretch the legs. An Aston Martin coming the other way stopped and I had a chat with the occupants comparing notes as they were driving the NC500 in the anti-clockwise direction. ​

​After some bracing fresh air, we were off again through some more fantastic scenery, both at sea level and in the hills and mountains, on substantial roads and on single track lanes between stone walls. The driving was certainly fun again although it did require a lot of concentration at times.

​Whilst we were enjoying cake Henry managed to get a new driver, although he struggled to reach the pedals with any of his four feet so gave the car back to Gus.

Anyway, after refreshment alongside the magnificent bridge we hit the road again with just a further 125 miles to go!
As we headed up to Durness, which was about as far North as we could go on the West Coast, before turning East the roads varied from single carriageway with street lighting to narrow single track with passing places. The scenery remained fantastic.  ​

​At Durness we took a left turn down a lane to the Balnakeil Craft Village where we had a look around in damp, dull and windy conditions. The Meet and Eat Café served excellent coffee and cakes which many of us enjoyed, taking over much of the café in the process. We also visited a craft shop and the Coco Mountain outlet there as well. Refreshed we returned to the road on our journey across the North of Scotland in an Easterly direction. For most of us the next stop was the Sea View Hotel at John O’Groats.

​However, for the last four days Betty had been towing Henry’s trailer because Gus was concerned about a knocking noise which was believed to be coming from the front UJ on the prop shaft. Gus had put an appeal out on the Group Facebook area for assistance and Vincent from Turso responded offering garage accommodation and he even obtained an UJ for the job. The plan was for Henry and his trailer to be left with Vincent overnight with Gar bringing Gus on to the hotel. The following morning Gar would take Gus back to sort Henry out. Thus Gus and Gar ventured into Thurso whilst the rest of us headed on to the Seaview Hotel in the rain.

​On our left, to the North, suddenly looming out of the gloom was a large spherical building with many other buildings around it. Of course, this was the former Dounreay Nuclear Power Station. The plant was opened in 1955 and three reactors – the Dounreay fast reactor, prototype fast reactor and the Dounreay materials test reactor – were built over the next 20 years. It was fully shut down in 1994, but a massive and complex clean-up operation remains ongoing.

​We all safely arrived at the Seaview Hotel in torrential rain, most of us being soaked as we took our cases into the hotel to check in, Gar and Gus catching up with us a little later. Some of the team took a walk down to the Visitor Centre, in the dark, to see the John O’Groats sign post there. On their return we all congregated at a large table that had been reserved for us in the restaurant, a similar sized group of cyclists occupying another large table. The beer and food were good as well as the excellent company.
After somewhere in the region of 185 miles during the day it is probably fair to say that a good night’s sleep was had by all!

To be continued ...

By Anthony Osborne.

Having left Skye over the bridge to the mainland our first call, to satisfy the wishes of Fat Controller, Gar, was to Eilean Donan Castle on its own island in Loch Duich.  ​

Passing places were visited often to allow traffic coming in the other direction to pass. Near the top of the pass we encountered a series of hairpin bends and then the road levelled out with a car parking area at the highest point of the road, the Bealach Na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) view point.  ​

It was a little cool outside the cars but some brave souls braved it in their ‘T’ Shirts! It was a magnificent view point but lacked any amenities, just a level area with a Triangulation Point at one edge.  ​

To be continued ...

By Anthony Osborne.

​Black Five number 45407, built for the LMS by Armstrong Whitworth in 1937 pulled the Jacobean, consisting of a rake of seven maroon BR Mk1 Coaches, across the viaduct creating an impressive scene with the driver opening the throttle creating a cloud of exhaust (steam) as the train accelerated away from Glenfinnan to continue its onward journey to Mallaig.
Our little convoy left the Glenfinnan car park and, like the Jacobean, also headed up towards Mallaig where, as we approached, we could see the Jacobean simmering at the station. We drove round the harbour of this small fishing village to the other side of the bay, dodging tourists who seemed to be hell bent on being run over irrespective of how slowly we drove, where we found parking space for us all and an excellent view of vessels entering or leaving their moorings. Someone found that there were public loos adjacent to a car park opposite the railway station and those in need investigated the service provided. It was a bit disconcerting to discover that you could only enter by swiping your contactless card from which 40p was extracted! I dread to think what happened to anyone without a credit or bank card in their wallet! With our check-in time approaching we retraced our steps to the harbour and joined the queue for embarkation on the ferry, ‘Loch Fyne’ to Armadale on the Isle of Skye.

We were not allowed to check in until 4:30 pm so we enjoyed a natter on the small jetty whilst we waited for Reception to open.  ​

​This was a lovely hotel with excellent food and beer. It was also our most expensive hotel of the tour. One aging waitress was most entertaining with her negative attitude to the diners, she was lovely!
However, wherever we were young Brian always seemed to have a problem. At the Hotel Eileen Iarmain he was unable to stand by the four poster bed without walking sideways there was that little room between the bed and the wall. At least it was on the ground floor this time!

To be continued ...

By Anthony Osborne

​Whilst we enjoyed our lunch break some kayakers came ashore and soon disappeared with their boats on car roofs. They appeared to have enjoyed a brisque paddle on the loch.

Having crossed Lock Etive we again proceeded up the coast with the next superstructure being the Ballachulish Bridge which was of a similar construction to the Connel Bridge, this time over the entrance to Loch Leven from Loch Linnhe.  ​

To be continued ...

By Anthony Angus Osborne.

After filling ourselves with breakfast at the Gables Hotel we set off in a convoy of six cars for the first time. The first requirement was petrol, E5 preferably as the cars were not designed to run on ethanol, and this was found not far from the hotel.  ​

​We then ventured further into Scotland with our next destination being the River Clyde at Glasgow. Here we were to visit the Riverside Museum.

​The displays were remarkable with cars on shelves just like some of my Dinky Toys were in my youth!

​Gar and Brian were walking along admiring the cars when one asked the other if Eric Dalton, an active member living near Edinburgh, had ever been to this museum. They looked up and much to their amazement he was walking towards them! It was great to catch up with Eric and Fiona, his wife, even if they had come over in their modern Ford.
Having had some time to look at the various trains, ships and cars it was time for a tea or coffee and then back to the cars. In the car park we said our goodbyes to Eric and Fiona and headed out of the Glasgow conurbation, northwards into the hills.
Driving up the side of a rather large valley we were suddenly brought to a halt by a set of traffic lights, miles from anywhere. They were controlling traffic round some road works but it almost felt as if we were back in Birmingham as we had to wait that long! The lights went to green and we continued up the valley finding a lay-by where we parked for a comfort break, several of the local trees being well watered! There were many cars coming and going in the lay-by but one seemed to attract more attention than most. They were completing a sponsored charity run of the NC500 in a car costing less than £500. I hope that they succeeded without losing any of their Little Tyke cars!

​Our destination for the night was the Cairndow Stagecoach Inn on the banks of Loch Fyne.
Off the main road and down a narrow lane we arrived to be welcomed at the hotel where we checked in and the more energetic members of the group went for a walk to examine the local church. The preacher looked very familiar!

After a lovely meal and the odd drop of a suitable alcohol we retired to our beds, the second of our holiday.

To be continued ...

By Anthony Osborne

​Gar is very relieved when Betty, his trans Ford Mondeo, actually passed its MOT with only two advisories after some extensive surgery and with less than 24 hours to go to departure!.

​Garry Brooks (Gus) left home in South Yorkshire in his J C Midge, ‘Henry’ but as there isn’t room for a toothbrush in Henry he was towing a trailer with all sorts in it, including his toothbrush! Pat and Anthony Osborne set off from Worcestershire in Pat’s black MGB GT, ‘Bill’, Ian and Sarah Woodward departed from Leicestershire in Ian’s white Granada Estate and Gar Cole set off from the outskirts of Birmingham in his very early trans Ford Mondeo, formerly known as ‘Barry’ but now answering to the name ‘Betty’, all heading northwards. Donnington Services was the rendezvous location for the ‘Leader of the pack‘ Cole, the Woodwards and the Osbornes who then headed across country to the M6. It would appear that everyone, other than John and Kevin, had an uneventful journey meeting up at the Gables Hotel in Gretna Green.

​​In the car park the two MGB GTs had parked either side of a Triumph TR6, the owner of that feeling a little disappointed that he was so outnumbered!

​Outside the Hotel there were other interesting cars including a Porsche and a Bristol 412.

​Our holiday had begun at last.

To be continued ...

Group member and one-time official Longbridge Site Historian Anthony Osborne presents a virtual guided tour of Lord Austin's historic office at Longbridge.

Back in 2004 I was grabbed by the PR guy, Kevin, at 'The Austin' who said he wanted to borrow my car. His question confused me as I knew that he had a lovely Rover 75 Management car and I was driving round in a rusty old, but wonderful, Montego Estate (because I was tight-fisted and didn’t want to rent a management car myself). On asking which car he would like to borrow he replied my Austin 12, Herbert. I suggested that he let me know when he wanted to borrow it and I would bring it in. However, having worked for over 30 years at Longbridge I should have known that nothing was simple!

The car was required at RAF Coningsby, home of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), on 29th July. My boss had, I was informed, already given permission for me to be kidnapped by the PR department so it was all signed and sealed and the request was made just to be polite! I certainly would not have refused anyway.

I drove from Redditch to Coningsby and arrived on time with only one problem. I had the opportunity to overtake a lorry and in Herbert if it can be done it has to be done, that’s the law. Unfortunately, the lorry was slowing down to take the turn that I was meant to take. Too late; I was past both the lorry and the junction.

​I took the next left off the dual carriageway onto a country lane, then another left and I was heading for the road I should have been on. As I approached the T junction where I was to turn right, the traffic was fairly heavy in both directions. However, as I reached the stop line a car went from left to right as a tractor was holding the traffic up approaching from the right. A large gap allowed me to get out onto the road, the large gap being needed as my 0-60 acceleration takes about three days!

​The car now behind me got closer and closer then started flashing its headlamps. By this time, I was still accelerating but probably doing about 40 mph so I thought it was a miserable git wanting to go faster. It became apparent that it was Kevin in his Rover 75 with a couple of his guests who knew me. When he did overtake me, I followed him to the wrong entrance of the airfield. I then guided them to the BBMF visitor’s car park, having visited previously and knowing the patch, and all was well.

The visit was a PR session with quite a few customers and guests of MG Rover Group there. We gathered in the Visitor Centre from where we were collected and taken to the BBMF operational offices and deposited in the Conference room. Coffee was provided and the Squadron Leader gave a presentation about the BBMF and the aircraft collection. Afterwards we split into groups and had a guided tour.

After the most interesting guide trough the hanger we were ushered onto a coach and driven to the Officers Mess where a Silver Service luncheon awaited us. It was a pity I was driving as the red wine was rather nice and was flowing freely! On arrival back at the BBMF accommodation I was allocated a young flying officer. We collected the Herbert from the visitor’s car park and drove to the main gate where there was a slight issue with paperwork.

​This was cleared before the barrier went up and we were allowed onto the airfield. My escort guided me to the BBMF hanger and apron where I was parked up in front of the Lancaster for a photoshoot. Also parked there were a Rover 75 Tourer and an MG ZTT, both in silver, which were on long term loan to the BBMF (they loved MG Rover as these two cars were so much better than the Government issue Vauxhall Corsas!). 

PR Photographs were taken, all products of Longbridge although PA474 was built by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd at its Broughton factory near Chester and was therefore just representing the 330 Lancasters built at Longbridge. Everyone was allowed to wander around the aircraft to have a good look. After a while someone shouted 'Cars out of the way please, the Lanc takes off in 10 minutes”. ​​And that is where my troubles started.

I jumped into Herbert, who had been enjoying a lot of attention, turned the ignition on and pressed the Start button (yes Austin got there long before BMbleedingW!) and absolutely nothing happened. Herbert obviously wanted to stay in the sunshine by his slightly younger new, winged, friend! Frustrated, I declined the push start offered by others in the party, as there were quite a few people watching, and got the starting handle out. Herbert fired on the first half turn. I parked the him up out of the way as instructed. That was the only time he played up and, of course, he had to do that with the maximum number of people watching.

Shortly after we watched the Lancaster fly off, with its escorting Spitfire and Hurricane, we were called over to their Dakota also parked on the apron. 

We were told to climb aboard and have a look, so our group did just that. It was interesting as the interior was laid out as it would have been when it was used to drop parachutists over France the eve of ‘D’ Day back in 1944. Interest levels were raised even more when we were told to sit down and put a seat belt on. The engines were started and we rolled from the apron onto the RAF Coningsby runway and up into the air!

Whilst in the air we were able to wander round and have a look to the front into the cockpit and towards the rear where we were, one at a time, fitted with a safety harness connected to the line that the Paras hooked up to before jumping out, and allowed to look out of the opening (there was no door) to watch what looked like Dinky toy cars and trucks driving on the roads 500ft beneath.

We flew out over Skegness, Cadwell Park motor racing circuit and Lincoln Cathedral before returning safely to Coningsby, without having been attacked by any Focke Wulf FW190 powered by their BMbleedingW 801 radial engines as might have been the case when this Dakota saw action over Europe in the mid-1940s.

The drive home was a bit of an anti-climax and uneventful, thank goodness, with the adrenalin levels still very high. I did, however, follow the advice given to me after a visit to Shell Pit Clipper gas rig in the North Sea. After landing back at Norwich International Airport we were debriefed.

​We were told that we should drive for about an hour and then stop for a cuppa and a short break before completing the journey. Without this break you are more likely to become drowsy and lack the attention needed to drive through traffic. It works and now all my journeys are planned with a break after an hour (repeated at hour and a half interval to get rid of the previous cuppa and have another one!). A cup of tea on the way back was most welcome as was the quiet of the café. Herbert is not as quiet as modern tin boxes are!

​Sadly MG Rover Group were put into the hands of the Administrators before the PR photographs taken were used.
That is the furthest I have driven Herbert in a day on my own. Other than the issue in front of the Lancaster, which turned out to be a problem with many years of spark erosion on the copper contacts of the starter solenoid, Herbert performed perfectly. It was a day I will remember for ever!

by Anthony Osborne.

In Part 1 I told of the refurbishment of Herbert, our 1938 Austin Lt12/4 New Ascot for my daughter’s wedding. We were running out of time to get the car finished and there was no ‘Plan B’! I continue…

​We were rather close to the day of the wedding and still did not have the car completed, in fact we had less than a week to get the job done.

​The headlining, which was the worse for wear, needed replacement as by now it was covered in green paint. Back in 2005 it had been necessary to strip out the rear of the car, including the head lining round the rear windows, whilst we exterminated some woodworm (well it is a little different to tin worm!) and we had bought enough material to do the whole car.

​When we got that out to start that phase of the car we found that it had been attacked by moths. Could we get more in time? We were lucky that it arrived the day after it was ordered. It had gone up rather dramatically in price between 2005 and 2018, from about £12 to £40 per meter! Sat Nag Pat got stuck into her sewing machine and a new headlining emerged from the dining room.
​
It was decided to take several days off work in an endeavour to achieve the objective. Andrew assembled the door mechanisms, including the new window guides, windows and regulators, whilst I set about the interior trim and provided assistance to Pat who was fighting the head lining into place. We also had to trim and refit the sunroof.

​Some of the electrics that were disconnected to the lights and trafficators had to be reinstated, although the car really needed a complete rewire. The 80 year old rubber insulation was failing, in some places the conductor could be seen through cracks in the rubber and cloth covering. This was temporarily repaired locally as there was no time to do a proper job. The car has since been rewired during the first lockdown of 2020 when all the 80 year old wiring was replaced, but that is another story.
​
However, during the week we just about managed to get all the jobs done, working a few late nights. The head lining was the big fight and it took three days to get it in from 13th to 15th June, at 4:00pm.

This was the Friday before the wedding on the Saturday. The plan was to drive to Chipping Norton to collect my mother and then on to Newbold on Stour for a barbecue the night before the big day.

Fortunately, our bags were packed and it just required a clean-up before setting off. We were late getting away and Chipping Norton is about an hour away with Newbold being about a further 40 minutes further on. We got less than a quarter of a mile before Herbert refused to go. A bit of fiddling at the side of the road got him running again for a couple of minutes and with two or three fiddles under the bonnet I managed to limp home.

​Pat took the Jag and went to collect Mum whilst I fought under Herbert’s bonnet, unsure of the actual issue, other than it was fuel related. There were no blockages in filters etc. and the fuel pumped up by hand. I set off for Talton House, a 35 minute drive away that took well over an hour with Herbert struggling up hills with me pumping up petrol by hand.
​
With dirty hands I eventually made it to my destination with Pat and Mum coincidentally following me down the drive to the house, in the dark. Not knowing where to park I ended up round the back of the building to be welcomed by cries of ‘They are here’. We had warned that we would be late! The Groom’s mother and two aunts were in the hot tub in their underwear and trying to entice me into the tub with them (I didn’t want to leave an oil slick in the tub – that was my excuse and I stuck to it). They had saved some barbecued nosh for us and a jug of ale was thrust into my hand. Things were getting better.

After a good night’s kip in the mansion (which was a bit like staying in a National Trust property) and a hearty breakfast I disappeared outside to go through Herbert’s fuel system in an endeavour to resolve the problem. After much playing around and dropping a screw from the carburettor into the gravel below then spending much time to find it, I had the car together and running, but would it last?

Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall was ten miles to the north and Shipston on Stour five miles to the south. If I could get to Shipston and back without a failure we should be good to go. Herbert behaved well and didn’t fail at all.

When Andrew arrived I explained that there had been a problem but I did get ten miles of trouble-free motoring out of Herbert. Andrew was happy with that and when the time was appropriate Sarah and I jumped in the back and we set off for the ceremony. We pulled up outside the Town Hall and Andrew turned the engine off. We made it!

It was then that a little man came out from the Town Hall entrance and said ‘You are five minutes early, please would you go round the block and you should arrive back in time. So off we set.

​On the trip of less than a mile Herbert failed four times, and each time Andrew or I, or both, of us jumped out and pumped petrol up by hand and we were away again. In the middle of Stratford-upon-Avon Herbert failed at traffic lights, we went through the routine and in no time he was up and running again.

I asked Sarah if she was all right and she was apparently loving it. She had seen so many wedding cars with people pointing cameras at them and now she was in one. Not many people will have a photograph of the car with the bride in the back and the bonnet up, though! Andrew worked out that if he could keep the revs up the problem seemed to hold off. With a bit of interesting driving we were back at the Town Hall for the ceremony on time, and all went well. I successfully saw responsibility for Sarah transferred from me to Adam, now her husband.

Afterwards we had to get back to Talton House and of course, the Bride and Groom went in Herbert with Andrew. I was in the minibus. I had said to Andrew that if the car was not there when I arrived I would come out in the Jag and collect them. What a relief to see the car outside the front of the house. On asking how the return journey went Andrew advised that Herbert had only failed once! What a relief.

The following day the journey back home was interesting, but we made it with the Jag parked behind Herbert with its hazard light on when there was a problem. On the Monday I took the fuel pump off and installed a spare that had apparently been overhauled before I bought it.

​We took a run back to Stratford-upon-Avon and blow me, if it didn’t fail at the same traffic lights that it had failed at two days earlier! We ended up limping back to within three miles of home but Herbert was failing every 50 yards, just using the fuel in the float chamber. I was not prepared to go on like that in the rush hour and a very nice man from the AA towed us back home. An examination of the two fuel pumps showed that the top joint on the original pump had dried out through lack of use over the best part of five months and that has been successfully overhauled, whereas the other pump I fitted was absolutely knackered (that engineering term again) and fit only for the scrap bin.

The car went back to the body shop and the outstanding jobs were finished. All is well now and I as write Sarah has just given birth to their first child, Joshua.

​A happy ending all round and a big thanks to Andrew, and of course Sat Nag Pat, for their help.

By Anthony Osborne.

In December 2017, just before Christmas, my daughter, Sarah, rang me up to tell me that she and her long term boyfriend were going to get married on 16th June 2018. I was delighted that they had, at last, set a date as they had been engaged for a quite a few years, been a couple for almost ten years and known each other for much longer. The arrangements were almost cast in stone and the wedding would be in Stratford-Upon-Avon Town Hall with the celebrations centred on Talton House, a mansion at Newbold-on-Stour some ten miles south, owned by Christabel Carlisle who successfully raced (real) Minis in the early 1960s. I obviously approved!
​
Having given me all the good news she then dropped the bombshell. Herbert, my 1938 Austin Lt12/4 New Ascot was to be the wedding car. However, Sarah was concerned that I might not let anyone else drive him. On the contrary, I advised that her Godfather, Andrew, could drive it. Andrew and I were Apprentices together at ‘The Austin’ at Longbridge and Andrew has had several pre-war cars over the years, Austins and a Rolls Royce, and was well experienced at handling such vehicles.

So, there we were no problems at all, except that the tin worm had been feeding well on the car’s bodywork and the 80 year old cow hide on the seats was falling off. The carpets were well past their best and the headlining, which had probably been fitted in the 1980s, was in a reasonably poor condition. As Sat Nag Pat had fitted a new section round the rear windows we knew that we had plenty of material in stock having purchased enough to complete the car. The sunroof was knackered (that is an engineering term incidentally) but there was a replacement in stock that needed a little work and some paint. There was a NOS near side front wing in the lockup but Sod’s Law dictated the off side front wing was in need of replacement or major welding.

In just under six months we had to do something dramatic to the car to make him presentable for the occasion!
Negotiations started with our body shop and a price was agreed with Andrew and I taking the car apart to minimise the expense. We started the dismantling in February and the neighbours were yet again fascinated by the goings on in my garage. They still have not got used to engines hanging from the garage roof or cars on axle stands without any wheels on after 30 years here.
A dismantled Herbert went to the body shop on 27th February and its panels would follow a few weeks later in a Transit van.

Over the following months it became apparent that things were not going as quickly as they could. Eventually, we were relieved to see the body of the car in the body shop in primer and a little later it was painted in its lovely new gloss green. Whilst the body of the car was away being worked on other aspects of the refurbishment were on-going in the garage at home and elsewhere. Parts were sourced to replace defective and decomposing components at the Restoration Show at the NEC with further trips as far afield as Peterborough to obtain specialist trim parts. A broken internal door handle could not be replaced with an identical one and the only available replacement looked the same but it sat at 45 degrees to the originals, so two were obtained, one for each back door, and arrived through the post in time to be fitted.

Various rubber components had perished beyond reuse with replacements as common as rocking horse manure. Rubber blocks to keep the closed doors off the bodywork and stopping them rattling were cut from a block of neoprene but half way to through the production process a stock of 8 were found with an Austin spares supplier. Their whole stock of 8 was purchased as they had to be better than my carving them with a Stanley knife! At weekends, when Andrew and I were not at work, the car would be brought back to us on a recovery truck so that we could get on with some of the jobs, returning to the body shop after the weekend.

There was much hard labour making and painting new window channels, the old 80 year old ones being mostly rotted through towards the bottom but fitting would have to wait until the car returned with the doors fitted. Another item that needed refurbishment was one of the near side ‘front Step Support’ (that is the parts list description – I would describe it as a running board support bracket). These are prone to dissolving, the off side one had been repaired previously. Fortunately, I had lent one of them to a fellow New Ascot owner who had a pair made. He had two extra tops cut out and one of these was used to replace the missing metal that had been dissolved along the top of the bracket.

Andrew and I debated who should do the welding as it is not a strong point for either of us. I was told it was my car so I should weld! Andrew would do the grinding as my welding looks rather like it has been done by a pigeon from 50 yards. It did not disappoint either. After a couple of grinding discs and several coats of paint it looked good enough to hide out if sight under the running board.

The running boards themselves had been replaced a long time ago and were planks of substantial timber, now rotting, finished with a fibreglass cover. Andrew took the old boards home and made some new ones, the fibreglass covers were fine and were given a coat of non-slip paint. The end results were great.

The 80 year old cow hide was past its best on the seats, so bad that when helping out at friends weddings we had to cover the back seat with a white blanket because there was a danger that the cracks in the surface would damage an expensive white dress. All the seats were taken to our local trimmer who did an excellent job recovering them with new green leather.

The carpets were also taken there to be copied. We did not have time to take the car there so that they could be made to fit, but they came out quite well. The photograph of Herbert being collected from home was taken on 16th May, with just a month to go. Stress levels started to go up, very high, but my blood pressure tablets kept that under control. We didn’t have any of the missing panels like, boot lid, doors, sunroof, bonnet or the front cowl!

As appears normal with body shops working on classic cars, there is little urgency, even though a drop dead date was given and they were advised that 15th June was too late because of all the other works we had to do! In order to speed things up a little Andrew and I booked time off work to assemble some of the panels onto the car at the body shop, on 6th June. Whilst we were doing that some of the doors were still being welded up and work was going on with other panels in the spray booth, applying primer and paint, with just 10 days to go!

There were doubts that spending all the time and money on the refurbishment would result in completion in time for the wedding. There was no Plan B. Panic was setting in, a lot!

After several weekends at home the car was beginning to take shape. On its last trip home before the wedding, Herbert was paneled up including his doors but less his wings, which needed fitting. With 8 days to go it was decided not to risk sending it back to the body shop for a few outstanding works. Whilst it looked nice and shiny you will notice that the wheels are a slightly different green to the body as well as the grille being green instead of silver, issues we decided would be resolved after the wedding.

​To be continued!