Ok, I thought I would prepare a blog about the restoration of my car. I bought it in 2005 in Sydney NSW and drove it daily (sort of) until about 2 years ago. I had a sojourn to Bankok and London for 4 years work during that time, during which time my father in law dutifully drove it to lawn bowls once a week.

The car had always been in good structural condition with no serious rust but it had had a few dings in the past that had been repaired to differing standards. It also looked like someone had seen a lot of unfinished roads (popular in the outback) so was covered in stone chips all slowly starting to rust. I normally favour cars with a bit of patina but the paint flaws were so numerous, if I drove it much longer without doing something, the flaws would become something much worse. This coincided with the arrival of my son so I took the car off the road to strip, one panel at a time, back to bare metal. I did not expect it to be quick and with a new baby there is plenty to distract from progress. I am not expecting a show car, this is purely about making it look a bit better while I extend its life. I have used minimal filler; it is mainly warts and all for a 40+ year old car (fun fact: the car was built the same month and year I was, we miss sharing a birthday by a few days).

As I write this, I have the car completely stripped (top side, external panels and boot*) and sprayed by myself in two part epoxy primer. Having ground out hundreds of stone chips and a small amount of welding, I am not expecting the rust to be back again for some time. The car is due to go into a local paint shop for a final fettle and a fresh coat of Chamonix white. They have promised to get it back to me in two weeks (ok, maybe three...) and then the fun part of reassembly begins. I will also install a new headliner while all of the glass is out but the rest of the trim, bar new door seals, window seals will go back. I have a self imposed deadline, I may have to move back from Adelaide to Sydney in the 3rd /4th quarter of the year, plus I want to enter the 'Bay to Birdwood Classic' run in September which is a big deal in South Australia.

With this blog I intend to document for posterity some pictures taken during the bodywork stage plus the trials and tribulations of reassembly. I also expect that there will be a backlog of mechanical stuff I will need to do having had it stand for 2 years. Definitely need to swap the guibo and will rebuild the gear shift and replace the transmission mount while I am there. Nothing worse than getting a car back on the road and then slowly suffering failures as things are brought back to a rude awakening. Brakes are usually a good one. I swapped both calipers and both rear wheel cylinders over the years but I have not touched the master cylinder. I have changed the fluid yearly in the past but I am expecting to have to swap the MC at some point.

RHD master cylinders are horrifically expensive. Jaymic has them at over £400 which is $780 AUD. suffice it to say, I will be exploring other avenues here. Some people in Aus have some success in swapping them out for other manufacturers equipment. I have seen Mitsubishi and Fiat MCs grafted on. I may also investigate rebuilding myself, though I generally like to have new brake hydraulics for safety. Don't worry, Dear Reader, I will keep you abreast every step of the way.

That is enough for now. My next entries will be less wordy and more pictures. I promise.

*normally I moderate my language to accomodate my American colleagues but this is my blog so expect the Queen's English and no Websterisations.