I know the story about timelines. The trick is to set one so the job gets done but not to drive oneself so much that you're not enjoying it.

But it's amazing how many cars that were maligned in their day are enjoying a resurgence - How recently have you seen a V8 P76, a great design killed off by political infighting between Leyland Australia and British Leyland who decided to can it within a few months of its release. The Triumph Stag has a terrific oversquare V8 much maligned because BL ( again!) let its customers do the R&D rather than sorting it themselves. These are now more sought after and getting harder to find, to name just a few.

Stick with it, they look good and the looks will improve with age. My daughter used to duck down in the Bellett so her friends didn't see her but now a few years on, she wants me to teach her how to drive it because she's found that her friends think it is cool.

hang in there Duane plenty of highs to come and lots of ........ i have to go the phone is ringing

It is progressing, new work today (I've taken 2 weeks off to have a crack at it...and another 50 jobs around the house).

Meanwhile, I've started to go back over the project and record what I've done. Check out my resto blog here:

http://ddegruchy.blogspot.com/

Hope it's not too dull!

Cheers,
Duane

good to see an update on this beast mate! looking forward to the day i see it out and about.

Oh yeah, plodding along thanks Mr Fib. The fact that I have to take time off work to do it speaks volumes...no time whatsoever at the moment.

Good news, I recently scored a stack of Herald parts (for $10!), which included a decent rear seat squab, to replace the rust flakes I had. Once my pay comes in this week, I'm hoping I'll have enough dosh left over t blast and prime the replacement frame - I have a guy waiting to reupholster it.

More fibreglass work is booked in for next Monday/Tuesday - I'm hoping the majority of the rear end will be bonded together by this time next week. There's loads of other cracks to be repaired, but I'll feel a lot better when the body is at least in one piece...even if there are a few holes.

So good to see it happening again, grouche.
Know its rea;;y hard to find time/cash to get some of the stuff like that done.

Keep digging away at it and it will happen soon enough.


OZ

That's dedication Duane! It's an interesting read. You've done a mountain of work. Stay focused on the day you can cruise it in the Bay to Birdwood.
It is a most unusual car.
Cheers, Matt.

My god, some time's elapsed since I last posted progress on this baby...of course, a lot of time has elapsed since I last DID any work on it! This project will soon be in its 10th year!!!

Well, as mentioned on the Silvia thread, the insurance money from the GT accident has released some funds that might go some way to finishing my Bond Equipe GT off. It hasn't got the looks, value or the draw of my other cars, but it is the only one down here and it's been led a life of sad neglect. So I'm kind of happy I'm back giving it some love.

I had spent a lot of time on the rear end going back 18 months ago, but my employment situation was pretty dire and kept me out of the shed, working all hours of the night. However, my friend Norm and I managed to stick the entire rear end back together and sand down the majority of the car. To clear some space to take the body off and complete some glass work beneath the car, I asked Norm if he could commence work on the huge one-piece bonnet at home. 12 months went by, nothing happened, so I pony'd up with Bellett cash in my pocket and sent it off to Advanced Fibreglass Technologies to restore.

Probably a lucky thing too. The car had been involved in a major front-end stack at some stage, the bonnet had been smashed to pieces and stuck back together with a bit of resin, and a ton of bog. Anyways, AFT did a great job, finished pic below.

So, with the bonnet done, and some re-alignment work required, we agreed to do the rest of the car there. I had initially obtained a factory option Webasto fabric sunroof to replace the tacky 80's glass pop-up sunroof that was in the car when I got it. However, after the crash I've become a bit conscious of safety in these old bangers, so I'm going back to a solid roof (although the guys in the UK tell me it gets bloody hot in there). So, the car is now stripped and ready to go to the shop this weekend. In a month or so, we should be ready to start undercoating.

Here's a pic of it a couple weeks back before I pulled the motor.

Nice to see the bond getting some more luv!

Something about clouds and silver linings......

Good onya, getting into it before the money dwindles away, as it would. Just keep the momentum flowing, you will be glad once you are going down the road.
Cheers, Matt.