chaseracer

I do like a Quatrelle, and those 5 Alpine/Gordini wheels look properly good on it. Thanks Chris & Claire for another top day 😎

YO SAM, how much for an interior valet on the Zanussi...? 😉

Panhard Dyna!*

WINNAR!! Both sides too... 👍

A fleet fleet, Steve!

UNOBTAINIUM, M8

Smidge more fettling to the rear panel: See if you can spot where...

Oooh, now... this looks dangerously like a car...

As ever, though, things are different across La Manche...

I think the BARC scrutineers may well have had words. And kittens.

No argument here!

A reminder of what we started with late last year:

This weekend's main job was the tail panel, which was the last panel of the main shell to be fitted. Here, the Team Principal gives it a good coat of looking-at first, to show it who's boss. Yes, that boot lid is the original and will be reused. Using the spot-welder where possible - to ensure the trailing edge of the boot floor was properly secured - everything was attached in the time-honoured sequence of weld/grind back/weld again/extinguish flames/swear/grind again/etch prime. That's IT - the shell is COMPLETE. Everything from here on in is BUILD-UP.

Aaaaaaaand we're back. The other rear quarter didn't require quite so much TLC, so the smaller available repair panel was hacked about by Laurence to suit the car rather than vice versa, which made a refreshing change. There has been much necessary social distancing since lockdown began but Laurence kept busy on the car, even though it's definitely not going to see a race track this season. This is what I found when I re-entered the SL Racing 'bubble' recently... All the grim seam-sealing jobs - which I really wasn't looking forward to - had been done! We decided that it was time to crack on and get the shell finished, so we both arranged a few days off work, some of which even coincided. Laurence made a good start on the lower screen panel, meaning the new spot-welder (actually older than the other one) could be deployed for that 'factory' look. Obviously, to achieve this, we had to ensure that our work wasn't too precise or tidy and on this score we did well. That's the screen panel welded in, ground back and etch-primed. A few dabs of wob then a coat or two of high-build primer and all will be hunky-dory.

Blingo's on axle stands now, which helps. Rear shocks are leaking...