A lot has happened since April 2001, though not necessarily to my cars! Since the HB came off the road and into the garage,
I've been using a 1984 Nova saloon as transport. Then I moved away from home to get a decent job and since then work has only been
carried out as and when I've had time. Couple to this somebody ramming the Nova from the rear and then having to sort that one out,
time has been a little thin on the ground.
I have managed to finish off the welding to the O/S of the Viva, including...! Front valence, rear valence, most of the inner sill,
a new outer sill, large sections of the inner wheelarch, the rear wheelarch, the lower rear corner (very popular rot spot) and the
spare wheel well along with the boot floor. Not to mention the "A" pillar, windscreen surround and floor inside the car. And the chassis rail,
gearbox crossmember mount and inner front wing (but only slightly).
The images on the right show what I've been up to on the N/S of the car. The inner sill was in good condition
with no holes (hooray!) but the outer sill had patches on patches so I cut it off and used the room I now had
to make a nice job of repairing the rear of the inner sill where it meets the arch. This was non existent and
to top it off, the area up to 150mm above the sill was so rotten it had to be cut out too, right up to the swage line.
Luckily the front inner wing was not so bad and the windscreen surround and "A" Pillar needed little attention. Then after the
replacement of the rotten parts of the rear arch and boot floor, I will have mostly completed the welding. I have bought a
decent new pair of front wings instead of the second hand ones I was going to fit. What a lot of welding..! I have kept myself busy
in the meantime by painting up parts for the assembly of the car, whenever that might be! The gearbox, bellhousing etc are all ready
for fitting.
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