There are just some times where I am bloody annoyed at myself, and today was one of them.

With the Bank Holiday shows out of the way, and the 2016 Calendar so screwed up that there are virtually no shows for the next 6 weeks until N.E.W.S. I thought I would take a look at something that is needing doing, and that is my bodywork. So tonight, I set about stripping the car down.



When I pieced this together, every single inch of the main body has been fiberglassed top and bottom, which is why it looks so lumpy and bumpy - I did it in a hurry with little or no skills or patience, and I always knew I would sort it out one day. The sidepods and bonnet were actually in pretty good nick at the time, and I just painted over them. You all saw what happened to the paint on the sidepod though, it fell off.

Well, I had a small crack appearing on the corner of the bonnet and although I do not remember hitting anything, a crack has to be dealt with swiftly before it creeps and gets any worse, and low and behold, its not the body thats cracked, its the paint - just like the side pod.



And thats why I`m annoyed with myself, because I trusted that because they looked good at the time, I didn`t scrape away at the surface coat for a closer inspection, and now its come to bite me in the bum. Under the paint I put on is a layer of yuk and a botched repair that has not bonded to the layer underneath, and has delaminated. So, time to get the grinder out and attack this properly, as I should have done right from the start.

Bad luck Dave it does look like a dogs dinner under there. My bodge nature would lash some household emulsion onto the area and hope it sort of stuck, but I know you have a sense of pride.

Can't help noticing you have some sparkly flip flops - the silver colour would look great on a buggy !

Can't help noticing you have some sparkly flip flops - the silver colour would look great on a buggy !

The bling brigade will all have them by this time tomorrow. 

Back when I was playing around with the alternator on my Buggy, I was back and forth to a workshop in Torquay that my mate Bill was renting at the time, and it was part of a Bodyshop owned by John. The other day, I was chatting away with John about the various bodywork issues I was having and picking his brains with regards to obtaining some Mazda green for me, when it transpired that he had a space in his schedule (and his Bodyshop) if I was interested in having a little play to show me how it should be done.

I took the bonnet over to him, to show him how bad the shape was, and how many lumps and bumps were in it - but this did not seem to phase him, and in no time at all, the paint layers were removed and he set about plastering it with filler so that we could reshape it properly.





I have always mixed filler in little amounts, and never mixed more than I can use at a time - But John was just going for it and wasn`t messing about - He knew how much he needed, and managed to use it all before it started to go off.





Watching John ice my bonnet like a giant cake, I could already see the improvements to the shape, and he carefully explained the lines he was trying to introduce and how they would turn out. It was quite mesmerising to watch.





Time to let it set, and see what can be done on my next visit.

   I thought I'd used a lot of filler! 

I went over to see how John was getting on with the bonnet today, and was amazed at the results. Apparently it has taken 3 attempts of filler and sanding to get rid of the lumpy bumpy finish I had managed to achieve, and these pictures really do not do any justice to the shape that he has ended up with. Really pleased with how this is looking.





This year, I must confess that the Buggy and I have had a fair few disagreements over its reliability and not being able to get me anywhere without breaking down, and after seeing the stunning job that John is doing with the bonnet, I decided that I would let him have a crack at the rest of it. So I have spent the last few days stripping it down. It needs to remain mobile in the workshop and on wheels, which is why I have left the tub on the chassis, so that John can push it about on his own..





I was in the process of hooking up an A-Frame that Hunter had lent me (Don`t fret H, you will still get your sausages), when a mate of mine drove past in what has to be the longest Recovery Truck I have ever seen and asked if I needed a lift. We have a School opposite, and at 8:45 in the morning you can just imagine the carnage as instead of pushing the Buggy into the road, my mate decided to completely block the road, absolutely laughing his tits off whilst the school run commuters were left fuming. I doubt he would have offered if the road had been quiet.





And there it now sits in Johns workshop, awaiting to see what he can create from the mess that I have delivered.





I guess I ought to spend some time getting the tow vehicle running now 

This is exciting stuff Dave, which shade of Orange are you going for???

which shade of Orange are you going for???

And it isn`t going to be Yellow either   


Seen those little Mazda 2`s belting about with a really nice shade of green?

Well . . . . . .     

I was in the process of hooking up an A-Frame that Hunter had lent me (Don`t fret H, you will still get your sausages), when a mate of mine drove past in what has to be the longest Recovery Truck I have ever seen and asked if I needed a lift.

Sausages,  SAUSAGES did you all hear that, Dave said Sausages.

I'll be sitting on the edge my seat now in anticipation.......

H 

Be careful what you wish for H,

I remember the Beers . . . . . .       

Sausages.....Saw ages.....Saw a ges.....Saw a G.....Saw a Jeep.....

No it was definitely a greenish buggy !

  

Great commitment to keeping an old shell going! Must say I'd be pretty tempted to put a new one on there!

Great commitment to keeping an old shell going! Must say I'd be pretty tempted to put a new one on there!

Financially, it would make far more sense to buy a new shell than to paint an old one - that argument is well documented and proven.

However . . .

Most of the parts I have, have been made to fit this shell, and I didn`t want the car to end up like Triggers Broom - so I want to retain the old shell if I can and that way it will not only remain a Hustler GT, but its the same body that was rescued from a barn all those years ago. To me that is more important than a brand new tub.

Not an argument that will make sense to many out there though

Absolutely!