Rub down, rub down, rub down.

Thurs.10.08.06.The final phase in the preparation of the body panels is has eventually arrived. Chris has been straightening the offside boot edge and levelling the roller coaster effect on the offside front wing. I have been rubbing down the rear wings with 150’s, but I have also been working particularly on the bonnet. This is to ensure that Danny will have something to paint by Monday. It does seem rational to drip feed the panels to Danny throughout the week authorizing him to apply the first and possibly a second coat of primer. The advice that we were given by ‘Gordon the paint’ was to prime the panels allowing them to dry naturally over a period of 3 weeks. The slow hardening of the paint guarantees a robust hard finish facilitating the application of the final gloss coat.

Having spent four hours rubbing down I can genuinely empathize with Chris struggling with the incessant dust he encountered throughout summer. There was a fresh breeze in early afternoon that helped to dissipate the fine ‘tete’ particles, but later in the day with the absence of wind the garage was filled with the familiar cloudy grey fog, a warm, dry, ultra fine mist.

Throughout the past three months Chris has passed on his extensive experience by demonstrating the basic techniques of bodywork re-construction. His insistence upon applying layer after layer until the crucial result has been achieved has been a genuine insight into the only way to produce a finish of quality: a surface that could stand an enduring inspection from the keenest of trained eyes. It is a very laborious procedure. On many occasions I felt we were stepping backwards to move forwards. But, the patience and the down right determination of Chris to ‘get things right’ has created a beautifully formed vehicle. From almost every angle, close or distant viewing point the car is special, and I would claim faultless.

Tomorrow could see a conclusion to the endless days filling followed by rubbing down: I live in hope. As ‘John the paint’ once said to us, “Fuck me, you must be repairing a fuckin’ bus roof with the amount of filler you’ve bought”. “No, John, just a Burlington”