Colin arrives

Tues.10.10.06. Two days earlier than expected, Colin arrived to complete the additional welding to the chassis. It has been necessary to cut the box section where the waist of the chassis narrows; this is to house the overdrive gearbox ensuring also that the engine can utilize the original mountings when the turrets have been reversed. In total the drive train will be moved back at least 20cms. 

The actual length of the cut was 18cms to enable the housing to sit with sufficient working space should any routine maintenance be necessary. After the amendment had been carried out the alteration could hardly be noticed such was the exact craftsmanship of Colin. Sadly today, he was unable to repair the other cosmetic defects to the more visible underside of the chassis, until he returns on Thursday. Colin has always enjoyed a degree of personal control with regard to his committed time on any project; flexing his muscles, creating a reliance to reinforce a feeling of indispensability. But for us it is another delay that we didn’t need.

Fashioned in the morning, the first maquette for the dashboard, which coincidentally was taken from the crude, patched up original version, has proved extremely valuable, even successful. Constructed from a stolen flower box, liberated from David’s flower market, the strong cardboard has formed the simple backcloth for the design of the dash. Black, circular decals have been cut to simulate the instrument dials, these can be arranged anywhere on the board offering numerous possibilities. 

Each of the experimental images has been photographed and shall be considered later. Using this bank of photographs it should facilitate selection, modification and rationalise the overall final design. The “Retro Morgan” dashboard has many comparable qualities that can be equally applied to the Burlington; at the moment this will be the starting point of our model.

A second coat of ‘Glanvilles rust proofing’ has enhanced the appearance of the chassis, Chris has started to build the front wishbone mechanism having previously cleaned and sprayed the callipers, Big Max has offered £100.00 for ‘Nutty bastard Steve’s’ overdrive gearbox against his own at £380.00, (no deal) and Paddocks are assembling our components order. This has been fruitful day.