Week 1

Right. So the kit's made it home, now what do I do? The first job was to go through the inventory again, and make sure all of the bits arrived okay. Found a couple of little bits missing, but nothing urgent, so Sue's going to send them on down.

Most of this week has been spent with a wire brush in hand trying to clean up those filthy old hubs and calipers, and the axle. I thought it would probably take a couple of evenings to clean and paint them. Erm, nope. Something more like 3 evenings, plus a bit on Saturday. Still, the turning point was following a suggestion to get one of those wire brush attachments for a power drill. Suddenly the rust seemed to fall off, and leave a nice silvery shine behind. Plus you can get little pointy brushes which fit into small crevices. Why did I spend so much time with brush in hand...?

Anyway, these bits are being coated in a few coats of Hammerite Satin Black, which (apart from being easy 'cos it doesn't need primer, is reasonably hard wearing and matches the powder-coating rather well. I know it'll be fine on the axle, but I reckon it'll chip quite easily on the front. I've been looking for some kind of spray-on flexible lacquer, but I guess it doesn't exist. Ah well, we shall just have to see how it lasts.

Turns out the calipers I had were both nearside, so they've had to go back to be replaced too. Shame, 'cos both of them were in really good condition, had very free-moving pistons and no leaks. Sue says these things never leak, which I'm a little dubious about. I'm still in two minds over whether to replace the caliper seals (which I've done before on other cars, so I'm quite happy doing it). The question is, is an apparently happy 20-year old seal more reliable than one which I've put in? It's probably not a good idea to be doubting my ability at this stage. I think I'll replace the seals. Full recon calipers are only £36 each, so I'll most likely go that route.

What a gorgeous weekend! Must admit, I didn't get too much done since the weather was so nice. But, I did make it to the scrappy and found a Mini which hadn't had it washer and wiper systems removed (are there a lot of kit builders near me, or what???). Unfortunately, I got kicked out before I had the chance to get anything else (it was late - I wasn't being a nuisance, honest!). Must remember the Torx bits so I can get a Sierra gearlever next time. Oh, and we laid the loom out on the lawn and labelled every connection. I really appreciate the efforts the loom builder has gone to to make it more interesting, like substituting wire colours :-)

It was Tiger's early season open day on Sunday, must have been a great day, with the weather and all. Shame it's so far away... Ah, I hear they took 10 kit orders, and sold a second-hand Six too! Wow, Jim and Sue must be over the moon! More converts to the One True Way... ;)

Week 2

Finished cleaning and painting the axle. It looks resplendent in satin black. I didn't paint the diff backplate yet, since I want to get in there and check what sort of state it's all in. I'll never get in if I've painted the bolts shut. It'll get a fresh filling of EP90 too (or is it EP80 - must check!)

The panel behind the seats also went in. My first experience of sheet metalwork and rivetting. Hmm... It's not too bad. Plenty of silicone sealant between the panel and the chassis to stop it rattling and keep it waterproof. It took an awful lot longer than I expected, trying to make it as neat as possible (even though it won't be seen I'll still know it's there....) I haven't decided what to do next, choice between more panelling (floor first, I reckon) or fitting the brake and fuel lines while the panels aren't in the way. That's probably a good move. And so week 3 is planned: front to back pipes and the floor panels.

I'd have got a lot more done this weekend without drinking all day Saturday and losing most of Sunday to a killer hangover :-( About 15 hours spent so far, or an eighth of the official build time. Yeah, right.... ;-) Seriously, it's a learning experience for me, so it's going to take me three hours where it might have been one hour for someone who knows what he's doing. If it's finished and on the road by Christmas 2000, I'll be happy. Having said that, I'm keen to see some progress, so I'm taking a week off in June to work on it full-time, so hopefully I can get somewhere. Yes, you guessed it, just found out how far ahead Neil Jameson is with his Storm, and I'm feeling jealous!

Week 3

Week 3's not starting at all well. After the success with the back panel, had a bit of bother with the small triangular engine bay panels. These go inside the chassis, but getting the drill onto them is a real pain because of all the chassis members immediately behind it (oh, and so's the rivet gun - maybe I should have brought the expensive one with the swivelly head....) So, managed to snap a drill bit, which then went on to puncture the panel I was fitting. *nice* I was never that convinced with the strength/durability of HSS drill bits in the past, and this hasn't helped. Any ideas for stronger bits? I'll pay more, if only I can find some...

Aha, Black & Decker Proline. Weird bullet-shaped tip to the bit, but it cuts straight through with little pressure on the drill, makes a really neat hole and doesn't move sideways while you cut. They cost four times as much as a normal bit, but I don't give a monkey's 'cos it works! As you can tell, I'm happier now. Finished the first engine bay panel and made a really neat job of the second one in about an hour. That's the way it's meant to be!

After the bank holiday weekend I'm feeling good - got plenty done. Both floor panels are on now, looking surprisingly neat, stuck down with adhesive sealant stuff on the outer edge where the GRP tub overlaps. I also stripped down the axle to check it all out. Need new half-shaft bearings, but apart from that all the mechanicals look surprisingly fresh. So no *major* expense on the axle! It seems that the bearings are a job for someone with the right equipment, so I'll hand that onto a local garage to sort.

Got the calipers back, and the couple of bits that were out of stock when I picked up the kit. I've also been through the boxes of bits and dug out all the bits I'll need in the coming weeks. Identified the various pipes and looked over the front and rear suspension bits. I'm happy I've got it figured out, so it should all just slot in (ha ha!). I'm still really impressed by the quality of all the bits in the kit, great value for money!