Having just read through this thread again, it seems that there is a bit of a theme emerging... time passes, and then I post to say that time has passed and not much has happened
The truth is that although not much has happened little bits and pieces have been going on - not much, but just enough. I am totally awed by the people that get their projects and just crack on, they always seem to have boundless energy and talent - I don't, but I love those threads as they inevitably get me back to my car. On the other hand, I have spoken to some folks that have had their cars even longer than me and they are slowly plodding on - and that gives me inspiration too. As corny as it may sound, it's the journey that's important.
I'll try and give a small update - and perhaps more regular reports... at least as long as the mojo is flowing.
In the last few years I have stripped out the engine bay, taken it all down to the bare metal and then made a few attempts to get it nice and refreshed. Some may remember that the car had the top of the inner left wing punched through when I bought it. There was also some talk that the base unit may have been "twisted" due to a high speed impact with a pot hole.
I bought a cut out section of a car and had it shipped here from the UK. I figured I'd find someone to cut out the damaged piece and patch in the replacement. Well that was easier said than done. I have lost count of how many times I tried to get someone out - so many phone calls and broken promises...
Finally, I was introduced to a guy that had recently retired after many years in the body shop trade. My friend spoke highly of Bill and so I went and met with him. Initially I was getting him to do the body work on my front wings as they had some pinholes and just needed some general TLC.
I dropped my wings off just before Christmas 2014. Bill said he's have them back to me in 3 weeks or so and I paid him cash up front. During our talk I told him that I would rather he told me 6 weeks instead of 3 followed by endless extensions and he assured me that he didn't operate that way... so, nine months later I got my wings back after he had moved to a different state without telling me - fun times, but I am jumping ahead here.
I showed Bill some pictures of the damage I wanted repaired and told him I had a repair panel - Bill came round and after viewing told me he could do the job, so a price and time was agreed. I can't tell you how many times I rearranged my schedule as he would flake at the last minute - see a theme here? But what do you do? I hadn't found anyone else, and I didn't know how to weld.
Bill eventually showed up and cut the marked piece out. He then trimmed a piece from the new/old panel and set to work welding it all together. Originally Bill told me that he was going to joggle the edges and lap weld it all together so the engine and most visible side would be "seamless" and I could cover the obvious repair in the wheel well with filler and/or undercoat. In the end Bill said he was going to butt weld the parts together.
I am not sure that I can adequately describe how I felt about the finished product, so here's a picture or two...
I think it's fair to say that I was less than satisfied with the end product
Now I can't weld, so I am not really in a position to judge, but... I am fairly sure that if I got royally pissed up and then had a stab at this using a Fisher-Price my little welder set I could have done equally as well, if not better.
It was right around now that it occurred to me that Bill may not be the man for the job. Now he is a nice enough bloke, but I wasn't paying for his personality - the decision not to use Bill again was made easy by his relocation to Arizona, albeit with my wings in his possession.
So I was now back to square one, maybe even one square before that. The search for someone to do the work and in this case redo/undo the work continued.
I used all of my contacts with friends in the motor trade, they in turn would send me to a mate who would definitely help me as a favour to them. I don't blame my friends for trying, I appreciate their help, but it got very old to go and see someone who would promise to call me back only to hear nothing - no matter how sincere they sounded. I admit the problem was compounded by the car being on three wheels, but I was sure I could solve that problem if only I could get someone to do the work. Time just marched on and no progress was made - these setbacks tend to bring you down about the whole project, so things got ignored.
Then, in a case of pure serendipity I got a client that owns a body shop - better yet, it was fairly close to the house. I did work for him and gave him a discount on the understanding that he could help with the Wild Rover.
True to his word, John showed up on Sunday morning like he said he would - took a look at what needed doing, evaluated the three wheel issue and told me "no problem." All we had to do was wait until his trusted tow truck driver was available as he could deal with the 3 wheeler easily. (I had built a dolly to support the left front, but getting it on a tow truck wouldn't be straightforward - in the end it was easy peasy). I had also sourced another panel to replace the bodged welding.
John's tow truck driver's wife was pregnant and due any day, so there was a slight delay, but after a couple of weeks he called, we made arrangements and most surprisingly of all - he showed up
Car loaded up and away with no problems. John's body shop is pretty busy so the Wild Rover was sat to one side to wait for a lull in regular business, but it was in John's yard and one step closer to the work needed.
Long story short, after about a month (during which time John kept in touch) I got a call saying that the repair work had been done - John also checked the car for true using the WS manual I dropped off. A few days later the tow truck showed up at the house and delivered the Wild Rover home.
The welding repair was done - and well - They sealed the engine bay and checked the car for square/true. All of this, including a tow truck to and from John's shop came to $250. Result!
Following this I slowly but surely got around to reinstalling the front right suspension - more of that in a different post.
Just a partial update for now. I'll try and fill in all the other details in another post.
Cheers to everyone that has provided me with help, advice, information and inspiration.
Happy 2017