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Thanks for the comments - its appreciated

Won't be long before I can get it out of the cradle and brace frame and onto the spit. I'll get the drivers A post/top sill welded into place first and maybe fit the drivers door.

Bought a NOS genuine door skin yesterday for the job as original drivers doors in excellent condition seem to be non-existent. Interesting that the skin has lots of tiny factory drilled holes along the swage line. We are presuming its a Hornet door skin ?

GREAT to see. To be honest I can't believe that it's got this far in the time span.

It is coming along faster than I thought too Peter.

I’m not spending that much time on it , couple hours tops in the evening weekdays and Saturday or Sunday at weekends.

Dad was saying yesterday that it could be painted late next year the way I’m going

Just caught up Andrew I tip my hat to you sir I think I’ll stop moaning about my front panel woes

Thanks Guy and glad that you appear to have got to the root cause of your front panel issues.

Little bit of a milestone as I'm starting to have to cut some of the brace frame out now. In reality I can probably take it all out but I'm a little apprehensive, or nervous

So, I cut a little away at the front so I could get this closing panel in to see how it fits .... very well I'm pleased to say.

I also have spot welded the inner wing return lip to the A post, as originally done.

Looking good Andrew

That's great news Andrew. A real milestone.

Thanks Mark and Ian..

It is coming along quicker than I thought at the moment. Not sure how much will get done in an unheated garage in the winter though

Great progress Andrew. Assuming you have electricity in your garage, I have found one of those oil-filled radiators a very useful form of heating in my workshop. I was given one by a neighbour a year or two ago. Doesn't seem TOO expensive to run, doesn't move dust around or make a noise and also, if you're doing little bits of painting, you can hang small parts onto it - or close to it. It just takes the chill off a bit . Just the ticket - we'll all need to get out of the way of the family later this month won't we when they all arrive for a few days

I might have to look into one of those Richard

I know what you mean about sloping off to the garage during the festivities

Tonight Richard, I am thinking I should have took your advice and bought one of those heaters - its bloody horrible out there

Now got the inner closing panels for the A posts and screen pillars fitted and welded (save for finishing top and bottom). The inner screen pillars, removed from the Heritage screen surround, have been the most awkward panels to fit thus far. I think the triangular shape of the pillar makes it difficult to get the flanges to line up with the adjacent flanges.

Anyway, I managed it and next move is to remove the (already partially removed) brace frame and get it onto the rotisserie so I can finish off all the bits I couldn't get to without it being on its side or with the brace fitted.

Lovely work.. keep it up..
Motivation drops but keep going with it.... so worth it...

Andrew, you're certainly having to replace panels which I never had to when working on Minis - anything THAT rusty was simply thrown away! You are indeed doing a sterling job there. Great progress.
I thought yesterday was the coldest and most miserable day we'd had for ages. Although it wasn't actually freezing here the wind and rain made for a thoroughly unpleasant day and I didn't spend much time in the garage.
One of those heaters will make all the difference Andrew

Big night tonight for HOY ....

I have removed the brace frame and rustic supports and is now hanging off my rotisserie

All looks OK .... doors still open anyway

Lots of finishing off work to do now and a few more repairs but the bulk is now done !

Fantastic progress Andrew! The rest will be definitely easier for you now! Can’t wait to see HOY finished and on the road.

Tim

Your tenacity and the sheer speed at which you're tackling HOY never fails to amaze me........... Just browsing through the pictures reminds me of those old what we used to call 'flicker books'.

That's a great achievement in what looks like a small garage.
You have to be very organised with limited space but what you are doing is quite remarkable.
Come on tell us the truth ..it goes out to a big restoration shop round the corner then home for the photos

Looking fantastic!

I think you may have a few issues fitting the front screen though.

mk1 wrote:I think you may have a few issues fitting the front screen though.

Maybe he should go for the split-screen Moggy look? Sod the purists