18th July 2017 marked the end of my exams and a renewed focus on Ruy.

Having made a couple of phone calls, I spent today on a road trip across North Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk to deliver parts and check on progress.

My first stop was to see Robert in Wisbech.  Robert is restoring my gearbox and I needed to take him the synchro hub and 1st/2nd gear selector fork which were the last pieces needed for my gearbox to be rebuilt.

Robert showed me the casing for my gearbox and also explained how the old selector forks were so worn that there was play on the gear rack. The photos below show both 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th racks and the play with the old forks.

The next stop on my journey was to see Paul.  When I spoke to him during the week he surprised me by saying the bodywork was 80% complete!  I had a mild panic as I had heard nothing and also hoped that my budget hadn’t all been swallowed up!

The good news is the work is progressing well and is looking fantastic, as you will see from the photos below.  The bad news is the chassis will need reworking, as the floor pans are too wide for the body, so need to be cut out and re-inserted.

The only concern I have is that the VIN plate has been removed to do the spare wheel well, and I hope it has been retained as its essential to the car for me.  Paul assures me it will be safe but I will keep reminding him!

We agreed that he would pause work on the body, to get the chassis sorted so I can get it blasted and plastic coated and then I can rebuild it into a rolling shell.  Then it will go back to Paul for the body to be installed, headlining fitted and windows put back in.

Therefore, my to-do list has just got larger…..