Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

Tags: bodywork plans restoration style

When I took the Amazon over to Lance yesterday I said I wanted it to be sharp, but not pretty.

By that I meant, the build should be dead-on, with the shut-lines and panels better than new, and some slight customising making it even sharper.

However, I didn't want to turn in a pretty car; it should be more purposeful and utilitarian than that. The Amazon is a great car, but it's not delicate, and I don't think it works when it's done up to the nines, concours-stylie, strutting about.

That doesn't mean it should look like a wreck, though that's where it's been heading the past few years, what with all the dents and the patina that's come from parking in the street. Just that it should stay true to it's core character and be a sharp-dressed workman.

To that end, we're going to take the strip the car, take the shell back to bare metal, and replace quite a few of the panels along the way. For a start, the front wings (both inner and outer) need replacing. The offside one's well dodgy, both the metal and the alignment of it, but the nearside one's going to have to go to.

Also to go, will be the boot lid (Lance has a rust-free Arizona one for a good price), the rear wings, and lower flanges, and probably the sills.

While we're at it, we're going to tidy the lines a little, most in the details (the gap between the metal and the rear window seal, but also in some mild customizing -- frenching in the rear lights, and hiding the front indicator behind the grill.

There'll be a bit more of this sort of thing inside, particularly for things like the siting of the radio and speakers, perhaps something nice for the headlining (which needs replacing anyway) and possibly replacing the steering wheel, which is a bit ropey too.

There's still lots to be decided, of course, including the paint colour -- I was tending towards a very pale brown, sort of 70s Bristol style, but am wavering, and I think we'll probably just pick three colours and get some samples done. I'm thinking I'll have the wheels painted the same colour as the body, but am unsure what to do about the chrome and the bumpers -- which could go a long way in de-prettifying it if we get it right.

Lance reckons the whole thing will take about 10 weeks -- call it 3 months, I reckon. Financially, it's going to hurt a bit, but honestly, I can't think of a better thing to splurge some money on, particularly given the years of good motoring the Amazon's given me.

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