Autopendium :: stuff about old cars

Tags: bodywork colour metal restoration rust shot-blasting

One of the curious pleasures of owning and restoring an old car is the places and companies you end up visiting. Workshops underneath railway arches, scrapyards down picturesque country lanes, and countless numbers of strange low-rent industrial estates.

Friday was one of those days. I had to get some new tyres for my wife's car at Chalk Farm, so thought I'd pick up some aluminium off-cuts for the spray-outs we were going to do before deciding on the colour.

Lance had said there was a place called Fay's Metals in Acton I could go to, and sure enough there was -- if you looked hard enough. Head for Colville Road, which is off Bollo Lane, and then ask, apparently. IT was a good job I did, as I'd never have found it. It was actually tucked away near the end of a block off another small street, off Colville Road. Still, good place. £15 + VAT later I had my three offcuts all ready for spraying.

When I got to Lance's I found they'd discovered some more rust in the radiator mount area that would need sorting. Also the side radiator mount panels (there's probably a better description) were a little tatty and could do with being short-blasted before much else was done there. Did I have time to pop them round to Elliot, their local shot-blasting man, so they could be done while I waited. No prob.

Gave him a call to check he was in. Nope, but he would be in 10 minutes. What's the address? The SatNav won't find it, he said. I don't have SatNav, only a paper A-Z. Oh, well that's better, he said. We're marked as a poultry farm on that, though it hasn't been one for over 10 years. Head down Harlington High Street (near Heathrow), turn into the Pet Stores Industrial Estate, and I'm in there.

Jumped back in the car, 10 minutes to Harlington, then found the Pet Stores industrial estate. It's worth adding here that industrial estate is used in its loosest possible sense -- one that includes a few wooden sheds and some converted chicken shacks. There's a pet food wholesaler (in a large wooden shed), and round the corner, looking like it ad been abandoned, some old chicken shacks. In one of these (no sign) was Elliot with his trust shot-blaster.

Inside didn't look much better, but half-an-hour later I came out with the panels nicely blasted and ready for action (see pic), together with a new floorplan that had arrived with a fairly decent surface coating of rust on it.

Back to Lance's and en route finalised the two colours I've finalised on for the spray out (told Lance to choose a third). Had been thinking of a pale metallic green, but driving back saw two cars with almost the exact shade I'd been thinking of -- a new Volvo S80, and a definitely not-new Vauxhall Cavalier. That was out them, which left the midnight blue-black emtallic and the non-metallic light brown (Pantone 727 is what I've given them to match).

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