It looks like a car again!

A couple of hours work this morning saw the body tub refitted to the chassis. It took a while to get all the rubber washers in place between the chassis and tub, but with the aid of a ratchet tie-down all the holes lined up perfectly.

When I rebuilt my Herald I solid-mounted the shell to the chassis, having read that it increased the car's rigidity. The only effect I could see was to make the body creak over uneven surfaces. One day I'll take the wee red monster apart again and do it properly.

The next step will be to remove the last of the paint and filler before it goes to the panel shop, possibly as early as next week. Now I can roll it in and out of the garage, it'll only take a few hours to get it completely clean using a wire brush on an angle grinder. The bonnet will take longer, as stripping the underside back to bare metal looks like a real pain, especially in the front corners. Fortunately it's so dry here in the winter that bare steel doesn't seem to rust, even after months exposed to the air. A change from New Zealand!