The shell is now in the shed.

I have finally moved the shell from the open front shed to the garage. I received all my ball joints etc so I'm almost ready to start on the front suspension. As you can see in the photos the "G" is going back together well.

 New ball joints fitted.

 Getting there but a long way to go.

In good company with my 1975 Jaguar XJC-V12.

Suspension components ready.

I sandblasted all the suspension components and painted them in RFU chassis black ready to be refitted. Small problem being, getting new bushes and ball joints! I also stripped the paint off the front tank and repainted it in gloss RFU.
The Gordini heater matrix is a bit second hand so I took that to my local radiator man who is going to have a new core made and fitted, he thinks that it will cost around $200.00. If all else fails I have a good R10 unit I can use.
The brake booster has been sent to Sydney for a rebuild and the latest on that is it might cost around $800.00!! I'm getting another quote for that.

 Suspension parts just after being removed from the car.

After sandblasting and painting.

Front tank looking as good as new.

Lines and Hoses.

I have spent the last couple of days with the shell on its side renewing all the lines and hoses. Its pretty crowded in there when its all back in place. Of course I broke the clutch cable at the plastic fitting that clips into the bracket at the rear cross member, you know where I mean! The bracket that brakes through the floor on all R8's and 10's eventually! Luckily I had a spare cable so I used that one. I will drop the master cylinder and booster to the local brake place tomorrow to have them rebuilt.

 New hoses installed.

With the stone trays in place.

Second coat to the shell.

As I said in my last post I was not happy with the job I did on the roof so it needed to be re-painted. After a careful look over the whole shell I decided to re-paint the whole thing. I sanded the shell down over a couple of nights and repainted it today and this time I waited for the compressor to keep up for a much shinier finish. The finished job of the second coat is 100% better.
Now I can start to put it back together. Note the gear and hand brake levers are back in. Well that's a start!

 The upper wishbone is ideal to hold the gravity feed spray gun.

 Bolts with new washers and new screws and washers for the front 

and rear guards get a coat of blue. 

 A much better finish on the second coat.

Couldn't help myself. Had to start to put it together straight away!

A colourful day.

The shell has now been painted. I'm not all that happy with the roof so I will repaint that in the coming days. Not too much to say as a picture says a thousand words.

The fiddly bits take so much time!

I have been working day shift for the past week and a bit so progress has been down to about an hour a day. 3 days off and I'm hoping to get a bit done. Over the past week I have been completing some of the more fiddly bits like removing the paint from the door springs and fittings etc. I have also fitted the new A pillar braces which I made last week. I copied the one from the right side which was badly rusted but the basic shape was still there. I think it rusted from the back of the brace as there is little paint behind some of these areas.
Cutting them was no problem but putting in all the bends including a double bend in 2 different directions was a bit of a challenge when all I have is a vice and hammer at my disposal.
I repaired the right rear sill today which is the last rust repair to be done on the shell so i'm hoping to have the shell in colour soon. Also picked up a heap of new Stainless nuts, bolts and washers today as well. These will replace all the rusty ones, i'm sure i'll need more!

 The underside trays, cleaned and re painted.

 Some of the fiddly bits cleaned and primed.

New right A pillar brace now in place.

Underside and Inside in Cannes Blue

Never waste a nice sunny day. I have now painted the underside and inside in Cannes Blue. The inside is yet to receive another coat. I have not painted in the rear foot wells as new sound deadening sheets will be glued in place.
I will now start to put the underside back together, then I hope I will have all the new suspension components to start on the front section.