1975 - The Final Assembly

Now I may be out by a few months here or there but the years would be correct. It is now 1975 and I have the upholstery just finished, the paint work previously done, looking brilliant, and the drive train finished. The first job after getting the car back from the upholsterers was to bring the engine back to life from under numerous layers of plastic and duct tape that had been used to protect it and my hand made radiator surround from the dangers of the body restoration and repainting. And how close it was to being the unveiling of a disaster. Whilst removing the tape from the radiator surround I come across an angle grinder cut in the tape right at the top of the chrome surround, the area that would be on full show to any one looking at the car. Remove first layer of tape, cut goes deeper, second and third, cut goes deeper. I am then removing the fourth and final layer, and feeling the veins in my neck starting to throb before the stress headache starts, it looks like the grinder has penetrated all layers and cut into the chrome. Now I should tell you at this stage that this surround cost me $350 back in 1974, and my weekly wage was much less than that, probably around $150 a week. Much to my relief the cut through had stopped just on the adhesive backing of the last layer, so when all the dust and dirt was cleaned off, not even a scratch. Boy what a relief.

A week or two has passed and all the engine plumbing and cooling system is connected and ready for the first fire up in the car since it was bench tested. Engine fires into life, a bit rough, but will worry about that later, and boy was that an understatement, as you will read in "Pre-Registration"

So I have a car that will start, idle, but has never been road tested, Why? It ain't got no wheels. Well actually it does have wheels but they are the 1970 Corolla wheels welded onto Chev Hubs that I used to push around during the paint and upholstery process. Just a point of interest that in 2011 those same wheels are still under the house and were used again during a mini restoration many years later.

Next job was to get the timber spoked wheels stained and lacquered, painted and fitted on the car with no tyres fitted. With the car up on blocks but fully "finished" apart from tyres, I have to confess there was many an hour that I spent sitting in the beast, engine running, playing like a little kid with his Tonka Truck.

The next job was simple, fit the tyres, adjust the brakes, tune everything and get a roadworthy and registration. All will be revealed in the next installment "Pre Registration".