And Breathe.

All good things come to those that wait. Mohomoho is back, however I think Big Yellow is a better nick name: See pictures attached.

I’m 90% happy with the finish, though I have been spoiled in the past with flatting and polishing to a mirror finish; so maybe my expectations were a little too high. The welding is great and all the structural internal rust is gone. I have some tiny internal rust spots to deal with but these are entirely cosmetic. There are a few other bits for me to do, a soapy wash and wax, and fitting of the external body fittings (bump stops for doors). The insides are filthy with dust from paint over spray and filler rubbing down, so a wet wipe inside is due.

The old emergency light cluster at the rear has been removed, the blue roof light from the front is gone, and the windows on the side are re-fitted, there is a minor problem in this area highlighted by the external power wash, to whit; if you force water round the edges at high pressure it will get in. This isn’t too difficult to sort out, it just requires a bead of non setting windscreen mastic to be pumped into the seam. I am also going to replace the Herzim Strip (screw cover strip) that runs around the entire window edge (I did nearly 30mtrs of it on the old Moho, and is purely cosmetic in this instance).

Faults: one is mine for sure, I didn’t mention that the front door and wing offside were rubbing, they didn’t notice until after they sprayed and closed the door and some while later found a scrape on the door runner. There is a minor run at the top of the sliding door, on the bevelled part of the panel (you can only see it from a certain angle, and not direct on). Other than these obvious bits it’s fab, and Garry has asked us to pop back if we find any real snags.

So that’s it ready, sealed for conversion. I have to stuff out the internal skeleton with micro fleece, pre-line the sides with an ecofoil type product, and pull out the last of the redundant emergency vehicle electrics. Then on the third weekend of June it’s back down to Devon to be converted and we can sit back a bit and relax, save some cash, and enjoy high summer living by the seaside ... is the plan.

Promise of Earth implied ... reality meh?

Having followed up with the vehicle restorer I had spent so much time tracking down, and diligently taking pictures, of every ding, scrape and smear of rust at his request. Then mailing him said pictures and descriptions as requested. I finally reached the point at which I thought we needed a proper chat about schedules, time scales and costs. I got costs with no trouble at all. However (and I was cross about this ... not the reason, but the outcome), our restorer man is going through the adoption process, this is tying him up and he is not taking on anymore work this year ... unless he can find someone to take on a full time role (he is advertising for a semi retired individual on a part time basis, but that’s a long shot and I don’t live in hope of a return call anytime soon).

This pisses me of for one reason and one reason only, he could have told me two weeks ago. In which case I would have kept on looking for body workers, with facilities large enough for a van and a real desire to do the work other than “it pays the bills” or “it’s all I’m trained for”.  As with all things it’s got to be someone who loves what they do and requires the work because they need the challenge and or satisfaction of doing it.

It’s not that vehicle painters are hard to find, they are easy enough to track down in the yellow pages, but if you look, and I have, you find two types. Crash repairers ... in and out high turn over, like Chips Away on steroids; a bit soulless and cost driven. And then there are the specialists ... takes a year to get sorted, costs and arm and a leg, and is the province of the Porsche, Aston and Ferrari driver. I need someone in between (that’s  someone in between, with a big workshop), it’s like groundhog year ... need a workshop need it big.

I could of course, (given that the rust I need dealing with is hidden ... do it myself to a point), but I’ve been down that road years ago with a Cortina Mk5, an Escort Mk2 and a Triumph Herald. It’s a slog if you only have an hour here there. So as much as I’d like to wait to get the bodywork done by the guy I’ve already found, logistically it not possible. I’d have to wait until September at the earliest to get the rust sorted and I’d have to defer the internal fit out until at least then, or beyond.

So this evening I shall be on Yell.com looking for body workers in or around Essex with a large workshop reasonable rates and obvious signs of a little passion.

So until next time, ttfn.