UPDATE:
Turns out you can only upload 10 images at a time. I will continue.
Next up for me was the doors, I new these were going to take some time so struggled to fit them in. Getting all the parts of them marked, trimmed or cut back went on and on and they were literally the last thing to be painted, but again... all done.
The main area I was concerned about was the handle cutout, its pretty fiddly but having done the first ok the second went a lot smoother...
Marked up
Cut back
Test fitted
I was on a little bit of a confidence streak which was good as the next part was the window aperture trimming. I really felt there was way to much excess in here, I marked up how much I wanted left and trimmed both doors back to 15mm. This should be sufficient to bond the windows to. By doing this it did separate the panels in some areas but this was addressed with Sikaflex and a load of clamps. Had I known the panels would separate I think next time I would probably not of cut the windows back and then mounted them inside but these doors are moulded with the rubbers in them too, so not sure it would of worked.... either way, guess what - no bother, done now.
Note: the doors are going to have the lock recesses skimmed over before paint.
Whilst I was piss-ass-ing about with the doors this the bodyshop was finalising prep of the shell for paint. There was a fair bit of work in this, more than the points previously noted (Rust areas on sills and rear arches, Seal all underside and arches, Seal engine bay) but they cracked on and have really done a nice job. Along with this the eagle eyed may have spotted in my previous post the tabs on the cages A and B pillars. I wasn't 100% sure I was happy with how these appeared and the following day I mocked up some gussets that would sit over these. The swaging tools made for me by a mate very early in this project came in super useful again. These were made, dropped off asap and then welded in.
When dropping these off we discussed what I wanted to do with regards to seam sealer and the underside of the car. The painter said it was not the most sensible to leave the seams unsealed as water ingress here would just rot it from the inside out. With strict instructions to keep it light this was applied to promote the longevity of the shell. Also I decided to go for stone chip on the underside of the shell, again this should promote the longevity of the shell.
I visited the following day to a shell in the booth and ready to paint. All holes in the shell welded or sealed, the underside stone chipped and the A pillars gusseted I was very happy with the progress I was now very excited to see it with colour on.
This brings me not far away from the present day (and another 10 photo's posted).
The car has now been fully painted, inside, outside, underside.... The bill for this was quite significant in the end, pretty much double the initial quote (although this was given without seeing the shell). I felt a bit uncomfortable about this, but I know that it needed it and there was a lot of work in it. As mentioned this should preserve the shell significantly and with this staying in my ownership I can only see that as a good investment.
All the parts were brought home in many shuttle runs and have been stored in a spare bedroom (great when you are having house sale viewings...ha)
The shell also was brought home on friday, quite a nerve wracking experience, but it all is well. It is now back on its axle stands in the garage and ready for the rebuild. There is still a fair bit to do, but I 100% feel like I am on the home straight now.
At this point I need to say a big thank you to @Big-ash (James Ashton). I don't think he is on here that often anymore but for what it is worth the guy is a legend, he has helped countless times over the past several weeks with shuttling bits, help moving the shell both ways and assistance when panel trimming, I really couldn't have done what I needed without you mate.
So looking forward.... what will Page 100 bring.... a new start...
