A WEEK OF CLEANUP LATER

I took a week off work (self employed) save for a few little jobs and got to work on the fairlane.

I was pretty keen to see what I had got, and to be frank, needed to clean it up so I felt I had something worth looking at and dreaming about. First order of the day was a wash, where i discovered the true color (albeit quite faded) followed by an even bigger scrub of the inside.

The front seat looked like it had been used as a trampoline by an elephant and a food source for rats. Fortunately John provided me with a serviceable lower front seat and the back seat was actually very good, dirty but good. Out came the seats and the remnants of carpet and felt, and out came a 44 gal drum of dirt and crap. Included in the rubbish are clues to the cars past...more on that later.

After a good clean I found a floor that was very very sound, no rust except for a spot related to some severe sill rot. After getting into the boot via the back seat (no keys) it was fond to be full of junk as well, mostly car parts not related the the Fairlane, wool bale fasteners and more red dirt, but is 100% free of rust, The spare wheel carrier has a spot the size of a pea.

Next came a good clean of the door trims and other inside bits and the fixing of the front seat. The back of the front seat is not the best but for now a mexican blanket makes the inside more respectable

Next up was still more time on the outside, a good cut and a polish, the boot lid needed a bit more and got a rubdown with 1200 to remove a million dots of rust (possibly a left over of angle grinding near by some time in the past), the sides of the car are also showing the result of a decade on gravel roads but cleaned up nice.

The last job was the fixing of the only blemish....That is, not the real patina but the result of some body taking to the doors with a scraper and stopping short of even a half job. As far as I am concerned that just spoiled the genuine patina and looked out of place. Solution was to put on the only paint that I intend to other than when the sill rust gets fixed.

So here it is after a weeks efforts. Now attention will move to things more mechanical for a while

This car still wears 99% of its original 52 year old paint and will remain that way.