This past years achievements

[Ron Lawson]

Well Tomorrow is New Years Eve and I am sitting recollecting on what i have achieved with the restoration of my DB 2249 Senior 6.in the last 12 months. I started with redoing the steering box I was not happy with it when I fitted it after the first attempt plus I put Graphite grease in it. While I had it out I machined the casings so seals could be fitted to the sector shaft and also at the bottom where the spark and throttle rods exit the box.The end result after re setting up the box was spot on. Made me very happy. Then I sanded back and varnished the steering wheel and  mounted it on the column and fitted the spark and throttle rods.  I then removed the body from the frame and set it back up on the mobile stands. Then came the fitting of the doors to the timber frame. All of the hinges had to be reworked with new pins before installing. My cousin Bill did the routing for the door lock assemblies and  also on the rear edges of the door frames. Next came the fitting of the rear tub section  and nail it on. My 2249 is a Holden bodied Tourer. It was great feeling seeing the old girl starting to take shape in a more permanent manner. Another job done was to refurbish the 4 door locks This job took 3 days as they had to be completely stripped blasted repaired and reassembled ( My pet hate is to see an old car beautifully restored and the door handles are hanging at a 45 deg angle) Next came the rear panel of the front seat. This needed a couple of days work on it as the car was used as a mobile welder come farm hack and was dented quite badly. Gundog kindly sent me photos of the back seat area so that I could remake the timber seat frames as well as the base for the drivers seat  I then discovered that when I repaired the rust sections in the lower cowl I made the patches too long by 3/8'' so had to remove the dash panel and with a friends help take the cowl off Jack said that we could just cut them off and re-bend them. This we tried and it turned out UGLY so I decided that I would replace them again Cut and shaped 2 new patch panels then disaster. I severed the rotor cuff tendon in my left shoulder. The cowl is still on the bench and when I can use my arm again without fear of mucking up the surgeons  good work I will tackle that job. I am on the mend now and have been doing small chores like making scuff plates for the door openings. Made 3 new door sills as they were rusted out and last week I fabricated a new casing for the coil This was made from 1/8th plate and the end result was pretty good I won't have to worry about it falling out from under the dash now The last few days have been spent painting a second tail light and fitting  the mounting brackets to the headlights these were held on with screwed rivets that I made Also made a strengthening plate to fit inside the lights as I have seen where they have broken out at the base. Probably overkill as the roads are much better now days 

I would like to wish all of my friends a Very Happy New Year and may 2016 bring you good health,wealth and happiness  Ron

[Ian_Greenlaw]

Hi Ron,

Glad to hear your on the mend. Interesting when you look back to see what we've done on our cars. I think this year we spent a considerable amount at the dentist and next year we gave an engagement, 18th Brithday, 21st Birthday and a wedding. I think I'll have to sell my body to science to pay for it !

We are in the middle of the bushfire season and already a large fire down by the beach claimed 116 houses. You just grab what you can and run to the beach. Today will hit 40c with a high wind and they say the fire will start up again and head the other way.

I didn't get as much done as I hoped for but with a bit of luck I'm hoping to get the old girl to the upholsterers later in 2016.

I hope you too, and all that follow our posts a safe new year.

Cheers

Ian