Where did that go !!??

[Bonzo]

Well, that’s another year of my build come & gone…………Where the heck did that year go !!??

For me, it all started out just after the book was published.
I came upon the book by chance while shopping in Halfrauds.

Hooked from the moment I saw the cover, even before I had the chance for a read.

Had the Ron Champion book sitting on the bookshelf for years……..Never made a start as the Mk2 Escort donor route was a bit of a no goer due to lack of availability. Besides I didn’t have the desire or the confidence to make the changes of design required in order to use different donor parts.

Spring 2007 saw the arrival of my donor, a 1991 1.8 CVH estate. This was given to me free by one of my customers ( Good low mileage car but rusted out )

With the help of my two son’s, the donor was stripped & boxed up in next to no time, shell went for scrap.

I had the majority of the steel for my chassis delivered in may 2007.
Build table was made & the chassis was fabricated in double quick time “ Great, well on target to complete the car by late summer / early autumn “ !!??

Ongoing health problems came to a head once more & after yet another hospital stay ……………That was it for the rest of the year & most of the following year .

Deeply depressed not being able to follow my dream, I almost came to the point that I was about to give up the build & sell the mountain of parts that I had been busy collecting during my lay up.

Just before Christmas last year, I had a huge reality check ?? . Why the hell was I putting pressure on myself with unrealistic targets.
Not a race is it …..It’ll get done when it’s done.

A valuable lesson to be learned here, “ Don’t be tempted to set an unrealistic build target “ Just go with the flow & take as much time as it needs.

Finally resumed my build in January 2009 ……… Quite upset at the surface rust on my chassis & was very tempted to re-start from scratch …..Only light surface rust & eventually decided to use the chassis & clean it up.

The real turning point for me during 2009 came from my visit to Stoneleigh show.
I met a great bunch of fellow forum members ……It gave me the kick up the backside that was much needed

During this summer I managed to get the chassis cleaned up & painted, Got it on all 4 wheels complete with test fitted engine, box, diff … in fact, the full running gear.

Towards the end of the summer I overdone things once more & that has put a hold on things again for the time being.

Having said that, with the help of my youngest lad & Grandson, I recently managed to get the flooor in & the alloy rear panel fitted……………Oh and have almost completed the fuel tank ( Ran out of Argon just as I was ready to fit the last end plate )

That brings me into year Three of my build ………..Now just about back to full fitness again ( Well for me anyway )

Very much looking forward to the new year ahead & some good progress on my build.
More or less, have everything I need to complete the build, Just need to get out into the workshop for some quality build time.

If you have read this far, you have done well

A very big thanks to all of the folks I met at Stoneleigh for giving me the motivation that was much needed.

Looking forward to meeting a lot more of you over this coming year.

Finally, thank you to each and every forum member for all of the help and support that I have received during the last few years.

Happy new year one & all