HERE COMES TROUBLE

THE Grot’s restoration wasn’t without dramas, both in and out of the shed. The enormity of the project wasn’t lost on Dean, and in the early stages he found that progress ebbed and flowed. “I’d get a run on things but then get sidetracked with family and work commitments,” he says. “Then I’d chat with John or Phil or have some random person contact me with information about the car, and I’d be reinvigorated.”

However, the difficulties piled up in the last 18 months of the project. Dean’s wife of 26 years, Susan, was diagnosed with cancer, which obviously belted his family for six.

Helping care for Susan while raising two teenage daughters and running a one-man business had Dean burning the candle at both ends, but he would find some stress relief tinkering with the Monaro, which kept the project moving. “Thankfully, Susan has pulled through and is in remission, but at the time I would feel guilty working on The Grot,” he recalls. “However, the time-out would help me reset my brain to stay properly focused on our family.”

The final blow came with the car all but finished and booked in to be displayed at this year’s Motorex. Lismore and its surrounds were hit badly by recordbreaking floods, and The Grot nearly fell victim. “I thought the car would be safe in the workshop, but the water kept rising at a record pace and it got too late to move it to safer ground,” Dean says. “My hoist was jammed full of an immovable project, so I just jacked The Grot as high as possible on stands and hoped for the best. I didn’t sleep a wink that night and couldn’t bear to even wade down and look into the shed window.”

Even with the car jacked up high, the water still reached the sills, but thankfully no significant damage was sustained. After a detail underneath, The Grot was show-ready and went on to be one of the stand-out cars at Motorex 2022.