Workout begins

Full body treatment for Nigel’s crusty GT6 gets under way

It’s strange having space under the car port with the GT6 away at the bodyshop for expert attention. But at least that’s given me the time to busy myself sorting out the huge pile of bits stripped from the car before it was sent away for its much-needed cosmetic surgery.

It seemed a good idea to tackle the chrome first, since I knew some re-plating would be needed and good chrome platers have a reputation for taking their time. Polishing up the front bumper soon had it gleaming, pristine and clearly good to go again, much to the relief of my wallet. The back bumper was a different story, with rusty streaks and peeling chrome. Other chrome parts needing replating include the door handles and fuel filler. I’ve dismantled these and everything is now ready to go to the metal finisher’s works – I’ll be writing a lot more about this next time. Meanwhile, Jamie at Complete Car Care has made real headway on the body repairs. The front edge of the roof has clearly been repaired before but the rot has broken out again. With the windscreen removed, the top of the screen frame just below the roof join was also found to be rusting through, completely out of sight with the screen rubber in place. This whole area has needed extensive surgery. Rusty metal has been cut out and replaced in short strips, to avoid losing the original roof contour. Jamie has skilfully made repair sections, welded them in, ground the new metal flat then moved on to the next piece. Last time, I mentioned that a Mini rear valance could possibly substitute for the ‘NLA’ GT6 front roof repair section. It’s turned out not to be quite so simple; the Mini valance isn’t exactly the right shape, though parts of it have

been adapted to make short curved repair panels. These roof and windscreen frame repairs took longer than expected but are now almost done.

The other body problems are all at the rear of the car and work so far has been limited to assessment. The nearside wing has had a myriad of small welded repairs around the wheelarch in the past and now really needs replacement.

Wings and prayers

When it was removed, part of the inner arch dropped on the floor, held by little more than fresh air! And this on a car that still looked good enough to attract favourable comments at shows last summer. With a rotting classic body, you really can only see the tip of the iceberg.

The much-patched and rusty wing prompted a trip to TD Fitchett’s huge premises with a shopping list of panels, including a smart new Heritage rear wing. The only problem is that GT6 wings aren’t available. We’re using a Spitfire wing, though this lacks a fuel filler aperture as Spitties have their filler caps in the middle of the rear deck.

The filler hole has been cut out of the old GT6 wing, to be grafted into the new one. I’ve been more than a little surprised to find Gt6-specific panels are now so rare, compared to Spitfires where pretty well anything a restorer could want is sitting on the suppliers’ shelves.

In one of the pictures above you can just see a couple of other classics. The gold Sunbeam Alpine is a local car that’s had a bit part in the TV series Heartbeat, and the other is a VW Golf MKI shell – a restoration belonging to Ben, the Complete Car Care boss. Normally very precise with deadlines for customer work, Ben gets a bit vague when asked about a completion date for his own project.

Over the next few weeks the GT6 rear end repairs should be completed, with new metal in the corners of the boot floor, the bottom edge of the offside wing, around the lip of the tailgate opening, plus whatever else we haven’t yet found.