Project Traveller
The car now fits the beautiful Woodies ash frame.
Of the countless repairs to classics I’ve done over the years, I reckon sorting the rear bodywork on Project Traveller has been one the most challenging for many reasons.
Discovering all the previous work merely hid rust and ruined original datum points can be very disheartening, not to mention frustratingly time consuming, especially when there’s deadlines to obey. Luckily, the new ash frame led the way and gave me the structure required to make the repairs.
Before we started, I made many enquiries about panels and techniques and came to the conclusion I would likely have to fettle most of the aftermarket panels we sourced. It’s an important point, because if you intend to use Project Traveller as a guide, be under no illusions that you will spend time making things fit and with good reason. Many of the panels we have used so far deliberately come with excess metal to allow you to make repairs beyond merely replacing a single rusty section. Likely, any rot will have affected other areas too, so expect them.
But the best tip I can give you for fitting the wood is to clamp the two rear doors together. They will tell you how straight the ash frame is on the body and indicate what you need to do to make the frame fit.