LEE’S MAJOR MILESTONES

1 My biggest fail

Having completed everything, bar the paint, Liam couldn’t resist taking it out for a spin. ‘The RAC helped remove a seized brake caliper the day before; I replaced it with a new one, and the lad put the wheel back on. However, I didn’t know he’d used wheel bolts that were too long and they worked loose. I was doing 60mph when the nearside front went past me. I phoned Kelly and she turned up – to shout at me. The alloys had just been freshly painted.’

2 My best bodge

‘The Bendix braking system is what killed many early Mi-16s. Some get rid, but I wanted to keep it all original. It has two servos and is a nightmare to bleed accurately, taking 22 steps. I’m a bit heavy-handed with a hammer and accidentally broke a valve off a servo. I now have to bleed it backwards – the complete opposite to Peugeot’s guidance – to get the system to work properly. It’s no biggie, I’m used to it, although the brake bias is now more to the rear.’

3 My favourite workshop tool

It may sound a bit old-school, but Liam says: ‘Without doubt, it has to be my hammer. The goto tool to persuade things to move gently. You can be in a bad mood and want to shift things, and there it is begging to be used.’ Overexuberance has, however, caused some problems during the restoration. ‘I’d just re-fitted the back window and the hammer’s head flew off and went through it.’ It didn’t help with the brake servo either...

4 My proudest moment

Eliciting a single element of which Liam is most proud isn’t possible. ‘It’s the whole car,’ he says. ‘I’m just happy to have it on the road. I’ve done everything on it from scrapper to what it is now.’ Despite his working background, he says without Kelly he’d never have embarked on a full restoration. ‘I didn’t have the confidence. Kelly said: “It’s only this, you can do it.” And that spurred me on. It has been a real eye opener to what I can do. If I can do it, anyone can.’