THE TEASE IS OVER

Completing the stripping of Stella went easier than I expected. I tackled the doors next, I knew that removing the door cards and handles would be OK as I had done that before, but taking out the trim, glass and chrome frame plus the electric winder was a new challenge. The instructions in the manual are a bit sketchy, but a bit of common sense and it all came away.

Next was the front end. I had been wondering how I was going to get access to the bumper side bolts, but once I had removed the headlamps and shells it was obvious, again everything either unscrewed or unbolted without a problem. The black goo that was holding the chrome trim was cut through and all the trim was safely removed.

The only problem removing the hood was its weight, in this case the manual was explicit enough to unhook the springs and undo the bolts all in the right order and just as I realised I was not going to be able to lift the hood up and away on my own, my lovely wife arrived home. A couple of things got caught up, but without to much difficulty the two of us got it away from the car. Finally the tourneau cover was removed and the T bar, which I intend to recover and there she was, fully naked. All that remained was a bit of a cleanup inside and out with white spirit and paper cloth.

The low loader arrived just before 9am yesterday and now Stella is in the hands of Trevor and his team. I am not sure how long it will take to find out what new metal needs to be welded in, I will just have to anxiously wait!