Ok, first of all, I haven't given up, yet. A friend of mine came over and gave me some help and advice on gasless welding. We have now plated the rear o/s wheel arch and repaired the hole in the boot floor. However, having given the dolly a good look over. He came to the conclusion that it's gonna take a hell of a lot of work and money just on the welding alone.
Both inner light mounts need replacing, n/s sill, inner sill, rear arch and front wing needs extensive work. The chassis leg and front lower outer valance are shot. This isn't including the dozen or so holes throughout the car. But worst of all, the roof is rippled in placeĀ“s. However, my friend put me onto a friend of his, who was selling his project dolly on eBay. I went and had a good look at the car. It was structurally sound. It has been completely stripped down to the shell with only the back axle still in place.
Well, to cut a long story short, I bought it.
My dilemma is, I have a lot of good parts on my dolly that I'm hoping will fit the new shell. As you all know, my dolly is an S reg whereas the new one is a P plate. The paint work should clean up ok after a good buffing, but will eventually go for a re-spray. (Russet brown) The interior in my car is in better condition than the new one, but the wood door tops are shot. And a lot thinner than mine.
I loathe removing too much of the originality away from a car, but needs must. My dilemma, how much can I take from a car three years newer?
Karl