 When
I bought the car it had had a succession of owners
that could not afford or did not understand what is
needed to maintain a car of this type so it change
hands quite often. Each time it was traded the selling
dealer gave it the quick and minimal once over.
Coupled with this recipe for disaster it also had a
whack in the front at one stage that was fixed by a
bash and bog man. As a result, the guards across the
front of the windscreen were high on the drivers side
and low on the passengers side.
There was also a lot of bog in the
middle of the bonnet that had shrunk and caused the
paint to crack. My panel beater and I decided that the
only way to fix the problem was to go back to bare
metal and start again.
 We
found the drivers side guard was in very poor
condition and needed to have a series of cracks cut
out and new metal welded in. This was done as shown in
the photos.
 During
this time someone posted a note on the landshark site
about phone dial wheels for sale on Ebay and located
in Melbourne. They were in poor condition having been
sprayed with "chrome bright". Fortunately
there were no bruises and when we cleaned off the
pressure pack paint we found enough of the original
colour to match and as the photos show they came up
very well.
The front spoiler also proved to be
interesting. When it was removed we discovered so many
cracks and breaks we decided the only reason it stayed
on was by mutual agreement. With a liberal plastering
of fibre-glass and a number of other sneaky manoeuvres
it looks like new! Its amazing what can be achieved
with body filler, sycaflex, fuse wire and patience.
Now after a month at the panel shop
it's finished and I love it! Having just completed
3000 klm to Canberra and back with no bits broken, I
am very happy with the car - Brian Lineker, "brand
new" '83 S.
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