Lyndhurst! Just round the corner from me. Maserati garage for him, older woldey shops for her.....
The very place, do enjoy a good breakfast there when I'm able to visit - lovely little place called The Greenwood Tree that do a good fry up... that and I have to go put my paws and nose on the glass to stare at the Ferrari's
My uncle had a hotel in Brockenhurst many, many years ago. Loved that part of the world.
It is a lovely part of the world, the in-laws go there rather a lot, not quite so nice when extracting their caravan in the snow but we made it out unscathed and the fudge from Burley even lasted longer than the journey home... just!
Now where was I...? Ahhh yes, the restoration show at the NEC.
As previously mentioned I had a few irons in the fire before I left for the show, mostly all in the name of 'swapsies' - sorry kids, it seems that particular game didn't die out in the playground as some folks try to lead you to believe, meaning not everything requires cash to procure...
So chassis legs, wings, fitch panels and rear deck valance all loaded into the disco and it was off to the show
Once there it was straight into the club stand part of the show as that's where the main interest was for me this year, nothing to do with the fact that I was strictly told I have too many tools, cutting discs as it is and in no circumstances was I to come home with another bit of machinery... As it happened I had no intentions of such a thing, there were much more exciting things on the agenda...
So first things first, what did I pick up...
An original tool kit
Some rear arch repair sections (desperately needed given the state of mine!)
Unfortunately I also hoped that I would get hold of a GT roof lining, but as it's a one-piece it was too big to bring to the show meaning I'll have to go get that another time.
As there have been a few threads with lots more pics of the show I won't post too many, but being suitably biased and as it relates to this thread, it didn't take long before I found a lesser spotted Celica... yours for £22k!
It's not quite the same as mine as it's a non-uk car hence the fender mirrors, mine will also be a slightly darker yellow, still it gave me some good ideas as to what bits I need to address on mine and where I am still missing parts. I had a really good chat with the owner and it seems I have a few parts he wants and he has a few things I need... some future deals to be done there too it seems - result!
Next I wandered over to the Austin A35 club who were attracting a lot of interest thanks to one particular vehicle on the stand... one for
v8ian I shall say no more as I'm encouraging the owner to join up and tell his story, suffice to say it should shift as well as it looks when finished and I think you'll be seeing a fair bit of this van in the coming months...
One other thing that caught my eye - possibly the coolest coffee machine I'd ever seen
Wasn't allowed a coffee though - not a Porsche GB club member you see...
Over the two days there was a lot of walking, a lot of talking and some more deals done, was great to finally meet @grumpynorthener in person and admire his work close up (for those wondering it's even better in real life!). Great to meet you Chris, and apologies for interrupting your lunch at 4pm... congrats on the awards too as I know you weren't sure what they would be when we spoke.
Suffice to say it was a great show and well worth attending, it well and truly gave me my mojo back although I was exhausted after the two days just walking and talking to folk, hate to think what those who had been on and put together stands felt like by the end of the weekend!
Show over it was back down South to collect what was waiting for me at my parents... another couple of gems I managed to find the Friday before heading to the NEC.
Firstly a centre console. Those with a good memory may remember that I have one of these already and I asked what was missing from it:
Well with the new one I now know
No not a coin tray, not even a tray for the 8-tracks, instead some form of Toyota Badge and slot leading too... ?! nope still no idea.
Much more exciting however was the second, slightly larger and rather well wrapped parcel.
After what would have been a very good game of pass the parcel, should I actually had any friends present to play with, the contents finally appeared
Another ridiculously lucky find, as you can imagine I was/am super happy. They got carefully re-wrapped and have been stored ready for when they are needed.
There is also another little purchase in progress that should help matters of the visual kind (no not glasses for me), but more on that as and when it comes off.
As for the rest of my time off over Easter (supposedly to have a rest), I instead finished the major kitchen jobs, including fixing the leaking bathroom above the new kitchen (that went down well with SWMBO!)
So I think we are now done bar putting up some more pictures etc.
With the mojo still being motivated by the resto show and a few of my finds, I did get some time to prepare for some upcoming free time to work on the toys.
The spare A35 shell got kicked out the shed
and the celica put back in
Where it firstly had it's nuts removed... ahem... the leftovers of its winter companion
the more observant of you may also notice it's flying... that's because it also happened to get its exhaust fitted (finally!). As a result it now starts and runs much more smoothly - it's also rather a lot quieter much to the relief of those around me!
Next jobs are to get the rear axle dropped, cleaned and rebushed, clean all the underside off ahead of painting, and then start on the welding repairs... rather a bit to do on the latter sadly as the more I've looked the more I've spotted the dreaded pug and glass fibre... deep joy!
More as and when it happens...