1973 TA22 Toyota Celica - Patchwork quilt

When I got the Cortina back from paint I set a goal (loosely) in my head of getting it back together by the club National meeting. It took a lot of work to get there (as you know it’s still not completely finished) but I had not restored any of the items to bolt back on it which took most of the time. I see you sorting that out with your MG.

You’ve done a massive amount and you’ve done it really well. Keep it up 👍

I think you are doing great - the most important is to keep it moving. Some days you’ll see a lot for it and others not much at all - though that may well be the foundation for great progress further down the line.

.....and you are definitely not the only one to overestimate what you will achieve in a day. I do it all the time - I go in with a list of 5 things I’ll get done and I feel like I’ve achieved half of the first one.

The worst thing I’ve found it pushing when everything is saying take your time - that’s when I make mistakes or worse, damage things.

Keep going - you’ve got it going on 👍🏻

A long weekend and a day out for the Mrs' birthday on Friday started with a little diversion as she wanted something finished... no prizes for guessing what I ended up doing...


Does seem that there are a fair folk with A30/A35's who have birthdays around this time...

So now seam welded down the sides and spot welded around the front



the wings and grill could then be loosely fitted to check everything lined up still - it's finally starting to look more like it should. Wheel arches are next on the to do list.


Many brownie points gained, especially as it was followed by birthday cake cooked by yours truly 

So what do you do with said brownie points accrued... yup you rapidly cash them for a day on the celica the following day! starting with yet another repair to be made to the very thin metal at the front of the rear arch which I could deal with now the sill sections were all in place.


bit of the usual CAD, before slicing yet another hole and filling it with fresh metal

(As an aside to the above - the eagle eyed will spot the many layers building up at the bottom of the arch section with the inner arch, outer arch and outer sill all overlapping. Given my hate for finding layers upon layers when uncovering previous repairs, fear not these will be addressed/removed very soon!)

I then moved onto the outer sill, spent a load more time faffing with it and then decided to just go for it


While simultaneously fitting the repair sections to the previously uncovered and treated box section which had already had a coat of paint after the hydrate 80


Outer sill in place and inaccessible welds dressed back, I could then very, very carefully start to re fit the outer wing panel, firstly tacking it in place


before refitting the outer arch and then carefully welding it in


Now we're getting somewhere. Must confess I was rather enjoying myself at this point as all was coming together very nicely indeed... what could possibly go wrong? 

Still riding that wave of confidence/success it was onto the rear wing repair, and this is where the fun sort of started - no matter what I tried I couldn't get the panel to sit as flush as I wanted, even where I had previously joggled the join. Nothing else for it but to break out the dremel fitted with a thin grinding disc and run a cut to butt weld it instead, which meant I could peel back the overlap on the inside.


Which with the settings on the welder adjusted to suit, actually turned out to be the best way and the results were much better than I expected in terms of keeping things level and with minimal distortion



Hard to see from the pictures, but there was just one low spot where it got away from me a little which was a bit annoying, have thought about cutting it and rewelding but I don't think it will help.


Either way was very happy overall as this metal is not the best in places... a fact I was then rudely reminded of...

Decided as a last job of the day to finish welding up a few of the cleco holes where I'd pinned the panel for the floor in the rear quarter, despite using the lowest settings I could and the copper pipe, I promptly blew a load of new holes - B*gger!

Think I need to revisit the drawing board on that section as if I'm blowing holes that easily then the metal is just not thick enough to warrant leaving as it is to avoid future issues. Perhaps a blessing in disguise looking back in hindsight... didn't feel like it at the time though!

So in summary, good news and bad...

The good... well with the repair to the front of the arch, it means the passenger compartment is finished - bit of a milestone. The clamp drawer being full again is also a good sign!


The bad... it feels like two steps back on the boot area... rather gutted after what was otherwise a really good day. So I walked away and will go again this weekend with a clear head. In the meantime I'm back on the hunt for a decent compatible wheel well.

At least I can take comfort in knowing it's looking more complete... well from the outside at least 


Will see what next weekend brings...

Yup, I liked the first part of the update... but it did tail off a bit towards the end

You’d have always ended up going back to it, if you’d have persevered it just would have been a few weeks later!

See that’s better, posts where you just abuse your wallet are much more enjoyable

will make a note - retail therapy is the way forward

Speaking of wallet bashing, anyone have any recommendations for getting hold of an Astra 'G' boot floor/wheel well panel, my usual sources seem to be non-responsive at the mo for obvious reasons and I can't visit the usual delight of Bridges in Crawley to source one for myself.

I put my pants on just like the rest of you - one leg at a time.





(That’s from a SNL sketch, really funny )

you forgot the next line John

"Except, when my pants are on, I make awesome work vans" 😉🤣