25-08-2023, 02:18 PM
Today was a day that I have been waiting for for a long time. My Box Saloon was my first car, bought in 1970 and was my only transport until 1982 when the arrival of children led to what I call my 'Wilderness Years' and the car was pushed to the back of the garage where it lay for 10 years or more. When I returned to it, it was apparent that it had suffered a great deal of abuse at my hands and required a pretty thorough restoration. The bodywork was beyond my capabilities and the chap doing it said he would re-instigate the sliding roof that had been sealed up and the rear portion of the rails had been removed. Anyway, skip ahead until the early naughties and having been distracted by the use of my Cabriolet I had bought in the meantime, I returned to the Box. I really wanted to make sure the roof was functional and watertight before I fitted the headlining. Sadly, this proved not to be quite the case and there were issues in the operation of the sliding panel. Back in the garage it went for another 10 years but today, armed with a new kit of wood from Martin Prior, I embarked upon the more accurate rebuild of the roof. The previous chap had made a good stab at it, but the likes of Martin have led the way in a better understanding of exactly how these sorts of things should be made. A morning's work have left me with this. I am excited to finally get this done and have the car back on the road...
