Flopsy is home again :o)

[Guinney1971]

Hi all,

well, I am very pleased to report that at 6pm this evening, Flopsy pulled
up on the drive of our new house for the first time, having been in the
skilled hands of Chris and Darren at PJ Grady for the last few months.

Tourettes Tony kindly met us on the A130 so that Phill and I could follow
him to Grady's and not get lost - thanks Tony, you're a star as always

So, we arrive at Grady's workshop, not sure what to expect, as the car that
I dropped off in October was something of a shed............

I was speechless.

Flopsy looks gorgeous, there is no other way to describe her. They even
sorted out my manky old dash and binncle, so I dont have to use that
old DashMat anymore. The stainless is perfect, the fascias have been
repainted and now match, the suspension doesnt creak anymore, the
tracking is all done etc, etc...... I was absolutely stunned when I saw how much
work they've done on her. They even valeted the car for me! Yes I did well up,
but I held my composure and didnt cry till I got home. I turned round to gaze
at her gleaming under the security light - then that was it, and the tears (happy ones) flowed.

I'll post up some proper 'before and after' pics tomorrow, but heres a few
from today.









This is what the O/S wing used to look like (after the accident):



and this is what it looks like now - absolutely gorgeous



Thank you Chris and Darren, I felt so proud driving her home today,
and she was certainly getting lots of looks and thumbs up on the way back I think I owe you a beer
or several at Eurotech!

[MikeH]

wow flopsy looks amazing, all i can say is *drool*

[Jonny Jones]

Awesome!! Great work guys, Claire you lucky lady you :wink:

[TheOriginalMrP]

Flopsy looks great Claire. Let's hope we can have a nice summer this year so we can enjoy our car's more!

Look after her!

[Tourettes Tony]

i knew you would cry claire it was just a question of when :wink: great to see you and phil again and of course chris and darren ( he made me a tea :o ) your car looks good claire chris really is a clever sod all the best luv TT and smoker

[hana 5284]

hay claire floppsey looks great I can't Waite to see her in the flesh looks like the boys made a great job of her.but the big burning question is did they sort out that dam radio for you

All the best speak soon Tyson

[Dan6457]

That looks amazing

I remember what it looked like on PJ Grady's tech day. What a transformation!

[Domi]

I'm impressed, they did a wonderful job on your car
Your car looks brand new now. Enjoy it :wink:

[neal]

She looks great Claire, Never seen her look so well.

Reading the story of flopsy restoration on your wed site back in march 2003, when I join the club it made very interesting reading for me as a former Employer of DMCL Dunmurry. Has it come to a happy ending, or have you got more work to do? Either way I am very please for you.

Now go and live the Dream, and think what it was like, when she was Driven out of the show room for the first time back in 81.

[Guinney1971]

Thanks everyone for the kind words - and yes, when I can, then I will
"live the dream" as often as possible

Jobs that are still to do - well, I need to touch up the frame, I need a new
alternator (I think Tourettes might be onto one tho for me), and I could
do with recovering the headliners at some point. There are a few more
little jobs to get on with - but I cant have a perfect car, that would be too
boring! lol :lol: Oh and of course, NickT has kindly offered to come and
get the car finally running right - top geeza!

Tyson, the radio tuned in to Radio 2 perfectly but I'd cut some MP3's
beforehand, so I was "singing" along to ELO and Oasis coming back up the
M1.

Actually, one thing I forget to mention, is that true to form, Flopsy kinda had
to have the last word, and the angle drive broke (again) on the way home :roll:

Luckilly, as this is a regular occurence (once a year!) we have a spare
angle drive and lower speedo cable :wink:

Neal, I've half re-written a new website, but I think I'll need to update it with
all the stuff from the last few months. Darren's gonna sort out a CD
for me of pictures they took of her during the resto - including a HUGE pile
of scotchlocks :evil: which have been consigned to the bin thankfully!

If its dry tomorrow, then I think a posing session with Flopsy and Sorbet
at Matlock Bath may well be in order!

[Tourettes Tony]

im over there tomorrow claire il get it for ya unfortunataly it may not fit down my trousers :lol: TT

[TheOriginalMrP]

Talking of angle drive's, maybe somebody could post a step by step DIY guide, (One that's not as cheesy as a Haynes manual) on how to remove the angle drive and 'service' it so that it gets by without breaking. ChrisS gave me some top dollar advice to do this, and the auto Antenna. That part has been done, but I remember the phrase "Pack with grease" while we was on the subject. I've never removed the angle drive, and i'm not one for messing unless it's broke. But I think after what you've just said Claire, I'll make this priority since i've done over 3000 miles since Chris owned the car 14 months ago..........

Seems like they are a bit notorious for this........

Ben

[NickT]

Blimey that looks fantastic !!!
I can't wait to see it in the flesh so to speak.

RE Angle drive, on mine there is an access screw on the top that you unscrew and can squeeze grease or drop oil in.
You can see it if you turn the wheels fully left.
Hope it is the same on yours.

Hope this helps.

NickT

[TheOriginalMrP]

Thank's Nick, I'll tackle this ASAP. Lovely day today, for Driving, and not getting dirty!

[Glen & Sam]

HI CLAIRE

she looks geat claire just waiting for keith to drop me back at the airport to come home hope to see you on the road soon