Robert Burnett, an occasional and valued commentator on my follies remarked that he felt the roof line on the proposed coupé design was maybe a bit too high.

In order to get a more accurate idea of the shape of the model, I gave it a couple of coats of thinned down wood glue and let that go off for 48 hours before giving it a blow over with a can of paint - the PVA was to stop the foam dissolving before my eyes. Set underneath the original drawing, I notice that the roof line could indeed do with flattening off as it descends to the rear. It's a bit too rounded and its apex is in slightly the wrong place.

But to get back to more immediate matters - the removal of the torsion bar splined shafts - Chumley obliged with the promise of sausages and an extractor was added to my armoury. It was clear that the flange of the rubber bushing wasn't going to help, so I first cut them off.

With the extractor in place it was simply a case of winding the nut on top of the tube. The operation was entirely successful though it took a good hour to pull through as the rubber got more jammed up as the assembly was drawn along the mounting tube. A few turns with 5 minutes between each session helped the rubber to relax.

For the second shaft, I moved out into the sun and set the subframe at a more convenient working height - two pallets and a layer of bricks is perfect. Leaving the threaded rod a metre long was a good idea as it rested between the lathes of the pallet and stabilised the whole shebang.

The first extractor tube - 1.5mm wall stainless that I had lying around from a previous project - was 300mm long. This was fine for the first operation, but I had to cut another tube at 400mm for the second as the rubber bush fought me all the way to the finish.

The last of the long subframe bolts was still refusing to move despite my best efforts with stud extractors and hammers. I decided to drill a hole in the carrier, fill it with penetrating oil and sleep on it. First thing in the morning, a generous application of heat, some strong words and a hefty swing with the lump hammer saw the obstinate bolt fly to the other end of the workshop. Yahoo!

With the chassis completely stripped, I turned my attention to the fuel tank and in particular the fuel sender. The retaining bolts sheared off (as always) and the sender unit popped out. Drilling and re-tapping the threads - luckily, I have BA taps - wasn't difficult and was helped by the fact that I managed to get the centre punch to put the dots in the right place for once.

The shuftiscope detected a certain amount of debris floating about in the tank.....

.... echoing Leon's experience with his A7. A couple of good shakes got that lot out.