I was rather hoping that the service structure and gantry for the rocket launch pad would have arrived last Friday, but when I phoned up to see whether it was on its way, the chap said, "Oh, that was today was it?" I can't say that his excuses were plausible and I'm not confident that this is going to end well. I notice also that I'm getting some 'looks' from the horse people in the field next door - I think my plans have been leaked.

Still, I didn't waste what was left of the day and set about finishing off the model of the coupé. The phone camera doesn't do it justice, but I think the small alterations I've made definitely improve the lines. I'll pop it along to S-Can during the week. As he's close by, I'll nip in to see Very Learned Counsel and sound him out on a crank re-grind for the Morris 6. There's a couple of places that'll do it for me, it's just a question of how long I might be prepared to wait. I'm obviously not in a hurry, though that's the last thing you might want to mention to your engineer.

I'm pleased to say the second attempt at the oil filter cover plate has gone off without a hitch. It's not as elegant as the first iteration which didn't take into account the depth of the 1/2"BSP fittings. I was further delayed by not having (and no one else had them either) the 18.5mm tapping drill and a set of taps, though they arrived in the post for the weekend. I was offered an 'I' beam that was surplus to requirements and it happened to be long enough to stretch across the workshop. There are two conveniently located 8' high concrete pillars that hold up the roof trusses and leave room for 6" of support at either end of the beam. A beam trolley and block and tackle also arrived last week - they were surprisingly inexpensive - so all my heavy lifting woes are over! I don't know why I hadn't done all of this 10 years ago.

Next, a trip to The Great Collector's Emporium for excellent sausage sandwiches and a catch up on the progress of the Peugeot 172 restoration. The light was just right for a couple of arty shots. My favourite in the collection, the fabric-bodied Rover 10 Coupé is in the foreground, with his Riley RMB behind.

The little Darracq, a Swift cycle car and the nose of the Rover 10 all sit amongst an eclectic array of collectibles and tools.

The Peugeot's rolling chassis is now complete - except for the dynamo - and work continues on the painting of the body, bonnet panels and wings. The bonnet and wings were rougher than was initially thought and the first coat of enamel had to be cut back, the panels re-filled and re-primed before painting again.

A Daimler Special Sports DHC has turned up whilst I wasn't looking! Still, now the bodywork skills box has been ticked, all systems go!