.... in using the scanning computer's automatic process to arrange for the most efficient use of the plywood sheets, a couple of the buck shapes went AWOL.

I got a bit further than this but had to give up after discovering also that there were some 'catch 22' puzzles requiring further thought.

Still, so far it's looking good and appears to be the right size. I was concerned that the coupé might turn out to be less significant in stature than the car of my imagination.

After I've completed the alterations and collect the missing parts, I'll have another go.

We got the Bridgeport into the workshop as far as we could with the farm's teleporter. The final positioning will have to be done with an Avant loader; they're small enough to manoeuvre in the workshop. I was going to put the mill in the back corner, but the bed travel would have been restricted in the slightly cramped conditions.

The bead roller and shrinker/stretcher stands are back after powder-coating. They had some powder over from the silk finishing machine I built a couple of years ago and it's my colour of choice for machinery.

I was thinking of taking the wheeling machine frame down to be blasted and painted but decided against it as I'm nervous that somehow it might get distorted in the handling. Now I've got it pretty well set up, that would be a disaster. I would also have to take the castors off which, given the weight, is not a job I relish. A good rub down, a coat of Kurust and a couple of aerosol cans of the green should do the trick.

When I was down at the engine shop, I took a picture of the relevant page that describes the pistons suitable for the MS. They're common to a variety of Morris and Wolseley cars though that doesn't make finding them any easier. Triumph Herald pistons are outwardly dimensionally the same but have a different gudgeon pin clamping arrangement and the crown is a bit lower in relation to the pin centre. I thought that might be good for a supercharged engine, but the compression is already on the low side. In fact, I've rather gone off supercharging for the time being and will initially go with the 6/80 twin carb setup.

A couple of boxes of .020" and .030" piston rings were amongst the prizes carried home from Mr Holmes. Returning from Lincoln, I dropped in to see Mr Woods who explained to me his excellent system to collect the oil which leaks past the crankcase seal and onto the clutch of these Morris engines. A vacuum tube from the manifold is connected to an empty horseradish jar from Asda. Another tube connected to the jar and the bottom of the bellhousing sucks up the leaking oil. It's certainly a simpler system than the external oil pipe I was working on, though I draw the line at Asda.

Perhaps a little something from Fortnum & Mason might better keep up appearances?