I've spent far too long thinking about how to do the internal structure of the body and with a departure to somewhere in the North Sea imminent, I thought it was time to put pen to paper and order some cardboard for a bout of Cardboard Aided Design (CAD). A misspent youth cutting up Cornflake packets can pay dividends.

I woke up one morning last week thinking about the pre-war cast aluminium Bentley firewalls and took those as inspiration. With a rough sketch of the chassis rails and the position of the gearbox, I was able to begin to visualise how the proposed bulkheads and frames might work.

My particular concern after getting in and out of the cars I attended to with Counsel a few days ago, was that the suicide door openings in relation to the seats would give ample room for Miss X's ingress and egress without embarrassment.

It looks like everything is going to work out more or less OK. By the time I'd done the sketches, the cardboard had arrived.

The first bash at the firewall and footwells established the floor height, but at the same time confirmed that the clutch lever on the bellhousing was going to be a problem.

By sloping the floor - a good idea to help limit pedal travel - one part of the complication was solved. The other part, the actual operation of the lever, might be less simply resolved as the clutch pedal is in very close proximity. The Hillman's clutch (the same bellhousing) is cable operated and a straightforward setup. I think this will have to be directly connected to the clutch pedal unless I put the lever on the passenger side of the shaft. More thinks on that one.

The lever is just the other side of the inner wall of the footwell. The plan is to next fabricate the dash and get some idea of the 'A' and 'B' posts after making sure that the chosen floor height is going to be workable. I console myself with the thought that it's easier to raise the seats than lower the floor.

A leak test on the 1919 Humber's second repair indicated that this time all was well. But perhaps not. Re-assembled, the casting showed signs of weeping from the joint where a copper flange abuts the inner flange in the picture. I think it will have to come apart again and some sort of compressible washer introduced as 'instant gasket' is not doing the job.

I finally got the MG VA to start on the button after replacing a part missing from the internals of the SU pump. My good friend Viktoras iš Vilniaus provided the elbow grease; come up lovely it did.

And I rather took to the Sedanca de Ville body on the Rolls. I gather they're quite rare though I haven't worked out why Hoskins should enjoy the sunshine whilst Lady Massive-Estate stews in the cabin.

An ROV cable chute. They want it by Wednesday so I'd better get crackin'.