... the behinder I get" (Lewis Carroll).

I still haven't managed to get a decent picture of an Osprey. I more or less know their schedule, but I keep forgetting to take my grown-up camera to the workshop.

Fed up with getting the more complex notching cuts wrong, I elected to do the job on the mill. Actually, it wasn't me but my next-door neighbour who, cutting through the blue air, reminded me I have a perfectly good mill and a 20mm cutter which would do the job in half the time - and do it right.

He also lent me his adjustable hole-cutter so I could whizz the instrument holes out to exact size in one. The book on the corner of the table is Volume III of The Modern Motor Mechanic - I had to remind myself how to avoid getting in a muddle when changing a universal joint on a chum's propshaft.

So, despite my very untidy MIG welding, I tacked together the scuttle hoops and dash frame ready to offer up to the chassis.

That all looked like it was going in the right direction until....

... I noticed two things. The first is obvious, the second less so, and is that the gearbox would be impossible to remove given the allowance at the cut-out - that was a three-in-the-morning thought. Back in the workshop, I removed the dash frame and extended the hoop by three or four inches. The plywood dash base had to be binned too.

My Riley chum popped in during the week and I mentioned to him the seizing of the discs on the front of the Hillman. "Aha, I know what that is" he said, "water in the fluid boils, turns to steam, expands, and on go your brakes" It seemed plausible - the fluid had been in there for seven years - so with Counsel's help, I changed it and motored off to the autumn Ufford meeting. It's a good 80 miles or so round trip (including wrong turnings) so that would adequately test the system. As the meet-up was more a word-of-mouth event, there was only about 50 cars there. The Messerschmitt cockpit I thought was worthy of record.

I'd seen this RR before but hadn't noticed the absence of front brakes. Scary stuff in a corner. The RR with the Sedanca De Ville body and the MG VA tourer, both of which Counsel and I got running for the auction, also attended. I didn't hang about as I had much to do in the workshop.

The Riley tyres and tubes were fitted - they're 600x16 crossplys. They look a bit fat at the moment as I've over inflated them to let the tubes settle in. Before I set the front suspension, I'll let them back down to the specified 24lbs. This week's job will be to prepare the ground for the installation of the block. I need to get the accelerator, clutch and steering connections sorted out in relation to the firewall before I can make further progress. I'll take it steadily.