The new website is almost complete. Migrating ten years' worth of posts, including comments, pictures, and videos, has taken a bit of time. Following a request from a chap whose car was missing the correct example, the other day I was hunting for the carburettor which was with the Hillman when I found it in the shed in Banbury. It's a Zenith side draft of a particular pattern - the same as the early Austin Heavy 12's. It took a couple of hours to go through everything - twice, as I was sure it was there even though I couldn't find it, but what I did find was a host of stuff that I will never use: Lucas electrics, instruments, carbs (not the one I wanted) pedals, and all sorts of interesting ancillary items that would be useful to someone. I'm looking forward to adding a 'For Sale' page to the new site.

With the Talbot in the workshop, I dug out the patterns for the hood which came with the car. Before I started cutting material, I thought I would check that the patterns were correct. Usually, these Talbots have a hood made from a leatherette type material. In my experience as an amateur upholsterer, I've found that the modern equivalent of leatherette is easily ripped and if the stitching is in any way faulty, this can cause rips to develop. We've opted for a black double duck; inherently stronger and I think will look a bit classier.

On the Special, I've been struggling with making the heater matrix and its associated pipework dismountable and yet sealed from the fumes from under the bonnet. I may have to create a false firewall aligned with the front of the footwells, the advantage being that that would create a space for some of the electrics - the water pump, steering and ignition modules - whilst further insulating the bonnet from the cockpit.

I'm stuck at how I'm going to attach the fan at the moment. I have a couple of ideas that will work but involve too much complication. A bit more thought should offer up a simpler method than the several rings and doublers I have in mind.

I mentioned that I would be making available to read, 'A Standard Pilot's Notes', the slim volume that tells the tale of the creation and subsequent operation of my Avro 504k. I thought that I should perhaps recheck the manuscript for spelling before pressing the 'go' button. For this, Word has a review facility which I find very useful - every blog entry is checked at least for spelling, though sometimes things slip through the net. A facility I'd not noticed before was 'Inclusiveness', and in the case illustrated, 'unmarried person' was suggested in place of 'bachelor' - illustrating perfectly the shortcomings of algorithms. The sharp-eyed will notice that I was alerted to another thirty-six potential literary blunders with negative social connotations that I should consider correcting, among them the apparently now racist and ethnic slur, 'injun country'. How did we get here?