... this morning that I haven't got anything to show for the last few days but, I have really. I know it's largely more detail work and nothing that I can bolt instantly to the chassis but, important progress nevertheless. For instance,

.. the steering box washers which realign the box parallel with the centreline of the chassis. The doing of this nearly tripped me up because as the mounting bolts are offset to start with, I got in a bit of a muddle with the angles of the outer plate - the one that goes on the outside of the chassis and keeps the nuts parallel to the heads of the bolts. Simple geometry really but I thought about it too much and it all went to spaghetti. I ended up making a wooden model to make sure I was right. Then there's the handbrake mounting extension. Chumley was a bit pushed for time so I asked him to do the basic shape and bore out the various holes; I'll finish it with files and the linisher.

The other thing I've done is draw up the arms for the shock absorbers. You can just see part of the drawing underneath the handbrake mount extension. As all the spares are available for Hartford type shocks, I thought I'd have a go at making my own. So far, the cost of laser-cutting 20 arms (5 for each unit) is half the cost of one reproduction or reconditioned Hartford. I can turn up the centre bolts and I think I can salvage a couple of the spring plates from the come-in-handy box. The wooden discs, I learn, are soaked or impregnated with some sort of lubricant so the action of the arms is always progressive - something I'd not thought about and the opposite of what I was initially thinking i.e. friction material akin to brake shoes. Fortunately, More Learned Counsel corrected me on this point. I'll powder-coat the arms and the other bits and pieces and maybe put some sort of name on them just to tease the cleverclogs.

There's also been some revision of the passenger side of the dashboard. I keep turning up new bits and pieces to clutter it up and now Miss X has her own adjustable dash light and there's a couple of new switches whose purpose is as yet undetermined.

I don't suppose for a moment that this'll be the final arrangement because, par exemple, I tripped over this interesting sort of flow meter the other day and was thinking it would be amusing to have it on the dash in tandem with the oil pressure gauge.

One of the arms seems to be broken off but it's not impossible to make a new wheel - or pair of wheels. Maybe this instrument is a gauge too far but it would be a handy and unusual item under the bonnet. Yes, that's a nice idea; perhaps I'll put it there. The new galvanised brake cable and a few thimbles to suit, arrived the other day. I can't remember exactly what the spec was for the rigging and control cables on the Avro but I seem to recall that they were stainless steel. I don't quite understand the theory behind that because, as I now understand, S/S is prone to work-harden after a time especially going to-and-fro around quite tight angles on pulleys.

Best not think about it really.