I woke at about 6 yesterday morning and was idly planning the best way to make the wheel studs - they incorporate collars on which the brake drum is located. The collars looked as though they'd been sweated or welded to the stud but this morning I had the thought that they may be threaded and are just screwed on and thus removable. Aha! I'd thrown them in the workshop bin, the contents of which would be on their way to the landfill site at any moment. I leapt out of bed and ran down the path in my dressing gown to retrieve the dustbin just before the lorry came up the lane. Having retrieved the studs, the bonus was that the collars were indeed threaded and, after a sharp tap, wound off very easily. So even if the bin didn't get emptied, that saves me a lot of fiddling about.

The Norfolk Sausage Manouvre continues to be a popular scheme, especially with Chumley who I popped in to see with a drawing of the propshaft plate for joining the Hillman and Morris components at the axle end of the shaft. 12 rashers of best Norfolk streaky and a half dozen finest bangers seemed a bit light for the work involved but I'll make it up in the Christmas box.

And when it's all together...

I'll weld the new flange to the Morris yoke, linish and using the Hillman flange as a jig, bore for the 6 bolts (I may have to use Chumley's Bridgeport mill for accuracy). I mentioned that I'd sourced another steering sector shaft to re-do the milling of the flats to accept the Hillman drop arm but unfortunately, the chap who re-threaded the first one for me has disappeared so that's set me back a bit. I know another engineer up in Norfolk and I'll call on him when I go to collect the indicator set from Sparks. Which reminds me; I've got 3 new Hardy Spicer UJ's - I discover that they're the same ones as used on the Mk1 Landrover. I bought 3 so I've got a spare for any snags in the fitting (I hate doing them).

I keep meaning to get on with the sewing up of the new hood for the Hillman tourer. Cook said she'd come by and show me how the sewing machine is threaded up but she's up to her eyeballs in work - it's the wedding season - and I've been too busy fabricating bits and pieces for the wallpaper factory. I made up a belt guard the other day and brazed the pieces together just to get some practice with the process. Turned out lovely it did.

And that's given me the confidence to go ahead with the repairs to the fuel tank. I need to braze on a couple of patches; one on the sump and another on the edge. I'll put a long patch all the way along the bottom of the tank because that's where, after a couple of delicate punch tests, I can see that the metal has become thinnest. I'll probably de-solder the sump to repair it which in turn, will give me access to the inside of the tank and I can knock out the couple of dents that it's managed to collect over the years.

So this weekend looks like an early start.