A really rubbish make-over. Like those women you occasionally see walking around who seem to be wearing enough foundation to coat a building.

Anyway. Back in April, I had some rust converter left over after another job, and decided to attack Elly’s front wing. I scraped the rust off, slapped a load of converter about and then did nothing else for ages. Until today. Now Elly’s appearing in Classic Car Weekly again, I decided she needed to look like I might actually care about her. Ultimately, she’ll have a new pair of front wings, but given budget and the mountain of jobs needed across the fleet, that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

So, I decided a quick rattle-can solution was in order. Eventually, I found my can of red primer, so I could begin. The wing came off, the indicators and mudflap were masked up (the mounting bolts are far too rusty to consider removing) and Operation Bodge began in earnest. Two coats of primer would probably be enough, and was about all the can could deliver anyway. I then rubbed down, cursing myself for not getting things smoother before I began. Where the rust had been, there was a LOT of bubbling. I decided this would be too time-consuming and tricky to sort out properly – this is Operation Bodge after all!

Nipping to Halfords this morning, I ended up guessing that Fiat’s Racing Red might be close to the 2CV red. It isn’t. It’s a bit dark really, though Elly’s other red bits have faded to pink quite badly, so for all I know, it might actually be a perfect match! I used two cans to deliver about two-and-a-half coats of paint. It looks pretty shabby, but it’s definitely better than it was!

Elly is back to being a good twenty-footer…

I’m fairly pleased with the results and hopefully it’ll last long enough for me to sort out a proper solution.

Lovely bubbly

The rust-affected areas were effectively left uncovered after treatment with Vactan Rust Converter back in April. I’m therefore impressed with the stuff as it did what it was meant to do. If I’d rubbed down the problem areas harder before treatment, I may have got a better overall result. As it is, the rust has definitely been banished for a goodly while – it’s not like we haven’t had the necessary moisture to cause corrosion!

Another little job I did was to change the flasher can relay. This is what makes the indicators indicate. The one fitted has been getting slower and slower, so I fitted a spare I had. They’re now spiffingly quick! Safer as well as more pleasing.