Silver Machine...

With the end caps now back in it was time to polish... Some panels shone up much better than others...

There seemed to be no difference in the panels, so that ALCLAD script on the reverse of one made no difference. Unfortunately the Zolatone had etched worm-like pits into the surface.

Some were shallow enough to polish but others were too deep

 Its worth getting out a magnifying lens and having look

and its soon pretty obvious that some are there to stay. They may look like moon craters up close

but I'm happy to think of them as beauty spots; a sign of her 57 years.

But back to work - Insulation

I'd opted for aluminium foil, bubble-wrap insulation. 

There seems to be a wide choice out there. This was Airtech from Screwfix. 

Easy to cut, easy to fit with a few dots of flexible mastic.

Although its only 1/2" thick its supposed to give the same insulation as 6" of Rockwool.

I plan to put another layer on the inside of the inner skin & run the wires through between the two

and I hope its a little less inviting to those uninvited, nesting critters

The polishing had brought one thing to light...

... that there's a central frame missing. So the outer skin flexes a lot when compounding with the polisher.

We debated putting in a new frame but instead decided to beef-up the cross-frames with another C-channel inserted  & riveted to the old one.

We'd replaced the steel panel that ran up from the bellywrap at the front, inside the outer skin, with a thicker alloy plate so this was then riveted to the cross-frame

Other problems to sort before the inner skin goes back on - the hinge mounts and the bizarre tear (or cut) to the left of the door.

We can't work out how or why this scar is there, it almost looks like someone started to cut out a section as there's no creasing from a collision. But who or whatever made, it needs fixing.

Since we'd decided that the simplest way to fix the problem of how to strengthen the sieve that had been left by at least 3 sets of door hinge holes, was to put a heavy (3mm) plate behind the outer skin to take the weight of the door, it seemed sensible to run this plate up behind the tear too.

Short of replacing a vast panel the only way was to make an 'honest' repair. Its always a tad worrying drilling new holes in your outer skin but it has to be done...

... and the end result; an honestly stitched scar.  And though it'll never heal perfectly as the skin has stretched a little, it should look even better when polished.

And speaking of polishing...

Kelvin's made a good start. This panel has had 2 cuts... not bad at all, even if the reflection leaves a little to be desired !

So she's starting to get a little of her former shine back...

And inside, definitely a Silver Machine...