So I was in the area today collecting tyres so I decided to visit 'Don' and see his car, afterall with this Thread being so 'popular' I wanted to see what all the fuss has been about - including my input.
Don is a great guy and made me very welcome with a superb cup of tea (choice of flavours) and the offer of lunch. Is he a madman? - no way, just a petrolhead with youthful exuberance and self-belief. We tend to forget that those are qualities we had and which gradually fade. Some of his comments i.e. best 260, finish by Christmas, 2+2 values etc were misguided but also 'tongue-in-cheek'.
Once again meeting someone face-to-face reveals a different character than that conjured up by an internet meeting.
The car - yes it's very rotten in a lot of areas but also quite good in others. The interior is in great condition, the air-tubes, inner-wings, engine-bay chassis legs, rear slam panel, roof (yes, no lining so I could see to the hatch) are all reasonable. Bad areas are the front and rear of sills and adjoining areas, passenger floor including chassis legs, front of inner wing behind the sugar-scoops where the bumper and bonnet hinge connects, bulkhead, some of the tailgate, rad panel, lower rear quarters.
So it will take a LOT of fixing and IMO not worth the time and expense however I think back to my first 240Z. If I had taken an expert with me I would never have bought it but I couldn't afford a good one in one hit. Over the years I got it sorted in a fashion and had a great deal of joy from it and it got me into Zs. Things should not always be seen as black and white unless you are looking for an investment. Also I gave it a new lease of life which Don could do with this 'rare' car.
I think Don has got the motivation to do this and the mental attitude to not let it get him down. His fabricator mate needs to be a BIG mate though. Will it be finished by NEXT Christmas e.g. 2016 Mmm?
Whoever 'bastardised' this car with filler and tin-snips wants shooting, they have made the job harder than it should be.
So let's give him a bit of 'slack', some of the comments have been quite aggressive - but he's got the mental attitude to shrug them off.
Just to add that on the kitchen table were not condiments but a big turbo in a cardboard box!