Leaderboard

Next came choosing material for the interior trim, a lot of which could not be removed intact in order to gain access to the framework , I decided to go with a modern type green vinyl similar in colour to the original along with dark green rubber backed carpeting. The original carpeting was a short pile hessian backed type but I could not find it in a suitable green and I did not think dying it to the correct colour would be a feasible proposition. As someone had coloured the leather rear seats and arm rests with a hideous blue in the past I also ordered a leather renovation kit in the same shade of green as the vinyl and if the original side panels which I was going to re-use didn't look right I could do them as well. The rear arm rests along with the rexine attachments had to be fitted first before the boot floor as these formed the inside of the boot. The boot floor was duly cut to size, covered in the new vinyl and fitted along with the repainted steel covers. The old rexine side panels don't look too bad against the new vinyl and the arm rests turned out quite good as well alongside the original rear panels, this is after the seat had also been done. Before the side panel could be fitted a new door seal was required, not just any door seal but a 3/8" dia piece of wing piping, you can see it running down the door pillar here You can't buy 3/8" wing piping and certainly not in green so as always we'll just make it. Sewing machine was already there as I had bought it to do the Carlton interior, and a new 3/8" foot was purchased The original piping had an orange rubber pipe running through it and I managed to get some 10 mm bunsen burner tubing which was the perfect size for the job but I just couldn't get the vinyl to feed through the machine. I tried various methods of lubricating it until someone advised using tissue paper and it worked a treat but a bit of a pain to remove from the thread afterwards. Once a new piece of carpet was sewn on the bottom of the side panels they were then fitted along with the back seat.

Such things dreams are made of !

One day Jonathan I’m sure the original barge tractor will be found, hopefully by me 😁

I don't think I'd worry about the letters that have moved, Richard. Doubt anyone will notice if you don't tell them.