2004: A fibreglass front subframe

12th April 2004. Rochdale Olympics originally had a horrible tubular steel subframe bonded in to the insubstantial front inner wings.

It had never been joined onto the car especially well, but fell out altogether in the bump.

Robert decided he could do better in glassfibre.

The box in the front of the car (that looks like a hot water tank) is a mould for the new subframe and inner wings. The lower wishbones are fitted in substantial new glassfibre mounts on the front of the subframe. The inner wheelarches will ultimately be joined up with the footwells and outer panels to make a very stiff structure.

3rd July 2004. The new front subframe has been integrated into the footwells and is becoming very stiff. GRP engine mountings and lower wishbone mountings have already been molded in. The subframe will form part of the inner wheelarches which should result in an immensely stiff front end structure.

Great news - the new panels are being made. The replacement doors are here, and the front end and roof should arrive in a couple of weeks.

21st August 2004. The first new panels to arrive are the doors. A complete new door was required on the side that tore off in the crash, but the other side just required a new skin.

Unsurprisingly the doors are being modified. The winder mechanism is being removed and replaced with a peg, and front quarterlights will be incorporated to increase the stiffness of the window frame. Hmmm. This should be interesting...

5th December 2004. Just 2 years after ordering the panels Robert turned up with a Transit Van. What looks like a whole car is actually just a front end and roof.

The mouldings have been stored in the roof space of the garage. Turns out Robert has removed the interior heater and plans to duct hot air from the radiator into the cabin, so some more modifications will be made to the front of the car before he drops the new panels on.