The car on the day I bought it. It didn't run very well, the brakes were partially seized, the wheelarches, boot and sills were extremely rusty, the paint was peeling and a family of mice had made a mess of the interior.

The first step in the (very long) restoration process was to completely strip the car to a bare shell. This alone took about 6 months as I could only work on the car in my free time when I wasn't at work or school.

With the engine and suspension removed from the car I was able to strip down everything. The engine was in fairly good condition so only a basic rebuild was required (new seals, piston rings and bearings.)

Once everything had been removed from the car, the metalwork could begin. This involved cutting out rust and welding in new metal. In a few places entire panels had to be replaced, such as the front wings and rear panel. After the metalwork was complete I stripped all the old paint.

The car was then fully resprayed inside and out in its original colour. While this was being done all of the parts that were removed previously were sent to be powdercoated or zinc plated depending on the function of the part.

Next up was the engine rebuild. I cleaned up all the parts that were going to be reused, and replaced any that were too worn. All new bearings, piston rings and seals were used.

With the engine complete I moved onto rebuilding the suspension. Any parts that I was reusing were powdercoated black, and all other parts replaced with new parts. I mounted the engine and steering rack onto the subframe before reinstalling the engine back in the car.

The inside of the car was next. I reinstalled the wiring loom back in the car before fitting new sound deadening and then fitting the carpets back in after cleaning them. Then I finished installing the suspension so I could see the car back on its wheels after 3 years.

Then I installed all of the engine ancillaries, like the starter motor, alternator, radiator, intake and fuel lines, power steering system, coolant lines and then connected all the wiring.

Once I had the car running I installed the interior, with a new dashboard, steering wheel, and retrimmed seats and door cards. Then I fitted all the exterior trims, bumpers, front grill, arch trims, spoiler and headlights.

After a few hundred miles of test driving and fixing issues, I called the restoration complete. 4 years exactly since the day I bought the car, it had its first MOT in about 20 years. I am extremely proud of what I achieved and the skills I learned while doing this restoration, and I hope to keep and use this car for many years to come.