It’s roll over to the offside, which looking at the state of it should really be called the darkside! This is nasty, really nasty!

Chris has his work cut out here, and cutting out is exactly what he’ll be doing!

Be warned, these images are not for the faint-hearted…

The underneath of the nearside is pretty much there, and is looking really good.

Ignore the rusty doors, as the door skins will be replaced later, but you can definitely see the shape coming back. I’m literally in awe of how Chris has managed this!

The rear rusty area by the exhaust has also been rebuilt, so soon we should be looking at the offside.

It’s been a week since the last update, and the nearside rebuild is really coming along well. As you can see, Chris and his guys have a real skill here, and some serious expertise to boot. I can’t describe how robust this work is, but it is really solid! Nothing’s been left to chance!

Ignore the oxidisation that looks like rust… it’s only on the surface due to being outside, and won’t be an issue going forward.

The rear area near the exhaust is also going to need some work… what can you do!

Work began on the 15th of May on the major bodywork restoration of Murphy, the most massive piece of work undertaken to date, and a job like to take some months. This essentially involves chopping out and replacing any rusty bodywork, and stripping him back to bare metal, before getting prepared for a respray later in the year.

It’s an exciting piece of work, and nothing like I’ve ever had undertaken before, so it’s going to be really interesting seeing how this goes. What I do know is come the end of it, a new lease of life will be breathed into Murphy, which will make it all worthwhile.

As you can see, it’s two weeks in and Murphy is up on his side, with work progressing nicely on the rebuilding of the nearside. Some areas down there were not in good shape at all!