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    Having wired up the engine compartment, Alan continued into the cab and then into the trunk, fitting the altered wiring looms and connecting up the multitude of switches, electric thises and automatic thats. Everything having been unused for so long and with so many alterations, we naturally wondered whether many of the components would still work.
    Re-assembly in the cab was particularly slow. The sheer size and weight of the seats made them an interesting challenge: which one to put in first, which way and through which door opening, and should the underside adjusting mechanism be fitted first or together with the seat itself. As for their switches, originally positioned in the armrests of the front doors and now positioned on the lower front of the seat, should the adjustment for ‘forward’ be to the right and ‘back’ to the left or vice-versa, or perhaps opposite ways round for each seat?
    We realised that, with the major modifications that had been made to the cab structure, everything had to be double-checked in relation to the modifications as well as being sure that every item was fitted back as originally intended. The most difficult was the Automatic Temperature Control unit, that ultimate in-cab air-conditioning and heating set-up. With the narrowed bulkhead, we ended up spending hour upon hour patiently modifying all the ducting and vents and various controls attached to its box of electro-mechanical ingenuity – not a latter-day miniscule electronic version which, when the ‘chip’ dies, so the entire system dies. Eventually this complex but fully repairable mechanism managed to sit securely within the confines of the much-narrowed bulkhead – and without fouling the accelerator pedal as when first we had tried.
    This ongoing maze of riddles and puzzles continued, especially when considering how to be sure all the bits stayed together – ‘bump proof’ and ‘vibration proof’. “Vibrations in a Cadillac, surely not?” I remember chirping in on one occasion. “Oh yes, most definitely,” was the informed reply; even minor vibrations over months or possibly years are a very real problem in any motorised device, especially a mobile one.
    We also had constantly to remind ourselves that the pieces of a car are like the links of a chain: the final result would only be as reliable as the weakest link. So, if we wanted to use as well as produce more of our multi-complex machines – and not just eulogise over Gavin’s pretty art-form sitting on some showground – we had to concentrate on the smallest of details. Without proper reliability, we were simply wasting our time – just as, without the radiator cowl being of suitable quality, we would have been wasting our time as to ‘visual’ integrity.
     Then, even at this late stage, the modifications to the doors continued unabated and, to make matters worse, we now had to fiddle around in the cramped space between the Seville’s inner steel pressings and Gavin’s outer aluminium. When it came to creating the brackets and switches for the door handles to turn on the interior lights, we found ourselves spending almost as much time as when fitting the new engine cross-member to the half-chassis. We had been warned of the likelihood of such problems by those who should have known; but, preferring to ignore what we considered pedantic over-caution, we had charged ahead.
    The glass company eventually gave us the detail needed to transform the chalk lines on the back of the roof into a real see-through window. So, while I helped by removing the excess pieces of inner panelling, Bill cut away the roof with a fascinating implement called a ‘nibbler’. Not a powered one, which would have simplified the task greatly, but a hand-operated one; and, when finished, we had clocked up yet another string of hours to an apparently never-ending schedule.

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    The challenges continued unabated like some devilish eleventh-hour test of our stamina. Would there be enough weight to drop the rear to its proper ride height? As the components were returned, one by one, to their rightful positions, the height appeared not to alter. Then, just as we were about to despair, the springs began to sink with each added item; until, eventually, as originally calculated – and hoped – the tail settled to its right position.
    The battery proved another brain tester, stubbornly refusing to fit anywhere sensible, ending up either having to be behind one of the seats, jammed in the trunk or perched overhanging the engine. Some argued that it should be located as low as possible to help lower the centre of gravity. Others, not particularly wanting to struggle with an oversize lump of lead and acid in the former two positions, overruled such unnecessary concern.
    As someone rightly explained: “With that great lump of an engine nearly on the floor and the original Seville bonnet, which required two of us to lift, having been replaced with an aluminium one half the size, to say nothing of having removed the front doors and with much of the roof now in the trunk, there really is no need to worry about the centre of gravity.”
    Anyway, as for a mere twenty-plus pound battery, whose original position was only just below bonnet level, how could it possibly have any meaningful adverse effect. Therefore, as irritating as it is, especially when working on the distributor, it sits overhanging the engine cantilevered off the bulkhead.
    In the end, miraculously, when all the assorted components had been re-installed and fully tested, everything worked as intended. No doubt this was due in part to the 1970’s space age ‘fail safe’ technology in the US and in part to having protected the components from their greatest enemy – damp. Whatever the reason, we were more than a little satisfied, to say nothing of being more than a little relieved.

Page 104, para 6

    Once the mechanical and electrical work was complete, we concentrated on the ‘pretty’ bits: the paintwork, the glazing, the interior trim and the exterior bright-work. We soon found ourselves having to adopt a yoyo-like form of organisation, forever chasing up the right person to do the right thing at the right time and without anyone being held up; or, worse still, possibly getting upset and downing tools.
    First off, Des’s spray-painter had to paint the panelling around the bulkhead and at the rear before Paul, the trimmer, could cover the roof; before the glass company could fit the windscreen, which, in turn, had to be done before Paul could start on the interior.
    Then, due to the reversal of the doors and the narrowing of the bulkhead, the window-switches on the doors as well as the controls in the centre of the dashboard were different and, somehow, the so-styled ‘wood’ into which they fitted had to be altered or re-made.
    “Can you make up some pieces to match this, but in these different shapes?” I remember asking a local cabinetmaker, holding out a sample of the ‘wood’ together with templates of the pieces required. “This original is stamped out of plastic,” I said, then added optimistically: “but it’s very realistic, isn’t it?”
    “Yes,” was his reply – but with a distinct note of disdain, “I suppose it is.” Then, idly looking it over, he enquired: “Do you want me to match the wood-grain exactly?”
    “As near as possible,” I replied, relieved that no outright negative had been forthcoming.
    When eventually completed and delivered, to our mild disbelief, we discovered that he had taken it upon himself to visit several timber stockholders in search of, and to eventually find, the exact wood copied by GM – American Oak. The result was virtually indistinguishable from the plastic originals and the ‘dedication list’ of local support had notched up another member.
    Similarly, when the stainless steel radiator cowl and grille, the window surrounds and headlight bar were sent off for grinding and polishing, we were more than a little nervous. As rightly pointed out, any over-grind or over-polish on any one of these one-off pieces, especially the radiator cowl, was more than any of us wished to contemplate. Yet our fears proved groundless, and when, along with the rounded-off and chromed truck-spring bumpers, everything was returned to perfection, that was a blissful offering to the eyes of a rapidly flagging team.

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