Iron Oxide playing hide and seek

Now that I have the Spitfire I thought that a Hardtop would be a good idea. Make it practical for all year round fun.

So off to the web and found one that was Inca Yellow and looked reasonable. Won the auction and went off to pick it up.

When I picked it up it looked as if it has a bit of surface rust around the front but overall it seemed OK.

When I got it home the Iron Oxide stopped playing hide and seek and jumped out from all its hiding places. 

I decided to strip all the rubbers,glass, headlining  and seals off to rub it down for a respray and minor remedial work.

However as you can see from the pictures below its a bit worse than I first thought.

 

 

 




I saw on one of the forums some advice about spitfire parts, hit it with a hammer to check for rust. I will bear that in mind in future......

Sent pictures to one restorer and he said likley to cost over £1000 to patch and respray as they had to fabricate from sheet steel.

Off to local Spitfire place tomorrow to see what they say. I have a feeling I need to find a Hardtop in better condition. :>))