The Dark Wob

I'm 5'8" and he's taller than me (not hard). I reckon he's about 5'11".

I'm 6'3" and about fourteen stone,and fit just fine in my old Robin. The chap I bought it from was about 6'8" (didn't much matter which way round one held the tape measure) and must have been well over twenty stone..He wasn't there when my Dad gave me a lift to Great Leighs to pick it up,but had told me "my missus knows you're coming for it,just knock on the door and she'll have the keys and V5 ready." This proved to be the case, although his otherwise charming wife turned out to be no lightweight either when she answered the door. Later on that day I found one of the headlamps was just resting in the socket and often wondered if this had occurred when both of them got in and tried to shut their doors simultaneously .
Back on topic, that's a lovely job you're doing on LOB.

Good news, I now have all the missing gears.
The linkage which operates the four forward gears needed a slight adjustment, while the cable which operates the reverse gear needed the outer sheath brazing back to the threaded part. I did that this evening after work. Fortunately by dropping it down I was able to do it in situ. I took a picture of the adjustment before I took it apart to do the clutch, and although I had the correct number of threads showing, seven, I had the washer on the wrong side of the bracket when I put it back together. Hence it was throwing the adjustment out. The idea is you pull out the spring-loaded gear knob to select reverse, and if you don’t, that’s second gear. Forwards and down for both.
It feels good now, I haven’t driven it properly (as it was blocked in by two other cars) but I fired it up and all gears engage easily with the engine running. I moved it forwards and back in the workshop and it feels great.
Engine is a very willing starter too. I primed the mechanical fuel pump using its little lever, gave it about half choke, pressed the button and it fired up straightaway.
The next things to do will be to reassemble the front end, and to get the charging system working. I’m hoping it’s just the contacts in the Lucas RF-95 control box. This control box came with the Dutch shell, I had no luck getting a charge out of the original from LOB either and I have an (untested) secondhand replacement in stock so hopefully I can get one of them to work.
I had the dynamo tested last year and the bloke said it was ok, so it shouldn’t be that.

I’d still sand it down and give it a decent DIY paint job.

I wouldn't.

Fuck the paint job as long as it's not rotting.

Showed my mate the painter photos and he said he can definitely do it. He’s going to come and have a look at it at some point. He showed me the 2k etch filler primer he uses which will apparently fill the little pits left when the rust patches have been sanded down. And crucially, it won’t come bubbling back through again.
It deserves to have a decent paint job as it’s a very straight body that will be benefiting from 4x new wings, new valance and a good bonnet.
I’ll probably get it done next year. He’s cheap so his calendar fills up quickly, despite not advertising.

So pleased to see this old thing reinvigorated. Real against the odds stuff.

Ideally it wants bare metalling, the rusty bits acid etching and then a couple of good coats of 2K primer filler. It’ll take a lot of guide costing/blocking down. Decent acrylic paint will give a good period orange peely finish as original.

I don’t think there would have been many paint defects when this left the factory. Usually the more expensive the car, the more care gets put into making it. Certainly in those days.

Regarding the charging system if you have no joy with the spare control box I would buy a solid state regulator and fit it to the gutted shell of an original. This is what I’ve done with a couple of my cars and it keeps things looking factory (including the wiring) whilst providing a much more consistent charge and eliminating the voltage spikes which shorten battery life. Feel free to send it to me to do if you want.