Do you hear what I hear?

We now have sounds in the Polo. Musical sounds that is, not knocks, clunks and bangs. Removal of the wheelarch liner allowed removal of the old school wing mounted retractable aerial (remember them?) and for the fitting of a new one, purchased for a princely £4.50 of f the shelf of a local motor factor who still stocks all sorts of stuff that nobody really buys anymore. Threading the new cable through into the cabin was a piece of cake, where it connected up top the twin dial radio cassette player.

Powered up and with a bit of tweaking the irritating tones of Graeme Norton soon crackled into the cabin. At higher volumes (loud enough to hear over the engine) the old worn out speakers crackle and hiss, unless that was Graeme frying up some breakfast. It might be period quality, but I think we can do better, so it'll be a search for some oval speakers to fit in the rear shelf supports to improve the sound.

Some young lads might be tempted to cut holes in the door cards and parcel shelf or fit a big boom box and modern Android stereo, but thankfully Thomas appreciates the value of keeping the car as standard as possible. We may look at upgrading the stereo with an in period style modern unit so he can Bluetooth his phone and have USB connectivity for a Sat Nav, but this might have to wait until Christmas (Gift hint if you are reading Thomas) For now, I'll make up a few mixtapes of '80's songs he can play at the car shows he intends to visit.

Regular readers will realise that despite all the tinkering the elephant in the room means we are still stuck in neutral. Well after a few false starts we will hopefully be collecting the replacement gearbox on Sunday.

This just leaves the other job I've been putting off, welding the handmade replacement panel into the battery box. I'm in two minds whether to weld it or reconstruct in fibre glass - it's not structural, so either would do, it's just a matter of which is easiest and will give longevity. It might end up a combination of both, as fibreglass will resist the effects of any battery acid spills much better.