The best part of a year passed before I finally got the Beetle into the garage at my new flat - with the help of a friend, a borrowed Land Rover, and a hired trailer.

The impetus to restarting the project was my sister’s request to use the car for her wedding the following summer - no pressure then...!

The new garage wasn’t ideal - power had to come by extension lead from my second floor flat, but it was dry!

Left: After several coats of primer, this was the final wash down prior to de-greasing. Flatting down primer creates masses of dust!

Right: Makeshift spraybooth from polythene sheeting and an electric fan!

Left: The paint’s still wet here... coat number two of five I think. Spraying topcoat is very different to the primer - much less forgiving of a badly adjusted gun for a start, and it felt like I was starting the learning curve again. This was my first attempt at spraying but I was determined to do it myself as it was the only thing we’d not done ourselves first time around.

I was fairly pleased with the result, but even more so once I’d been at it with the machine polisher and four grades of cutting compound.

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