The original Charcoal paint was soon just a memory after the shell was sandblasted revealing a small amount of rust in the aging sheet-metal, making the body work task a little easier for Ray Nelson. Before the paint was laid on, Ray removed the fuel filler and spare wheel door, along with the factory fitted side mouldings and badges giving a much smoother look. Ray also spent lots of time painstakingly removing years of imperfections from the EH’s metal to a point where it was straighter than a Supreme Court judge! Owen’s first choice for the new colour was black, but after thinking long and hard about it, the lure of a candy paint job had him change his mind, finally opting for PPG Wine Fire which was laid over a Spearmint Green base to get the right effect. The paint work was handled by David Brown and looks absolutely stunning on the EH’s reworked body. Completing the body and paint transformation is a custom fibreglass hard cover and EH sedan rear bumper. The chrome work against the candy Wine Fire colour is a matchmade in heaven – so much better than it would have looked like in black. Great choice, Owen! That paint was laid on 20-years ago and still looks amazing! A true testament to the talents of both Ray and David. While it was great to have the body and paint completed, it did make the rest of the build that much more difficult. That last thing you want to do is scratch a fresh candy paint job. Touch ups can be costly so everything that happened from this point on had to be done very carefully. 98
These rims are actually a long way from what Owen originally fitted – larger diametre Billet Specialties rims that matched the current steering wheel. Hands up who thinks the new rolling stock is a much better combo!
99
