I really wanted to learn how to do heat shrinking properly after messing about with a shrinking disc and not being happy with the results. Knowing nothing about gas torches, I decided I’d rather play it safe and buy new stuff than set myself on fire. A quick chat with the welding supplies place round the corner from work and I bought a load of bits and rented some more bottles. With it all bolted together, I was still not convinced I wouldn’t burn myself and nervously lit the torch. I had made a test piece to shrink from an old bit of hood that I beat the heck out of with a ball pein hammer to get about an inch deep stretch in it. I gently heated it to cherry red, then hammer and dollied it flat. And that was it, done. I was amazed.

Convinced that it was a fluke, I got another scrap piece and did the same. To my amazement it came out spot on as well. At that point I decided I may as well have a go at one of the front wings. They were in a pretty sorry state, with a few bad tears, and were stretched really badly where I had tried to repair them with just hammer and dollies. After a few hours of heating, hammering and some gas welding (which I really like for some odd reason) I was miles further forward despite them looking like they had been in a fire. I even managed to get rid of the”oilcan” in the bead that made the bottom quarter pop too far in or out. Another thing to add to the list of “if only I’d bought one years ago I’d be miles ahead”.