Woo hoo. Back from my latest jaunt, ready to take advantage of all the good weather that is obviously been waiting for my return. Ordered a new battery (and a set of brake pads for the disco). The old vindicator chassis has been removed from its garage and sits on a pair of stands in the back garden. The owner of the garage has unfortunately moved away and he had to organise the transport of it to our back garden. The combination of car covers on the locost seemed to have worked fine. There is the occasional surface rust on some exposed components but the rest of the car is intact.
The to-do list has been expanded to take account of the jobs required to get the car on the road. For example, the bonnet bulge and aeroscreen can take a back seat to the battery and the steering column (pretty essential components)