Everything always takes longer than you planned, doesn’t it? 
I gave the tailgate frame a couple of coats of Corsican Blue, sorted for me by Wigan Car Paints. There’s a distinct edge between the old and new, but the tailgate’s probably the most faded panel on what is after all a near thirty year old car 
Apparently I should be able to blend it in once I attack the rest of the car with some Farecla G3 rubbing compound. Left it to settle overnight before even trying to put the screen back in.
Finished off spraying up the corners too where I’ve filled in the old wraparound bumper mounts, and whilst it’s not perfect. it’ll pass muster from a distance 
On Saturday morning, I reattached the tailgate, thankful that I’d scribed around the hinge brackets before removal so I could get it lined up nice and quick. Then, having read lots of theories on t’internet of the best way to get the screen back in, I went with an old washing line and a party-sized tube of lubricating jelly (never did like using washing up liquid on a car 
). Working up and round from the bottom of the screen whilst lying down in the boot, the whole process was remarkably easy and only took a few minutes 
Unfortunately, by now I was running a tadge late, so we had to pretty much just sling things in the car and set off with a 100 miles to go, so no great photos of the overall current state of the car before leaving. At least it was raining, which meant that it cleaned off three weeks of accumulated garage, grinding and filler dust for me It helped that I’d cleaned up the boot contacts too, which meant the rear wiper finally worked pray:
We arrived a little after three, so some cars were already leaving, but it was a nice trip out and good to meet the folks that had stayed 
We finished off our butties (edam, salami and tomato on wholemeal rolls 
) before leaving, then set off in a cloud of exhaust fumes and rattles to the amusement of the remaining folks with their much newer motors Took a leisurely route back through the Yorkshire Dales, from Scotch Corner, through Richmond and down to Skipton, that we’d never been before – nice little bit of the country that and we’ll have to go back 
Stopped off at our favourite Asian restaurant on a whim for tea and enjoyed a lovely Shahi Lamb Biryani 
All in all, a grand day out