We returned one evening to assess the full damage that the rust had done to the bodywork. With the straps in place we could winch the body free of the chassis and have a look underneath.



The chassis itself had collapsed quite spectacularly and had folded in to probably be about an inch shorter than it should be.



Inspecting underneath the body where it had sat on the collapsed part of the chassis revealed very bad rusting. There was also rust and fracturing at the front base of both front door sills.



The pictures say it all.



It was now clear that before we could consider a new chassis and other parts the body needed to be repaired (if possible). I wasn't prepared to shell out for parts before we were sure there was a good chance of recovering the body.