It all started last Oct I think, when it was decided the Mazda eng would be rebuilt and the roof rust looked at as the water leaks were getting a bit over the top…over the top of me either in the driver’s seat or lying in bed. To achieve the roof repair required the interior be removed, this included the largish air con ducting up the right hand roof area, the area where the roof leak seemed to be. Major welding repairs along the gutter section to remove rusted away metal that had been covered with riveted on plates and body filler. A long story short, the whole top of the roof ended up being removed, a frame built using 50mm x 20mm x 3mm hollow steel section that mounted around edge of where the original flat roof started so I could increase the inside roof height enough to stand up without tilting my head forward, a trigger for my migraine headaches.
On top of this frame 20mm x 3mm square hollow aluminium sections were laid across from side to side, composite aluminium sheeting attached to the top using Simson 7003, this made the new roof.
When this was completed the internal refit started. Eddie took on this task building a light weight aluminium framed cupboard skeleton covered with more composite aluminium panelling.
Then it was time for the benchtops, a quote for a min of $500 deposit and make up the balance when they arrived was not particularly appealing to me, so I took on the task of making the bench tops myself, with a lot of help from Brian….. this is where the fun started
First discovery, the kitchen cupboards were now wider than standard so an off the shelf benchtop would not fit, so this required joining material to get the required width. The choice ended up being a Bunnings hardwood timber laminate made from rubber tree I think it said, 2 bench top pieces were bought, one ripped full length to join onto the other one and the remained cut up to make the other bench tops and a bread board… and a few other bits, all this was achieved using the expert hands of Brian on a triton saw bench in the back yard.
Next came how to finish it as it was raw timber. The decision was to oil it so another trip to Bunnings and 2 ltrs of China Wood oil, these were swallowed by the timber in the following week, so another ltr, this time bench top oil. Finally got to the stage of still having oil on the majority of the surface by the next morning. Next was an attempt at buffing in wood turners finishing wax to get a shiny finish, but this wasn’t terribly successful, so next was wipe on poly. Then the real fun started. No matter how hard I tried it still ended up a poor surface finish, so the next idea was buffing with car cutting compound……. It appears furniture poly isn’t as tough as car paint type poly, and half of it rubbed off the first smaller bench top I attempted the new technique with, so more coats of poly and then progressive sanding between coats till a smooth finish was at last mine. A quick polish and out to fit it into place to get that ahhh…. feeling.
Well, I got the ahh… feeling alright, the bench top had been cut to fit neat by Brian and when I went to install it I discovered I’d spent the last 3 weeks getting a smooth shiny finish on the wrong side.
Ahhh…. well, at least I have had lots of practice at it so I should do real good on the other face
P.S what is a biulders??? 
Terry we shall sort that out in private