Newbie from the Netherlands

[flying dutchman]

Hi there,

Willem here from the Netherlands. Having worked on classic cars for the last 30 years, mostly mechanical, but also the odd MIG job, I came totally fascinated by coachbuilding after seeing a Lancia Appia vignale being sandblasted. A patchwork of metal pieces all welded together, but beautifully formed. Then after much studying bare bodyshells I discovered how Italians hammered and brits rolled their bodies. I soon found out that being able to weld sheetmetal was important so I started learning to TIG weld. Now I sort of master that I am ready to roll!
Also the smell of aluminium brings me back to my childhood; my father worked at the Fokker aircraft factory and I used to dig out the aluminium leftovers and customize my bicycle with them!
So searching the internet for information, it doesn´t get much better then this site. Having read through all of Frank´s cobra-stories and Bernhards touringgarage work I knew where to start asking dumb questions...
(for which I allready apologize).

I allready want to thank those that show their projects here for all their efforts, because thats where newbies like me learn the most.