MUCH like the basket case that is 2020, our VE Valiant Carnage restoration project just keeps throwing up curveballs.

Due to the worsening COVID-19 situation in Melbourne, Scotty and the Carnage crew decided to turn back time and once again move the VE wagon shell back to Scotty’s garage so he could work on it in the safety of isolation. It was a bit of a kick in the balls, as we’d only moved the wagon back to the Carnage workshop a month or so prior in the hopes of really getting stuck in.

Nevertheless, Scotty broke out the Ryobi grinders and got to work stripping down the driver’s-side rear quarter. When we stripped the passenger-side one back a few months ago, we found some decent damage hiding underneath a few layers of bog, but even that couldn’t have prepared Scotty for what he found this time.

The driver’s side appears to have seen more action than a Led Zeppelin groupie. The seemingly hundreds of dents and a big rust patch in the lower section mean a simple bog-and-primer treatment isn’t going to cut it.

This leaves us with a few options: just bog back over it and watch the internet scream, spend hours upon hours attempting to beat it back into shape, or just get our hands on a replacement panel. The latter option is the most appealing, even if it does cost us some extra dosh.

We’ll be posting regular updates on the Valiant wagon in the coming days, so make sure you keep an eye out for more Carnage goodness.