...Bodywork continued

This was followed by new outer arches, lower rear wing repair panels and a new rear valance. The rear valance was originally triple skinned and very heavy so an outer skin was just fitted as it was no longer structural.

One of the issues with the old shell was that the back panels had been fore-shortened by a good 9". This meant that with the new shell there was a bit of a gap in the back and that just won't do.
The first piece to make, was a crossmember to fit inside the rear valance. The valance is curved and 3"x2" box section is not known for it's flexibility so it took a couple of hours with a hydraulic press to get it to the correct profile.
Once that was done it meant it was possible to make some chassis extensions, again out of 3"x2", to meet the crossmember. These were then strengthened with some tapered sections..

First the doors were cut..

The front half was then hung on it's hinges and tacked the back half into place on the B pillar with some appropriate thickness spacers to get the door shuts correct.
To give it all a bit of stability and to give the correct sizing for the new metalwork in the middle of the door the two halves were joined together with some 1/2" box section.

As the old doors had been kept it meant that part of them could be used as a centre piece. Admittedly it wasn't that easy as the door top is a compound curve and the main swage line has a gentle curve all the way along the door but with a bit of slicing, beating and welding it all started to come together...

Continues in Part 3...