and still the body work continues......

The front left wing ( or at least part of it ) shown above. Apart from being in very poor condition, had been crudely cut and joined previously and was too short overall for the car. As I was unable to find a replacement panel I had no choice but to attempt a repair.




The front section being repaired around the headlamp area when it had be previously damaged, probably more than once! You will note a small section welded in on the headlamp mounting flange, and a number of hot shrinks performed to reduce the amount of stretched metal to deal with. Also repaired is the cut out at the top of the wing to clear the Headlamp adjusting screw.



The image above shows the front section of the wing with a 15 mm strip attached ready to be welded back to the rear section, and return the wing to a suitable overall length.



You will note in the image above the line marked around the wheel arch, indicating the correct radius compared to the right hand wing. It is quite obvious that the original wheel arch radius does not match the wheel.


The wheel arch edge after opening, removing the 1/8 wire reinforcing, recutting the radius and rewiring the edge. The opening now matches the right wing.


Note the uneven door gap getting larger toward the top



A flattened out piece of 1/8 welding wire is used to extend the edge, firstly tacked in place as shown above, then fully welded and ground back to the appropriate distance



The completed repair. The door gap tapered down to almost nothing at the bottom edge, so the whole section of the rear edge from the swage line down has been opened up and refolded to even out the door gap.



The front left wing after about 30 hours work. I was unable to completely repair the headlamp area, so after carefully cleaning the area a thin layer of plastic filler will be used to complete the repair. I cannot begin to describe how pleased I am to have finished this panel!


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