S3 109 Safari project......

I removed the old hasp that held the bonnet down cleaned up the holes and welded them up. I’m not planning on using it again!

Looks a bit tidier now.

One disappointing point of the repair panel is that they don’t have return lips on the front faces to replicate the original , and that just annoys me! So, I cut some flat steel plate to size and bent it to shape and after some faffing around welded it. I managed to melt the raw edge into the new metal and put a bevel on it with the grinder. Not sure what will do with the other edges. I’ll sleep on it…..

Okay, wee update for today on the front panel. I had a look at the landing angle on the top of the panel, and there appears to be fairly serious rust in that area. It must be where the rain drops track under the front of the bonnet and sits under the bonnet rest strip happily rusting away!
Anyway I cut out the worst section on the right hand side, folded up a repair section and welded it in.

After trying to clean the rust and old paint off the front, I thought another solution was required, as the work to clean it satisfactorily would be really messy and would take forever ….

Step forward my new solution - get someone else to do it! … Joking aside, this is definitely the best way to go… I took it to a local chap who refurbishes wheels, and he acid dipped and blasted it. There is no way on earth I would get it as clean as that! I’m so impressed I think I will give him a few other blasting jobs that would just take forever. I will paint it with Kurust first then get it filled, flatted and ready for painting.