Then it was time to get rid of the panel altogether.
I was surprised how rigid the tub stayed even with the panel out.
Look at the amount of holes in that thing. It was braced with another piece of aluminium behind and is in generally shocking order.
Next I offered in the new panel.
It looks to fit really well and I was tempted to rivet it straight in but then the paranoia started. There doesn't seem to be much room for adjustment or error. I had checked the door gap and the measurement is about the same but not exactly. It's very close and there doesn't seem to be any way to alter it anyway. Then doubt started niggling away at me. It just seems too easy to just plonk the new panel in place and it just fits first time. I've now started worrying about the door gap and whether the hard top will sit right and so on so even now I still haven't fitted it. Once I've drilled those holes in that lovely new panel that's it, if I have cocked it up somehow and I have to change things it will look a right mess. Got to get brave and just get on with it.
In the meantime, and to allow me more time for worrying, I got on with the underside of the tub.
This turned out ok. I even painted the inner lip of the wheelarch. Because the previous bodgers had not primed the bodywork properly the old paint peels off in places and that was about the worst. It worked well and I like the colour but it definitely does not match the original. Too late to worry now though and it was far fetched to think it would match anyway.
I was going to wait until my brothers in law were both free to help me lift it back on the chassis but then I had a rare moment of enthusiasm and decided to have a go myself. It took the garage crane, an old duvet and some carefully placed sponge but I managed to flip it over without a scratch.
Then with a bit of help from our James on the hoist we managed to drop it into place quite easily. I was most worried about the passenger side outrigger that I made and fitted. This is the only part of the chassis where a new piece entirely has been fitted and may not have lined up. All other repairs were just patching. However the holes lined up perfectly and because I had plated over that bit of the front of the tub that was really badly corroded I didn't even need to use the shims that came off when the tub was removed.
After that I thought it was time to start work on the bulkhead so we put it on to have a shufty at how things look. From the side it looks ok.
But when you look from the front it all looks very cock eyed with the everything lower on the passenger side.
Not sure if the picture really shows how wonky things look but trust me in the flesh it looks bad. And this is where we are up to. As you will have seen from previous posts the idea now is to get the engine and gearbox back in and hope that it will magically somehow sit a bit more level. So the bulkhead will have to come off again. Also I should really complete the tub. Plenty to do. Today I have cleaned and tidied the garage. All tools away and loads of rubbish chucked out. It's amazing how it feels better in there. It's still just a cramped double garage but it definitely feels better.
