1987 3.2 Carrera Backdate project - Sladeys hotrod

[sladey]

However, a bit of welding....




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[sladey]

And a bit of filing.....



And all is good - very satisfying that


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[sladey]

Then it was on to the front and the slam panel



I took the offside wing and bumper off so I could see what I was dealing with


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[sladey]

Hmmm.

I thought for a while that if I took the strips off that hold the rubber in I could maybe beat it out with a BFH. I even took the strip off the new panel so I would have a template to know how far I had to move it.....


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[sladey]

So I unpicked this trim strip....




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[sladey]

And held it against the bent slam panel



It might not be obvious but there was still a gap of around 10-20mm,and this is after I’d already done a fair bit of bashing.

Nothing for it - that old panel was going to have to come out and the new one get welded in.....


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[sladey]

I started by welding in a piece of angle iron to hold everything in place




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[sladey]

Then I cut out the old panel



This was a pig of a job. It nearly caught me out because I hadn’t realised it is double-skinned at the bottom-front - so you’ve got to unpick from the front and from the back


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[sladey]

After many many hours this is what was left of much of the old slam panel




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[sladey]

Then it was a matter of getting the new one to actually go into the hole. This is fairly tricky - you need to put it inside the frunk and then slide it forward so that the sides of the slam panel are under the inner wings but the bottom is outside the floorpan

This is part way through and help in by self tappers




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[sladey]

Then began the slow process of making sure it was in the right position - using the closing pin attached to the bonnet and adjusting and filing and pushing and pulling and so on.

Until eventually it fitted perfectly



I had an ‘oh shite’ moment when I pushed it down to far and it locked into place. Then I realised that without the bumper on you can reach up and undo the bolts holding the bonnet pin in place.


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[DustyM]

Never mind about the car, tell us about the home made Dust Pan...

[sladey]

Next was welding it in

I stopped several times to check it still fitted OK - it did. As the front inner wings seemd a bit thin I seam-welded them all the way up rather than relying on a few plug welds.



Eventually I got knackered and left it - will finish it one night this week - I’ve just got the double-skin to weld from the inside now - it feels really solid already


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[sladey]

I’ve still got the bumper bracket to sort, and then treating. Painting and stone-chipping all this front bit.

Before I put the wing on I thought I’d replace the knackered oil flexi-pipes.



In spite of my long lever and a similarly long one holding the other nut in place the 36mm nut wasn’t moving - the pipe started to bend.

I’m therefore going to get some new pipes - the aim is to get them by the weekend and fit them this week-end


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[sladey]

Which brings me to my deadline.

I already mentioned I’ve got it booked into the paint shop for early October.

A bunch of us are going to Spa historic racing in Belgium at the end of september.

I’d more or less resigned myself to the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to take the porsche. The blow is softened somewhat by it’s new stablemate



However the more I thought about it the more I thought it would be cool to go in he porsche before the respray - with bonnet and boot in carbon fibre and bits of black paint all over the place.

I’m also going on a mountain biking holiday between now and Spa.

So I’ve got this week-end, MOT next week, and then another week-end before Spa.

Jobs for this week-end:-

Finish welding.
Paint and treat the front
Fit new oil pipes
Re-fit front wing
Re-fit front bumper
Screw in safety belt receiver
Add oil
Charge battery
Drive to MOT

Then for the week-end before Spa I can just do a bit of fettling. Maybe see if I can get it into Centre Gravity as well.....

Gotta love a deadline.

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