[retro200]

swifty i also made a steel frame for the rear clam it comes down from the hinges at the top down each side of rear window and across under bottom edge of window bracketed to inside of clam i also intended to fit gas struts but after buying some (3 sets)strong enough to hold clam up i found that when fitted and clam was closed they had the effect of trying to "stretch" the clam and forced it backwards opening up the gap between the door rear edge where it meets the clam so i ditched this idea and fitted a hinged stay(1" inch box section) centrally using the old rear bonnet catch mounts on the back panal up to the new rear support frame inside the clam so when you lift clam it folds out and locks into position holding it up also it gave me somewhere to route new wiring to rear lights the problem is that the struts have to be so strong to hold the weight of the clam that when closed they exert so much force they try to force the clam apart if you manage to get around this let me know i even considered fitting a electric/hydraulic ram to mine but havnt found anything suitable and yes my build includes paint around £500 quid in 2 pak but i did all prep / paint myself so i probably saved at least £1000 if not more,i was quoted £1200 just to shoot the paint,but i have all the equipment so i didnt make sense another thing i found was a lot of air pockets in the f/glass had to do a lot of grinding out/ filling i went over the whole kit with a heat gun(not too hot) to highlight any defects it has the effect of raising any problem areas that need grinding out/filling and there were quite a few to sort out it took a lot of filler/time to get right from memory i think the roof and "ears"and roof scoop edges were the worst its were there is a very tight radius/corner f/glass dosent want to form into them right check yours i think you will see what i mean