Ed - Cheers.
Completing this final round of major body work changes will certainly be a key milestone in the build.
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Bank Holiday Monday:
A complete wash out.
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You can NOT be serious!
Without doubt, this has been one of the most frustrating / soul destroying days of this build.
Started off sanding down any excess filler and fibreglass around the join in the centre of the bonnet.
But within minutes of starting a heavy shower arrived out of no where.
< Rain Break #1 >
Once it was dry enough, I finished off the sanding.
I also taped the three cut off sections of new rear edge back on to the scuttle.
In an attempt to see how this corner could be rebuilt, but I didn't get too far before...
< Rain Break #2 >
Next time I was out I cut another section off the new rear bonnet edge and started the process of putting it back together.
The metal strips allowed me to reshape the existing arch, yet still keep a curve (ish).
You can see here that there is still a shallow "valley" between the arch & the centre of the bonnet.
This will eventually be blended in (I hope) to the rear lip profile.
But for now, I wanted to add some fibreglass matting to the outside of the bonnet slits to help hold the corner in place.
( Then I can attach the rear edge sections back to this new curved profile. )
Unfortunately, no sooner had I cut out the matting required, when the rain returned.
Thankfully I was able to get everything thrown into the front porch just in time.
< Rain Break #3 >
It was actually very sunny when I went back outside to put some matting on.
However, I had a complete sense of humour failure when the rain returned after I started putting the resin soaked matting into place.
I ended up working under the tarpaulin just to finish the job, but I ended up looking like a drowned rat.
( Especially as I had to spend a bit of time cleaning the brush I was using. )
< Rain Break #4 >
When it was dry enough, I could peel back the covers to see if it was worth getting soaked.
I had added an extra layer of matting along the join in the centre of the bonnet.
Note:
Working in semi-darkness under the tarpaulin explains the wide band of resin over the top of a thin layer of matting.
I even got away with the fixing of the wheel arch curve on the outside.
Note:
If you look closely, you can see some rain drops on the lower section of bonnet, but the hardboard brace/bracket is bone dry.
The sun stayed out long enough to help cure these areas enough for me to put the covers back on.
( After I had dried them out as well. )
To be honest, I just could not face taking another chance with the weather today, as I was cold, wet and seriously fed up!
Obviously the rain returned after I had packed everything away for the night.
But even so, this has been a long day with very little to show for it.
Hopefully it will be a bit drier tomorrow and I can start piecing the passenger corner back together
Cheers, Paul.
