Chris - Cheers.
If I do manage to get this sorted out, I am going to ask the DVLA to provide a specific contact for other builders.
As clearly it would save a lot of time and effort all round if we were all on the save wavelength.
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Boot Handle:
This was yet another one of those "simple" jobs that took absolutely ages to get done.
The boot handle came with a cardboard gasket that I could use to mark up the boot lid.
I have settled on a position for the handle that is roughly in the middle of the two humps.
Obviously this is not the same as being in the middle of the boot panel, but who cares?
The handle may also not line up with the petrol cap when I finally get around to fitting that.
But then again, the petrol cap will not be in the middle of the two humps either.
I had to use a hand file to get the hole in the middle the correct size, as it is bigger than my drill bits.
Which allows the handle to slot into place like so.
The other thing that I had to bear in mind when choosing where to fit the handle, was where the rope had been fixed on the underside.
Again, the rope "cross" is not in the middle of the boot lid either.
I had an off cut of sheet metal that I wanted to use to re-enforce the handle fittings.
So I made a cardboard template before cutting out a shape that would fit nicely.
I then gave the metal a bit of a hammering so that it was a better match for the contours of the boot lid.
Then I could give both sides a coat of etch primer.
Later on I had my first attempt at using the bonding paste I bought to fix the body shell into place.
I used a couple of bolts and some penny washers to tighten the plate into position & squeeze the paste.
( The key thing for me was to ensure there was no air gap between the lid and the backing plate. )
Then I wiped away any excess from the middle hole and smeared the paste around the outside edge of the metal.
I will adopt a belt and braces approach and add some fibreglass matting along the edges too.
But as the sun started to set, the temperature really started to drop and it was pretty chilly out.
So I called it a day and just cut out some strips of matting before packing everything away.
Hopefully the bonding paste will be set hard by tomorrow.
Until then, take care, Paul.
PS
It looks like my luck with the weather
may be improving, as it is chucking it down with rain as I post this.
( Which would have ruined the fibreglass if I'd taken a chance on doing that job earlier on. )