| Restoring A33 TJN (page3) |
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| The passenger side front wing is the original item fitted in 1984 & has been visited by "Mr Bodge" over the years in the quest to gain "just one more MOT certificate".The front edge above the indicator apeture is full of plastic filler,while the inner wing has been plated & had a new battery tray fitted.The problem is that the original rust wasn't removed first! |
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| Left:shows the rotten underside where the new battery tray was fitted & the rot behind headlights..Right:is a repeat of the driver side inner front wing rear top edge. |
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| There are times when I think "why am I doing this?".This is one of those times.The battery tray & surrounding area repairs were removed only to reveal much more extensive rot to the point where the only piece of the upper inner wing still intact is the strut turret itself.The front panel also needs repairs. |
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| The upper section is available as a repair piece called the "wing mounting band" & is the easiest way to rebuild that area.It doesn't however run to the chassis leg so the gap had to be filled with new metal shaped to fit. |
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| Once everything had been welded & ground down the area was made smooth with a skim of body filler.All seams were then coated in sealer.Anyone doing a "normal" restoration wouldn't go to all the effort of hiding the welds but this is going to be a show car & it would look terrible if left visible. |
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| With the inner wing rebuilt it was now possible to fit a new outer wing.I've been using pattern panels so far & have not had any problems that minor trimming didn't solve.Before fitting I painted the inner wing repairs & inside of the outer wing with anti rust primer. This part of the restoration proved to be much more complex that first visual impressions implied.The area is now ready for preparation & respraying with the exception of welding on a new battery tray,an easy job I'm leaving until later.Also,now both the outer front wings are permenantly fixed I have "binned" the old bonnet.It pays to leave this on until now as it provides a very accurate guide for panel gaps.A good secondhand item awaits its glory! |