Now I’ve finally got a free weekend, I started on the windscreen frame.
I’d already made a start on the donor frame, cutting all the remains of the bulkhead and wings off:
My original plan was to grind off the inner panels on the A post at the weld points, leaving me with an intact outer panel. However, it’s quite a solid weld all the way down and I didn’t fancy my chances grinding it all off and still leaving the original panel intact (same story on the car). So, I decided I’ll be cutting the panel down the edge and seam welding it back in.
I decided to leave the donor panel for now, until I knew exactly what bits needed cutting and what needed to stay intact. So, onto the car!
As the old panel was nothing more than rusty scrap anyway, I didn’t see much point in trying to save it, so just got straight on with the angle grinder rather than trying to drill out all the spot welds.
A bit of tidying up and spraying later, and the base at least is ready for the new panel:
I figured I’d never have a better opportunity to sort out the inside of those bulkhead sections, so I took the time to grind the old paint off and spray on some etch primer. All the parts to be welded are sprayed with weld-through primer.
Next job was to grind off all the paint at the top to see exactly what needed cutting out. As usual, I found a ridiculous amount of filler:
Once I’d ground all that out, the top of the windscreen frame was a different shape to what I thought it was….
Then I cut out the A post bits and the top of the frame:
If the weather holds out tomorrow, I’ll be pulling the donor frame apart and getting it ready to fit. With any luck, I should be able to get it all fitted and make a start on the welding.
