Valance II

 Thought I'd try fitting the valance yesterday, following a lot of grinding.

There's a finisher strip that goes over (or under, to be precise) the join between the outer wing, inner wing and the end of the valance to form a nice edge. I was going to remove the one on the left hand side, but it's welded on at the ends and spot welded in the middle, making it rather difficult to remove. Also, it was in remarkably good condition, so I left it in place, but ground it down a bit on the inside. 

The right hand side, requiring more in the way of replacement panels, doesn't have a finisher anyway, but I do have one to apply when I've finished putting everything in place. That said, those who have rebuilt GT6s previously recommend leaving it off completely, as it can become a rust trap. Given I've retained the left hand one, I'll have to fit the right hand, ensuring I seal it with something like the dreaded epoxy resin.

The left hand side is perfection, but the right hand side leaves a lot to be desired, primarily because the boot floor has sagged a bit due to the whole area having been taken apart. This was corrected by attaching the engine hoist to the boot floor and raising it a bit, but it's still not perfect. A couple of trolley jacks are needed.

After getting the left hand side sorted, I realised I hadn't sanded down the lips where the spot welds will go, meaning I wouldn't be able to establish a circuit - so the whole lot came off again.

Got it back together and realised I hadn't primed the lips with weld-through Primer. Bugger that, I thought.

More adjustment is required before I commit to the spot welder, although I could weld up the left hand side, which would allow some bashing on the right hand side to ensure a good fit, without a risk of destabilising the whole lot. I really need the B post pillar section for the driver side before closing everything up, but that's not arriving till tomorrow.

I also think I need a 2nd opinion from my neighbour, who rebuilt a TR6 a couple of decades ago.

Watch this space, but probably not till next weekend.