The time has come to complete the preparations for the fitting of the front panel, which took us almost a year. First step in finishing the preparations is to install the lower, inner front panel. Preferably use spot-welds to attach the front panel to both the chassis beams. Finish off with a good primer after the panel has been welded into place; you will not be able to reach this place once the lower, outer front panel is installed.
All corners, seams and potential water retaining areas have been sealed with body sealant to prevent them from rusting. After finishing the inner panel, we installed the lower, outer front panel, which is done by spot-welding it on the upper and lower edge of the inner front panel.
Almost nearing the point of installing the front panel, but not before we fixed the lower front window frames. They definitely required replacement, since they were entirely rusted away. After grinding the original pieces of window frame from the old front panel, we started replacing the frame bit by bit. I also strongly suggest to refit the heating pipes (in case you removed them) before you install the entire front panel.
Now that we have prepared the inner panels and window frames, we have reached the point of fitting the front panel. The edges of the new front panel have been designed for you to fold them around the edges of the doorposts, just as the original panel was. Basically all you will be doing to fit the front panel is using a hammer and a little anvil to hammer the panel’s edges around the doorposts.
After the front panel has been installed we fitted the outer, front window edges. Make sure to test if the glass fits, before welding the entire edge into place. It is pretty hard to shrink your windows…
It all looks as if fitting the front panel was an effortless job without any problems. Sadly this is not completely true; the new front panel appeared to be off-grain. Please check the distance from the bottom of the headlights to the bottom edge of the front panel. My panel had a 15 mm difference between the left and right headlight, which caused me a lot of trouble. I ended up grinding the lower edge off the panel and filling up the missing 15 mm with separate pieces of sheet metal, after which I fitted a new fold around edge. Time consuming and not necessary when you have a decent front panel.
