13/6/2020

Examination of the scrap material I had intended to use for the boot door skin revealed a lot of corrosion and odd holes so I decided to order  new aluminium, 0.9 mm for the door skins and 1.2 mm for the outer skin of the boot.

 

12/6/2020

I spent today working on the right-hand boot door frame, filling holes, replacing missing bits of the frame and manufacturing new steel parts for the corner reinforcement and the bottom edge of the door.  I hope to cut out the new outer skin tomorrow.

11/6/2020

The last few days have been spent in manufacturing the hinge plates for the boot doors.  Once completed, there was an issue with the right-hand boot door not closing freely. Investigation revealed that with the door mounted correctly, it was binding both at the top and bottom of its opening.  The remedy was to sand wood from the bottom of the door and relieve the boot door sill slightly ans well as removing a little wood from the top tight-hand corner of the boot door aperture.  It was clear that the right-hand door, at lest, has never fitted properly for many years, so it was good to be able to correct this.

Attention then turned to the right-hand door itself.  The edges of the  existing aluminium skin are badly frayed and there are a a few dents.  The bottom edge is split where it folds over the steel bottom edge of the door, which itself is badly corroded.  So I stripped the door down to the frame so I could repair any damage then reskin it.  I also decided to replace the chrome budget lock hardware as one was broken and the pull ring for the door was missing.  I ordered exact replacements from Vintage Car Spares, not cheap!