Slam Panel Mounting

[MK1_Oz]

Pulled the car apart too long ago and the pics I took do not show the whole story....

Before I plug weld it on, does this slam panel look to be in the right place??? ie tabs sit behind the rad support panels, big overhand on far left and far right, flush with edge of front panel in the middle??????

[MK1_Oz]

more.......

I am 99% sure this is right as the panel seems to want to sit in that position. Doesn't harm to ask though does it!!!!!!

ALSO, trying to make sure I get the front panel mounted right. Should the top edge of the front panel around the area of the headlight hole be flush with the inner wing?? I would assume so as the slam panel in this area is pretty flat. When I trial fitted a wing though it appears that the wing is sitting slightly too high relative to the front panel.

Bit of a zigsaw me thinks!

[PaulMK1]

I temporarily hung the guards too to ensure the front panel height was correct - My original guess (as per your picture) had my front panel too low and the slam panel leaning downwards. Once you align the guards with the lower curve round the headlight all becomes obvious

You pics re alignment of slam panel look OK to me!

[MK1_Oz]

Ta Paul....

[MK1_Oz]

Got everything lined up and I am pretty happy....apart from the below pic. Is this normal with replacement front panels? Seems that I have to lightly bend up the lower sides of the front panel to make the same contour as the wing. Seems drastic but I cannot see that mounting the wings or front panel in any other way might help.

[PaulMK1]

I had to do exactly the same - then fitted the fibreglass guards and had to do it again!

[MK1_Oz]

Thanks again Paul. "nice" to know that this is probably normal!!

[INBreplica]

The best thing to do is fit the bonnet,get a good gap at the rear,then sit everything up in place.
get your vice grips and clamp everything in place. when everything seems to fit,screw it together with self tappers,then check that the bonnet fits nicely and closes. When you are happy with the fit,weld it all up.
this was the way my TAFE teacher taught us many moons agao and is the method used by every panelbeater Ihave worked with.

[MK1_Oz]

ta mate

[ulsterman]

If you are gonna bolt those wings on with rivnuts make sure you fit the lugs to the front panel at the same time.

[MK1_Oz]

[ulsterman]

If you intend to bolt on those guards, it's better to weld the little bolt fixing plates along the bottom right and left sides of the slam panel first.

[MK1_Oz]

New Problem....

The bonnet spring does not go through the corresponding hole in the slam panel. It appears that I need to move the slam panel 15mm forwards but that just wouldnt look right elsewhere.

Has anybody else experienced issues with the location of the hole in the slam panel i.e. are they well made repair panels? Is it just where I currently have my slam?

How essential is it that the spring/pin on the bonnet goes into the direct centre of the slam panel hole? Is there some degree of misalignment before it becomes an issue?

[ulsterman]

Not sure mate as I havent fitted a slam panel. I dont reckon it matters to much about being dead centre as if its a race car you will be using bonnet pins anyway with rubbers mounted on the uprights at the same height as where the bonnet closes so the spring isnt really used..

[MK1_Oz]

True. I was going to use the spring mechanism though as it stops somebody from opening the bonnet ie acts as a lock!

[PaulMK1]

Is it a rally car or street car? Will you have door locks and ignition key or a start button?

With regards to bonnet catches; I’ve seen (On gravel rally cars) them fill with mud and jam! I've also seen the cable snap and service crew madly attacking the front of the car with screwdrivers trying to get the bonnet open!

Consider if you unconscious inside the car with the engine on fire - how do the rescue teams get the bonnet open quickly?

Ditch the catch!!!!

[MK1_Oz]

That makes sense Paul. CAMS just confirmed that the 2 bonnet pins are infact 2 separate systems so no reason under the tarmac rally regs to have the catch.

No ignition key but door locks (if you can call 40 year old locks 'locks') will remain....

[ozstang65]

You can usually put a padlock through the pin if you really want to lock it for some reason.

[ulsterman]

That is so true, I had mine lockup at a Hill Climb last year and it took ages with a screwdriver to get it opened. Needless to say I pissed it off quick smart.

[MK1_Oz]

OK. I decided to get the slam panel mounted such that I COULD use the bonnet catch if I wanted to. From the pic above called slam3.jpg you can see that initially I tried mounting the front edge of the slam flush with the top front edge of the front panel. This put the catch hole out.

I have moved the slam to the correct position for the catch but it now looks stupidly too far forwards. I left the bonnet hinges on teh bonnet and the hinge mounting on the body does not have any fore-aft adjustment so the bonnet must (?) be in the correct position. I welded in a new front section of inner wing but the other side was original so pretty sure I have not shortened the car .

Does the overhang shown below look reasonable? Am I a worry wort? Should I trim off the excess?