Body Work
Took off the front skirt no worries, same with the bumper. things got a little intense with the badge panel. I sanded the two edges where i knew the spot welds were and then drilled them out. But ended up having to do a bit of cutting and pulling and cursing before it came off. I hit so had with a hammer at one stage the badge popped off.
All those parts looked like they had been pulled off before. the spot welding was at uneven intervals and varied at the degree at which it was done. And the type of nuts and washers werent consistant.
The rust on the underside was pretty bad and under the left headlight it had spread to the metal beneath. Also found that altho u cant see at a glance, the badge panel is also bolted to the guards by the headlights.
What i didnt expect is something i should have expected. Bad accident repairs. I knew my car had had an accident on the drivers side. theres crappy bog on the drivers door which looks like it was finished with 80 grit. the door isnt lined up straight and the hinge where it joins the body has been welded as well as bolted on. Also its had a bad respray where the guy didnt even bother removing the aerial to do.
Well i found something else. the seam line between the guards and the badge panel were FAKE! They were roughly 10mm inboard of where they were supposed to be.
Scrapping off the bog, of which on the right side theres was plenty of- about 10mm thick at one point, u'll never guess wot i found. The idiot had welded the guards to the badge panel I was pretty annoyed at that stage and just cut around it.
Then i put my bumper back on so if i needed to drive it in an emergency i could.

Starting off and the finished article

under the right head light showing more rust, welds and check out that bog! Under the left headlight and the exposed welded seam

To be continued