Originally Posted by
Zakspak Hi, don't worry too much about that fit !
the front panel probably isn't too far out. Ford worked to some very loose tolerances back in the day.
My floor panel was 20-30mm short of the outer sills when I fitted it, making me think the floor panel was too narrow. It wasn't, it was actually within 3mm of the original across all the measured points. I had to make the outer sills fit the car, just like Ford did. I'm here to upload pics of this work on my thread, but stopped to give you some advice as you said you were new to this.
I'd suggest measure the old front panel across datum points. eg mould lines etc, not flange to flange as these get knocked about and bent to fit. compare those measurements to the magnum panel (I have one of these to btw). That's just to reassure you the panel is good. Are you fitting a new inner wing ? Bare in mind your car not only has these loose tolerances from original, but its taken a hit to. Don't remove the cross member yet, just to ensure the chassis rails stay put (it's unlikely they will move, but better safe ) Then work on fitting that front panel. You'll have to do some clamping and tightening up to loose the gaps. The shells are put together under tension, so panels are likely to spring apart, shift as you remove them. measure measure, measure and record before you take stuff off. Take reference pics and record all this info. I've got to crack on with my update as time is limited for me, but I'm happy to help you out with advice if needed. You've a really nice shell from first look so take it easy you'll get in to it as you go. Cheers Peter
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