[John Montgomery]

It’s calibrated. If you need more off the middle you use it ‘as is’. More off the ends? Turn it round. Sorted 😁

[John Montgomery]

So, as this thread is about rusty doors; what’s the general consensus for someone whose car has crusty doors; repair / reskin or get pattern parts?

[John Montgomery]

Haven’t used them but a firm like this could be useful: https://absolutereflections.co.uk/

[John Montgomery]

You could go proper bodge – weld a small M5 stud to the slipper in the right place, put a nut on, grind them both flat at the top then paint it.

Peter does brute force, I just bodge 🤣

[John Montgomery]

I’m sure it’s possible but you have to ask whether it’s commercially viable, given how few people will ever change this panel? I think it’s fair to say most people will let sections in, like you did. As we’ve both noted, it’s a pig to change (even removing one from my scrap front end is an ordeal).

[John Montgomery]

The photo is deceptive, there is a plate over the top of the aperture in the scuttle, the bracket is spotted on to the underside of the plate with very convincing spot welds.
It can only be a stiffening plate, taking the load path further away from the handbrake lever.
As for why?
Possible hypotheses are:-
more force being put through the lever due to people who are right-handed, or
more force going through the structure due to the wiper motor being that side, or
finding distortion/cracking in that area on the early cars necessitating reinforcement.
Good luck Mr Holmes!

[John Montgomery]

Thinking about it, the logical time for any modifications to be made would have been the structural improvements in 1971, there were a lot of changes made to the front end (think we discussed this in a previous post). Given that the dashboard is anchored to this area it may be that they reinforced the mounting points for it. No doubt someone knows.

[John Montgomery]

Well you were right about the handbrake, the extra plate holds the mounting bracket for the top of this lever:

This is the bracket:

While I was there I looked at the epaulettes again. It looks like the later cars have the top bent over then the tab for the dashboard mounting bracket welded on top. When you hold the new part next to what’s already there you can see the top edge matches, but will need bending to suit:


So there’s a change in design somewhere after 1968. I can’t check on my car as the windscreen is still fitted.

[John Montgomery]

Just looked it up, for some reason I thought MIG wasn’t around in 1955 but turns out it became viable in 1953. Was probably quite expensive so I think you’re right about cost being a factor 👍

[John Montgomery]

What wires work best for you Peter?

[John Montgomery]

Yes, just a small area on the forward outboard edge. Perhaps the early cars were found to have problems in the brazed areas. MIG welding wasn’t around then and gas welding might have opened up the adjacent spot welds I suppose.
I *think* the handbrake on manual RHD cars is below the dashboard panel, might be wrong though.

[John Montgomery]

No, there’s not even a fold so when I come to fit them I will have to put a rebate in them and let in a bent section with the correct tab on. Or, it may be the case that some people leave the tab on the car, just cut across it and weld the new flat section of the epaulette in, it’s an option I suppose. One for future me to think about.
Yes, that extra scuttle panel seems to be a RHD thing – no idea why though, I didn’t realise the LHD cars didn’t have it.

[John Montgomery]

Thanks Paul, I’ll bear that in mind. It wouldn’t surprise me if the top is plain, getting the top section right (with its complex curvature, also being visible from outside the car) would be quite a challenge. If the part that usually fails is the plain section then it would seem to make sense to just reproduce that.

[John Montgomery]

I’m not sure but I believe the full original panel includes the part where it curves over to join the scuttle. If that’s the case then that panel would be very difficult to make accurately. I suspect the panel you have is a repair section, not the complete panel..?
I can see what you mean in the picture you posted above. Trouble is, if you expand the area to include the dished section then you’ll get close to the ‘A’-post which gives you two issues; the introduction of a ‘hinge point’ which is likely to flex when the door is opened, also there’s a good chance the rust in the joint between the ‘A’-post and panel will make it difficult to weld/possibly cause distortion. Hopefully it won’t come to that 🤞

[John Montgomery]

I have no intention of causing offence here, just making an observation. If you’re concerned about a small repair leaking, surely a much larger one has more potential to leak, plus you’re disturbing the ‘A’ post and door seal channel, dashboard mounting panel etc..? If you’re going to fit that panel it would be a lot easier before you put it all back together.

I’ll remind you about the panel in a few years (probably closer to five) 😉

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