I think nutserts are the best way to convert the panels to bolt on.

I've used nutserts of various sizes to construct metal cabinets etc. and have been really pleased with the results.

Nutserts we once a product of Textron, but have recently been taken over/bought by Avdel.

You can buy nutserts at the better nut and bolt specialist sellers. The manual application tool is pretty reasonably priced. Link below is for a data sheet shows one of the nutsert breeds.

http://www.acument.com/avdel/products/datasheet/tsnutsert_9658_mm.pdf

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Great pics Ron. You are a brave man removing the rear vent panel and plenum chamber panel. But, if you're going to do the resto properly, those things have to be done.

Now I'm sure you have thought about it, but make sure the joints and seams are very well sealed, especially around the joints under the windscreen rubbers.

Ive now got the shell and panels in etch primer,what a job stripping paint especialy around the engine bay. I found some more rust when the paint came off so im right into fixing that now. The underneath is tidied up with a new coat of undeseal and im putting the seam sealer back as needed. The bonnet inside panel has some rust right up under the leading edge. Outer panel is quite sound. I could have just bogged it up but i want it to last more than just a few years so i drilled a series of holes right across under the edge and pumped the joint full of a lanolin based wax. The holes will stay to give it ventilation. More pics soon.

Hmm - interesting - never seen the bulge removed b4 - boy oh boy the standard of some of these re-builds is really tops! Gives you xtra incentive....
bolting the rear vent panel on is a good idea!

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Im up to the stage of putting a skim of filler here and there. Someone made a meal of fixing a spoiler to the bootlid and together with some rust holes it took me about three days to fix. Also, removing all paint under the bonnet and bootlid takes days. Everything now is bare metaled except the inside of boot. Its getting covered with carpet anyway. I now need to build a trolley to move the shell around and to the spray painters.

The resto is really looking excellent I hope mine looks as good as that. In reference to the BBS special can you tell by the engine no and the body no cause I have a 72 model with a 3100 D Port motor and a LSD but it has been resprayed and messed around with over the years so all the stickers would have been taken off it also has no badges on it

Thanks ds1900 this is my first attempt at a resto and i think it will turn out ok. I can tell you that the rotisserie is invaluable to me being able to access all areas and weld and grind the right way up. Its good to hear youve got the dport motor and an lsd. If its one of the eleven it will have been assembled in nov/72 and the engine/body number will match one on my list. You can private message me if you want. Cheers,,,ron.