Decided to test a new device on the Escort, a hole punch flare. I did a practice on a spare piece of flat to get the hang of it. First was mark up the points where the holes will be located

This is the device


First hole, can't go back now..

And here is the 5 all done, the only thing is it leaves a jagged edge but nothing a light file can't sort out.

The tool cost about $80 which is a cheap alternative to buying a front panel with them in. Not saying Deano needs to buy any because I did hehe

wow, that looks like a winner.
Did it need alot of pressure to cut the blank out?
 
We dont need to all buy one, Marty has one now we can borrow. :)
Win win

Gee thanks Deano 👍, nah, I used rattle gun on the bolt which also made sure it was fully seated. The middle hole was done with a ratchet spanner as I couldn't get the AEG in there due to the rotisserie frame..

Here's the wavy washers it punched out.

I bought one of them a couple of months ago. Haven't used it yet but your holes look perfect.
 
I didn't have any examples to measure up the holes but some Googling gave me images of panels with different size holes. By the end of it I figured it was a 2.5 inch hole.
 
Please tell me yours is 2.5 inch in size?
 
 

Hi chuff
Yes mine are 2.5in holes, I did want 2.25in but not in stock which is what my van holes are, the front panel is a Magnum.
I used tape to get the straight line happening and the gap was done by try and error so it didn't look cluttered plus you can only go so wide before it's doing nothing if you know what I mean lol

I've located a bunch of 6x hole punch dies of various sizes for about $120 on AliExpress, I figure if I get them or a similar seti can hopefully lathe the flare shape into them ..

Man it must tough putting that first hole in! Looks great tho!

martymexico
...I did want 2.25in but not in stock which is what my van holes are, the front panel is a Magnum.

So are you saying that the holes in the Magnum panels are 2.25 inch?
 
If so, what looks better (or more accurately, correct), the 2.25 or 2.5 inch?
 
I'm pretty sure when I went down this rabbit hole I found photos of 2.25, 2.5 & 3 inch and to my eye the 2.5 look about the right size. (3 inch looked waaaay too big)
 
Thanks.

Yes it's up side down, straight from the paint shed on rotisserie .
This is a Magnum panel with 2.25in holes, much better them


Stick with your 2.5in , there's only 6mm in it for size different. I wouldn't go any bigger tho.

Today I made a good effort on the coup Escort coup. Working on the rear seats which I bought last year from a Hyundai Veloster, obviously a modern car rear seat set will not fit without extensive mods if either the chair or car, or both. In this case it's both, where I've already reduced the width by 50mm in the base and sides and also trimmed some 120mm off the height by cutting the metal frame and welding until it's looking correct. Some pics can be seen earlier the build.
So what I done today was to remove the original Escort rear seat front frame or fence cause the new seat base is a completely different shape .... And it was brittle from rust . A quick wire wheel to expose the spot welds

Drilling them out but not going thru the floor panel

It put up decent fight, but after sharpening the 11mm drill bit to a more flat angle helps

Removed from the car with minimal damage

After fitting and removing the seat 300 times I decide to cut reliefs in the diff tunnel to lower the back part of the seat . Copper primer to stop rusting
I'll see what I can get done tomorrow

Went to a very local hotrod swap meet this morn , some nicely done rods and a rare Valiant Drifter van. Some stuff those people were selling was bin material , I want my $5 entry moneys back lol.
After that I spent a few hrs on a flat panel this rvo to create a closing/fence plate at the front of the rear seats . This was about shrinking, stretching and puckering !
Not that I'm slowly getting back into metalwork after a bunch of mechanical stuff and fibreglass it makes a change of scenery.
First job is to measure once, cut twice a sheet of zinc annealed, this is only 0.9mm to match the original.

Doing a guesstimate with texta for the folds , I realised each side is different, nice work Ford..
After a good few hrs braining it out I can't up with this

It fits in the hole pretty good

These are the bead roller dies I used to get the countersink slots

Moving on to the other side tomorrow after work.
I'm still thinking of a way to give the seat some reinforcement under the base so if any people wants to sit there they won't fall thru . Maybe wire rods on a frame or metal strap welded to a cradle , any ideas will be helpful 👍