Fitzies cut and butt works the best when you have the thin slitting disks, and have the space to angle the grinder cut so it minimises the gap when you cut through each tack weld.
But its a good trick to have up your sleeve.

So didn't actually get to the guard today. Woke up feeling very flat and particularly unmotivated, so struggled to get going.

I did clean up the last of a few holes around the sill section though and thankfully worked out the rear arch profile I have is the same. (Or near enough)

Had a look at the front door. It's a lot of work, so might end up using the complete donor door. Will have to look into modifying the profile though as they are series 2 doors and the wagon has series one doors.

Anyway, realised I didn't post the front guard. Needs a skim of filler however t's definitely an improvement from what it was.

Decisions Decisions.....

How far up the guard, and or, do I unpick the entire inner guard. As painful as it was at the time, I made sure to keep it intact when I cut it out so I had options.

Might work on something else while I postpone the inevitable
😀😃🙂🙃

Decided the door was too far gone to repair when I have an almost rust free donor.

Will just have to modify the front top corner to suit the body as the donor is a series 2 and the wagon shell is series 1.



As you can see the rust was pretty extensive on the doors.


Here is the section I'll have to modify.


I have the A pillar section, though not quite the bottom bit so can't convert it to S2 at the same time. (I did think of that)

I'll leave the A pillars to last.
Shaun

Rough handed me would just cut the A pillar and bash it in then weld up where the door hooks into it but you could do the opposite and cut the door skin and reweld the skins back together. Had no idea Cortina MK2 did that change of panel shape

There was actually a range of other body chages too, although most are quite subtle and this being the most obvious from the outside of the car.
 
There are Series 1 and Series 2 shells (as those in the UK call them), however with OZ assembled models and the gov requirement for local content on cars, the change over is not as clear cut here.  We got things that the UK models didnt get, (export strengthened shells etc) however there also things we didnt get. Bonnet release etc etc.
 
Shaun
 

What type of weld is this? The panels are lapped and the weld seems to be continuous?

I was hoping for simple spot welds.....

This is the seam that connects the inner arch to the floor pan section. What is the best way of separating the two?

i'd do one door style each side probably, and whack a nice mirror on to cover.. :) 
 
Back to the arch:
- Possibly  trim off another 1" off your outer wheel arch, keeping the inner for now in situ, so you can see how good the inner is.
- then you can choose to patch it up (looks like it will need 1 patch at least), or then decide if your donors arch is better. I reckon the car inner will survive, plus it will give you a good base for the donor skin to go onto.
- after the above, with the inner arch now unpicked, you can fitzee in the new donor skin. Maybe the infill panel could be 1" lower down from the top, and taken 1" or so on the door return?
The fun part will be having to weld upside down on the lip return. It should just be plug welds through the donor, and I found if you can do each plug as a a couple of tacks around the hole starting in its the centre, you might be able to heat it enough as a tack, but not get it excessively hot enough that the puddle will just drop out. Then when its basically filled, reheat the tacks together to consolidate them. 
You could of course run the reverse, drill through the inner and plug the arch skin. It depense if you can get your gun in comfortably and be able to see.
 
I'd be interested how others would do it. Bubble arches give you a bit more space to work in.
 
Hope the above doesn't make me sound like a know it all, because you know I don't.
Just excited by this part of a build, the best bang for buck part of the process.
 

Sometimes Ford used a rolling spot weld to pinch and weld at the same time. Leyland mini used it on the outer seam at the back of the front arch and possibly roof skin gutters, it makes a strong join... And annoying to unspot.
You'll be drilling all weekend to break the panels apart, or grind them thin and chisel apart on the panel you don't need .

deano
i'd do one door style each side probably, and whack a nice mirror on to cover.. :) 
 
Back to the arch:
- Possibly  trim off another 1" off your outer wheel arch, keeping the inner for now in situ, so you can see how good the inner is.
- then you can choose to patch it up (looks like it will need 1 patch at least), or then decide if your donors arch is better. I reckon the car inner will survive, plus it will give you a good base for the donor skin to go onto.
 

Thanks.
 
The wagon arch isnt too bad, yes it does need some work, however it is thin. The donor is completely rust free. I looked at it and thought i could just unpick it (where the inner arch mets the body) and replace the entire inner guard and the outer patch however the way it is welded along that seam makes it considerably more challenging. Looks like it will take a LOT of work and/or get damaged in the process.