Hi Mark, the turrets are made from 2mm or close to that thickness . I'm going to get a pattern off them before they're installed so if you want the measurements let me know.

Today I got to some welding of the rear inner tub finalised for welding into it's home , there was lots of shonky welds there along the middle seam due to the original sealer that's sandwiched between the panels decides to burn and contaminate the welding... Live and learn lol.
I had brushed on the red primer before installing the tub..Here's the final pics, I would've got as I go pics but the phone was a boom box playing punk alternative, loudly as I seem to focus better..😎
Used a good amount of black sikaflex to hide and fully seal the the area. Once the stone splatter goes on it'll look like normal..
From in the boot

Under the arch


Inside front

I gave the turrets a measure and came to 1.6mm thick. And still can't find the template so depending on how far I get on the weekend, I might attempt the turret installation.

Today there was a gift from Santa, a big package !

What I found inside was a couple of arches from Deano's van project , now I can play on the other side ..

I've marked out the where it'll be cut back to and did a quick chomp on the car to remove the old arch

.. And

That's about all for now

^^ no need Marty, just paying it forward.
 
If you keep posting on your build, so I know what i'm doing wrong, we can call it square.

A bit more work today on the outer part of the tub, I spent about 4 hrs on these , since I've got the hang of doing them from the ones on other side . Here's the first pic of the flat panel but with swages in and return edged..

This is the same part after some shrinking of the return edge, it took a few goes to get the panel to fit snug

And this is the part pinned in place

And the other part which connects up to it

Action shot from the rear of the boot


Not much more got done as I was checking on the misso and helping do painting in the house .
I noticed the rear panel I've saved for 15yrs had been damage and cut in half and part welded on by the panel shop many many years ago , I'll show pics of this repair during the week, it's a bit comical in a way but frustrating cause I've got to modify it one way or the other... Why me... Lol
Until the next epic installment...

Hehe Deano the flange I shrunk was the short return lip, about 15mm, when it shrinks(or stretches) it pulls the flat panel around with it and not needed any mods to the larger part .
Yeah the Anvil is a narsty bit of kit lol

Whats the ground shiny section about on the rear panel?

bugger me, it's like spot the difference where somethings been rubbed out.
Is there a patch covering this area, with the welding repairs you described, maybe shes taken a small push in the rear and they just cut the area out?
I was going to guess that it had a real dodgy towbar at one stage, and that was where they'd mounted it.
Stupid concept, but hey, anything goes. I bet the delete was where the plug connector was mounted. Sorted!

First is etch primer to seal the metal from moisture.
Some say to put filler on bare metal but really it's fine to put on etch and primers as long as you have keyed the area to be fillered.
I've never put filler on bare metal cause filler is a sponge for moisture, if you wet rub the panel there will be moisture trapped and effectively rust out the panel.
I only dry sand filler and primers until the sealer coat, epoxy, is fully covered on the car.
Seam sealer can go on bare or primer, your only sealing gaps up, the seam sealer can be painted over.
As long as you've scratched up the area to be painted, you can go past etch and use epoxy over bare metal to seal the metal from rusting and filler on the primer. Did this on my blue van 10yrs ago and hasn't broken out in blisters or paint falling off..

This is going to cause arguments on how and what etc.
Etch is cheaper than epoxy and can be welded thru where as epoxy can't be welded thru. If I get the car grit blasted I always etch it asap then I can relax on working on it.