HAPPY.NEW.YEAR.TO.EVERYONE.HERE
KIND.REGARDS
BERNIE

Yes yes...
Each time I'm about to commit to the Escort I get these silly little jobs come in, and stuff off my own.
Right now I've got a nihhan R33 / 34 I'm the shed for a set of rear quarter panels copied on fiberglass . I'm not too up to speed with the Datsun verities, this one is destined for the driff scene. So this is what I've been at the past week..
First was quick prep of the panel to be mold friendly, PVA release agent and blue gelcoat applied

Next was a full day of slapping the glass matting being wetted and applied meticulously.

That's one side, one more to go 😭.
Not only that, the mk1 Focus got a WRC rear spoiler, it's big and can comfortably hold a slab of beer !


I have it entered in the Small Ford Sunday in a few weeks so local members can come and have look, chat etc. It's at modbury this year opposite the plaza on Civic Park .

There you go Deano 👍

No no, I can't sit still waiting for hair to curl, similar to fishing from a Jetty, just can't waste time being idle when did needs to be done..
Yup, it's for when he tonks the back into a guard rail etc. The car has been fully prepared with cage, rear mount oil and water rads , he was quietly saying he might want FG bonnet and boot before they get crooked too. His engine of choice is a Barra taxi motor, cranked for about a lazy 1200bhp with turbo !
The mk1 Focus was for me but Her Indoors can drive it if needed, not that she should as her suzukki Vitara turbo is plenty rapid and fun, economy in the realms of golf diesel territory getting a happy 5.4ltr/100 , a very under rated car (SUV) . Maybe I should put a Suzuki 1.4T in the Escort.... Oh.... My.... Gawd.....!!

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

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?
 
 

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

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.

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 👍