After trial fitting the dash mount panel whilst the scuttle was on the car it became obvious it would be a much easier and better job to remove the scuttle again than fit in situe. So, off she came:
Coffee brewed I started from the centre working out, notice the cleco to hold it together:
That idea was soon scrapped. There just isn't enough material to attach and remove the celecos without some sort of damage, in the end I actually used rivets and glued the tabs three at a time so I still had some flex. I left the end three tabs unattached so I had some flex in the scuttle when re-attached, plan being to finish it in place all lined up (different to what I did with the back panel!):
Nice bead of sikaflex on the inside, easier to do before re-attached. Then I ground down the rear and front of each (countersunk) rivet. I had previously tested normal dome head rivets which I had ground off completely and the strength was still there, combined with the sikaflex I think it will be good enough:
Each side finished once the scuttle had been re-attached fully in the correct position:
Not a rivet in sight:
And the final finish, really pleased with the end result:
The plan was to attach the GRP dash whilst the glue goes off but unfortunately I ordered the none GT version so it doesn't fit! I'll sort a replacement out with GBS next week but for now, I'll call it a day.
awesome finish in the end!
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