Triangular Support

I know, I know, I should not be surprised but I did honestly think this area would be far simpler than the rear bulkhead. 

But I really didn't expect that the heritage replacement panel could be so far from the original! I even took it back to my local MG parts supplier to get them to double check. I had photo's and everything thinking they would say "oh yeah" must have been a doggy one and pull out a perfect replacement from behind the counter. Well that didn't happen they of course found another one in their stores that was exactly the same as the one I purchased two weeks ago! Grrr.

I felt like a right idiot because I am sure they get this all the time. I did check my vehicle type (GAN3) and it did match the panel.

So I had managed to remove the old panel which was too far gone. Just so relieved the left hand side of the car is better.

But on test fitting the new panel I noticed that there was a gap so it would not line up with the footwell end plate, as you can see here below. Also in fabricating the new panel they have covered up half of the drain hole, which just seems odd to me.

What I have worked out is that I needed to drill out these welds on the lower part and reweld this so that it covered the hole completely and drill a new hole using the hole (shown above) as a guide. That way it would fit.

So off it came and I found out that by moving it down a centimetre it did fit in line with the footwell end plate. Happy days!!

Well not quite because after inspecting the rest of the edges it became clear that I would have to make a few more alterations as you can see gap right in the centre of the picture below.

I also noticed that they changed the design of this panel further so the flange you can see running from bottom left to the middle on the new panel now is bent downwards and not upwards as it is originally. My only conclusion was that this has been done to help with prevent further rust as having the flange facing down would reduce the chance of moisture getting behind it.

On the positive side the area has been cleaned of rust and I am very nearly ready to start welding in new panel.