Flip-front

Once the new front was out of the mould , the first operation was to build up the lips (1) around the wheel arches . It was not possible to include these in the one-piece mould as it would have been impossible to separate it from the finished part and I felt that a multi-part mould was beyond my capabilities .

So the lips were built up using special felt and resin and finished off with filler . The front and the bumper were then mounted on custom hinges (2) to the bumper irons, which had to be moved back to accomodate them .The right hand hinge can be seen in the photos , also a gas strut (3) which is mounted on the old body mounting point on the chassis and the earth strap which goes to the electric fan mounting bars .

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The inner wings (4) were fairly difficult to position as the air cleaners stick out quite some way on the inside and the tyres must not touch on full lock on the outside . Hardboard templates were made up and adjusted by trial and error until a satisfactory fit was achieved . These templates (four) were then used as moulds to make the four new fibreglass parts which were then set up and bonded onto the front . A length of aluminium angle (5) was also bonded along the inside of each wing bottom to stiffen them and provide the fixing points for the bonnet catches and when the bonnet is closed , they tuck in under the inner sills to ensure a positive closure . These bits of angle also prevent the doors from being scratched every time the bonnet is opened or closed.........because the hinges are higher than the bottom of the wings !!! So when the bonnet is closed ( or opened ) they slide on what looks like air-scoops (6) and along the outside of the A-posts , pushing the wings outwards to clear the doors where they overlap .

The original bonnet hinge pin holes in the front halves were slotted as shown and the rear halves of the hinges (7) were mounted "spring-loaded" with acorn nuts to enable fore and aft movement thus locking/unlocking the bonnet .

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The fan and air duct (8) were then fitted , along with two gas struts (Peugeot 205 rear-hatch ) and various holes were drilled to take the wing mirrors , badge , T.R.I.U.M.P.H. letters , Dzus fasteners ( which don't fasten anything now ) , etc ........and the 3mm screws that secure the wing beading . These are countersunk screws with two filed flats so they slide in the channel in place of the stock tabs . After painting , the final touch was to apply a black self adhesive stripe across the bonnet where the bonnet shut line should normally be .

So if you want perfect shut-lines around the bonnet , this is one way of getting them !!!...... :-)