I decided to make stainless trim covers for the rocker panel seams, so I commissioned the guy who built my stainless steel BBQ to make me two pieces of stainless 1.5 meters long (I'll probably do the same in the rear, but not sure yet). Here are the rough pieces he made, and my sanding with 180 grit paper, then 220, 360, and 600. Then in Tarija I put them against the buffer for the final shine.
Before assembling the patched tailgate it needed a coat of anti-rust. Not pretty stuff, but that isn't the point. Now the tailgate is ready.
I took a Saturday afternoon and assembled the engine, using all new bearings and rings. Since it was within tolerance, I was able to buy standard size. I noticed one part of the engine ended up showing without paint, so I got out the paint gun again and painted it.
You can also see here how my body guy made a straight cut with his grinder, then heated the ends and pulled the door frame over to close the gap. Then he just has to weld in a flat patch. We also tested the seat positions and will modify the tunnel to lower them 3 cm from where they are shown here.
In the final box we have a video of the cutting and stretching of the cabin to match the doors. Also you see our trial of the Targa Red I was going to use (front fender) against the Flame Red (A panel). I've decided to go with the brighter Flame Red that was used from 1984 to 1994 or 1988 to 1999, depending on which source you believe.
