…a shrinker?. I cut out the cowl vent, and made a cardboard template for the new panel and transferred it onto a piece of the old hood. It curves in every direction, then is straight along the gutter and I struggled to make it even close to being right. I came to the conclusion it was time to buy a shrinker, and got a cheap one off ebay.I got some scrap metal and did a few test shapes and was amazed how easy it was to get awkward shapes made. I immediately thought of loads of other bits I could have used it on so I reckon it was well worth it.

I decided to start again on the front edge of the panel, so bent the gutter back out, shrunk it to match the shape properly, then folded the shape of the gutter back in. I was extremely happy with how close it seemed to be, and after a little trimming it dropped in like it had always been there. I carefully worked my way around tacking opposite sides then waiting for it to cool before joining up the tacks. Extremely happy with how it came out in the end, will grind it out and fill it next week with a bit of luck.