I’ve been working on the roof and hood for a few weeks now, and have got rid of the worst of the creases and dents. I’m slowly getting the hang of getting the metal smooth again afterwards but it’s a real struggle to do. The hood had a deep crease in it that I couldn’t get behind to knock out, so ended up welding washers to the crease and slide hammering it out. The peak in the front is so far gone I gave up and started to make a new one. I also sliced the door up and bent it to fit the frame as it was way out, and am in the process of re-doing a lot of the patchwork where the roof has been chopped and not very well put back together.

I’d also cut the original firewall recess out to set the engine back further, and kept it to cut up and make a new one. After a bit of measuring, I chopped it into four pieces and trimmed the firewall a bit further to get it all to sit where I wanted. I couldn’t get the hood off to check the clearance as it was pouring with rain and I had nowhere to put it with the Bel Air in the garage as well. If it’s all OK, and it certainly looks that way, I’ll tack it in and make up the filler pieces then pull it back out to finish it off. I plan to smooth the rest of the firewall when the cab is off the chassis and I’ve worked out what I’m doing with the steering column and pedals.