My Dad's thick side panels

When my dad put BSG 8 back togeether in the late 1980s, for some reason he didn't complete the side panels.  He didn't form the louvres and simply painted them in a primer.  There were probably two reasons.  Firstly, I think he wasn't sure what type of louvre to make.  Although the body is off a longtail (which used the short louvres), the front of the car is of the earlier style that could take the longer louvres).  Secondly, the metal used for the side-panels is relatively thick (1.8mm), which makes it difficult to cut and form the louvres.  (The normal panel-thickness is about 1.2mm.)  It's therefore possible that he viewed these panels as temporary measures.

Whatever the case, geating the louvres formed has been one of the most difficult tasks I've faced. My first preference was to find someone in Scotland. Most people couldn't deal with the thick metal and the one company who said they could do it wanted nearly £1,000! 

I ttherefore turned to south of the Border. Three companies looked promising, but would have had to make a special tool and the other couldn't take the work on at the time. 

Fortunately, I came across Mick BeBeakhouse of Sports Car metalware.  Although based in the South East of England, It was actually quite easy to deliver the panels to them. And they made a brilliant job.

If you're interested you can find out more on their website, which includes a video from the TV program Wheeler Dealers, in which Mick Beakhouse forms some louvers for an exhaust system:http://www.sportscarmetalworks.com/

I then had to get the panels painted. My brother-in-law, Andy McAinsh of John Martin MOT, put me in touch with Wilson Barrett of Sonnet Motors. He arranged for someone from Dingbro to perform a colour spectrum analysis of the existing colour to come up with a 98% match (Deep Brunswick Green).




The final result is brilliant, except that it highlights that the rest of the paint work also needs to be addressed.







However, one thing at a time. It has waited more than 20 years to have the front panels painted, so it can wait a little bit longer before we look at the rest of the car. In the meantime, we now have a car that looks much better than last season.