Revised Radiator Support Part 4 - Making It Fit

So I decided the other day that the first step to getting anything done on this project (any my other cars here for that matter) would be to write out a list of what needed to be done. It turned out extensive, but while it looks like a lot written down, it's actually less than I thought I had left to do in my head. I'm aiming to start putting lines through as many of these as possible.

Unfortunately it's been raining fairly heavily for the last few days here and my shed is yet again flooded. This means I can't really get any welding done as I'm a bit skeptical about welding while standing in a puddle; I also want to do the tailshaft center bearing mount and the seat rails which requires being on the ground and hence the ground being dry.

I removed the bonnet and eyeballed the Revised Radiator support the other day, and tonight I decided I had better get stuck into it. It's always a daunting process (at least for me) cutting away existing things that fit or work to make way for something you aren't quite sure will fit or work as intended, but it has to be done sooner or later! Procrastination doesn't get you anywhere.

Here I've unbolted the current removable radiator support.

Sitting on top of the remaining side wings. I could completely remove these wings but they have the top mount for the headlight buckets at the moment - once the new support is mounted I'll work out a way to weld these to the new mount and remove what's left of the original section.

Back and side risen sections removed. Precision angle grinding ;)

Trying to be tricky and just clearance for the brace. Best laid plans of mice and men as they say - I ended up having to cut more off anyway so a bit of a wasted exercise.

And here you can see what I meant by "more". 

On the brake booster side of the bay.

It drops closer to "in place" now. 

The only thing I'm not sure on now is how flat it should be sitting. I need to get the bonnet on and eyeball it I think - it's probably meant to be level to the ground - at the moment it's leaning down toward the front per this picture. No doubt there's a bit more cutting to go before I can drill and bolt the support to the car. Once that's done I can start putting in the mounts for the lights (under the support), the light surrounds (at the front - some need slight stand-offs for the screws) and of course the radiator.