Well removed the sealant from around the old bit of lip

spots drilled out, no need to do them at the bottom as the lower panal is scrap so it comes off in one

now this shows the extent of the rust within the seam , it should be obvious that no matter how much effort we put into cleaning seams out, you will never get to the back/bottom of it,but blasting and dremel and opening it up to get further in then getting paints and such in there does help a lot.

oh heck

this wasnt visible from the arch side

this is looking at the underside of the rear 1/4 panal

now theres a few ways of doing this, I can just about be got at from the inside but would not make a good clean job and no doubt take a lot longer so we gain access
If you are doing repairs on this area then note the area i have marked round ,
the rear 1/4 panal is sandwiched between this and a box , so dont try to unpick as you wont , next picky shows how Ive cut it

now that its off you can access the part and drill and remove, in this case i will probably refit the same part after repairs , so wont need to.
deceptive, especially if you look at the 4th picky down

all the horrors cut out ready for new metal

first a piece to make up the base to the original pattern much the same as on the other side

then the joining plate as per original one

welded and spotted, its not 100% same construction method as the original was in 2 pieces, but its not an issue im too fussed with here

now an area that caused about an hour of grief was the removal of the gas charging point, these should be fitted through a panal and use a little non setting sealant on the underside of the outer part, then fit the rubber seal and clamp up , then its easy enough to remove, this had a 70mm hole bored in with a holesaw and the joddies were left on the inside
and then the seal fitted and the whole lot coated in what looks like tigerseal , FFS, how are you supposed to remove it for painting etc

when its refitted I will clean up the hole properly with the diegrinder, and assemble in the correct manner.
thats it for the day, simple enough to sort the rest of the bit out tommorow
mm