Front Strap Panel

Front what panel? It's this one, XKC2976:

The bottom 3 inches or so had rotted, so some time ago I bought a new one from Rimmer Bros. The only problem was, it was a completely different shape and size to the one on my car.

It would appear that early cars used a different cross member and strap panel to the later cars, with a replacement only being available for the latter. After trawling the net and speaking with specialists, I concluded that a new strap panel for my early TR7 is impossible to source. So, I would just have to repair mine.

After drilling out the spot welds that secure it to the cross member, I removed it and cut off the rotten part. A new section was then fashioned out of some scrap steel I had in the garage and welded in:

New section (left) welded in.

I then ground down the welds and took the whole panel back to bare metal. For some reason it hasn't half been bashed around in the past and I can't imagine it was this shapeless when new? The centre ribbing has all sorts of dents and dinks.

Panel stripped of underseal and paint. Look at the dents!

When I was reasonably happy with the overall state of the thing, I painted it in zinc-rich primer. Again, the photos make it look worse than it actually is, although I have considered filling some of the dings. But somehow this seems a bit "O.C.D." as it won't really be seen, plus those dents are war wounds and a bit of me would like not to iron out ALL of Bessy's past.

The Rimmer Bros replacement panel alongside "my" refurbished panel.

If anyone would like a new, unused XKC2976 front strap panel for their late TR7, let me know.