Repairing the Front Valance
During the strip down and repair of the wings we realised that the front valance was badly corroded at each end where it joins the wings and also around the lip of the headlamp bowl. All familiar places for Ford Capri's to rust! Dennis thought it was so bad that he asked me to try and get a “new” one. So I phoned John Hill at the Capri Club who told me that a brand new one was a thousand pounds or he had serviceable second hand ones for £250.00 He did warn me that one persons idea of “serviceable” may be different to someone else's so I duly ordered one.
When it arrived (with some other bits) we were a little disappointed to see the condition of it. It was basically in one piece, but heavily rusted and the metal was very thin in places as a result. In fact we soon agreed that my original one was actually in better condition. Dennis would just have to repair the missing / corroded metal from the ends. John and Sally were fine about this and I was allowed to return the unwanted valance for a full refund.
Repairing the ends requires a a lot of metal fabrication so is not for the faint hearted. There are three fixing holes that need fabricating as well as lipped metal forming around the vent holes. Dennis didn’t seem to think it was a big deal and after several days I want to take a look. The results were amazing and nobody will ever know where the join was. See for yourself…
Photo showing just how bad the damage to the front valance actually was. Both sides were as bad as each other
New repair section fabricated and tack welded into position
View from inside the wheel arch showing the detail of the fabricated part to include the bolt eyes
Equal amounts of surgery were required on the nearside of the valance as well
Another job crossed off the long list as the front end of the car is now complete.
Finally both sides of the valance were as good as new again. The central section was in good condition.
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