In the week i will be refitting the front fibreglass panels,

while most of the holes can easily be drilled from the otherside of the panel using the existing holes in frame work (from inside the cab, reaching under the panel in place)

Does anyone have any tip on how to make sure the rest of the holes i'm going to drill in the fibreglass line up with the existing holes in the frame/bodywork. Id rather not drill in Fresh locations and make swiss cheese of the metelwork.

i still have the old panels if cutting them up for templates is a good idea?
Although i have worked with fibreglass a lot with work, i never replaced fibreglass on something that has been replaced a lot before. Only really worked on new builds where i can drill as i please



Any suggestions much appreciated

My bus number (if any): RMF2771 (also known as RCN701)

I try to avoid bodywork like the plague so this is probably all wrong, but it's my opinion.

These vehicles have had so many front end bumps during their lives that it's going to be a pain. The n/s wing, the bonnet and the 'grille frame' on the vehicle (seen in your top left picture), are most likely all going to need quite major attention to get square and vertical.

Trial fit everything first because the panel fits are going to stick out like a sore thumb (and I've got a very sore one at the moment!). There should be a nice even curve with an even gap at the top of the grille and the same between the bonnet and the n/s wing and a straight parallel line between the wing and the front bulkhead.

I would start by fitting the bonnet and the grille, when you will probably find that the bonnet is too high on the n/s, doesn't follow the cab wall and the grille droops to the n/s and the bonnet latch tongue gets too close to or fouls the top hose (esp Cummins). The n/s wing to front bulkhead alignment will no doubt be awry as well.

If you then tape the nosepeak and headlight panels in place, you will then probably find that the grille to panel fit is not parallel either.

The repro grille panel will protrude a fair amount forward.

Once you reckon that it's all OK fit the headlights and check that you can get them adjusted properly before final panel fixing.

Over to Brian for how to go about sorting it out. He will also know how to mark your new panels to line up fixings.

Well, simply you should not remove any of the old panels without making a datum point for each and also noting what is out of line and where, so you know where remedial work is needed before refitting any panels.
New panels won't fit any better is the superstructure is out of line.

As mentioned, do a dummy fit beforehand, using long rivets as pins/locators and / or self tappers.

Sort out your datum points and go from there.

There are two ways of doing a template. Don't cut up old panels unless they are shot to pieces and completely unreusable.

Use light card ie cornflakes box and cut templates. Then you can take all the holes and punch them into the card making sure you know where the datum points are and that they match.

It's failsafe so everything should fit in the correct place.

Also when drilling into GRP place the section on to a block of wood and deburr both sides of the hole.

You might also find a very slight ( not full ) countersinking will make for a more fluid fit.