The next panel that needed to be made was the bottom front chipguard panel (I can't remember what this is called, scuttle panel?) that protects the engine from water, stones etc. As you can see below the original panel was in a very bad way.
I used the same material as in my earlier post, and as before cut the panel to size, then added the features. As on the original panel, I added the bulge at the bottom to accommodate the fan belt, and flanged the sides to be able to secure it to the car. I also added the radiator drain hole to this, in a similar style to the original. For all of this, I was lucky enough to have use of a plasma cutter, which definitely helped a ton with the cutting.
The panel fits as so:
Again, I’m really happy with this panel. This also helped bring the lower valence panel back in line, as over time it had bent and twisted all over the place.
I was initially a bit apprehensive about omitting the structural channels in the panels, but having done it I must say they look a lot nicer without them.