Getting the nose panel onto the truck initially took three people. The boy and I holding an end each, and Mrs B putting in enough bolts to stop it from amputating my toes when we let go.
Once in place, I saw that the driver side foot well didn't fit right. The bit nearest the engine cover would NOT go in as far as the pedal plate required it to be. Despite some careful whacks with first a rubber mallet, then a ball pein hammer, and finally a large and loud outburst of swearing, it STILL WOULD NOT GO IN. By now I had caused some damage. Rubber burns from the mallet, and lots of paint removed by the hammer.
The swearing was getting out of hand (so my wife said. I thought it was just right amount), so I switched from english to Italian, Estonian & German. I don't actually speak any of these fluently (effluently
), but I know sufficient curse words in foreign language to get my head punched in, all around the globe!
Then I had an epiphany. I drilled a hole through the offending parts, and pulled them together with the tightening of the bolt. Propper job! What a shame this didn't occur to me prior to buggering the paint to extent that it will need to be sanded and repainted!
By this time of the afternoon, I had re-offended my shoulder to the extent that it would only communicate with me in sharp bursts of morse code, and crouching down to tighten the inner bolts was a fairly painful and unrewarding experience.
More to come...nearly done!