Need help with longhood rear centre panel fitment

[Iciclehead]

Hi guys, thought I would post this separately from my 6 speed into a Carrera thread.

I am sort of stuck. I have been fiddling with the rear bumpers, modifying them to be the RS style and match the Carrera flares, sectioning them as the ones provided were from a short wheelbase car and generally dealing with a whole lot of misery.

Anyway, got most of it done, figured I was on the home stretch, but when I went to fit the centre panel (the one between the bumperettes), there was zero match as per the picture below. In theory, the parts that the arrows are pointing at are supposed to match curve-wise with a little bitty seal in between...

As you can see, mine don't



Is the centre panel supposed to be trimmed to match the rear crossmember curve? It isn't a big deal to do it, but I am supposing that I need to trim the arrowed part....but how close do I cut it? Does the seal need 1/8 inch? 1/4 inch or ??



I think the panel is a reproduction that I sourced out of Europe, but it may be genuine Porsche......do all of them need to be custom trimmed?

Also in terms of seals, anyone have pictures how the two seals (the one that seals the centre panel to the crossmember and the one that seals the rear deck lid to the chassis) fit on and align?

Thanks!

Dennis

[pksystems]

I have a LWB rear I'll eventually be using on my car. The sides are really rough (in four pieces), but the center panel looks pretty good. I can snap some pics, or lend it to you if you want to compare.

Just took a look. I'll put up some pictures later. The top is curved matching the gasket flange on mine.

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by pksystems

I have a LWB rear I'll eventually be using on my car. The sides are really rough (in four pieces), but the center panel looks pretty good. I can snap some pics, or lend it to you if you want to compare.

Just took a look. I'll put up some pictures later. The top is curved matching the gasket flange on mine.

Hey, thanks! The pictures would be great....but even just saying that the top is curved is enough for me to do a trim....

I was able to find one picture showing the finished set up, one while it is not totally clear, it seems to show a curve matching the flange as per your comment.



Thanks a bunch!

Dennis

[pksystems]

There is a bend downward on the rear section of the curve to make it stronger.

[Iciclehead]

Excellent...that is what I was thinking they had done. The bend downward you mentioned makes really good sense as that matches the groove in the rear seal (which is "L" shaped) both for stiffening the panel and providing better retention for the rubber. I'll use the depth of the groove in the rubber as a guide for how much tin to leave there....

My nibbler and I will get to work today or tomorrow and I will post the final result....

Thanks so much for your help... where are you at in your project? Let me know if you need anything, who knows, I may well have a spare somewhere in my parts collection...

Dennis