With the engine installed in the frame and tested I turned my attention back to the tub for the remainder of 2013. The tub and the body panels had all received the major structural repairs by this time but I still had some clean up to do under the rear of the tub and there was some work ahead to get all of the body panels aligned.

This was the last of the surface rust under the boot and spare tire cubby area.

To check panel fit and alignment I re-installed the tub on the frame with new body pads and bolted it down as if this was the final fitting. The tub is very flexible and this step is very important as a different pad arrangement would yield different gaps. The tub will be coming back off soon to start the painting process so it will be necessary to maintain the pad configuration from this point.

The tub reinstall was uneventful using the engine crane and home made boom

With the tub back on the frame I was able to move the dolly outside and have a bit more space to work and move around the garage. In fact this was the last time that the tub would ever be on that dolly as we went from this stage to painting after which the tub went back on the frame.

We were still a long way from paint however and with the tub now bolted down in what would be its final configuration it was time to attend to the many body gap issues like this door to scuttle alignment.

Coming up next, a few months of panel fettling, tub shimming and body solder to improve the fit and finish and continue dealing with dents and issues with the panel surfaces