After the hell hole repair, I have the engine shelf to repair/replace. Question for those of you who have done this before, I’m trying to decide on splicing in a short repair section or trying to extract the remaining original panel and install the whole new RD panel. The latter being the most work.

Not a special car in terms of rarity, options, or other. Been doing lots of rust repair. Just not sure how to tackle it yet.

Thanks

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Look forward to hearing your feedback.

Done it both ways.
Actually there are 3 ways... Complete R&R.
Patch it & replace the seal rail whole and,
Patch it & try to splice the seal rail as well.

Since most of the shelfs now come with rail attached I tend to R&R complete.

I typically splice it right at the rear of the suspension ear but not the channel, I replace that fully.

And after all your previous work...

I spliced a section of shelf, about where yours is cut off.

Kind of what I was thinking to do. But how do you find the spot welds in the old channel to get it removed?

I use a small wire wheel on a drill to expose what I can.

Just to be clear…
You don’t just replace the channel for rubber. Go to restoration design and you’ll see a picture of the whole engine shelf with the channel already attached.

On mine I replaced almost all of it… but made a cut near the rear and butt welded that back part.

Not sure if this clears it up. Also… restoration design has a video about installing the shelf.

I appreciate the explanation. Yes, I already have RD part in hand. It’s so well made which is why I was thinking of attempting to do the whole part.

However, splicing in the forward portion where the engine shelf is the most narrow seems like a good alternative to tearing into the rear portion where it is solid and in good shape…and has paint.

Again, I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks