Popped the trunk lid all the way open to see if the upper rad mounting brackets had been stashed in there; they weren't but I did find the other side panel to the air induction duct for the radiator. I had drilled out the rivets, probably before Covid, because the first trial fit of the front end parts exposed me to the fact that the front end had been shunted at some time by a previous owner. Most of the misalignment was tweakable but the duct had taken the brunt of the push and the one end panel was badly deformed. Drilling the rivets was the easiest way to abstract it from the assembly so it could be hammered and heat shrunk back into some semblance of originality. At this point it is about as straight as I need it to be. I could go at it for another eight or so hours in OCD mode just to chase some of most minimal of the dimples and beat on them but the overriding priority here is that this is an assembly that, once installed and with the nose covering it, will never be seen again. Most of what has been accomplished by means of hammer and heat is just to get the panel to properly line up with the mounting tabs on the rad cradle. if the duct now goes into position and sits as it ought with only a minor amount of "persuasion" to encourage it to be where it has to be, well, that works for me.
Next item on its to do list is for it to receive a replacement coat of flat black Krylon Anti-Rust. Again, not about pretty, about preservation.
Nick
