Quiz of the day - Rear Valance redux

[nthomas1]

I'm trying to work out where to cut away the lower rear valance on my S2 Coupe in readiness for fitting the new valance that I have acquired.  I'd like to do as much prep work as I can before having the car trailered to the bodyshop (when I find one) for welding. Also, removal of the old valance will give me access to hard to reach places which I can work on (de-rust!) before the welding takes place.

The decision would seem to depend on the method by which the new valance will be welded in place.  With my zero knowledge of bodywork and welding I can think of 4 possible ways that a new valance could be welded in place.  I've sketched these out (rather crudely I'm afraid) in the picture below.  Can anybody advise which would be the best approach?  Is there a "normal" way that this is done, or do different bodyshops take different approaches?

As always, any advice would be extremely welcome.   

[nistri]

The overlap (swaged weld) should be the best, Andrea

[Scott]

Hi Norm

Seems like things are coming along nicely.
I'd definitely agree with Andrea and say the overlap method is the best. This has served me well on some of my Fulvia's restoration.
Also it will give you the 'excuse' to buy a joggler tool (assuming you don't already have one). These are great!

Regards,
Scott.

[nthomas1]

Thanks Andrea and Scott.  I’ll research joggling.  Whilst I'd love the excuse to buy a joggling tool, I’m guessing that the process will be best left to the bodyshop, though your advocacy of the overlap approach tells me that I should cut away the old valance leaving a gap at least two inches narrower than the new rear valance to allow the overlaps to be “joggled” in the old metal.

There's something that's worrying me a bit: bearing in mind that the car will have to be pushed about 120 yards to the road before loading onto a trailer to be taken for welding, is it possible that structural integrity will be compromised if I cut away part of the valance as well as the rear panel?   I wouldn’t want the back end of the car to distort.  The big advantage of cutting the panels away myself is that I’ll be able to inspect and work on the adjacent surfaces before the welding takes place.

[frankxhv773t]

I was having similar thoughts about structural integrity. The usual approach is to weld braces in before cutting the panels out but of course you haven't got welding on hand. If you find the right body shop might they get things cut out then let you do any behind the scenes work you want to do before reconstruction starts?