1966 bus Lower bulkhead repair - how to slide the panel in?

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

So I need to repair the lower section of the bulkhead, but I'm wondering how best to slide the new panel in between the tophat and the bits under the cab. (There's the chassis leg sides, luckily the panel under the toolchest is toast so will need to come out anyway

Is it possible to do without removing the tophat?

Although, realistically, I do need to do some repairs on the tophat, and an entire new one is only £21:

https://www.autocrafteng.co.uk/shop/split-screen-v...-50-67_97/

[Ring-Free]

I would throw out the Tophat. The repair is so much easier and the result is better. You just have to work on the tophat a bit because of the pipes
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https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=779910

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[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

[Mr Margaret Scratcher]

Okay, I'm gradually hacking it out but it's not going as quickly as I'd like - a mixture of trying to cut across the top, drilling out / grinding the spotwelds along the seam between the top and bottom but it's slow awkward going, and I'm ending up with holes right the way through the lip on the bottom section that I really want to keep. I guess I could weld the tophat on from the underneath, but I really wanted to avoid that, as it's going to be 1000 times more awkward to do succcessfully...