Now for the exciting stuff!

First thing to do is mark everything up and then double check it before going wild with the tin snips. I started with the rear quarter by making a card template by drawing around the wheel arch. Then I extended that curve out 1", this would be my lower cut. I then moved the template up 65mm which was the amount I have decided to remove and marked my second cut. As you'll see the curves taper of at the sides but will meet perfectly later on. 65mm was then marked along to the door pillar.

Next major area of concern is the inner arches and bulkhead. I've jumped ahead here as I forgot to take a pictures of my markings but it's clear to see where the metal has been removed. There's a vertical cut between the two sections removed to allow everything to drop once the cuts are done.

As far as the bulkhead goes I've just made one cut at the bottom just below the hole for the instrument cluster. I've also drilled out the spot welds that hold the diagonal corners to the inner wing.

A single cut across the rear seat is all that is required. Once the body is dropped I'll over lap these panels which I hope will add a bit of stiffness back to the shell.

Bellow is the rear panel treatment. I'm cutting above the raised light mount about 20mm out. As this panel is loose after the boot repair I can remove it until after the body is lowered then fit it up for accurate marking of where metal come out the back panel. My idea here is to keep the lamp cluster an equal distance from the bumper as standard. Some sprints I've seen have the metal taken out below the lights which I don't like the look of so much.

One careful bit of chopping later and the shell is in two pieces.

I used an ordinary electric jigsaw with a metal cutting blade purchased for NZ$14. Who says you need flash tools? A few bits were tackled with a hacksaw. The only bit that saw some angle grinder action was the single cut across the bulkhead. In all the cutting only took about 2 hours from start to finish.

Another shot of the car in two pieces.

In this shot the two sections are now back together. The fit along the side is great with only a little persuasion required to get the panels lined up.

The two areas that need addressing are the lower rail of the front parcel shelf and the rear bins.

Because the upper part of the body tapers I had to trim about 20mm off each end of the parcel shelf rail and then slightly reshape the edge of the rear bin that meets the door pillar. It's all fairly obvious when you get to this stage.

Here are the A and B pillars side by side to show how it all lines up.

The shot to the left is the A pillar. Due to the large taper in this area it was necessary to make a vertical slit as you can see. This allows the outer edges to line up. I'll just need to make a small filler strip to bridge this area. In contrast the B pillar lines up a treat. Just a few small taps with a hammer and dolly then everything is in place.

The bulkhead was trimmed and welded at the bottom. This area took the most time to sort out as it was the only bit I hadn't got a definite plan for. In the end I just trimmed the excess off the bottom with some tin snips, angled the loosened panel into position and welded it in place. Once it's all cleaned up I think it'll look fine.

The bonnet hinges should still be in about the right place so no problems there is I choose to still use them.

The only other thing I had to here was make a small dent in the bulkhead to clear the clutch master which was fouling slightly.

The inner wings didn't present any major problem.

Everything dropped down into place and lined up nicely after a bit of persuasion with a heft rubber mallet. There is still a small gap in this shot which was held together for welding. By starting at one end of the upper cut and working along adding small tack welds it was easy to pull everything into shape.

I'll tackle the rust in the A pillar which looks lot worse than it is later. No point in hacking through lovely repairs to do the body drop is there?

Finally the back panel.

As mentioned earlier I removed the lower section that included the light surround. To refit I clamped it back in position. Don't forget I haven't taken any metal out of the back panel so now there's an overlap. By clamping the light surround in place I was able to accurately draw around and then cut out the excess metal.

In this shot the excess metal has been removed and I'm in the process of pulling all the joint together for tacking.

I think this will definitely give me the result I was looking for.

A few final shots from various angles to see how it all looks. I've clamped a few panels in place to get a better idea of perspective. On thing I do know is that its LOW!

The more observant will also notice that the roof has been done in the two top shots. This will be covered in a separate section.