it's great to hear from you as well philipat

the hull strengthening was achieved using some ally angle from a local D.I.Y store
i used 20mm dia angle and used the spring fixing points (as you have) to secure the angle then bolted together
a couple of pop rivets on the front angle plate and your good

i made plast-card strips to cover the hole left by the battery box removal and loads of filler

some more piccies