Well we got quite a bit done on the rpu. The doors are now hung and bolted on, so it was time to start channeling it. I gave it lots of though as to how I wanted to do it. I came up with a pretty clean solution I think. Instead of trying to butcher up the stock subrails and raise the floor, I decided to build my own subrails. I figured out the angle that the door posts are, and had some 1/8" steel bent to that angle to form the outer subrail. Here's a pic of a scrap to show what the bent up channel looks like: My frame is 4.5" high, and I am running 1" tall cross braces, so the channel had to total 5.5". The channel is bent to 5.5"x 2". Then we piecut the channel once at the front door jam, and once at the rear door jam to bend the channel to follow the shape of the car here's a comparison of the stock subrail to the new one: The stock subrail extension is trimmed like so to slip the new subrail in place: The new subrail now welds full to the firewall & front edge of the subrail extension, and again to the door post. It is now super strong. With both subrails welded in, we tacked up some temporary crossmembers, and clamped these to the subrails so that we could mock it up on the frame : The new subrails will also end up tying into the firewall with some welded on tabs, so it will all be really strong. And I finally get to see what it will kind of look like mocked up finally-I like it!! Next I can get the real crossmembers fabbed & welded in, then fit the rear body panels, and have a body. I am really excited with the progress. I hope you enjoy, thanks for looking Dan
The Jalopy Journal
