Chassis work continues. Considerably more time spent on this, than I had originally intended, I must admit. I keep finding things to do you see. There is always another rivet, previously bround down, that has to be removed. There is always another place where some kind of bracket/s have been welded (mostly very badly) to secure god knows what. Numerous bits of weld, not desired. Getting all these places back to some semblence of normality is turning into a trilogy in four parts, but i'm nearly done now.
The passenger side rear rail has been returned to its proper profile, but I have not attempted to trim the edges down at this stage, because I am hoping to remove a small length aft of where the new rail and pintle brackets will go. There is a significant crack in this location which will disappear if I cut off the last 10-11 inches of each rail. I wager this crack was why the sides were plated in past.
This little crack will need repair regardless. It will not be in the area to be removed. Will leave this job for a professional because they will also need to bring the top part of the rail back to level. It has seen some dreadful treatment in the past? You can see the remains of the vertical plate which has been cut off today, jutting out from the rail.
Cont'd...