Did a little work on the core supports tonight. I decided to cut and weld in the 68 headlight section to the 71 support. Now this is something easy in theory so I put my skills to the test on it. I took measurements to every point on each support and found the differences of each. To my relief 99% of the measurements added up for an even swap. I drew out a plan for where I wanted to make my cuts and the measurements to each "corner" of the 68 bucket and where it needed to be on the 71. If all goes as planned this should work perfectly when it is installed. I hope
Heres what Ive done so far
Took measurements of the 68
Started taking apart the 71 and again taking measurements
Marked out where I needed to cut the 68 to make sure placing into the 71 support would not have any issues. Avoiding any rolls or bends makes the process a bit easier.
Here you can see the difference from the 68 to the 72
Checked all measurements and clamped the 68 over the 71 to make sure my lines where identical to the cut out. No picture but when I removed the 60 I double checks measurements to each cut corner.
Once the area has been cut out I used butt clamps to hold the 68 bucket to the 71 support. I made sure all areas were flush to each other and then took measurements again to each point as before I cut the 68 support to confirm fitment was close to exact.
As you start to tack thinner sheet metal make sure to take good breaks in between each tack. Here I tacked 4 corners then took a 10 minute break. Tacked 4 corners and another break. This point below is about an hour in.
Here is where I stopped tonight. I started this project around 6:30 and stopped around 9:10. This puts in perspective the amount of time needed for cooling between tacks. Hopefully I can have this side finished after work tomorrow and start the other side!
