Thanks Aggie. I ended up going with .83 1x2 for the structure. Picked up the material today and I hope to get started tomorrow evening.
In the meantime, I've got a couple other irons in the fire on the big push for the largest local show of the year coming up on August 6. I started on the center console last Sunday and I think it's about halfway there. No pics for that yet, but I'm hoping to get it dropped in over the coming weekend.
I also had the pleasure of spending some time working with a well seasoned sheet metal wizard and hot rod builder to get all of my engine bay covers/inner fenders sorted. We got about halfway through it in the off hours this week. Plan is to finalize it by the end of next week.
Oh, and I tried to redo some of the connections at the compressor with yellow Teflon tape since the ptfe paste totally failed from what appears to be heat and oil seepage. Now it leaks worse than before. I'm currently searching for a thread sealant that will hold up to high heat, oil and 200psi. Suggestions?