I was still in two minds about the tank support rails. My initial feeling was that they were fairly crispy and that heavy pitting (from both inside and out) had thinned them.
However, upon blasting, it turned out that my assumption only turned out to be partially true. It seems that these sections were made from a slightly lighter gauge steel, which would explain why they felt relatively light. Fortunately, the rot was not too extensive, so rather than replacing with new items I figured I would save them. Afterall, the more original steel that stays in the car, the happier I feel:
Marked up the worst sections:
Cut out the bad:
made up a patch from fresh steel:
Clamped, welded and dressed:
I am not sure how I want to proceed with the forward section that curves downwards. It is actually a bit more complicated than it appears in photos because the planes sit at various angles rather than conveniently flat. I may end up using a section out of the Mexi tank rail and graft it in rather than trying to form it from scratch. I need a little thinking time, so will come back to it.
Right, time to have a look at the other side...
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