Deeper into the Sill Abyss

To paraphrase the character Jim Lahey from the TV Series "The Trailer Park Boys":

"He who looks into the abyss realizes that there's nothing looking back at him. The only thing he sees is his own character... You understand bud? The abyss? The sill-abyss?"

My journey into the sill abyss continues. In the last week I have only been able to grab a few hours here and there to continue the tear-down. Removal of the castle rail proved more troublesome than I had anticipated because I am saving the floor pans and trying to save the cross member. Cutting out around the jack point took a lot of time and I still managed to bodge the connection tabs on the cross member. Now I must either fabricate new connection points or replace half of the cross member. I don't want to drill out the floor pans all the way to the center, so I will first attempt to fab the connection points. If that does not work I will give in and order the half cross member. Its only $6.95, but where is the satisfication in buying something you can build yourself?

Great news! The condition of the inner sill was much better than expected and can be left in place. Not removing the inner sill increases the chance that the body will stay in alignment and means a lot less work. There is some surface rust on the inner sill near the front but nothing of structural concern.

There is some rust at the front where the castle rail met the wheel well. This will be cut out and replaced with new metal. The tricky bit will be forming the bend from the wheel well underneath to the connection point between the castle rail and inner sill. This will be accomplished without a metal brake and should be an interesting challenge.

Until next week....