Having been away from the garage again for another few months, I finally managed to find the time to continue putting the van back together. With all the old cargo floor cross supports cut out of the way, I just needed to grind away the remaining metal from the front cross member I left spot welded to the lower part of the forward bulkhead. This took all day to carefully grind the spots off the thicker steel of the cross member without damaging or ripping the thinner front bulkhead lower skin. Getting a bit impatient I did chisel a couple off, making holes I'd need to tidy up later.
With all the chassis cross members and transverse chassis rails removed I then ground away all the welds on the heater, clutch and accelerator cable tubes where they had been attached to the cross rails, then cleared the rust from where the new rails are going to sit.
Starting with the I beams or "transfer chassis rails", I paired up the C shaped sections I'd bent earlier from 2mm sheet steel, I then folded the ends using a block and mallet to fit correctly between the sills, clamped together I then trial fitted them onto the chassis using the earlier markings, making sure the tops were flat, square and level for where the floor would sit.
With the chassis rails all lined up I then seam welded in a few places along the top and bottom. They are now ready to mark out and drill to fit the hand brake cable and gear shift tubes, before final assembly to the chassis.
Having been away from the garage again for another few months, I finally managed to find the time to continue putting the van back together. With all the old cargo floor cross supports cut out of the way, I just needed to grind away the remaining metal from the front cross member I left spot welded to the lower part of the forward bulkhead. This took all day to carefully grind the spots off the thicker steel of the cross member without damaging or ripping the thinner front bulkhead lower skin. Getting a bit impatient I did chisel a couple off, making holes I'd need to tidy up later.
With all the chassis cross members and transverse chassis rails removed I then ground away all the welds on the heater, clutch and accelerator cable tubes where they had been attached to the cross rails, then cleared the rust from where the new rails are going to sit. 
Starting with the I beams or "transfer chassis rails", I paired up the C shaped sections I'd bent earlier from 2mm sheet steel, I then folded the ends using a block and mallet to fit correctly between the sills, clamped together I then trial fitted them onto the chassis using the earlier markings, making sure the tops were flat, square and level for where the floor would sit. 
With the chassis rails all lined up I then seam welded in a few places along the top and bottom. They are now ready to mark out and drill to fit the hand brake cable and gear shift tubes, before final assembly to the chassis.
