Ok... so I cut out the rear crossmember/fuel tank hanger, and removed the rear bumper. I added a 3x3 .120 wall rear crossmember across the back of the two frame rail stubs. pictures will follow later today.
Man, I gotta say, the rear bumper assembly is HEAVY.,,lol a one person job removing that beast is not fun...
Today I will continue with cutting out all the other stuff I don't need under the floor, and final trim on the hole before mounting the new tank mount flange. I had the flanges tabbed up in 16 gauge so they are pretty tough, and the rear floor appears to be heavy gauge as well so being a full perimeter mount should be really strong.
I probably didn't need the added rear crossmember, since the primary function of the old one was to support the fuel tank, but the rear crossmember will tie the frame together nicely at the back, and reinforce the rear spring hangers at the same time, and I like to over engineer everything anyway.
I am considering boxing the rear frame stubs also, we will see once I get a better look.I am also going to reinforce the upper leaf spring mounts as they look cheezy (sub-standard) to me.
My goal is to get the fuel tank at least dropped in today. The battery box/mount fabrication will complete the rear hatch floor mods.
Oh yeah, all that "red" coloured stuff in the trunk pictures is not rust..this car is rust free..It is some kind of spray glue and insulation remnants.The strip of orange was some kind of tape. the other stuff in rear pictures is dirt. It will look better once I clean it up.
After the hatch floor is handled next comes the frame connectors installation.. which as I think about it ...will probably have to be done in combination with the trans mount set up and roll bar mounting. Since I don't have a roll bar, I better take a look at what is out there or have one made I guess.
So far i am still planning to use the factory rear seat, although if that proves impossible it won't be a big deal, as I probably would never put anyone back there anyhow..