1.20.21 SHINY METAL EQUALS FABRICATION TIME

After almost a week of working on them, the inner fenders are finally coming clean. 

Above is the underside devoid of undercoating, or any semblance of rust. Soon they'll be recovered in Eastwood rubberized undercoating on the underside side (shown) and Eastwood semi-gloss Chassis black on the engine compartment side. But first, the tops will get a coat or two of Eastwood chassis black primer.

I'll start prepping the radiator support next which will also be painted in semi-gloss Eastwood Chassis Black. 

I'm still weighing my options for what color to go with on the firewall. I'll either go with a satin black, or satin silver. Still considering my firewall options as we shave holes and smooth over factory welds. 

The trailer fenders have arrived and we're set to get the measuring and cutting done first. We're also going to mark off the cross-member for pancaking 1&3/8", which is on the conservative side as I've seen as much as 2" taken out of C10 cross-members. I'm hoping to avoid many geometry complications by going with a relatively conservative sectioning of the cross-member. 

I'm very tempted to move the cross-member forward an inch to center my front wheels. I'll also need to raise the steering box by the amount that we lower the cross-member. 

Doing so is standard operating procedure among the C10 community. So we'll make out marks, perform our cuts to the trailer fenders and cross-member, and hopefully be ready to weld the mini-tubs in place.

All told, this should lower the nose a 1&3/8", and give me three or so inches more suspension travel. 

With a little luck, we could be welding by the end of the weekend or at the very least ready to hit all our welding at one time. 

I've also got another batch of reinforcements coming from Eastwood (chassis black primer, and rubberized undercoating) so I can get the fresh fabbed metal into primer and paint as soon as possible minimizing any chance of picking up surface rust.