Chassis Construction begins

This build has been published in the New Zealand Hot Rod Magazine but I took so many photos of when I rebuilt the car into Project 29 as it is known. This text is taken straight from the magazine:

"This month we look at the design of the centre crossmembers, boxing the chassis and mounting the driveline. How many cars have you built or seen that are not maintenance or user friendly? As you look at your bare perimeter chassis, now is the time to look at various ways of mounting your hardware in a way that is user friendly in final assembly stage and for future maintenance.
Questions need to be asked and in some cases a list followed by a diagram of the componentry you intend to use. Some things to consider are the mounting of brake lines, hand brake fitment, exhaust system routing and how this affects the design of the centre crossmember. We were looking at the following things when it came to our design; rear wishbone mounting points, removable gearbox mounting point, brake master cylinder mounting to ensure hassle-free final assembly as well as sufficient clearance around the gearbox and pedal area.
We established where the engine and gearbox were to fit and mocked that up along with the rear end and rear wishbones. This gave us the basic parts layout within the confines of the chassis so we could start to work out where the centre crossmember could run. We were somewhat restricted by the chassis kick -up and the leading edge of the front cowl. Therefore the centre crossmember mounts within these points of the chassis rails and is of an “X” design. Manufactured from 4”x2” channel with oval holes for form and function, the crossmember also mounts the master cylinder, gearbox mount and rear radius rods.
As we decided to box the chassis rails in a step box style as per SO CAL Speed Shop we also had to notch the centre crossmember to sit in tight against the boxing plates. However, planning ahead we cut half-circles into the crossmember at the point of intersection with the boxing plates to allow the brake lines to be fixed along the boxing plates. If you don’t have a right-angle drill it’s best to drill and tap the chassis for the brake line mounts BEFORE you weld in the centre crossmember.
The boxing plates were cut by tracing the shape of the chassis rails onto 1/8” steel plate and cut out on a band saw. We then measured in 3/8” and tacked the boxing plates in before final welding. Engine mounts were cut down from Rocket mounts available from Rocket Speed Equipment. Things were starting to take shape and look more like a car."