Before we can start working on a front bumper, we need to strengthen the front cross member/spring hanger/frame section. To complete this we will fabricate a support plate for the area and weld it into place. This will add the needed strength as well as tie everything together neatly.
We begin by cleaning the area in question up and taking down the high spots in the existing welds in order for the new plate to fit properly.
We then take the necessary measurements for widths and heights and also hole placement. Then lay those out onto our material. The material we went with is 3/16" mild steel.
Then we cut the plate into the rough shape with one of our plasma cutters.
Cleaned up the edges and punched the through holes for the bumper mounting hardware
Mounted the plate into position using the factory hardware for the bumper
And then fully welded the plate into position and cleaned up our welds
Hope to be able to start on the front bumper design and fabrication soon. The shop is still crazy busy and other projects seem to keep taking precedence. The owner also just added another couple things to the "must do" list for us this time around. More details soon :evil: