I got more pictures loaded, dial-up.........
When I mentioned starting with a new piece, you can see why. I had to add material to get the coverage I needed which added to the welding and grinding.
All in all, I'm happy with how it's coming along.
Welding sheet metal can be an ugly chore, but it must be done.
After some of the grinding.
Another picture of a different angle of the back end.
As for the mounting strips, this is one of the 3/4" tubes I cut and used them as mounting hardware for the filler panel. It needs to be cleaned up, but this should show how it works. I just had to drill holes to match the screws in this mounting spear.
A view from below. I also noticed once mounted, the panel was not stable on the bottom so I made a support to hold it steady. One thing I've learned over the years is the problem of fatigue, anything that is allowed to vibrate will sooner or later start to fracture welds.
Looking into the bed channel, you can see the screws from the mounting spear coming through.
