[daveshilling]

Spending bits of time here and there to get Lucky ready for the Flatout Engineering C4 IFS Crossmember.

After hours of wire brushing, rivet removal, grinding, etc., I was finally able to trim down the frame to accept the boxing plates. The bottom of the frame flares out to accept the stock crossmember, but it needs to be flush to accept the crossmember.

First I positioned the boxing plate to determine where it will sit to be 90 degrees from the top of the frame.

Next I used scotch tape to lay out a straight line that has a high contrast. Pulling the tape tight ensures I get a clean line to cut on.

Then I used a cut off wheel to remove the extra. I started by making a shallow score along the line, since less cutting meant more control. I could then go over this shallow cut with multiple passes, creating a nice groove for the wheel to follow. Once it was deep enough, I could run the wheel straight through the groove and cut off the piece. I don't own a plasma cutter so I'll have to keep making messes with the cutoff wheel.

Question for anyone who has done this IFS before... should I notch the boxing plate and frame to accept the steering rack notch before or after I marry the plate to the frame? Without a plasma cutter it seems like it would be a huge hassle once its on the truck.