The BAD AST Project - Faze II

[astroracer]

Wait. Give me a couple of days. I will try to get my CAD file updated and that will give you something current to work with. It also gives me a reason to git 'r done...
Mark

[astroracer]

I've got some updated styling pics I will post tomorrow.
The real news is; I started working on the actual van last night!
I started pulling the interior out. All of the rear side panels and carpet (yuck!) are in a pile waiting to get hauled out to the road. The headliner is a three piece unit so all I had to yank was the back piece. I will strip all of the material off that and save the cardboard just in case.
I will get some pictures tonight. I'll be laying out the cut lines to remove the inner wheel houses and floor which shouldn't take too long with the plasma cutter. I am planning to take the wheel houses out in one piece which will leave me the option of cutting them up to build the new inner wells. I won't make this decision until I can get the tires in place to see what kind of room they take up in jounce. I may end up building them from sheet steel but I like the look of a stock steel wheel house so I will do my best to keep them in the van.
The rear axle will have to come out before I can get the tires in for mock-up so the plan for this weekend is to yank that, finalize the cutting/trimming and get started on the new rear frame... The design for that has been done for a year and a half so it's good to go.
I think I will start designing a body cart also. The van can sit outside on stands for a month or so but, once it gets cold, it will have to come inside to work on it...
Mark