Modest progress to report. The pic below shows the frame supported by jigs. The front bulkhead and main roll hoop are about 90% welded. Tough to weld those tight V's between tubes. Still need to trim and fishmouth the upper rail ends and drill/weld the tab mounting sleeves in the front bulkhead. Once that is done and the dash hoop fishmouthed and fitted, I'll start tacking it all together along with the mid and rear cross-members. That will be a major milestone! Early in the build but still a milestone.
On the "Oops" side of the coin, my "billiard-table flat" build table has developed a little upwards bow!
Must have been the humidity from our really rainy January/February. I think the 3/4" MDF top "grew" a tiny bit and the 1/2" ply bottom didn't. Steel studs, glue and screws notwithstanding, the table now has a little longitudinal pucker. Lesson: Make the top and bottom of the build table out of the same material so any material growth is equal! Another way to say it is "Neutralize that pucker."
Fortunately, Car9's lower rails are one piece, so using an 8' level along with a digitial level that reads to tenths of a degree and a little shimming of the rails and I'm square with the world again. Well, at least the rails are...
Another lesson learned is to improve one's welding skills
before starting the project. Time taken practicing or correcting welding is time not building.
But hey, some progress is progress!