[Tuske427]

Since I'm temporarily on hold for the upper 4 link brackets this weekend I thought I might install the panhard bar cover. I started by removing some of the old trunk floor. That revealed more rust that the chemical dipping didn't catch. Upon more inspection I figured I should split the triangular shaped pocket of metal that I'll otherwise probably never be able to access. Now is the time to get in there and paint it with some rust encapsulator paint. As I split it open I'm glad I made this choice. It's rather crusty in there.

After cleaning it out as best I could and letting it sit overnight with some rust dissolver today I painted it and welded it back shut. After that I measured the location of the panhard cover and placed it. Now, the instructions call out to make a bracket to cover the driver side gap between the frame rail and the cover. they don't supply a bracket here. I thought it would be better to make as much reinforcement with this bracket as possible, so I made a long one that ties into the frame rail and can be plug welded on the side of the rail.

Below are pics of this.

After completion of this part, I had my neighbor weld it as my welder isn't powerful enough to weld these parts together. It fits like a glove. I haven't welded it to the car yet as I want to make sure the passenger side fits properly, too. I'm not happy with how the panhard bracket itself currently fits. It doesn't fit like the instructions state it should. It'll require more trimming, but that will have to wait for another weekend.