Part of the process is to incorporate seatbelt mounting points. A piece of steel tube is fitted between the upper and lower horizontal tubes and has a tapped piece of steel inserted inside it, for the upper mount.

It's important to place this point in the correct position, relative to the seats. There are guidelines available for this.

In my case, inertia lap/sash belts are used and the inertia unit is mounted behind the diagonal bracing. A picture of this area is below.

Tabs will be welded to the tubes to mount the garnish moulds.

At left is the frame behind the seats with the front mounting point for the sloping brace which runs to the rear of the trunk. This brace also carries a couple of brackets which pickup the mounting points for the fenders. They are painted a dark red colour here.

It is bolted at the front, only to simplify the fitting, as it's in an awkward place for me to weld. I fitted crush tubes in the tubing also.

At the rear, it has been cut at an angle to suit the floor frame, then welded to it. You can argue whether this brace is really necessary but I included it mainly to provide a more solid mounting for the fenders and reduce flexing..

Below, I made up lower mounting points for the seat belts. I used 1/4" thick flat steel on edge, welded to the floor frame and welded the seat belt nuts to it. This also carries a tab to pickup the front lower fender bolt. You can see one of the other fender mounts here a little clearer (dark red to right)

This is getting pretty close to the end of the steelout phase. I need to make up a frame for the rear window garnish mold mounts and also do a little work at the rear of the trunk to mount the trunk lid catch and to fabricate the rear trunk gutter. I have made the actual gutter, but need to work out the drain tubes for it and the exit points from the body. See "rear panels" on the Hotrod page.

One things for sure, there's a lot of steel in here!!