New side panels and rib detail

I hung new 16ga side panels, and today I had a little time to rehang the side hat channel and add a little 3/8" flatbar detail to the side. I put ran the flatbar through my bender and brought it around the back body curve onto the back panel. I will be doing a logo on the back and this detail will be the accent color that ties it all in. I like the look of it going around over the original side detail that stopped onnthe side just before the curve.

 

Outer panel replacement

 I was originally planning on just banging out all the dents and replacing rusted areas, but there aren't that complex of panels on this thing and I'm not that concerned in keeping everything too original. I'm going for a "mini semi-truck" look in my Metro Mite. I started by pulling the back panels and sent some new 16ga steel through the roller to match the curves in the back panels. I also dropped the body 2" at this point and used the old rear wheel arches(dropped those also, when welding them back in to the new panels.)

Ended up extending the frame with 2"x4" 0.125 wall tubing from the front frame clip to just before the rear differential. This will give me a good solid frame rail to mount the triangulated 4 link and rear suspension.

Made a transmission cross member for the 4L60 automatic trans I plan to run in the KandyVan. Made it to hook over the original front box frame that was in the Metro, and I was putting it in I made the decision to not just box the C channel frame that goes from this point back but to run 2"x4" 0.125 wall tubing from the front frame back.

New Stance

I mounted the front clip as high as I could to get the frontend down. Can't go too high or the motor won't fit under the dog house. So from this point I will probably order a set of 2" drop spindles. That is the beauty of having an S10 frontend now, there are plenty of aftermarket parts.

S10 frontend swap

The Metro Mite is what they considered to be Unibody. There are 2 thin straight "C" channel frame rails that run the distance of the truck and they are welded to the floor to give them strength. Right about at the front steps there is a heavier "sub frame" setup that bolts in. I removed that subframe and cut the S10 frame at the closest distance to fitting inside the Metro frame. After clearing everything out I mocked up the S10 front clip where I need it. I will go back later and weld in 4" square heavy rails to tie the front clip to the rear frame. Then I will box the C channel frame from there back for added strength.

S10 Rearend swap

Today I picked up a super clean 1987 S10 frame from Rockford, IL. Shortly after getting it back to the shop I pulled the original rearend out of my Metro Mite and swapped it for the rearend out of the S10. Switching the rearend from the original position of below the leaf springs to above instantly dropped the KandyVan about 3". Now I plan to go with a triangulated 4 link setup in the rear, but for now it is hooked up to the original leaf springs and able to roll around. Eventually I will order a set of rims and the backspace is perfect, allowing me to run a 2" wider rim and tire setup.
Tomorrow I will start to tackle the frontend.