Tub restoration day 1 - hat channel assessment and removal

I flipped the tub up onto its driver's side to get a better angle to examine the belly and work on it.  To start, here are some wide shots showing what I inherited.  That black stuff is a rust preventer compound of mud, oil from various parts of the Willys drivetrain, and road grime.  As nasty as it is, it worked to keep the bulk of the underbelly from rotting.

A close up. Methinks I may have a leak from the transmission or transfer case.

And the rear pinion.

I spent some useful time with a scraper getting the gunk off.  I'll bring in the grinder later on, when I want to get even the thin layer of surface rust off, which I'm not ready to do yet.

When all was done, here's what uncovered.  Not bad at all.

You'll notice the passenger side hat channel is all but gone.  This is going to be the only significant structural work the underneath is going to need from me.

I began my assault by using an air chisel to get under the lip of the channel to expose where the spot welds themselves were.  Then I drilled out some of the spot welds and started pulling pieces off the belly.

When I was done, I used a large cutoff wheel to delimit where the hat channels would be excised.

Here you can see the rotted floor where the hat channel pocket was, as well as my first cutoff spot.

I'll be removing the bulk of the Y-joint, but the portion that runs up under the passenger side foot well will stay.  Here's the  end product of my efforts today.  I'm happy with what I've accomplished.

I'll replace them with 1"x2" rectangular steel tubing rather than repro hat channels.  Cheaper and strnger.  I'll weld them to the existing hat channels and the good floor.