Didn't do much to the car today cause it was 18 degrees F in my garage
I did take a hammer and screwdriver to anywhere that looked weak and found tons of rusted out areas on the unibody. These cars really weren't built for long term use
Anyway, all the suspension points are actually in pretty good shape. So I have an option on something I could do now, I could leave the suspension alone and just attach the tube frame to the stock suspension mounts and leave that part of the unibody alone, or I could cut it away anyway and rebuild it like I was originally thinking.
If I leave it alone I could have it built much faster but the tradeoff would be a bit more weight since I would have sections of the old unibody frame on each wheel. It would also not look as professional. If I cut it away I will be taking longer to build it but the end result would be nicer and probably longer lasting.
Also I was suprised how much of that asphalt based sound deadening material is in that car, some parts have 2 layers of it! No wonder the convertibles were heavier than the hatchback, with all the crap they added to them it is not suprising they needed 4.39 gears.