Birth of the Blue Missile

Really impressed with your fabrication talent. Nice work.

I hear you on the axle U-bolts. I've had a nasty scare and friends hurt by faulty Chinese metalurgy, so I'm extremely leery of fasteners of uncertain origin. The bolts are basically grade 5 and are still available from Mopar at around $20.00 a pop. I thought about using 4 grade 5 bolts and a saddle for the U-bolts. My price would have been about $25.00 per side.

Why a bolt that cost $9.00 each back in the day can sit on a shelf in MI for 40 years and now cost $20.00 now escapes me. The only reason I can think of is that the interest on the borrowed money used to put it there in the first place has been accruing all these years. lol.