revival of a 50 year old soviet jalopy

Empire of RUST

ugh.. rust...

living as far north as I do means snowy winters, and snowy winters means salty roads.
this was what took my beloved 1976 VAZ-21011, exported to the west as the lada 1300, off the roads.. however!!! after living with a fast as heck import tuner for a while, I still found myself missing the direct and light feel of that old jalopy, and in november 2024 I reached my breaking point; I went halfsies with my friend and we got a welder to get that thing back on the road!

not that I know how to weld... yet xD
with the amount of custom work that needs doing I have no choice but to learn!
especially after I discovered just how bad the rust problem was...

aaand here we are... the support brackets keeping the front from floppin all over the place have turned to dust, as well as the rockers. so what now? fresh from factory replacements are easily and cheaply available, but isn't this an amazing excuse to completely reinforce the chassis??
steel tubes are cheap, and we already have the welder soooooo ;D