How difficult is it to shorten the crush can?
Can it be done or better to find a B-body one?
It probably wont function exactly as intended in an accident, but what I did was cut out about a 2" section out of the middle, then welded the two halves back together, and the rest is simple bodywork: grind the high spots and fill in the low spots, prime and paint.
Two things to note.
First you must cut in the exact right spots of each "rib" so they will match when rejoined.
Second, you cant cut too much, so make sure you measure for clearance for your hands from your dash and the turn signal (I bent the signal shaft slightly to make it fit better). In my case about 1.5-2 inches was the max before my fingers would start hitting the dash.
If youre handy you could do it all over a weekend. Have to wait for stages to dry etc.
I dont weld so I took mine to a welder to attach the two halves. Did everything else and it wasnt too bad.
End result looks great.
