Repair of bow rail on a 78 steplift

[steplift20]

Ok the reason I put the year down is because the bow rail is turned down at both ends, if you have one you know what I'm talking about, I have broken fittings but I can't see how they will slide off cause of the bend in the rail, so what I plan on doing is cut the middle in the front so now I will have a left side and right side ,,, replace the fittings( which I have been replacing for the last 20 years) and use a 1 inch stainless steal pipe to bring the both ends together as one piece ,,,, use screws to connect, Does that sound right to you guys, am I missing something that won't work? I don't think so but if I am please let me know before I cut my rail in half, thanks for any info,,, I plan on doing it very soon before the winter( I hate winter) comes ,