Both Quarters Down

First Quarter down

The right quarter is completely welded in. Some of the inside area that recieve spot welds were a bit tricky to reach, but I got them all.

I also have the pillar spot welded in place. This side quarter is nearly complete!

Corners

Here I have added the Right trunk corner. the back end is getting much sturdier now.

Mocking up rear sheet metal

Now the back end is taking a bit of fitting and re-fitting since all of the parts are crucial to each other. My neighbors must think I'm crazy since I have to keep putting things on and taking them off.


Well, they do have a point......

Fender Wells In

Okay, I am speeding you along since I have not added to this blog in a while. I have gotten the fenderwells in place and welded. It too a bit of coaxing here and there, but all in all, not too bad.

Clean Metal!

I have the '66 back into a garage, and although it is in quite a disarray, it is very nice to have a rust free metal base to work with. Here you can see the front sheet metal is put together.

I'm back!

After a 3 month hiatus of moving etc. I am back.

I left off at putting the front sheetmetal together - now the front end is complete. It's nice to have it taking shape.

During the move, I had the '66 carted off to the metal stripper to get dipped.

More soon......

My recommended parts and restoration experts....

I have appreciated the help and support from my local Mustang restoration experts. Give them a call for help with your project:

Mustangs, Muscles & Classics

3187 Coffey Lane

Santa Rosa, CA 95403

(707) 571-8077

M-F 9-6 & Sat 10-2

1964 - 1973 Mustangs Only

Prepping the support

Now I am on the the last piece of major body section to the front - the radiator support. 

The grind

This is a bit of trivia you may find amazing. After each time I have a work session in my garage I sweep up. 

This pic shows how much metal dust I made in 4-6 hours by welding and grinding!! 

Frame fill

You may have seen in one of my previous posts how may holes I had to drill to remove the front strut rod brackets. Well, now I am filling this section back in by removing that section of metal completely. Ironically, the pieces from the frame I had to remove for the C-notch are the perfect size! I just grind them a little and then clamp and weld. 

All the room

Look at all of that room! I betcha really want to know what I'm going to do with all of it. Well, you'll just have to wait and see. I promise it will be really cool. 

The other side is complete

After another 5 million spot welds, the other side has the filler panel in and ready to finish grind. 

Questions from J.S.

Questions from J.S. are at the bottom and the answers are at the top:

Hi Scott -

On the seams - I will be using 'Kitty hair', a fibreglass reinforced resin. Why? it is strong and it is flexible. I will be doing so many mods to this body it would be an unecessary step to make one part of the car original when the rest will not even be close.
On the body being straight - I do measure quite a bit to make sure things are in the right place. I will do two things after the car is mocked together, 1. I will take it to a frame alignment shop 2. I will take it to a wheel alignment shop. These two things will be done before the final bodywork to ensure everything tracks straight.
Humor question, "Do you think Ford assembled these straight in 1966?"

Repro parts never ever even come close to fitting, and unfortunately most parts that are available are only repro. I do get 'Ford Tooling" whenever available. In this project, I accept the fact that I will have to work to make things fit as I like and need.

This project is a 'Take my time, enjoy the process' type of thing. I get no pressure from anyone on it so I will deal with problems as they come.

As always, anwers are just my personal opinion. Others may feel differently and that's perfectly fine!

Thanks for your visit, does my response help?

- Dave

From:J.S. Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2008 12:25 PMTo: snobigy@comcast.netSubject: 66 Stang

Dave, It looks like you are well on your way. I started mine about 2 months ago. It appears that mine has much more rust than your starting out. I am having to do full floor and some frame rail work. I do have a couple of questions. Are you going to re-lead the quarter seam or use something like “all Metal”? Have you done anything to make sure the body is straight after you are done being this is a unibody car? Are you using repro parts or getting original ford tooled parts? If repro, how is the fit?

Thanks,

J. S.

Now the other side

Now I just need to repeat the process on the other side.

Spotting again

Now, after 15 million spot welds, the filler panel is in and flush. A little grinding and I will have the ability to finish the inside and outside and have them look very nice.

Cutting away

I chose to cut away the overlap for two reasons:

1. To eradicate the holes that I would have to fill.

2. To make the finished product flush on both sides.

Setting up the filler panel

First, I mocked up the filler panel to see where it will fit the best. Clamps hold it into place so I can mark it.

Spot welded

Now that the front section is in, I start to position the filler panel that will fill the gap where the former shock tower used to be. I will mark it and prepare for fitting and then welding.

Starting the Firewall

Now it's time to start the firewall sheetmetal. I do this by first sanding dow the mating surfaces to remove any surface rust and paint. I also drill holes to allow for spot welding.

I use four varying types of clamps and keep adjusting until this front left piece is in the correct position.

Puttin on my hats

So now I finish off the major front suspension metal install by first test fitting, measuring, leveling and then finally welding. Now it just needs some light grinding and then I will go onto the firewall sheetmetal.

Crossmember is in

Now the crossmember is in. Now it's time to fit the spring hats.

Crossmember

Now I measure, level and tack the crossmember. Once I was totally sure that it was in the correct place, I then proceed to weld it in.

Finish grinding

Here you can see how this whole piece looks after grinding. It almost looks like it is a one piece unit. Now it is ready for the cross member and spring hats.

Welding in the support

Now the box frame support with the C-Notch can be welded into place. A little grinding and these handy vice-grip C-clamps really make this easy to fit and finish.