restoring a 1965 Mustang
The package shelf was pretty clean save for the mounting flange to the driver’s side C pillar which was permeated with rust damage. The first trick was to get the flange separated and cut off the package shelf. This was an exceptionally awkward area to be working in due to the proximity with the wheel […]
The majority of the car’s core structure was solid, unfortunately the primary exception was a section on the inside of the driver’s side C pillar. A highly awkward area that isn’t reproduced, I had no good options other than reproducing the part somehow. Due to the mildly complex curves on the flanges I knew I […]
The first thing to do when you’re going to cut out the entire floor of a car is to take every measurement you can think of. The last thing to do is kick yourself after the fact for not taking one specific measurement that seems totally obvious in hindsight. It was a good floorpan. Shame […]
The top edge of the quarter panels on these cars slid up and under the exterior of the sail panels and the resulting seam was filled in with lead. Lead has gotten a bad rap recently but it’s actually quite delicious. In order to remove the last vestiges of the old quarter panels I needed […]
With the new doors in place to serve as reference for the body lines I started in on removing the quarter panels and what remained of the wheel houses, starting with the driver’s side. First I took a Sharpie and marked all of the visible spot welds that I would need to drill out along […]
Unfortunately a quick look into the passenger side door revealed scale rust eating away at nearly all surfaces, it was a bit surprising how little was visible from the exterior of the door given the condition inside. As I don’t have a fabrication shop at my disposal I chalked the passenger door up as requiring […]
The replacement trunk floor that I ordered came as a fully assembled piece, making it rather large and unwieldy. So much so that there was going to be no way to get it into the car without removing the tail panel. There were some areas on the tail panel that needed attention anyway so this […]
After coming to the conclusion that the quarter panels were going to need to be replaced I decided to switch gears and finish out the work in the trunk first. My thought was that while I still had the old quarter panels on (and most of the wheel wells) they would serve as useful guidelines […]
With the chassis up on the rotisserie the next step was stripping it bare, starting with the front suspension. I started out by disconnecting the steering linkage and brake lines, then breaking the spindles free from the upper and lower control arm ball joints. With the spindles out of the way everything else came apart […]
After several weeks of shipping delays the rotisserie finally arrived! The front of the rotisserie will mount to the bumper support attachment points on the front frame rails while the back portion will mount to the rear leaf spring perches. This meant that the front portion could be attached without any further disassembly so I […]