I was looking to update this thread and couldn't find where I had started one. Guess I forgot to.
I was given this Mustang the second week of November to replace the entire front uniframe.
Someone had a done a "restoration" in the past by cobbling on patches.
You can see where the spring tower had rusted off from the frame.
The rocker extensions that the bottom of the fender attach to were gone.
All stripped down.
Lost in the 60s said
Dec 29, 2013
Five minutes with a Sawzall...
Reduced the apron further with the cut-off wheel to access the spot welds.
Removed spot welds with the spot-weld drill and then tapped the remaining piece loose with a chisel.
Cut off the rest of the frame and extension with the plasma.
Initial test fit of the right apron/frame assembly.
Both aprons and core support clamped and screwed in place. Initial fit is decent.
Cobbled floor pans from the aforementioned "restoration"...
I made plates to weld in so I had a flat surface to weld the frame rails to.
Once the plates were on, I was ready to fit the assembly and weld it on.
I measured the engine to transmission mount locations and needed to pull the assembly back almost an inch, so I devised a redneck frame rack puller out of 2 chains and ratchet binders.
After carefully measuring and tramming to get it square and straight, I welding that sucker on.
Hard to see in this pic, but the trans crossmember is an 1/8th of an inch from the frame extension.
I used a porta-power to push the floor over to the rail.
I'm quite certain it isn't going anywhere.
Uniframe all welded on.
Then I repaired the rocker extensions.
Lost in the 60s said
Dec 29, 2013
Once I welded the convertible only torque box back on, there was still a gap where the rusted firewall was exposed.
I made a patch to repair the structural integrity and cover the hole.
All the welds have been ground down and seam sealer applied. It's now ready to go to paint.
Back from paint.
Reinstalling all the mechanical back on.
Ready for the sheetmetal.
All done. Sad part is, you can't tell I did a damn thing to it...
SShink said
Dec 29, 2013
As always, nice work!
Those floor pans look like they were done by the same hack that did mine on the vert with the riveted aluminum patches...
No Mitch, you can't see the work after the sheet metal is back on, but I have to think the car will have a more solid feel to it when driven than it did before with the flex from the rotted uni frame and inner panels.
gearlube said
Dec 29, 2013
Wow Mitch!! Kind of cool to see the time warp of work done on it. How long did it take you?
Lost in the 60s said
Dec 29, 2013
gearlube wrote:
Wow Mitch!! Kind of cool to see the time warp of work done on it. How long did it take you?
I only work 3 days a week and it took 5 weeks, so 15 working days.
John D said
Dec 30, 2013
Damn! Very nice work!! (too bad it will go unnoticed by 99% of who sees the car... but isn't that the way it's supposed to be?)
66 RAT said
Dec 31, 2013
Will the owner get a CD with the pictures of the work you've done? I would think most people would like to have that to add to their documentation of the work that's been done on the car.
Of course, I'll add to the "nice work" comments that others have already made. I enjoy seeing things like this on the forum.
Lost in the 60s said
Dec 31, 2013
66 RAT wrote:
Will the owner get a CD with the pictures of the work you've done? I would think most people would like to have that to add to their documentation of the work that's been done on the car.
Of course, I'll add to the "nice work" comments that others have already made. I enjoy seeing things like this on the forum.
Yes, I took more pics with the shop camera than you see here, documenting the work. They did put them on a CD and gave it to the owner.
We also included pics of the cobble job she paid good money for some years back and what I had to modify to get it to work with what I was doing.
gearlube said
Dec 31, 2013
At least it is a V8 and not a six they are investing all the money in
Bungy L-76 said
Jan 8, 2014
You guys all know, if that was anyone here in the club. The engine would have gotten taken apart to paint, and since the engine is apart, lets put a cam in it and maybe an aluminum intake and since the suspension is off, lets put on some stiffer lowering springs and maybe some tubular upper and lower arms. How about some big disc brakes ........................................
Derek69SS said
Jan 8, 2014
Bungy L-76 wrote:
You guys all know, if that was anyone here in the club. The engine would have gotten taken apart to paint, and since the engine is apart, lets put a cam in it and maybe an aluminum intake and since the suspension is off, lets put on some stiffer lowering springs and maybe some tubular upper and lower arms. How about some big disc brakes ........................................
I was looking to update this thread and couldn't find where I had started one. Guess I forgot to.
I was given this Mustang the second week of November to replace the entire front uniframe.
Someone had a done a "restoration" in the past by cobbling on patches.
You can see where the spring tower had rusted off from the frame.
The rocker extensions that the bottom of the fender attach to were gone.
All stripped down.
Five minutes with a Sawzall...
Reduced the apron further with the cut-off wheel to access the spot welds.
Removed spot welds with the spot-weld drill and then tapped the remaining piece loose with a chisel.
Cut off the rest of the frame and extension with the plasma.
Initial test fit of the right apron/frame assembly.
Both aprons and core support clamped and screwed in place. Initial fit is decent.
Cobbled floor pans from the aforementioned "restoration"...
I made plates to weld in so I had a flat surface to weld the frame rails to.
Once the plates were on, I was ready to fit the assembly and weld it on.
I measured the engine to transmission mount locations and needed to pull the assembly back almost an inch, so I devised a redneck frame rack puller out of 2 chains and ratchet binders.
After carefully measuring and tramming to get it square and straight, I welding that sucker on.
Hard to see in this pic, but the trans crossmember is an 1/8th of an inch from the frame extension.
I used a porta-power to push the floor over to the rail.
I'm quite certain it isn't going anywhere.
Uniframe all welded on.
Then I repaired the rocker extensions.
Once I welded the convertible only torque box back on, there was still a gap where the rusted firewall was exposed.
I made a patch to repair the structural integrity and cover the hole.
All the welds have been ground down and seam sealer applied. It's now ready to go to paint.
Back from paint.
Reinstalling all the mechanical back on.
Ready for the sheetmetal.
All done. Sad part is, you can't tell I did a damn thing to it...
As always, nice work!
Those floor pans look like they were done by the same hack that did mine on the vert with the riveted aluminum patches...
No Mitch, you can't see the work after the sheet metal is back on, but I have to think the car will have a more solid feel to it when driven than it did before with the flex from the rotted uni frame and inner panels.
I only work 3 days a week and it took 5 weeks, so 15 working days.
Damn! Very nice work!!
(too bad it will go unnoticed by 99% of who sees the car... but isn't that the way it's supposed to be?)
Of course, I'll add to the "nice work" comments that others have already made. I enjoy seeing things like this on the forum.
Yes, I took more pics with the shop camera than you see here, documenting the work. They did put them on a CD and gave it to the owner.
We also included pics of the cobble job she paid good money for some years back and what I had to modify to get it to work with what I was doing.
You guys all know, if that was anyone here in the club. The engine would have gotten taken apart to paint, and since the engine is apart, lets put a cam in it and maybe an aluminum intake and since the suspension is off, lets put on some stiffer lowering springs and maybe some tubular upper and lower arms. How about some big disc brakes ........................................
I don't know anybody who thinks like that.