73MustangCoupe

With the B-pillar in place and secure, it's time to turn to to the inner and outer wheelhouses and quarter panel. With the quarter panel laid outside down, I put the outer wheelhouse in place, clamping it to the wheel well opening. It took some muscle to squeeze get it clamped together, but it came together nicely. I then did the same to the wheelhouses, clamping the inner and outer wheelhouse together. Once I was convinced that they would fit together, I got to work cutting out the inner wheel house. I drilled/ground the welds. I cut along the lower edge, just above the trunk floor

I definitely see the air/hydraulic engine hoist upgrade in my future.

Here is a picture of the cleaned up B-pillar that Don at OMS sent me. It looks pretty good. Today, I got to fitting the B-pillar. I got the rocker all cleaned up, and removed the remnants of the outer wheelhouse covering the back end of the rocker exposing the inside. I found what looked like a turd inside, that turned out to be a huge chunk of body filler. I cleaned out the rocker, using my shop vac, and it appears to be almost completely rust free. I finished cleaning up the rocker and underside of the B-pillar. I fit the B-pillar in place and primed the undersi

Thanks. It's been quite a journey, with a good way still to go, but it'll get there.

Well, it's been a couple weeks since I posted an update, but I have been working on the Rickster. With the trunk floor and taillight panel installed, I moved on to the left quarter panel. I used an angle grinder to cut away most of it, leaving a thin rim around the edges, making sure not to dig into the structure underneath. At that point, I could find the spot welds around the perimeter and started drilling/grinding out the spot welds and peeling the remainder of the quarter panel flanges. The edge of the B-pillar was kind f bent up, and but I was able to kind of pull it

Do you have a driver side front fender extension? I just pulled my fenders out of storage and discovered that the front fender extension on the driver side is missing. I know they have repops, but would rather have an original piece.

That is a beautiful green. It's looking awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing it all in paint. Keep up the good work.

I spent some quality time with the BFH and piece of wood, as well as hammer and dolly and got it to about a 1/2-3/4" out. As I worked the dings out, a chunk of paint fell out leaving a 1/4" rust hole showing. I didn't think that was a good sign, so I got out the wire wheel and cleaned all the paint and crud off, and discovered several rust holes ranging from about 1/16" to up to 1/4". Along the bottom, I found filler hiding more rust eroding the base of the B pillar. I can drill out and weld the rust holes and make patches to repair the bottom, but that won't address the fact that it is ou

Thanks, kcmash. I'm learning as I go, but feel confident in my welding. I've straightened a few things, in the past, and started hammering and pulling on the B pillar in an attempt to get it back into position. It is getting a lot closer, but the tab on the bottom edge that is spot welded to the rocker behind the quarter panel broke off. It was compromised by some rust along a small part of that bottom edge. I can weld in a patch that will restore that part of the structure. The rest of the B pillar attachment is solid and appears to be rust free. So, I will try to straighten it, using

With the floor pans in - well, except for the seat risers - it's time to move on to the trunk. The tail light panel as very rusted along the bottom and the trunk floor was pretty much completely rusted out. I drilled out, cut, and ground out the plug welds, and finally got the entire floor removed. The spot welds along the inner wheel house were also drilled out, and the trunk floor flange separated from the wheel house. On the passenger side, the wheel house metal was pretty thin and in some areas tore out. I made a patch to repair the area, and welded it in.

Okay, I am working on body panel replacement. The passenger side rear quarter panel had some damage. I knew there was a thick layer of body filler, and got the rear quarter panel to install. I cut out the old panel, cut out the spot welds, and fit the new quarter into place. It matches up the door profile and gaps reasonably well, but when the door is opened, OMG!! It isn't even close to the B pillar. Here are some pics, so you can see what I am dealing with. Soo.... what do you think? Do I need to replace the passenger side B pillar. Thanks in advance.

Wow! It's been a few weeks since I updated this thread. I have made some progress, though. I had previously cut out the passenger side floor pan. I got busy with the cutoff wheel and was able to get the C-channel subframe connectors removed and the residual weld cleaned off the front and rear frame. I set the floor pan in place and marked the edges. I was able to cut out the rusty metal leaving about 3/4" overlap to weld the floor pan to the trans tunnel and toe kick. A few relief cuts were made so that the floor laid in nicely, and along th

That looks great! I wish I was that far along. Looking forward to your next update.

I was thinking of that, too. I've had it clamped up for a day now, and have the trunk floor ready to go in. I've got the inside of the frame rails painted with POR15, and tomorrow morning will remove the brace and see how it lays. I do have some more tubing that I use for a spacer, so I will give that a try in the morning. Thanks for the tips.

I was able to pull it straight. I started with some 1 inch, 1/8inch wall square tubing. I put it along the back just behind the flange that the tail light panel welds to, but when I started clamping it to the flange, it started to bow a little bit. It did pull the crossmember straighter, but not completely straight. In the middle of the night, I awoke with the idea to tack a piece of 1 inch angle to that square tube to stiffen it significantly, but not be so thick that my 6 inch clamps wouldn't fit around it. So today, I got the square tube and 1 inch angle cleaned up, welded together, an