71 Vert Project

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garrett7

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 9, 2015
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Location
Canada
My Car
1971 mustang convertible
Hey guys,

This is my first post here, but I have been lurking for a while. I am slowly working on my 1971 mustang convertible that my dad gave to me.

The Story: He bought the car about ten+ years ago when i was 10-12 years old. I went with him to look at a foxbody mustang but we saw this one in the garage to and he asked me what I liked better. We ended up with the 71 and he always told me I could have it one day. He drove it for a few years before blowing the old 351c to bits (oil pump blew apart, broke a piston skirt, cracked the block under the intake). After that it sat behind my grampas barn for years until I bought a 1971 351c out of a cougar off the local classifieds and he said he'd help me install the motor and I could have the car (If he was allowed to drive it :D ). We installed the motor summer of 2013 but then I took a job out of province and we had to stop. Summer 2014 when I got home from school I started going at it again and thats when I found a hole in the frame. What a bummer. since then it has just been in storage until I could find that time and money to do some work to it.

Fast Forward to February 2015, I am browsing the classifieds and find the whole front clip of a 71 for sale, for $200. Not sure what this usually goes for but I think I got a steal, its in mint shape which is hard to find in Canada. It is the whole front end, rad support to torque boxes and floor supports, fender apron to fender apron.

Now I am trying to plan the best way to do this repair. Most of the car is very solid. The body is good but needs paint, the only bondo is in the doors from what we can tell. floors are decent, trunk is great, needs a top, but I have lots of spare parts that we got with the car. Here are some pictures of the car after we pulled it from behind the barn and started on the engine swap.







This will be a very slow restoration. I am hoping once I get some pictures of the front clip and the damage on the car you guys can give me some tips on where to start with the repair.

Thanks, Garrett.

 
good luck just keep plugging away at it you will get her done

 
Thanks! I am hoping to start ripping into it in may before I start work in June. Hopefully I can pull the motor and tranny back out and take the hood, fenders, bumper, grill etc off so the front end will be ready to start structural repair. The car has mint shock towers and fender aprons so my plan is to leave those intact and just replace the rail so that I can line everything up with the shock towers.

 
I found some pics of the car at her poor storage yard.. looking sad! Does anybody know if that door sag would be caused from misaligned/worn hinges?





Somebody stole the damn horse out of my grill!





Here it is after we installed the motor (old air cleaner obviously) wish i took the time to clean the engine bay but i guess it is coming back out and ill have another chance to do it right.



As you can see the wiring is a mess in this car, luckily my father is an electrician and we will be able to get that sorted out.

Here are some pics of me at my summer job as a fishing guide. If I remember correctly the pike was 42" and the lake trout was 43" with a 23" girth.





 
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Wow, what monsters of fishes :exclamation: Congrats!

Nice story and your vert seems to have a good substance to start with - despite the bad front end... It will be worth it! What's the Cleve you bought - a 2V or 4V?

Door sagging could be caused from misaligned or worn hinges, yes...

Wish you good luck with your project and keep us up to date!

Tim

 
Thanks Tim, I didnt catch the fish, I am just the guide lol. Sometimes I feel like I caught them though when I tell the guest what lure to use and where to fish. The kid with the lake trout was actually sleeping in the front of the boat when he hooked into it!

The motor is a 2v out of a cougar came with a rebuilt c6 which is still sitting in the garage as the one that was in the stang was good we didnt wanna chance the "rebuilt" one. We took the aluminum edelbrock intake and holly 750 off the old motor. Also installed a new distributor which will likely be going in the trash. I bought it thinking it was MSD.. after I got the box in the mail I realized it said MDS or something like that. My mistake I guess. We'll see if it works temporary when the time comes.

 
Here are some pictures of the front clip I bought. It must have been poorly primed as it began to show surface rust right away. I have since coated it in oil and covered it. I will likely blast it and epoxy prime it when the weather warms. As you can see, the rad support is new along with the front aprons (both sides) and the rear half of the apron on the driver side. Cowl appears to be in good shape from what I can see. How would you guys approach the repair knowing that my aprons, towers, and rad support all appear to be good. I only have a problem with the rail on the passenger side on my car.













 
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I ordered a marti report today to find out what options the old girl came with. As far as I know now it was a black 302 car. Im anxious to see what the report says. I ordered the deluxe with personalized statistics. Die is an expensive paper!

 
Great project, love the pics. door sag can absolutely be caused by weak or worn or misaligned hinges. I'd start there anyway. That's some big ass fish. The trout looks like dinner.
Unfortunately with convertibles, it can also mean frame flex... as in, rockers, inner rockers, etc., might be compromised by the rust. If you're looking to replace the front clip, you might want to find a way to get underneath the car and inspect the unibody frame structure.

If the car's "frame" is bowing, that would push the tops of the A-pillars inward toward the top of the B-pillars, making it seem like the doors are sagging at the hinges.

OR - it could just be a saggy driver's door, and adjusting the hinges will solve your problems (I hope that's the case, rather than the other).

Good luck and keep us posted!

 
My father was told that by a supposed "Mustang guy" at a cruise night... So that could be very wrong!

 
That front clip you have is a nice piece, but would be a TON of work to install. If you only have a hole on the frame rail I would consider patching that area and saving all of the factory structural welds you are looking at in a clip replacement. That job would make you as old as me before your time!

Doors, I'd definitely do the hinges first. Do new bushings and pins and re-align those suckers!

 
Thanks kcmash, i would like to keep as much of the original metal together as possible. I guess i will have to wait until April when i can get the motor back out to check the extent of the rust.

I will do that with the doors. I was given the link to a hinge rebuild kit that i will try. Although i think i may have a set of hinges in my spare parts. I'll have to take a look when I get home from university.

 
That front clip you have is a nice piece, but would be a TON of work to install. If you only have a hole on the frame rail I would consider patching that area and saving all of the factory structural welds you are looking at in a clip replacement. That job would make you as old as me before your time!

Doors, I'd definitely do the hinges first. Do new bushings and pins and re-align those suckers!
Yes - he is absolutely correct. Depending on where the hole in your frame rail is, there are repop patches available - though, obviously you have all the 'patches' you could ever need with that front clip. Personally, I would use the repop pieces if possible, and maybe sell that front clip to someone who might need it more - since once you cut into it, it's not a 'complete' front clip anymore. Just a thought.

For instance, if it looks like this, you'll probably want to replace the whole front clip... if not, I would just patch it.

56652_171331876211072_6919760_o.jpg


This is a scary proposition, and a huge, daunting task... trust me.

firewall3.jpg

Hope this helps.

 
Nothing like that mister 4x4.. On the passenger side.. Towards the fire wall there is some sort of steering/suspension piece that bolts to the frame with two bolts if i remember right.. There is a hole there maybe 5x5 inches tops. And then some rust on the cross member where it hits the frame.

I will absolutely keep the spare front clip in tact for someone else if i can use repop pieces or just steel.

Thanks caspian, hopefully i can save her!

 
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