1971 Mustang Grande restoration.

[1973grandeklar]

KC,

The bolts that hold the grill will most likely break off or round off. Drill off the head of the bolt. You can worry about this later when the headlight buckets are out. What you want is to avoid as much plastic damage to the grill. Do not stress if you crack the grill, it is repairable. Just make sure to save every little plastic piece.

When you get the grill off you will see how the headlight buckets come off. With the buckets off the car you can bead blast them in a cabinet or good wire wheel and sanding. Get a good epoxy primer on them and they should be good. One of mine had some rust holes after bead blasting and I used JB weld to fill the holes and sanded smooth. You would never know that it was rusty! Now those broken bolts can be ground flush, carefully drill out the bolt and re-tap the hole (12-24 I think, double check that though might be 12-32 I cannot remember off the top of my head).

If you are careful with the grill, you can just scuff it with sand paper, tape off the trim, and paint it. If you have to fix some cracks, I use Loctite plastic epoxy. I have a 1973 grill I am going to do this winter. I will try and post up the repairs with a lot of pictures for reference. I did this with my 1972 coupe (see http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-1972-mechanical-rebuild?page=4 ).

 

[KC1971Grande]

I'm going to drill off the screw heads tomorrow some time. The drivers side light box and bucket are probably going to have to be replaced. My brother bent up the front end of this car years ago and to save money the man who did the body work just straightened the metal out on the drivers side as much as he could. Passenger side box and bucket weren't hurt in that little mishap so only the ones on the drivers side are out of square. The thing is it throws the whole front end out a bit since nothing really fits right. The man also straightened the valence and some other pieces as best he could so I am going to replace valence, one light box (and bucket), and a few other pieces along with the radiator support so I can get this front end right.

 

[KC1971Grande]

I'm really liking my temporary garage. Wanted to work on some of the bolts and screws in the grill and the light boxes but it was raining today. No big deal since I was able to stay dry and do some work until the light began to fade. Once I get the grill out and some other pieces off the front, I am going to turn my attention back to clearing out the second bay of the garage. Once that is done then it will be time to start stripping out the interior of the car.

I am beginning to think now that it will be some time in the spring before I get to pull the motor. I have no place to store it at this time so the motor is best left where it sets.

 

[mdunlap]

I am going to turn my attention back to clearing out the second bay of the garage.

It looks like you're gonna have a huge garage sale! Bonus money for the build!

 

[KC1971Grande]

I wish I could sell all that stuff in the garage. Most of it isn't mine but my brother's. Oh well, I am getting ready to start moving it all that out of the way. First project is to move some stuff so I can put my motorcycle in that side of the garage and then keep moving more out of the way as I clear space in the basement.

The other day I was looking at the motor and decided just for s & g to take the thing to a speed/machine shop near me and have them give it a look over. I've batted around having them rebuild my 302 for several years since a friend of mine had them do a 351 that turned out great. While I am just tinkering around it can't hurt to explore some alternative ideas for this project.

I'm still working on the grill, the last couple screws and some bolts in the light boxes are just being stubborn. Hopefully I will get it out in the morning, if not it might be some time Thursday before I get the grill out.

 

[mdunlap]

I wish I could sell all that stuff in the garage. Most of it isn't mine but my brother's. Oh well, I am getting ready to start moving it all that out of the way. First project is to move some stuff so I can put my motorcycle in that side of the garage and then keep moving more out of the way as I clear space in the basement.

The other day I was looking at the motor and decided just for s & g to take the thing to a speed/machine shop near me and have them give it a look over. I've batted around having them rebuild my 302 for several years since a friend of mine had them do a 351 that turned out great. While I am just tinkering around it can't hurt to explore some alternative ideas for this project.

I'm still working on the grill, the last couple screws and some bolts in the light boxes are just being stubborn. Hopefully I will get it out in the morning, if not it might be some time Thursday before I get the grill out.

KC,

Good luck, brother! Keep us posted.

 

[KC1971Grande]

Well today I managed to spend the most time I have been able to on the car. The grill is out, one light box removed, front valence is loose and since it is such a mess I have decided just to cut the thing off instead of going easy on it, and the same is going to be true of the hood latch support. Most of the front metal has been bent and just pressed back as close to true as possible and just won't work for the kind of restoration I want to accomplish. I also got the shop vac out today and started doing more clean up under the hood. After getting a close look at the cowl, I found more damage so it will need to be replaced as well. I was hoping to save the cowl but found some more small rust holes and decided it has reached the point of just needing to be replaced.

I'm getting closer to ready to pull the motor but still want to drain fluids and get the radiator out before I tear into that project.

So here are some pics from today.



I did put one small crack in the grill when I pulled it out today but I am still thinking I can restore the grill and it will work fine. It looks to me like the chrome on the grill will need to be restored rather than cleaned, but there are some good products out there now that should do a good job. I'll do some pics of the grill when I start working on that part of the project. Right now it is safely stored in my garage.

 

[KC1971Grande]

There hasn't been much progress on my car since November. Actually I had to place the hood back over the engine last night and take the roof of the temp garage down and put it over the car. I was watching the weather reports yesterday after work and decided to do that instead of letting snow cause the thing to collapse. We had about 8 to 10 inches of heavy powder this morning and I even had to call off work today since I couldn't get my truck out of the driveway.

Oh well, these things happen and it gives me a good excuse to go downstairs tonight and make some progress toward getting that other side of the garage cleared out. Still have a lot to do before the big move to get the car in a real garage.

Work got in the way from November to January. First one person quit in my office and then another was let go and I ended up working seven ten to twelve hour days every day from before Christmas until the middle of January. Only had Christmas Day and one other day off in that time. Sure is nice to be getting back to a somewhat normal schedule now.

If all goes well I can see the engine and tranny pulled and the car in the garage by some time late May or early June.

 

[KC1971Grande]

Well the tax man just put a major wrinkle in my plans to work on my car. I am still going to get the car I the garage this spring but will not be buying as many parts or tools and won't be going full bore on this project this year. I already have a list of parts I will buy and things I am going to do this year but for the most part it is just going to be get the car out of the weather and work on the finances with a plan to get going next year.

Hey I have already waited how many years to get started. What is one more?

 

[MustangMyWay]

Hey I have already waited how many years to get started. What is one more?

I can't let myself think that way. Perhaps if I were younger. I see fewer years ahead than I have behind.

Now is the time seize the day!