71 inner wheelhouse

[picklegt]

Hello All,

Does anyone positively know if the inner wheelhouses or wheel wells are the same on a 1971 coupe and fastback?  Thanks.

 

[secluff]

picklegt, 71-73 all body styles (vert coupe, sportsroof) Mustang and Cougar use the same inner wheel house  sheet metal.   The outer has Mustang and Cougar specific part numbers but I have seen both cars outers used to repair either car.

 

[picklegt]

picklegt, 71-73 all body styles (vert coupe, sportsroof) Mustang and Cougar use the same inner wheel house  sheet metal.   The outer has Mustang and Cougar specific part numbers but I have seen both cars outers used to repair either car.

secluff, thanks for the reply.  I know for sure that 71 and 73 inner wheelhouses are different.  If you buy an aftermarket you're getting a 73 model that won't fit a 71 without modifications.  But if a 71 coupe and fastback inner wheel house are the same, I am good since I have a coupe that I can use as a donor.  Thanks again.

 

[secluff]

picklegt, Agree the aftermarket sheet metal is a crap shoot at the best. I have friends in the restoration business that tell me the same stories about the GM and Mopar parts as we hear on the Ford  pieces. So if you have a parts car with good metal you're already ahead.

Strangely enough, when the new 71 Mustang originally went into production, the left and right inner wheel housings were 65/66 Mustang pieces which were already in use on the 65-70 Mustangs!  

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

The only thing I might add is that the vert wheel house went to another operation after the body was welded together to crush the top down some to give the needed room for the top to drop. There was a jute pad glued on top of the wheel house to protect the top well liner.

NO they did not have someone beating them down with a hammer, lol. That would have took too long and would have probably spread the body. Would have been a hydraulic press with support under the wheel house.

 

[picklegt]

picklegt, Agree the aftermarket sheet metal is a crap shoot at the best. I have friends in the restoration business that tell me the same stories about the GM and Mopar parts as we hear on the Ford  pieces. So if you have a parts car with good metal you're already ahead.

Strangely enough, when the new 71 Mustang originally went into production, the left and right inner wheel housings were 65/66 Mustang pieces which were already in use on the 65-70 Mustangs!  

secluff, So do you think the inner wheelhouse from a 1970 Mustang is the same as on the 71?

 

[secluff]

picklegt, the earliest info I have is from 6/71 when the 71 Mustang was in its final weeks of production. The inner housing has a 65 Mustang part number, Right Inner (C5ZZ-6527886-A) and Left Inner (C5ZZ-6527887-A) The year range Ford Has listed is from 1965-1971. The outers for the 71 carry a D1ZZ (1971) prefix on the part number.

Don't' have a time frame on the change or a reason why, but the inner housing eventually was replaced with a D1ZZ prefix part number while the 65-70 continued to use the C5ZZ numbered part.

The vert did not have different wheel housings as some people thought. They used the same ones as listed for the coupe and sportsroof models. As David posted, after the car was bucked (all the sheet metal was welded in place to make a body) the verts were treated to an extra step to modify the wheel housing for extra clearance for the top mechanism.

If not using new sheet metal, and I had a 71/ parts car with good donor metal, I would give priority to that first. After that I would closely look at any pre 71 Mustangs to see if any major differences stood out. Ford used the same part 65-71, so.....

 

[red351]

Going back in time to the 90's. I used the earlier mustang inners for 72. It all fit except I needed to weld in a small filler. It something like a 3" square area facing to the front where the two half's meet, but I'm no expert.