B Pillar sheet avail or die??

[Fabrice]

Hi all,
As the picture bellow suggests, my passenger B Pillar needs some "refurbishing"...



I can/could cut and try reproduce the complex shape with multiple pieces of sheetmetal the best I can.
but before I use my scalpel:

Are there repops for these available? Haven't seen any...
For Mustang 64-68 there are repops, but they are nowhere near the shape I'd need.
As Ford designs were similar/kept for multiple cars, I wonder if someone knows a car having similar or very close shapes for b-pillars.
Torino's, cougars... but haven't seen repops for these either or something close where I could use even a portion.

Finally, as another option, as I know there are a few on this forum who worked as die makers (David for instance, but unfortunately no longer visiting us)
I wonder what it would take to press such part. I mean, I could make a mould, poor some reinforced concrete and somehow try to see what I get.
There too, before start experiment, some insight, how realistic chances of success are regarding force, advises etc.. would be welcome.

I'm sure I'm not the only one with corrosion there, even if on my 71, it's "advanced", I know from my 73 that is there in perfect state, that it was not protected at all
and that likely many 71-73 suffer of the same cancer there.

So if you are a die maker or have performed the surgery of one of these, please enlight me/us please!

 

[Steve McMahan]

I was thinking, if this part is available from Dynacorn, maybe the actual pillar could be acquired from them. It’s at least a lead.

 

[rio1856]

Fabrice, the 71-73 Cougar "B" pillars could be used but they would require some minor altering on the edges where the quarter panel attaches to it. The contour of the Mustang quarter panel is slightly shaped a little different compared to the Cougar, but a "Sheet Metal GOD" such as yourself would merely find it a very minor inconvenience.

 

[detritusmaximus]

Or....someone might be able to cut it off a parts car and ship it to you...maybe like the one I have:

 

[detritusmaximus]

It would be easy to set it up as an Ebay listing and ship thru their Global shipping program (with fees and customs, but there is loss protection for both buyer and seller), or I could ship direct.

 

[Fabrice]

@Steve McMahan, I've looked and there's no B-pillar offered on their site, searched for other models known to have similar pillars in the hope to see something I could partially use... nope.

@rio1856, As said above, so far it looks like there is no fresh metal available for this part for any 71-75 Fords.

@detritusmaximus this would be awesome. I thought about it, but the chances of finding a parts car on this side of the ocean being in the negatives I've dropped the idea! Having it loose, would also allow me to acid/de-rust it completely the easy way...
Will shoot you a PM asap!

Thank you guys for the replies!

 

[Steve McMahan]

I suspected they didn’t have a part. What I was wondering, if they had the part it is attached, ready to scrap it, and might be willing to hack it off for you. Would made a great, Vendor cares about their customers and the hobby story. Your million of followers would hear about it . . . It could happen.

 

[Steve McMahan]

And now, I need the same part, what are the odds? On a 50 year old car, pretty good

 

[detritusmaximus]

I still have the b pillars in the Grande.
Are coupe the same as fastback and convertible?

 

[detritusmaximus]

@Steve McMahan, I've looked and there's no B-pillar offered on their site, searched for other models known to have similar pillars in the hope to see something I could partially use... nope.

@rio1856, As said above, so far it looks like there is no fresh metal available for this part for any 71-75 Fords.

@detritusmaximus this would be awesome. I thought about it, but the chances of finding a parts car on this side of the ocean being in the negatives I've dropped the idea! Having it loose, would also allow me to acid/de-rust it completely the easy way...
Will shoot you a PM asap!

Thank you guys for the replies!

See above! I think I sent a message a while back.

 

[Paul M]

I personally had to replace one. I couldn't find the repop on the part anywhere, so I got one from a doner car. Do not cut them out. Run the flat of a die grinder along the outer edge to clean the paint off and look for the low spots. You'll have to drill out the spot welds. There's several along the outer edge a few 2 to 4 on the bottom and If memory serves me right 2 above that sticker on the right (outer side of the rectangular slot) that connects to a bracket. It's important not to interrupt the curvature of the outer edge. I found several points to compare measurements to the other side in order to compare measurements. Unfortunately for me someone else started it and screwed it up. I had to remove their repair and start over. You may have to coach someone who removes the doner in order to get one that's not butchered in removal. I had to remake some of my outer edge to meet the contour, since some fool pulled in the outer edge to add their projecting globules of welds on. I guess they were going to add bondo to fill it in, where a door slams and cracks would appear in the future. It depends on where they cut it on the inside. I used a compass and compared the holes from the other side + various measurements of reference points. In my case they already cut out the metal on the inside I wouldn't have cut it back so far. I personally would patch what I have before going this route. I bought the car this way. It turned out much better than expected though.