Black Beauty Rebuild

[71pony]

Just pulled up the carpet to replace a rear floor pan and look what I found. Can't be good. Gonna have a beer and pull whatever those are up tomorrow......stay tuned. Someone did a serious cover up I'm thinking! They are glued down too.

 

[Sheriff41]

Let us know what you find.

 

[James561]

Just pulled up the carpet to replace a rear floor pan and look what I found. Can't be good. Gonna have a beer and pull whatever those are up tomorrow......stay tuned. Someone did a serious cover up I'm thinking! They are glued down too.View attachment 70241View attachment 70242

Looks like some sound deadener (after market) I put some in my vert.

 

[Hemikiller]

That's the aftermarket sound deadener kit, a rubber/asphalt mastic. Usually has a plastic liner top and bottom. Some heat might help it come up easier.

 

[rodgeydodge]

Hello,
I removed all the bitumen based sound deadener and replaced it with Dynamat, which is a sound deadener and heat reflector. Easy enough to install but watch the aluminium edges. They are like razors.

 

[71pony]

Thanks for the replies! Didn't know what that was. Here's what was underneath. Looks like the entire floor is done! Took a screwdriver thru the firewall by the brake pedal......not good! May be in over my head with the firewall. May have to take apart the whole drive train. Can I do all this on jack stands? Trunk floor is gone too

 

[Steve McMahan]

I’m not sure you couldn’t put in lh and rh floors, and just that section above the floor panel were you have rust around the pedals; the center section looks good. I’ve got to do those and the trunk as well. I’m not afraid of doing it, but being FTR (Full Time Retired), I’m in no hurry. Hurry is the anathema of body work.

And to answer your question, you can do it on jackstands, or you could make those 2x4” wood lifts for your tires to sit on; I like working under a car with those. What tools do you have to do the job?

 

[71pony]

Thanks,
I'll take a better look at the foot panel area. So trying not to pull the engine and steering column! I have a mig and tig welders and plasma cutter. Got a compressor with some cutting tools, so I think I have everything. Need to move the rear jack stands from under the axle to the frame. Gonna wire wheel some and see how bad it is. Have to check if there are patch panels. This was supposed to be just trunk and quarter panels....................what happened!!

 

[71pony]

Ok, decided to do the quarters first! Gonna do full quarters. Found one seam easy. Went to the other side and nothing there! Tried a magnet and it's sticking hard (hoping for lead instead of steel). Should I keep grinding down? There has to be a seam right?? Maybe it was replaced already? Don't want to grind to much.

 

[tpj71mach]

Ok, decided to do the quarters first! Gonna do full quarters. Found one seam easy. Went to the other side and nothing there! Tried a magnet and it's sticking hard (hoping for lead instead of steel). Should I keep grinding down? There has to be a seam right?? Maybe it was replaced already? Don't want to grind to much.

It looks like there is a lead filled seam there to me in the third pic, or it could be a metal finished plate welded in. If the quarter was replaced previously, they might have welded sheet metal over the seam and metal finished it. This is an alternate way to finish the seam, as most people who know how to work lead are all at least retired if not passed on. The manufacturers used lead because it needed to be thicker than you would want filler to be for a lasting repair, especially the fillers they had back then. I have done lead once on a car that I hung quarters for a friend on years ago, An older retired friend that I used to work with showed me some techniques. I got it done after a lot of trial and error, but swore to never do that again, lol.
This is how I finished the quarter/roof seams when I have hung new quarters. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the metal finishing completed before filler was applied, but I attached a couple in progress pictures on my 69 Camaro. I hung new quarters and a new roof on that car. I welded in a piece of sheet metal over the seam and metal finished it. that way, it only needed a skim coat of filler to finish.
If your quarter has been replaced previously, the installer may have used this technique. I actually have thought when I have done this process that I would not want to be the guy who has to remove this, it ain't gong to be easy. You need to grind down to sheet metal and see if you find something that looks like the first picture. It will be more difficult to take apart if they did it this way than just grinding out lead, but it is possible. You would just need to separate the sheet metal patch to leave yourself a good mounting point for the new quarter. Hopefully, it is just lead that needs to be cleaned out there, that will be a lot easier, good luck.

 

[71pony]

Sorry, been busy and had a wedding to go to. Thanks for the response. This weekend I will take some more off and find that seam! Thanks for the photos you posted. I'm hoping for a factory seam to make it much easier! Hope my quarter looks like your finished one when I'm done! I'll post photos of what I find.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Funny, when I first saw your post, it reminded me of Click and Clack; Tom Magliozzi’s 1965 AMC Ambassador that he loved. I think he called it the Sleek Black Beauty. The story goes, his brother, Ray, sent the car to the crusher, and he never forgave him or let him forget it.

Let’s hope that doesn’t happen here. But, for now, I’m like living vicariously through your discovery and efforts. You’re about 1 year ahead of me. I’m gonna wait for you to finish. I know you can do it!

 

[tony-muscle]

When you get to redoing the floors look over my thread. I tackle this job a few years ago and didn't have previous bodywork or welding experience. I learnt a lot through the process. Many of the forum experts pitched in so it is a good thread to look at the process.

https://7173mustangs.com/threads/muscletang-needs-new-floor-pans-advice.19765/