DETAILING THE UNDERSIDE

[Qcode351mach]

Doing up the underside of the 429 car I purchased last year..Lots of stuff that was done kinda not so good..Dumped those stupid air shocks..got rid of the hack extend-o shackles--pulled the tank to refinish with eastwood tank tone--got rid of the obnoxious unfinished exhaust system (have a new pypes 2.5 system with x pipe) Wire wheeled cleaned & prepped the the entire bottom..Applying 2 coats of s.e.m. flat black rust shield..more to come as we go

 

[MechEng]

How did you wire wheel the entire underside?! Did you actually do it laying on your back under the car? I need to do something similar to this to my car. Great work!

 

[matrixx]

I'm going to do this soon. Fortunatley my dad installed a lift in his garage 10 years ago. Has made so much of these jobs much easier. I would definitly wear a facemask with filter and full suit. A painters suit should do the trick to avoid all the dust and rust from wirewheeling.

 

[imusa76]

I just thought of this, was there lead in the paint back in 71-73??

if yes then this brings up a whole new set of safety measures we need to take while stripping the paint, and under carriages of these cars.

and it figures I think of this after I'm done :s

 

[Qcode351mach]

How did you wire wheel the entire underside?! Did you actually do it laying on your back under the car? I need to do something similar to this to my car. Great work!

Look at the last pic..see the white marshmallow ...full suit..respirator..etc..not a paper dust mask..

 

[jeff8877]

Guys,

I am doing the same thing right now on my Mach. I have done this twice before on other stangs and it will turn out real nice but does take time on your back.

The process that I have used is...

Scrape away as much dirt/grime as possible with a small wood chisel. Don't press hard because you want to remove without gouging the paint.

Wire wheel with a very flexible wire on a drill...one that does not scratch too much or remove the factory paint. This works well where you have mostly dirt but if you have oil/grease then I use a preliminary step...

Get a rag and soak with laquer thinner and wipe as much oil/grease off as possible...then wire wheel.

After 90% of dirt and oil is gone then I use a spray bottle of something like purple power...spray on a section and scrub with pad to make sure all oil/dirt is gone and loose. Next rinse with water and let dry and your ready to prime.

Prime and then paint...turns out really nice.

Jeff

 

[Qcode351mach]

How did you wire wheel the entire underside?! Did you actually do it laying on your back under the car? I need to do something similar to this to my car. Great work!

Thanks..Yep see the stands for the front wheels..drive up..then jack up the back...then jack stands..

We start by power washing the underside with simple green purple..

 

[mach71351c]

All & all it looks nice and solid.

 

[Cole]

Yep front drive ups are cool. Got some 2x10"s in the back yard. Thanks for the tip!

 

[87fox72mach]

So what is the best respirator to wear when wire wheelin rust other than a supplied air hood?

 

[caspianwendell]

Did you find any rust?

 

[Qcode351mach]

All & all it looks nice and solid.

It is

One of the reasons I bought it..

Did you find any rust?

There is like NO rust on this car..Pretty amazing even the cowl ..inside the door pillars torque boxes..lower parts of the doors.. floors all extremely rust free..Just surface rust on the bottom rear half..It all came off with wire wheeling.. Who ever had this car from new really took care of it..It must have been garaged from the get go..The prior owner did have a rear body panel & small lower section of the rear otrs replaced..but who ever did it..did a nice job..

 

[Obsidian11]

Looking good!

 

[bkdunha]

I guess you could say I got out of this on the expensive side by replacing both floor pans the trunk pan and the front frame sections. Only think left to clean was the transition from trunk to floors. Wished I could have spent more time on my back cleaning vs. time at my work getting the money to pay for all of that work. Oh well!

Q is that welds around the upper shock mount?? Just curious if so, why?

 

[Talontwo]

Looks like you had to weld up the upper shock mount, or was that the PO?

Had Air shocks on the rear of mine from the PO and I had to weld up the cracks!

I'm seeing a trend with air shocks.......:dodgy:

T2

 

[caspianwendell]

All & all it looks nice and solid.

It is

One of the reasons I bought it..

Did you find any rust?

There is like NO rust on this car..Pretty amazing even the cowl ..inside the door pillars torque boxes..lower parts of the doors.. floors all extremely rust free..Just surface rust on the bottom rear half..It all came off with wire wheeling.. Who ever had this car from new really took care of it..It must have been garaged from the get go..The prior owner did have a rear body panel & small lower section of the rear otrs replaced..but who ever did it..did a nice job..

That's good

 

[MotoArts]

We start by power washing the underside with simple green purple..

X2!

Soaks ya to yer shorts, but is well worth the outcome.

I ended up bending the metal tubing on the sprayer wand about 30 degrees up towards the tip end. Works much nicer than the straight deal for getting up in places that need gettin' up in to.

Please be sure to give a review of the Pypes X kit. I'd be interested!

 

[Mister 4x4]

Awesome stuff, Q! ::thumb::

What is up with all the "old-ass airshocks & boogered shock pockets," anyway? I thought I had the market cornered on that.

Please be sure to give a review of the Pypes X kit. I'd be interested!

I know I love mine.

2.5" stainless w/X-pipe, Pypes Street Pro mufflers, all behind Hooker ceramic-coated Competition Headers. Picked it up from Summit Racing. Easy to install, kit was complete, everything fits perfectly. The Street Pro muffler exhaust note sounds a lot like Flowmasters (or at least what I've heard on YouTube), and came with the kit.

 

[Qcode351mach]

Looks like you had to weld up the upper shock mount, or was that the PO?

Had Air shocks on the rear of mine from the PO and I had to weld up the cracks!

I'm seeing a trend with air shocks.......:dodgy:

T2

Thats not my welding !!!! Must have been the p.o. or who ever he got it from..We got rid of most of that junk..gonna do it 110% when I really do this up after the q-code is finished..Yep, not sure what the deal is with air shocks & these cars ..I guess it's the easy cheap way out instead of replacing the leaf springs..

Q is that welds around the upper shock mount?? Just curious if so, why?

Yep... prior hack to repair a cracked shock mount hole..most likely from the air shock..Thats a benefit of using air shocks... NOT

Some pics after todays session