Grabber Green 71 mach 1 restomod

[stevehcode]

Made a little progress today and thought id give a little tutorial on panel replacement if any of you are interested in doing the same on your car. First I started removing the quarter extensions by laying a tape line to where I want to cut

then I cut my line making sure not go through the outer wheel well where the panels meet in the wheel arch

these tools are your best friend for what's coming next

next your going to mark all the spot welds around the perimeter with the centerpunch and begin drilling.normally you only want to go through the first layer of metal but I knew I had to change the dropoffs so I went on through

once your done drilling you take a hammer and seam buster and separate the panels from each other

heres pics of both sides out and dropoffs cutout.I dropped the leaf springs to let pressure off the rear portion of the frame rails so i take no chance of the rail bending due to pressure once I get the tailight panel and trunk floor removed.

 

[stevehcode]

Ive had a few side jobs ive been working on so the mach 1 is on the backburner for the week. Bought basically everything to complete the back half of the car on Saturday and just got the tailight panel out this evening, also got started on the trunk pan.

 

[73vertproject]

Lookin' good, Steve! ::thumb::

 

[stevehcode]

Finally have had a little time to work on the car between some side jobs the past couple of days. I was able to remove the trunk pan yesterday then prep and fit for the new pan being installed.I ground the frame rails down and weld thru primed them. Next I will mount the gas tank brace to the new pan, lay the pan in, then mock everything up including the gas tank, filler neck, tailight panel and trunk to test alignment before I begin welding.

 

[rottenralph]

I am mind boggled at the sheer enormity of what you are undertaking. My car would be a complete mess if I cutoff anything and attempted to put it back on. You have some pretty useful skills indeed.

 

[stevehcode]

Thank you rottenralph.its looks intimidating for sure and not really something id recommend the diy'er to do mainly because the back half of the car is so flexible at this point.its very easy to misalignment welding a new panel in which can cause a chain effect on the fitment of everything on the rear of the car.it definately helps that I do this everyday at work as well.

 

[Qcode351mach]

looks great nice work..The one thing i'd recommend though is to epoxy prime Inside the rails..rear crossmember..epoxy prime the pan..BEFORE you weld it in..You then take a dremel with a small stone bit..poke it through the plug weld hole remove the epoxy prior to welding..I know you may say that you've used weld through but guess what on a side to side comparison the weld through always seem to rust at the weld..I used to do it that way till I saw real world how doing the way I said will not rust..I've left welds uncovered for over a year doing it the epoxy primer way not one spot of rust vs. weld through which starts rusting in week.

 

[protouringstang73]

Looking good, it is going to be a nice car!

 

[stevehcode]

Thanks! Great advice qcode351mach.I might just leave what ive already done on the rails but that's a much better solution for the back side of the pan. Ill def be doing that as I don't want to leave it bare metal where the rails close it in once its welded.

 

[DK73]

Hi Steve that's iss A Wonderfull work your are duing:-D Regards DK73

Regards DK73

 

[71_resurrection]

Steve, gonna need you to come live in my garage and do the back end sheet metal replacement on my car! Looks great man, keep up the good work!

 

[stevehcode]

Thanks dk73 and 71_resurrection.3k miles is a little far for me man.lol best thing I can do is coach you through it!

 

[mach71351c]

Nice work. Keep the pics coming.

 

[stevehcode]

Got a bit done on prepping the trunk pan this evening. Went ahead and mounted the tank to line up the front mount and welded it in. Then sanded and epoxy primed the backside of the pan.ive got it pretty much lined up where it needs to be just gotta drill all my holes for spot welds then start welding it in tomorrow hopefully.

 

[Qcode351mach]

Good job..Your going to be impressed when you start welding & you see how well the epoxy handles the heat...After you dress the plug welds you can just dab some epoxy on them with a acid brush. I pretty much epoxy prime any new part sheet metal BEFORE installation.

 

[1973grandeklar]

Wow, that is looking really nice! I would sure like to see this car in person sometime (and shake your hand for being so darn good with sheetmetal restoration)!

 

[stevehcode]

Killed it for 5 hours in the shop tonight and really got alot accomplished.fit the pan, screwed it into place then outlined from the bottomside where the framerails lay so I can drill my holes for the spot welds.

then I screwed and clamped the pan back into place and began to weld.

last I ground down all my spot welds.

 

[stevehcode]

Really impressed by the epoxy primer qcode351mach. And thanks 1973grandeklar your welcome to come by anytime. Im only about 45 minutes from Burlington

 

[73MustangCoupe]

That is coming out great! Love the pictures, thanks for posting them. Keep up the good work!!

 

[DK73]

Wow it's looks good;-)

Regards DK73