How to repair rust under Battery tray?

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

I also ordered the piece that goes under the inner fender panel that the battery tray bolts to from the Ebay seller. It is a nice part. PO of 72 vert I have put the inner fender in and did not have the reinforcement so I have to remove again to get it in place. The battery tray that Daniel Carpenter makes is exactly the same also. I think they got the Ford tooling for it.

You should mix up some soda and neutralize any remain battery acid in the area also. If you can blast the frame rail I would then phosphate and put POR on it then the satin black.

Taking the fender off is not a big task just a few bolts. The most difficult are the ones in the grill headlight area. You should take fenders off anyway to clean out the trash in the bottoms of them. Also the sealer cracks around the torque boxes and needs to be cleaned off and sealed back up to stop rust.  some pics of my 73 that I removed the fenders and cleaned and put back on.

You just need lots of clamps, long reach vise grips and such work great. You can also put sheet metal screws in to hold until you get welded then weld up those holes.

Welding is not difficult and just takes practice like anything. It is like any new skill just takes time and a desire to learn it.

You might check pawn shops for a used welder but have someone that knows them check it out.  

And yes under the fenders on this car was painted body color some more than others. This is an original car not painted. You can also see the drain for the cowl which should be cleaned out. I also put POR inside the cowl to seal up good then put a stainless steel scrubber pad in the drain opening so mice cannot get back in. Also put the mesh wire under the cowl vents to keep them out there also.

If you are afraid to tackle doing all the removal and cleaning of the rust and prep will save you lots. Just have someone that knows how to weld body panels put the parts in and you put back together. Nuts and bolts anyone can do.

David

 

[tony-muscle]

I am going to repair a badly rusted inner fender well on my 1973 Grandé. can anyone tell me a) if the fender needs to come off, and b) how many spot welds I will encounter and where?

Thanks guys and gals!

This is a link to a pictorial of how I did it. I jut cut off the section of the apron that was rusted and replaced it with a repro section. I tried to keep as much as possible from the original sheetmetal. As mentioned, the harder spot welds to remove are the ones that attach it to the headlights panel. In my case I was able to reuse the apron reinforcing bracket that doesn't come with the repo apron. 

https://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-muscletang-mod-project-thread-1971-m-mach-1?pid=317366#pid317366

BTW, I have a extra new battery bracket. I had it purchased but then realized mine was not that bad and reused it. Let me know if you are interested and we can figure out something.