MuscleTang mod project thread (1971 M-Mach 1)

[turtle5353]

If your not wanting to replace the whole pieces, do as you said and cut out what is bad and patch it in. I wouldn't worry about butt welding those areas to make an invisible repair. Cut out the bad spots and make your patch1/2"-3/4" bigger than the hole. Punch some holes in the patch so you can spot weld it around the perimeter. finish them off with body seam sealer and some undercoating. Shouldn't be too bad of a repair. You got this!! The floor pans turned out great so this will be easy peasey for you! Good luck and keep us posted. Also if you don't want to make the patches yourself, you can do what I did and buy the out wheel housing and cut the part off you need. It saves a ton of time and fits great.

Wow.... you had rust exactly in the same places. Thanks for the pictures.

I will guess is common. The design of that area is the perfect moisture trap so I am not surprised they commonly rust.

In my case I dont want to touch the exterior painted areas. Painting the car is not in my inmediate or medium term plans.

1971 M-code Mach 1

You shouldnt have to paint any outside structure if you weld to the inner structure. I welded to the existing inner fender well. Just don't weld to the lip of the quarter panel. You could use panel adhesive on the lip and clamp it over night. If at a later time you decide to paint you can always go back and weld to the quarter panel lip. But the panel adhesive will hold up fine.

 

[tony-muscle]

Also if you don't want to make the patches yourself, you can do what I did and buy the out wheel housing and cut the part off you need. It saves a ton of time and fits great.

At first I was thinking why buy the whole wheel housing just for that small piece, but now I am leaning more towards that option. It will be more expensive, but like you say, it will save me a lot of time. Actually, I may purchase the two wheel housings and not the trunk drop off. The piece of the trunk drop off I need is flat, except for a portion of the rib that I should be able to approximately shape.

 

[basstrix]

Tony, I'm in the same boat...I need a small section of the wheel house and also a trunk drop so I can match them up.

 

[turtle5353]

Also if you don't want to make the patches yourself, you can do what I did and buy the out wheel housing and cut the part off you need. It saves a ton of time and fits great.

At first I was thinking why buy the whole wheel housing just for that small piece, but now I am leaning more towards that option. It will be more expensive, but like you say, it will save me a lot of time. Actually, I may purchase the two wheel housings and not the trunk drop off. The piece of the trunk drop off I need is flat, except for a portion of the rib that I should be able to approximately shape.

Tony which side trunk drop off do you need?? I have a spare passenger side one you can have if you want.

 

[tony-muscle]

Also if you don't want to make the patches yourself, you can do what I did and buy the out wheel housing and cut the part off you need. It saves a ton of time and fits great.

At first I was thinking why buy the whole wheel housing just for that small piece, but now I am leaning more towards that option. It will be more expensive, but like you say, it will save me a lot of time. Actually, I may purchase the two wheel housings and not the trunk drop off. The piece of the trunk drop off I need is flat, except for a portion of the rib that I should be able to approximately shape.

Tony which side trunk drop off do you need?? I have a spare passenger side one you can have if you want.

Thank you for the offer. Unfortunately, I need the driver's side. However, I need a very small piece and flat, so it should be easy to recreate. I have a lot of sheetmetal in the garage to use.

 

[tony-muscle]

Tony, I'm in the same boat...I need a small section of the wheel house and also a trunk drop so I can match them up.

I assume you need the same section of the wheel house as me. Otherwise we could figure out a way to share one.

 

[basstrix]

I need the rear lower portion of the passenger side wheelhouse....exactly like the one in Turtle's thread where I asked him a question about it.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-new-project-for-this-winter-71-mach-1?pid=286638#pid286638

 

[turtle5353]

I need the rear lower portion of the passenger side wheelhouse....exactly like the one in Turtle's thread where I asked him a question about it.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-new-project-for-this-winter-71-mach-1?pid=286638#pid286638

Do you need the trunk drop off? You can have my passenger side one if you need it

 

[basstrix]

Do you need the trunk drop off? You can have my passenger side one if you need it

Thanks Kevin, much appreciated. The drivers side is the one I'd need to match up with the style you have. The guy I bought my passenger side from still has the drivers side, so I'm planning to get that and a wheelhouse from him.

 

[mach71351c]

Hey Tony, I bought left and right wheel houses. I found it to be worth the money because all of the curves and contours in the patch. I did have rust repair in front and rear of my wheel wells.

For your repair and not to disturb your nice paint I would do what Kevin said and use panel adhesive. In fact I don't think I would weld it at all. Just panel adhesive,finish it out smooth,undercoat wheel well,call it good.

When I did my cowl repair I just used panel adhesive and I feel it was a very good repair.

 

[tony-muscle]

Hey Tony, I bought left and right wheel houses. I found it to be worth the money because all of the curves and contours in the patch. I did have rust repair in front and rear of my wheel wells.

For your repair and not to disturb your nice paint I would do what Kevin said and use panel adhesive. In fact I don't think I would weld it at all. Just panel adhesive,finish it out smooth,undercoat wheel well,call it good.

When I did my cowl repair I just used panel adhesive and I feel it was a very good repair.

Thank you. Where did you find the cowl hat separately?

 

[mach71351c]

I cut it out of a 73 parts car I had. It cleaned up well after sand blasting.

 

[tony-muscle]

I cut it out of a 73 parts car I had. It cleaned up well after sand blasting.

Nice::thumb::. I need one!

 

[basstrix]

Mach71351c, did you do the cowl install from above or below? I'm repairing a leaky, but not rusted through, cowl vent on my ranchero.

Tony, sorry about the brief hijack.

 

[mach71351c]

Mach71351c, did you do the cowl install from above or below? I'm repairing a leaky, but not rusted through, cowl vent on my ranchero.

Tony, sorry about the brief hijack.

The baffle was rusted so I cut it out and installed the replacement from the bottom.

 

[basstrix]

Thanks, I'll have to reconsider my current plan of attack.

 

[tony-muscle]

Mach71351c, did you do the cowl install from above or below? I'm repairing a leaky, but not rusted through, cowl vent on my ranchero.

Tony, sorry about the brief hijack.

The baffle was rusted so I cut it out and installed the replacement from the bottom.

Clever. So technically speaking, one can fix a rusty cowl hat from inside the car without removing the upper cowl half, right? Cut the hat and rusty surroundings and then glue/weld a replacement piece all from inside the car. One could use seam sealer on the outer edge of the replacement piece to seal the seam on the exterior side. This will simplify things a lot. Never thought about it.

 

[turtle5353]

Mach71351c, did you do the cowl install from above or below? I'm repairing a leaky, but not rusted through, cowl vent on my ranchero.

Tony, sorry about the brief hijack.

The baffle was rusted so I cut it out and installed the replacement from the bottom.

Clever. So technically speaking, one can fix a rusty cowl hat from inside the car without removing the upper cowl half, right? Cut the hat and rusty surroundings and then glue/weld a replacement piece all from inside the car. One could use seam sealer on the outer edge of the replacement piece to seal the seam on the exterior side. This will simplify things a lot. Never thought about it.

That's a pretty good idea if the rust is not too bad! Way better than a wet floor.

 

[basstrix]

That's the situation with my ranchero. It leaks from between the stovepipe and lower flange and I can't find any rust. The current plan is to use a plastic stovepipe sold in those kits they offer. Remove the lower flange (with studs), cut the stovepipe out, clean up the metal and coat with rust bullet, then sandwich the plastic stovepipe between the cowl and lower flange. Attach the lower flange with stainless flathead screws.

Tony, I thought of welding in a patch from below but was concerned about what might happen on the upper surface of the cowl after welding. I think it would burn the coating off and leave bare metal. The adhesive solves that problem.

 

[tony-muscle]

Tony, I thought of welding in a patch from below but was concerned about what might happen on the upper surface of the cowl after welding. I think it would burn the coating off and leave bare metal. The adhesive solves that problem.

You are correct. You could recoat the upper surface of the cowl towards the middle (left) of the car through the upper cowl openings, but not the areas towards the outside of the car (right side).