Unibody question..

[Barber]

As I said in my introduction post, I plan on starting the full restoration of my Mach 1 as soon as my Falcon is finished...

My question is, to those that have done it.. when you seperate the front and rear frame sections from the body, do they have to be lined up when they are married back together... or will the bolts line them up... I mean, is there enough play in the mounts that it would/could cause the frame sections to be out of square and cause alignment problems ??

 

[kcmash]

As I said in my introduction post, I plan on starting the full restoration of my Mach 1 as soon as my Falcon is finished...

My question is, to those that have done it.. when you seperate the front and rear frame sections from the body, do they have to be lined up when they are married back together... or will the bolts line them up... I mean, is there enough play in the mounts that it would/could cause the frame sections to be out of square and cause alignment problems ??

I;m sure others on this forum are much more qualified to answer this, but I will give it a shot.

First off I think you ought to farm out the frame welding if you have questions like that. The frame rails are structural and there are some recent posts on this site cautioning the use of improper welds on unibody cars.

Next, the answer to your question is that you must align replacement frame rails properly. The only things bolting to the rear rails are the leaf springs, and I doubt they have enough play to go together if the alignment is off, The front rails are spaced by crossmembers, as are the rears, so as long as you are square with your assembly, the spacing should be correct.

I'll shut up for now. Good luck, and build it safe!

kcmash

 

[RacerX]

These cars are a Unibody design, frame and body are one unit. There is no removable frame, front or rear. No frame mounts that bolt on.

If the frame has rust or damage, spot welds have to be drilled out and sheetmetal replaced and welded back into location by spot or plug welding.

If your car needs frame components replaced, the factory frame measurements are documented and need to be checked/confirmed before reattaching new parts. A Google search will turn up several frame measurement docs as well as searching the forums here.

 

[Barber]

There is no removable frame, front or rear. No frame mounts that bolt on.

Your ******* me.... sweet.... It's been years since I've been under my car (in storage), so I couldn't quite remember just how it was put together.... but no, my frames is fine, at least it was the last time I saw it... I was only going to seperate for paint... but now that, that question is answered, I'm golden.... thanks pal..

 

[Boss1Ray]

This earlier thread should help some.

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-frame-straightening

Ray

 

[Kit Sullivan]

Even today, many are flummoxed trying to comprehend the difference between a full-frame vehicle as opposed to unit construction ( "unitized" or "unibody").

Whenever I hear of a "frame-off restoration" on a Mustang, I always chuckle a little inside.

 

[Barber]

Yeah I know what unibody means... But I couldn't remember if it was bolted together or not... I know on a lot of the newer unibodys, you can unbolt the front and drop the engine out the bottom....

What I'm trying to say is, I'm not a rookie... I've turned a wrench or to in my days.... I just couldn't remember how it was attached..

 

[Bill73Ragtop]

Actually, from what I have been told from long time Falcon and Mustang enthusiasts, the first Mustangs were built based on the Falcon uni-body construction....it was called Project X.

 

[Barber]

I've always heard that myself... that the Mustang was built off the Falcon platform.. I don't know about the project X though..

 

[Kit Sullivan]

Yep, the first Mustang was a budget-friendly Falcon re-skinning. "Projext X" was an early name for the program. It progressed through several names: Cougar, Thunderbird-II, Puma, Torina ( then Torino), Colt and of course...Mustang. I think they picked the right name.

 

[Barber]

Yeah... I don't think Mach 1 Puma rolls off the tounge as well...

 

[Kit Sullivan]

Believe it or not, the Puma has been a pretty popular European Ford vehicle for many years. But i'm with ya'...it sounds stupid to me.

Bob Eggert, who was the Ford guy repsonsible for the process of naming new products at Ford originated the idea of adding "Mustang" to the list of possible candidates for the name of the new special project.

But, Ford officially credits John Najjar, Executive Stylist at the time with coining the name. Eggert says it was inspired by his love of horses, while Najjar is said to have used the "P-51" warplane as his inspiration. Who really knows?

Funny thing: The name "Mustang" was in use at the time in Europe by "Krupps" for a line of trucks, as well as a bicycle manufacturer. It would have cost Ford less than $10,000 to secure the rights to the name there, but apparently they figured it was not going to sell enough to be worth the investment! Wow!

So, as we all know: "T-5" was the pony's designation there until 1978.

I think "Maverick" may have been an early contender also...

 

[luxstang]

Well, puma is the German word for cougar or mountain lion.

Kit, the European Ford Puma did not really sell that well here in Europe which is why it was discontinued pretty soon.

They did quite a cool commercial for it though. They edited the Puma into footage from Bullitt and Steve McQueen was driving it with the help of cgi graphics.


Found it

http://youtu.be/3n09mLD9JUA

 

[Mister 4x4]

"Bolt on front clip?" If only...

I've been through the whole front clip replacement ordeal and I'm here to tell ya - it's both a lot more work than most should consider, and it's not as daunting as it might seem (with all things considered to having the right tools, documentation, skills, and encouragement).

I know exactly what you were thinking about pulling the front clip for painting purposes - my pal Gonzo took on a '70 Camaro Z/28 project about the same time I started in on my Mustang, and I remember being so jealous when he had his whole front frame rail assembly unbolted from the car and rolling it around in the shop while cleaning, stripping, and painting it.

 

[Kit Sullivan]

Really? The Puma was not a good seller? I thought it was...

I've seen the "Bullitt" commercial...pretty nifty.

There is another Puma commercial where car tries to crush a cat in the sunroof for walking on it...or something like that! I saw it years ago, thought it was funny. I think it was abandoned due to some animal-cruelty crusaders.

 

[Mister 4x4]

I think you're thinking of the Ford SportKa.

 

[Kit Sullivan]

Yep...that is the one!

 

[Bill73Ragtop]

OMG...certainly understandable why that ad did not last long !

 

[Mister 4x4]

I like the one with the pigeon as well: