Catch up on progress to date part 1

I've been somewhat remiss about blogging. I have however had some time to work on the car... though progress may not seem like much.
While I was working on the heater, there were other things I was working on as well when weather permitted


Here it is with the with the hood off (behind me)..


I've been dismantling the car in the following ways


1. Completely cut out the remaining floor pan, and toe boards.

2. Removing fenders and doors and trunk lid.

3. Removing all glass

4. Removing front and rear suspension including rear axle

5. Removed exhaust.

6. Removed fuel lines and fuel tank.

7. Removed rear bumper.

There are are a few reasons for this.

1. while working on the car, it got knocked off the jack stands, and rolled down the driveway effectively removing the passenger side floor when it got hung up on the pile of wood and jack stands which got wedged up under it effectively halting its progress towards the street.yeah this very nearly ended the progress on the car, as I figured it would be easier to call the wreckers to come get the car off of our neighbors redwood tree than it would be to get it back up the driveway.Ultimately I drilled a hole at the top of the driveway to insert a bolt to which I attached a come along, and spent the rest of the day cranking the car up the driveway a few inches at a time.

2. Shortly thereafter, a scrap metal scavenger came up the driveway and stole the bumper, bumper brackets, radiator and oil cooler. in the process removing much of the grille.

3. With welding in the floor pan of the driver side being awkward already with the Transmission in the way, the case for removing engine and trans became more clear, as the passenger floor pan had been 'removed' for me already by my now bent jack stand and it also would need to be replaced before the gar got on the road

4. Given the other three reasons, and the clear knowledge the car would not be going anywhere anytime soon, I figured I might as well pull the engine and trans to make the rest of the work on the car easier, and to have the luxury of working on them in the basement rather than leaning over or crawling under the car.thus, I started dismantling the car starting with the hood (to make engine removal easier) and the grille which had been partly removed 'for me' already.


with that, I began the process of taking the engine out.






Engine out.........

Fenders, and doors, and windows gone.
After removing the passenger side of the floor pan, some of the damage from the roll down the hill is still evident in the portion that remains...it took quite a hit, buckling the whole floor up.












The driver side floor pan partially welded in had become rusty, so I ground it down, cleaned the rust off with phosphoric acid, and coated it with red epoxy to keep rust at bay until we wire brush, acid wash and prime the entire interior.




















Given the extent of the dis-assembly, I ordered some replacement parts for the convertible mustang, which were used to re-enforce the topless version of the mustang (and cougar which shares the majority of the unibody with the mustang...only there was no convertible version until the 69 model year.)

The intent is to add some of these factory re-enforcements to make the notoriously flimsy mustang/cougar/falcon chassis stiffer for better handling.

The parts required are;

1. Inner rocker panel re-enforcements which will add to the longitudinal stiffness.

2. Passenger side front torque box... included in 68 mustang and cougars, but not 67's ... this is for torsional rigidity at the firewall.

3. Convertible seat platform. The platforms to which the seat bolts were mostly rusted out, and though possibly salvageable, the convertible seat platform goes all the way across the car, joining the frame rails on each side, creating a box section to increase torsional rigidity.

4. Under car convertible box re-enforcements. These tie to the rocker rails, and to the convertible seat platform above, further increasing the section of the box section.

5. Convertible sub-frame rails. these were shot on the coupe, and are of heavier gauge material, and are formed to attach to the under seat re-enforcements used on the convertible.The above modifications are similar to changes made by ford racing when they built their 65 mustang fastback 'cammer' to showcase the new 32 valve racing V8 which was introduced in 05.

The changes in question would be represented by the areas highlighted in red.This has been reported to increase rigidity a great deal. These parts were purchased nearly two three years ago, and have either been stored inside of the (leaky) car, or in the basement.... in fact, all the replacement panels were, so before putting them on, they have to be ground, and treated with acid to remove all traces of rust.... then I'm coating them with red epoxy primer to keep the corrosion at bay...Final primer will happen after all the cutting and welding.

For starters, Because I already had one floor pan in, and the inner rocker of the coupe was solid, I drilled all the spot welds off of the convertible inner rockers to separate the attached panel.

This saves some weight, makes it easier to prime the inside, and makes fitment easier.


Because I'm doing this work in the driveway that is not level, I was hesitant to cut the rear torque boxes for fitment of the increased cross section rockers. after months of analysis paralysis of weighing time against the possibility of marginal change in rigidity, I opted to leave the rear torque boxes alone, and cut the new panel around them. I assume the results will be similar once the new component is welded securely to the face of the torque box.

Once both were cut (note the high tech fabrication station, and sophisticated full spectrum lighting), it was time to test fit against the torque boxes (rear)
The rocker on the passenger side was most straight forward, as without floor panels, or a front torque box to get in the way, trimming and clamping was easy

As you can see, the rocker passes through the section where the new front torque box Will go (some trimming will be required)
Note also that the sub frame has been partially removed in preparation for attaching the convertible sub frame. Here it will tie into the transmission cross member adding further torsional rigidity.
Drivers side fitment - rear torque box.

















Here you can see how the rocker addition will butt up against the rear torque box and be welded in place.

You'll notice the can of chalkboard paint, it's a critical component of the process....

Applying a layer now can streamline other processes in an important way...

It let's my daughter add her creative touches to the car.

On the other side of the car, She has begun the process of applying (water) color.
More to come