67 Mustang GTA 390 Fastback Restoration project begins

[brennan67]

And the women say we don't know how to shop!!
Enjoy the X-mas box.

yeah when we spend we do it properly...

[brennan67]

Ok so last week thursday the sea freight container arrived with a few cars and my parts. Wow I dont think I have been this excited to receive parts ever.. So used to ordering bits a and pieces so to receive a motherload of parts was killer and the right way to do it I think as it works out a lot cheaper.

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I have definitely ordered a lot more body parts than I need but the way I figure it rather be safe than sorry.
As an example I ordered a complete floor pan but I probably only need sections of it. So I will need to make the call whether to replace all or repair. The idea being to keep as much of original as makes sense.

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Then complete door skins but I only need the bottom sections. which have slight rust.

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My Quarter panels have been flared and butchered. So I bought complete Quarter panels. I now need to decide if I should replace just the small section that has been flared out like this :

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or replace the entire panel like this :

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Maybe some of you metal fabrication experts can give me some ideas?
So next is to work out my Plan Of Action and I hope to get started End June early July..!

[brennan67]

Ok so I have taken a bit of time off to finish my F250 now thats done I am now starting on the Mustang.

I have decided that I will start the the front of the car and tackle the engine bay 1st, upon close inspection there is a lot of work here to be done.

Rather than send the car for media blasting I have chosen to chemically strip the car for the following reasons:

1. I dont trust these guys, in that they promise you to be careful and use XYZ, but in the end they give it to a worker who just does not care and they use any old media and warp panels.

2. Because I am doing a factory original restoration, I need to remove all layers of paint to reveal the factory process and document via photos so I know exactly how to re apply. If i gave this out for blasting all this info would be lost.

3. I am doing section for section panel for panel and media blaster would just apply budget oxide primer on my car where I am using high end epoxy primers matched to the colours of how Ford would have done it.

So here are some pics of what I started out with :

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As you can see the previous owner painted the inner fenders with black paint over the factory sound deadener

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Its quite weird but i get excited when peeling back the layers it tells a story and when I see the original Dark Moss Green factory paint it makes me happy.


Here is a picture of the shock tower area all cleaned up with a little more of that Green paint I love..

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Then here is some of the factory original Red oxide colour primer. I will go out and match this paint colour and re apply in same areas as factory did. Must admit 1st time I have colour matched a primer that not many will ever get to see as it will be covered by topcoat and sound deadener.

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This is a picture of what it should look roughly like from under the car when its done. The red oxide gets applied under the engine compartment and left and on the inner fenders have body colour paint with sound deadener over with the engine compartment having red oxide covered with flat black.

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So this is the direction I am aiming. The weird thing is that Ford used different methods, paint colours on their Mustangs depending on the Plant of manufacture, so these images are a rough guide with the best reference been my actual car, in that I need to look at how my car was done and replicate that as it changed not just plant by plant but month by month and sometimes day by day ! Thats Ford..

[brennan67]

This is what it looked like after the chemical stripping :

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Notice the weld previous owner had done on the shock towers, That shoddy work will need to be repaired. These big block Mustangs were prone to tear the shock towers due to the high torque and weight of these motors. More on that later.

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Next step is to get the bare metal into primer, I am using Southern Polyurethane Epoxy Primers which is recommended by the guys on the Concours Mustang Forums. Not avail in SA so I had to specially import from USA. Its good stuff.

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http://www.southernpolyurethanes.com

Painted inner fenders :

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[Burnthosetyres]

You go boy.... slow & painfull process!

[Gavin RS]

Some awesome work going on there, nice going

[brennan67]

Ok so I had Andrew come in on Sat to do bodywork on the inner fenders/ engine bay.
The idea being that he needs to straighten out the metal and weld up what needs to be welded up.

This is the area behind the shock towers which had its fair share of dings and creases as well as bonnet hinge holes that have been butchered by a previous owner. I will need get these welded up with the correct case nuts installed.

But in the meantime Andrew attacked the inner panels with his hammer and dolly. Still a lot more work to be done there but this is a start :

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The shock towers are the next area which need to be fixed. As mentioned these Mustang big block cars are prone to tear the shock towers due to weight and torque. A previous owner had welded it poorly (see in yellow) as the metal had torn.

We can weld and grind back so it never looks like we had been there, but I decided to rather weld and fill in the area between the brace and the shock tower and add a lot more metal into this area. I am not sure if this is the right thing to do and will be soliciting some ideas and help from the guys at Concours Mustang Forum and if any of you guys have ideas on what i could do to make this
1. look original
2. make it strong

pls let me know?

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And on the other side, lots and lots of extra holes drilled for some reason, which will need to be welded closed. I just need to figure out which are original and what needs to be closed then we will tackle it.

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Some work on those shock towers :

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[jmvv]

Brilliant work so far.

My two cent's worth:
Seeing as you have the door skins and quarter panels, replace the panels completely.

I feel that the risk of running into issues with a "cut and paste" approach is far greater.

Also, if you are going for a "Concourse" restoration, you need to have all panels perfectly smooth without layers of body filler.

On another matter. Please make sure that you get all the chemical stripper out from the hidden crevices (like where two panels overlap). This stuff has a nasty habit of seeping out after a few months to destroy a perfect paint job with ugly stains.

Good luck and yes, it feels great when Christmas Father pays you and early visit.

[IndianaJones]

Looking great, very thorough work.

Not sure how you can strengthen the strut tower, and it still be concourse correct?
Seems from mid-year 1968 and later cars had strengthened shock towers, perhaps you could copy them?
http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/in ... pic=5080.0

[brennan67]

Looking great, very thorough work.

Not sure how you can strengthen the strut tower, and it still be concourse correct?
Seems from mid-year 1968 and later cars had strengthened shock towers, perhaps you could copy them?
http://www.concoursmustang.com/forum/in ... pic=5080.0

Thks..

yeah I did not see that post so thanks for the link. I am spending a lot of time over there, those guys are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Thats my issue I dont think it is possible to strengthen and keep it concours correct. I will need to make a call after all the car needs to be driven and the last think I want to do it back to original only for it to tear again.


JMVV

Yes we need to weld close a lot of those drilled holes added by PO (Previous Owner), I think he may have been Frikkie Foose himself of the 80's. A almost rust free car but a lot of small weird mods dome which i need to undo ! So once the holes are welded closed hammer, dolly and metal file will be called into action to make those panels as straight as possible.

Ntd on the chemical stripper. We made sure it was neutralised but it can get in there I know.. The good news is I am along way from painting and any reaction will show up and can be addressed in the next year I would think as I will need to re-apply primer where we have welded, ground and worked.

Dec hopefully when we are on leave will allow us to get some extra work done before Xmas.