67 Convertibuild

[scott66stang]

09-07-10

This is the new addition to the stable , 67 c code vert I took delivery of last week from Melbourne loaded with parts for my 66 fastback from BLKPNY . I viewed alot of pics that Steph sent me and on arrival there was no surprises as far as rust goes . This will be a back to back build of my 2 Mustangs , with the 66 Fastback taking priority. There is heaps of work to do with totally rusted floor and recently discovered accident damage on closer inspection. I had already purchased the floor and one rear skin locally well before delivery of the car as they came available , and have now compiled a nice long list of parts that will have to wait till spring , as autumn and winter has shred the money tree out the back to bits.

[scott66stang]

Plans are not a restomod as the fastback, but something a little different . RHD conversion again with std suspension and disc brakes , not going factory colour at this stage. I thought the original colour was the browny red as in the pics above but now have discovered it was lime gold with white/parchment interior and roof after a strip down and tag decode. Both are nice colours but not for me , i like red but that is well and truly done on convertibles. I am leaning more towards a late model Ford purple colour (Menace) with white/parchment roof and interior as my wife and 3 daughters will also get to drive this one on occasion and have given the thumbs up .

[scott66stang]

So after an assessment of the body and chassis, and a list of parts needed I was able to get stuck into it while the fastback is waiting for the temp to rise so I can do some painting.
1st of all I made up a Jig to keep it in shape while the floor is cut out . I dragged out a HQ holden chassis I had laying around ( who says Holdens are good for nuthin) this makes it mobile and I made it high for easy access underneath.

[scott66stang]

I have now removed the seat riser and 90% of the floor , cleaned out the rails and treated. I will have to repair or replace the rh inner sill rail and rebuild the rear torque boxes .

[scott66stang]

Meanwhile because I have the new LHR ¼ , I have cut of the old one that had been badly damaged and bogged up. And just test fitted the new to readjust the door gap , will need to clean up the frame and patch inner wheel arch before welding panel permanetly.

[scott66stang]

11-07-10

Got the repairs on the RH inner rail done today , but still need to rebuild the rear torque box area. The LH side is in good nic so will be good once cleaned up with a sand blast. The rail has rusted from the outside in , between the floor and rail so the inside was good and I got away with a repair rather than replace. Was a small section which had a small hole and lots of pitting between the front torque box and the under floor reinforcement pan , and a bigger area at the rear torque box.



Front section first

[scott66stang]

The back section I decided to do a little “Tutorial” :pop: for those who havent done this sort of stuff and wanted to have a crack.
I forgot to get a pic of it cut out :banghead: but you can see the section in another pic where I have decided to bend up and plug weld in a extra reinforcement behind the patch , just to be satisfied it is strong in that crucial area.

Area to be repaired




First cut out the section and lay a piece of paper folded to shape if necessary , taped in position over the hole . Then run a “dirty finger” which you will have if your doing the job right , over the cut areas to leave a marked line. Cut out and transfer the pattern on to the steel also marking any folds , cut out marked shape with shears or a thin grinding disc and bend to shape after checking 2-10 times you are folding it the right way. Stuffed that up many times.
Make sure both mating surfaces are ground very clean , position metal and tack weld with the 2 pieces flush in one corner , you can then pull out or hammer in the other corners and tack before fully welding. Use a flap disc to clean up and check welds.
Hope that this will help someone.

Extra reinforcement


welded in , plug welds marked in red


marking cut out


Transferred and cut out


Ready for welding in

welded and cleaned up

[scott66stang]

14-07-10

left and right rear torque boxes are now repaired and all the chassis rails except the front and under floor reinforcement pan have been sandblasted and primed

[scott66stang]

New floor section welded in and seam sealed. Now i need to clean up and refit the seat riser and wait till i get the new "rear floor to shock support to boot" section from the US along with the rest of the parts i need.

[scott66stang]

Busy day today , removed the inner and outer cowls , dash , steering column







As you can see the Rh side firewall , floor and kickpanel has previously had a bit of a bash and has been bogy repaired. I wasn’t too concerned about this , especially after I checked all the chassis measurements and all was good . I am doing the RHD conversion anyway , and with everything apart and getting replaced new it should go back into place with careful measurements. Before I pulled it apart , I also borrowed my mates porta pack and pushed the rh pillar and kickpanel into position and realigned the door to the rear quarter for future ¼ panel replacement.

[hybrid]

Wow!
I thought mine had a lot of work needing done.
That's awesome stuff.. very good work!

[scott66stang]

Wow!
I thought mine had a lot of work needing done.
That's awesome stuff.. very good work!

Mate this will be easy compared to the Fastback because i will be replacing panels rather than repairing , and the RHD conversion will be a straight cut and swap , whereas the Fastback firewall was modified to take the huge fairlane climate control heaterbox , pedalbox and brake booster. And after removing the dash i can see that will be easier than the 66 too.
Im quite happy with it overall because i paid under 10k for it and only looking at 10k to finish with new wheels interior and top. Ive already got the XY discs and new suspension bits i setup for the Fastback but can go on this now because i brought the RRS stuff for that , im sure i will go over budget a bit with more wants.

[ChilliChadd]

, im sure i will go over budget a bit with more wants.

You're bound to go over budget, it's too hard not to with a parts catalogue close by

[scott66stang]

, im sure i will go over budget a bit with more wants.

You're bound to go over budget, it's too hard not to with a parts catalogue close by

I know but ive gone through it many times and i keep coming up with 5k au not incl shipping and thats with a few small parts for the fastback. So im pretty happy. The only thing that will blow it is if i decide to go with the RRS rhd conversion kit at $5100 which will bring it around 2-3k over the 10k but save heaps of time.

[Napes]

Really impressive! And I thought I had rust problems!