Blake's 1965 Mustang Project

[digitalsolo]

24-36 hr work days. Fuck that.  I don't care how much money they pay that shits not worth it.

We're in the middle of a 2 billion dollar acquisition and the company had lost 90% of the team in charge of it 5 months into a 9 month process so we've been WAY behind.   Mostly caught up now, but yeah, it sucks.   Should calm down soon.

In Mustang news....

I think I'm going to pick up some square tubing and add some additional bracing to the cowl/door sill/front frame rail area.  My research says this is one of the most critical areas on the chassis and also not particularly strong, so I figure some 1" x 1" .060 wall square tube placed in a few areas should help tighten things up a little bit.   I don't want to add unnecessary weight, but 3-4 lbs for the sake of some more rigidity seems well worth it.

[zbrown]

over built ftw!

[frijolee]

If you won't do a wide body then at least give the girl a tube chassis.  Com'on Blake...  you need a challenge.   

[digitalsolo]

I have plenty of challenges with the current plans.   Tube chassis is not conducive to family cruising.    This will be more Pro Touring than anything, really.   If I wanted a race car to go crazy on, I would have bought a Fox. 

[digitalsolo]

So I got a couple of days of comp time from work, so I'm working on the Mustang today/tomorrow, all day.   I got the patch finished on the driver's side for the cowl vent and I'll be honest, I could not be more pleased with how well it came out!    I got the crappy portions of the a pillar/hinge pillar fixed and the entire driver's side cowl in completely and it looks great.   I'm starting to get half way decent with the welder, which helps and fit-up, while slow and tedious, really came out very well.   I also seam welded it along the pillar base and stitched it at the firewall to add a little more rigidity to it.

I'll snap some pictures this evening, I'm going to grab a bite to eat and get to work on the passenger side.    I'm stoked to get this done as it's the only real "bad" area on the car that I've found, which means I can get back to improvements (torque boxes are next) which are more fun than repairs, generally.

I do find it somewhat funny that whoever did the repairs in this area previously SUCKED so badly.   I'm not a great welder by any means, but honestly, how hard is it to get a nice clean plug weld?   Geeze.

Oh, I also got a quart of POR 15 to do the inside of the door hinge pillars as they are a little nasty.  Solid, but nasty.   I'll get the gross out and seal them up nicely.   I may need to replace the driver's door also.   It's a brand new aftermarket piece but the fitment SUCKS.    It's yet to be seen if it's worth the time to massage it, or just sell it to someone who wants to be bothered, for cheap, and get a new one that doesn't suck.

[digitalsolo]

Progress:

Old nasty, rotted out cowl vent tower:



New, tower, installed, sealed and bed-lined:



Completed lower cowl:





100+ spot welds later, upper cowl reinstalled:



Gaps need tuning, but it's in the neighborhood:

[N2v8fcs]

looking good!

[halfspec]

Enjoying this Blake. A restoration like this is a whole different can of worms

Lane

[jeffp5]

I am watching this one closely, as i have this sitting in the back of my garage as well...





Also, where in CT are you travelling to?

[digitalsolo]

Yeah, it's different making little patch panels and all the welding/grinding vs. my normal RX7 work, haha.

[digitalsolo]

Kicking around putting convertible inner rockers on the car in addition to the subframe connectors.  More stiff = more better, right?

Gotta finish Edvin's harness first.   Someday Tres is going to finish figuring out what he wants to do on his car and I can finish his and send it back to him.     I'm trying to be retired from this harness building crap. 

[digitalsolo]

Also, where in CT are you travelling to?

Sorry, missed this.   I'm generally in the Hartford/New Haven area or somewhere thereabouts when I'm CT.   In theory I shouldn't be there much for a while;  I think Provo, UT and Deland, FL are next up on my docket.

[digitalsolo]

Got a little time to work on the car today.

Torque box on the driver's side is done.   I spot welded it, then seam welded it also.   It is painted on the inside and spot welded to the floor board to prevent any rattles also:



Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd shaved the driver's side drip rail:





Basically cut it off with a cut-off wheel on the angle grinder, tacked a few inches at a time and then worked it with the flap wheel until it was pretty close on alignment.   It will need a teensy bit of mud, but it's close.   I did have a little trouble on the leaded joints at the 1/4 and a pillar but eventually figured it out. 

[bikedad]

Got a little time to work on the car today.




Basically cut it off with a cut-off wheel on the angle grinder, tacked a few inches at a time and then worked it with the flap wheel until it was pretty close on alignment.   It will need a teensy bit of mud, but it's close.   I did have a little trouble on the leaded joints at the 1/4 and a pillar but eventually figured it out. 

Is that door latch NHRA approved? 

[Supe]

How did you address the leaded joints?  If I ever get around to building my Cutlass, I'll be in the same boat, as both front and rear pillars are leaded.