65 Mustang Restoration
It's Labor Day Weekend 2010, and we spent most of it prepping the front end & sheet metal for final installation. Our biggest concern with the front end, was making sure that everything was where it was suppose to be,,, that all of the measurements came out right, before we welded it together. Problem is,, it's next to impossible to find any info on what those measurements Should Be,,, so what do you do???? You go out and get another 65 Mustang(Fastback) and measure the living daylights out of it, and cross reference it against what you are working on.
I was a bit concerned at first, since this car was built in San Jose, CA,,, and the new Fastback, was built in Dearborn, MI. But all is good,,, all of the measurements were within 1/4" of each other. It was also suggested to me, to use a factory, 1-piece, export brace to double check the alignment of the shock towers, and make sure they're where they're suppose to be. Luckily, our friend Clint H. let me borrow his, off of his 66 Shelby GT350, along with the Monte Carlo bar. Everything lined up just great!
After seeing & feeling how beefy that Shelby export brace was, compared to the 2 wimpy factory braces on our car,, it was instantly decide that our mounts would be removed before we welded in the front sheet metal. So here's before & after shots of that area.
The other added advantage to going with the 1-piece brace (besides the much greater strength) is,, you have 2 less obstacles that seem to constantly be in your way.
In the midst of removing those 2 braces,,, our air compressor decided to start making funny noises. After tearing it apart, we found a very bad sealing ring on the piston,,, and that the jug(cylinder), was super badly scored,,, Crap,, now what do we do???
One of the advantages of getting older is,,, that when Christmas or your birthday comes around,,, nobody knows what to get you. So for me,,, everybody has been told,,, that you can never go wrong with a Menards Card. So, for the last couple of years,, those cards have been piling up & today, they finally got put to good use! Since we don't have 220v in our garage,,, we got the biggest 110v compressor they had. So once again,, Thanks to all of my friends & family members who helped get me something good that I actually needed!
Once all of that was finished, we finally got the front metal prepped, fitted, measured, clamped, measured 2 more times, and then spot welded into place.
I have to say,,, I sure do like the new spot welder! What a time-saver that has been,,, and the more we used it,,, the better we got with it. I know we definitely used more spot welds that what the factory used,, but why not,,, sometimes more is actually better.
We're very happy with how well the front metal came out,, it's very sturdy & the measurements are still good. About the only things left to get put on the front end is, the battery tray & support, and the RF fender bracket, which I started to get fitted today.
I also dug out the 65 seat platform today so that I could show you the actual difference between it and the 69-70 platforms that we're going to be installing.
As you can see, there's definitely a big difference between the different years. The 69-70 platform is the one with the black coating already on it. There's approximately, 1"- 1 1/4" difference in the height(height as it sits on the car floor,, Not as it is in the picture, the black one is leaning,, they're actually the same width),, which may not seem like a lot to some of you,,, but to a taller person, it can make a very big difference. Plus as I stated before,, the 69-70 platforms actually fit my floor better than the 65 platforms did. They will take just a minor amount of straightening along the lower edges to make them fit even better.
Till next time,,, oh yeah, by the way,,, the new compressor works twice as well as the old one did,, and is Super Quiet,,, Much Better!
CYA!
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