65 Mustang Restoration
The game plan for this last weekend was to concentrate on getting the LR Quarter to fit properly & to get it prepped for mounting,,, which also included a bunch of other steps,,, mainly, the trunk floor pans.
For the um-teenth time we installed, removed, and re-installed the quarter tweeking a little here & there as we went. Once we thought we had it where we wanted it, we grabbed the end cap & the deck lid to once again make sure everything looked square. Overall it looked pretty good, but the back area where the end cap bolts onto was off a bit, requiring a bit of fixing.
This is the underside of the quarter,, though it's a bit hard to see, the silver marker line indicated where I needed to trim the metal so I could lower the corner a bit,, just a couple of spot welds & a quick trimming,,, or something like that.
This is the modified/corrected corner,, not to difficult, just time consuming,, like everything else,, but the end result will be much better fitting body lines,,, and that is the goal,, right? Next!
With that, it was finally time to get the wheelhouse lip corrected, something I've been stalling on and not looking forward to doing, but I guess it's time to suck it up and get after it.
Well that was quick. So,, the problem was that the curvature of the wheelhouse wasn't like the curvature of the quarter panel lip. Both of the lips, at the bottoms, were actually right on the money,, but at the top, there was approx. a 1" gap between the 2 lips, and there was no way they were ever going to be squeezed together.
Solution: I had also previously bought a "set of 4" individual wheelhouse panels, 2 inners & 2 outers. With the quarter installed, I started by seeing where the 2 lips fit together properly on the front side & made a mark(on both panels) where they were just starting to not fit properly. Then we removed the quarter. Once removed & on the bench, I was able to see how well the lip of the extra wheelhouse panel fit against the lip of the quarter. It fit very well, so I cut the entire lip off of the extra wheelhouse, approx. 2" up the side, and then I attached it to the quarter with several self-tappers to hold into place, I then marked the new lip 1/2" past the mark I had previously made on the quarter in the front, then I removed it & cut the excess off of the new lip, and then re-screwed it back on.
Before I installed the quarter, I had to cut off the lip of the wheelhouse on the car, approx. 1/2" up, on the side so that the old lip wouldn't be in the way,, then we re-installed the quarter panel, clamping it into place so that both wheelhouse lips/ledges were in a relaxed position. I was then easily able to mark along where the 2 panels touched each other at the edge,,, once marked, I removed the quarter, then removed the new lip, and trimmed off the access metal approx. 1/4" above the mark I just made. Once done trimming, I sanded off any paint on ALL(inside & out) of the surfaces that would interfere with welding the lip onto the car. Sanding completed,, re attach the lip to the quarter,, reinstall the quarter.
Now tack the new lip in place from the bottom side all the way around & then remove the quarter panel. Now finish welding the entire bottom side of the lips, an inch at a time, skipping around, to keep from warping the panels. Once that is done, now it's time to weld the entire outside of the lips,, using a hammer & dolly as you go,,, then grind off any access weld.
See, now wasn't that easy? Now we have a proper lip that matches up perfectly to the quarter like it should. And you wonder why it's taking us so long and why the price tag will be over 25K once completed.
NEXT,,,, since the quarter was already off,, again,,, we deiced to finish prep it for final install. The entire inside was sanded/scuffed and then all of the edges, where it'll be weld to the car, were taped off,, and then sprayed with Eastwoods Rust Encapsulator.
Don't let the different shades worry you,,, we just gave the edges that won't get covered with Fat Mat, a couple of extra coats of Encapsulator.
Side Note,,, here's one of those silly little things you don't want to over look and forget to do,,, If you plan on running quarter panel ornament, it's a whole lot easier to get them drilled with the quarter off of the car. I sure would I would have kept the old one for a template,,, who knew????
Wow, what a difference this made to the sound of the quarter. I love the quality of this sound barrier. This is the 70 mil. Extreme Rattle Trap Fat Mat. This stuff goes on really well, the only draw back is, that if you have to remove a piece,, hope it's a small piece, cause it doesn't like to be removed,, Good Stuff,,, and about 1/3rd of the price of Dynamat.
That's all for tonight,, I should have more for you possibly tomorrow night.
Till then,,,
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