The fight against rust continues...plus a skirmish with some curtains

October 12th 2013 - 3.5 Hours

A hectic work schedule and lack of sleep meant that time on the project has been scarce but I managed to sneak a few hours on the car this afternoon. Work continued in the engine bay whilst I prep the car for engine removal to gain access to the scabby frame rail but most of the time was dedicated to rust/rusty part removal particularly in the butt region...

Radiator removed and binned to clear out the support panel and frame rail that will be replaced in due course.

The factory original 289 engine will be pulled, crated and stored in favour of a 351w engine.













One of the benefits of working on cars of this age is the evidence of the long history it has. Many different people from all walks of life will have owned this car before it became mine and I find it interesting how it has been affected by this. There are several incidences of such affects on this car was is the main focus of my photos taking today.

This visible notation is possibly a reference to a salvage part perhaps indicating a front end collision in the past?

 Upon opening the glove compartment, amongst the old nuts and bolts I found what appear to be Food stamps...

...as well as this 'lovely' piece of period curtain material that was bundled up and stuffed into the heater box

The most notable bit of history though has to be this garter belt hanging from the drivers sun visor. A momento from a long ago love perhaps? Or a reminder of the shennanigans that this car has no doubt witnessed...









Back to the restoration however saw more old and crusty parts removed to allow access for shot blasting before the new sheet metal can find its way home. Typically with Mustangs of this era the trunk area has suffered pretty badly from the dreaded tin worm. The panels are shot and the tank is barely held in by anything other than the filler neck and a few screws so some surgery was needed.

Even the simple task of removing the gas tank was a little tricky due to the level of rust in the area. Both side panels as well as the front will need replacing but luckily all the panels were included in the sale.

Next up the rear quarter extensions were removed to assess their condition

 Although the trim is beyond saving, replacement trim is cheap enough and easy enough to source to not have to worry about.

 The condition of the metalwork under the extensions is great too.

The rust appears to be localised to the rear light panel which has already been purchased and delivered from the US.


















Removal of the engine bay support braces in preparation of engine removal shows how badly weakened the right side frame rail is. As it is no longer attached to the front support beam that forms part of the radiator shroud when I removed the right hand support brace the entire right side inner wing shifted up a few mm's.

 The right hand rear inner wing apron will be replaced (in part at least) as the screwdriver of truth found a fairly large hole in the top panel.

And the pile of parts that found its way to the dumpster. More rust on the floor means less rust on the car, which can only be a good thing, right?

Once again a random couple of shots of the lay being tucked in for the night before work continues next week where I will work on removing the engine and transmission. More to come then and thanks for reading

Chris

The beginning of the end...

I like my literature and in Christian "mythology" War, the second horseman of the apocalypse rode a red horse called Ruin, and given the state of parts of the car I felt it an appropriate name for the project though the 'official' name of the car has not yet been chosen.

I have long been a fan of American Classics and Muscle cars in particular. My first car was a 1986 Ford Capri as I couldn't afford a Mustang at the time and with my 30th Birthday approaching the time has come to build my dream instead of just expecting it to happen...

I saw this particular car advertised a few times on ebay and each time wasn't being bid on. Ironically a few friends sent me the link on separate occasions saying it would be the ideal car for me as I have rebuilt several cars in my past. So, I bit the 'bullitt' and went to view it...

Sure, she was a little rusty in the usual areas (trunk floor, cabin floors and right side chassis rail below the now non existent battery tray) but she be straight.

A little dusty after being stored for a few years in a
barn in Florida but a fairly solid car nonetheless. What sealed the deal for me was the honesty of the seller in describing the vehicle prior to riding down to see the car and the large amounts of parts that came included with the sale to remedy the majority of the tin worm.

The sale was made and after some silver tongued devilry managed to blag a small amount of space in one of the units at work in order to perform the tear down before sending it off to have the chassis rail repaired . So far I have put 6 hours into the car and I am documenting everything extensively, from numerous photos to a comprehensive excel spreadsheet to show exactly what is being spent, where and how many hours are being spent on the car. I will let the photos and brief descriptions of each take it from here but feel free to browse the many more photos included in my imgur album at your leisure. As always I will be happy to answer any questions and I am open to criticism provided that it is constructive

Many thanks

Chris








In it's new home. There will be plenty of WD-40 used I think

A few of the parts that came with the sale

Pretty standard fare for a Mustang in need of attention

No romancing being done here for a while, that's for sure!

Front valance removed despite some protest

Radiator support will be replaced, along with the front RH inner wing apron

Grille and upper splash panel found their way into the scrap pile too

The shot frame rail...

...and the replacement rail provided with the car

Doors were removed and then it was time to remove the fenders. As the repro panels are typically such a poor fit and the rust on the fenders is localised to the lower regions, I will be repairing rather than replacing.

Fender off to show a very rust free A post lower...

The worst of the rust is localised to the area below the battery (poxy lead/acid batteries)

Very clean drivers side

And end of play...

To finish off the first post a few random snaps

I know there are a lot of photos, and for that I apologise but I love doing this kind of thing and to do it to my dream car is especially rewarding. I have left a lot of pictures out but the full album is available at http://phoenixv8.imgur.com/

Hope you enjoyed and look out for the next update coming soon!