Front End Day 2

I got the whole front off today. The lower valance was a pain, but it is off. The bumper came off easy since the frame was totally gone on the RH side. Here is an overview of today's work. Next round is to pull off the RH door and the hood. I think I have 2 more bolts left to pull the RH fender off. I made sure to mark the fender location so that it will go back in the same spot. More picture tomorrow.


Remove Turn Signals RH-Done-4/30/2009
Will Need new gaskets

Remove Upper Valence Cap-Done-4/30/2009
Twisted Tab from rusted bolt. Will need repair

Remove Lower Valence-Done-4/30/2009
Rust area from Frame Rust. Will need to repair

Remove Front Bumper-Done-4/30/2009
RH Bumper Mount may need replacement. Whole Frame Side fell off with bumper.

Remove Outside Lower Edge Trim RH-Done-4/30/2009

Remove Radio Antenna-Done-4/30/2009

Pics from Front Tear Down Day 1.

Here are the pics from yesterday's work. It's pretty nice working on a car that has 2 different size bolts. 3/8 and 1/2" wrenches will bring the entire front apart.

Here is the battery tray. The 41 years of acid has went straight down thru everything.

Front End Tear Down

Today I started on the Front End of the car. I was too dirty to take pictures, but I will post some before I start the next round. I am keeping very detailed notes of the order of removal so that I can reverse it all on rebuild. Here is a summary of todays work. The main thing I found today is battery acid has destroyed the battery pan, then it got into the side apron, and then down into the frame. This is common on these models and I have found lots of step by step tutorials on how to fix it.


Remove Headlights-Done-4/29/2009
Headlight rings will need body color. Both Chrome Rings Broke Weld. Both Main Mount Bolts Rusted Bad

Remove Grill-Done-4/29/2009
Bottom Screw Clips Missing in 2 Places. Upper Mount Bolt Clips, Round Boss to Outsides

Remove Grill Cowl-Done-4/29/2009
Center Piece needs new mount clips.

Remove Grill Cowl Trim-Done-4/29/2009
Several Bolt Clips Broke - Need New Mount Hardware

Remove Turn Signals LH-Done-4/29/2009
Wire Boots Split - Repair - New Mount Nuts. Inner Light Cone Needs body color. Need new Gaskets for sealing.

Remove Battery-Done-4/29/2009
+ Wire Goes to Starter Solenoid

Check Battery Apron-Done-4/29/2009
Destroyed Need New One

Remove Horns-Done-4/29/2009

It Runs!!

Before I started pulling the front end apart for the frame repairs, my dad had recommended that I fire it up and check all of the gages etc. so that I would know what to fix. Gave the battery about 2 days charge out of my little trickle charger, changed the oil and checked the gas, then turned it over. She cranked after about a minute of trying. Runs pretty smooth for being parked for 4 years. No misses or rough running, in fact I did even touch the gas once it cranked. The wife took a video of me taking it for a spin. It did help keep the bugs down though, that old gas was making some black smoke from running too rich. All of the gages / lights / speedo, etc that I could check worked. The brakes are really weak, could be that I am not used to not having power brakes. There are some boosters I am looking at once I go through all of the drums.

Next step is to put the car up on jack stands, pull the side fender, front wheels, and eventually front suspension. I am going to also pull the motor at some point, but it depends on if I can get the sheet metal repaired or not in the front. After that will be the floor pans and rear sheet metal.

Floor Pans Exposed

We got the carpet and seats out to find that the passenger side is in pretty good shape, but not the driver side. The driver front floor pan is rotted thru. It's a good thing I work for a welding and cutting company!!!

It's hard to see, but the dark spot in the lower left side of the drivers floor is a big hole.
A little closer view.

We have all of the inside cleaned out. The next step on the inside is to take out the front dash and wiring, and then the back convertible top parts. I didn't realize the top actuator is hydraulic, so that is pretty interesting to me.

Seat and Carpet Removal

We started our teardown with the interior. One of the main reasons was to find out the shape of the floorpans and to get it cleaned up. The interior vinyl and trim is in decent shape. The carpet had seen better days though.
This pic you can see that other than the normal cracking at sewn seams, the seats are in real good shape. The foam under them is also ok.

Pulling up the back carpet and getting a handful of water showed where the source of the internal leak was earlier. The floor pan behind the drivers seat is shot.





We pulled both seats and got all of the carpet out today. I ran out of room on my camera with all of the pics on it, 100+ so I will post overall shots of the inside tomorrow.

Areas of Interest

I was saying this phrase a lot today, Area of Interest is also a pseudonym for RUST.
The first picture here is of the passenger side frame rail extension on the front end. This is the support member which connect the uni-body to the engine, front suspension, and nose parts. This is a very common problem on these cars. I can get the frame rails by themselves, or the whole rail and inside apron complete. I need to take the front wheels, suspension, and fenders off to make that decision. So far, it looks like the rot is localized to the frame rail. This is the issue that took the car off of the road a few years ago. I will have to plasma out the rail and weld in a new one. The only issue is I have to completely un-assemble the front of the car for this.

This is a picture of the passenger front fender. There is some extensive rust thru not only the outer sheet, but the internal ribs. It looks like this will require a complete replacement, but I need to wait until I pull it from the car.

This is a shot looking at the front of the passenger rear wheel well. There is a lot of corrosion here going up into the body. In fact, a big clump came out when I was pressure washing it from the bottom. This is going to require pulling off the back quarter and going up into the body. This is probably where most of the body work is going to be done on the car. The driver side is similar, but not as extensive. The car has an undercoat, but I think a lot of the issues actually came from rain water going down in between the rear windows and rag top an sitting in the pocket back there.

The right rear has a dent in the scallop area. This is minor compared to the rust behind it shown above.

The rear bumper has had a "love tap" at some point and is bent in. I need to remove it to make sure nothing else is damaged. The trunk lid also has a dent, but I beleive this can be hammered out.

The under ribbing of the hood has some pin holes in it. This will have to be a TBD on the details of required repair. The nice thing about this hood is it has the drops with the turn signal lights in it. I think that makes the hood look good.

This picture is from under the car looking back to front. This is the drivers side floor pan. After pressure washing, water was dripping from a crack down here, which is not good. Will have to research on pulling carpet.

This is a spot in the drivers door near the hinge. There is rust breaking thru. I will have to look at the inside once I take the door apart. There are full doors available and outside skins.

This is the rear quarter right behind the wheel. I have to pull this quarter to work on the front side, but will also need to look here if the quarter is salvage worthy.

Day 1!

Day 1! How bad is bad??

Today we took the opportunity to give the car a bath and check out the underside while it was on the U-Haul car transport. (FYI - The trailer was really good, ramps, straps, chains, hydraulic brakes, all well worth it) I have added some overall pics.

Day 0!

I've setup this blog to show everyone the massive pile of work I have undertaken with my new project. It is a 1968 Ford Mustang Convertible. My father-in-law got it in the mid 80's and before that it had one owner.

Good Friday, brought the Mustang home for the first time.

1968 Ford Mustang Specifications

Warranty Code
Year:	8	1968
Plant:	T	Metuchen, NJ
Body Series:	03	Convertible
Engine:	C	289 2v V8

Miscellaneous Vehicle Data
Body:	76A	Convertible, Standard Interior
Color:	F	Gulfstream Aqua Metallic
Trim:	2AA	Black Crinkle Vinyl and Black Kiwi Vinyl, Standard Interior
Date:	24U	July 24, 1968
D.S.O:	22	Charlotte
Axle:	2	2.79:1, Conventional
Trans:	W	C4 Automatic