1966 Mustang Coupe Restomod

[rusty428cj]

This is what we are starting with. There is not a lot of rust but since Ford did not prime a lot of the inner structure we will be removing all the sheetmetal do any needed rust repair and epoxy priming. The plans are to install Rod & Custom front and rear suspension, Wilwood brakes, Currie 9", AOD and a 347. The body mods will be fender flares, drip rails removed, cowl vents filled in and maybe a few other things as we go.



One of the first things we did after bracing the body was to remove the cowl





The quarter panels were removed



The roof was also removed and there was only surface rust but in a few years it will get worse if it is not cleaned up now

[dontlifttoshift]

If the unprimed inner structure made it 50 years, what will happen in the next few? Was the roof rotted so you were removing it anyways? Serious questions.

[xsboost90]

wow looks like my car- guess i need to post my project

[rusty428cj]

If the unprimed inner structure made it 50 years, what will happen in the next few? Was the roof rotted so you were removing it anyways? Serious questions.

We did not see any rust but we did find rust as you will see once we start the repair.

[rusty428cj]

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering why do we remove all the sheetmetal. The quarters were replaced at one time and we did not trust the workmanship and once they were removed we found rust in the outer wheelhouse. The roof was removed because Mustangs are known to rust in the inner structure in the front by the top of the A pillar. In this case we were lucky and only had surface rust but over time would became holes. The other area on coupes is the sail panel inner structure and we did find rust. A little rust on the left side but the right side had a few small rust holes starting.

[rusty428cj]

New firewall and cowl was sanded and epoxy primed





The cowl side panels and A pillars needed to be replaced



Test fitting

[Crestronwizard]

Hey Rusty! Good to see another Coupe project . How have you been?

[rusty428cj]

Hey Rusty! Good to see another Coupe project . How have you been?

We have been very busy and it is hard to find time to work on my projects.

[rusty428cj]

Ready for epoxy primer





Two coats of SPI black epoxy primer

[rusty428cj]

Lower cowl welded in place



The welds were ground down and epoxy was brushed on



Upper cowl fit and welded



Fender apron to cowl extensions welded in place and started to test fit the roof after it was sanded and the back side epoxy primed

[dontlifttoshift]

Nice! Will there ever be a source for new coupe roof skins?

[rusty428cj]

Nice! Will there ever be a source for new coupe roof skins?

That is a new Dynacorn roof and NPD has one but it does not have the side panels

[dontlifttoshift]

Well shoot, Is that new? I had looked a while back and there wasn't anything readily available, glad it is now!

How does it fit?

[rusty428cj]

Brian has done a lot of work since I last posted

The rear frame rails had a little rust and needed to be replaced





Test fitting the trunk floor and gas tank



Plug welding the trunk drop offs





Fitting the rear package tray and sail panels



The quarter panels were shaped wrong and had to be modified





Fitting the taillight panel and end caps



Left outer wheelhouse welded in place



The right side was to long and had to be modified



Starting to weld the sail panels



Rear panel welded in place along with the sail panels

[andrewb70]

Man....what a labor of love.

Andrew

[rusty428cj]

The quarter panels, roof, rear deck panel and taillight panel lined up and welded in place

[rusty428cj]

The drip rails were removed and welded



Welds ground



We still have more work to do inside the car but to stop the surface Brian sanded it down to bare metal



I sprayed two coats of SPI black epoxy and it is back in the fab shop

[rusty428cj]

Brian is welding the rear floor and modifying the inner wheelhouse for more tire clearance.





Rear bulkhead panel welded in place



Welds ground and interior sanded and ready for SPI epoxy

[rusty428cj]

We had a major set back. Brian lined up the doors but when he went to line up the fenders and hood he found a major problem. A former employee welded the front end on wrong even though he measured and remeasured before welding. There was very little gap on the left door and a large gap on the right side so the front end had to be cut off. After working on this about two weeks at my expense Brian is satisfied with how it lines up and we should be able to start charging the customer again early next week.





The replacement outer torque box had to be modified to get it to fit.

[wfo guy]

^^^ I hate it when that happens!