1965 Fastback Mustang Project

[JBCO]

Excellent work guys! Bringing it back to life

[Kennedy]

Rusty/Gents,

I am back from one year in Iraq! It feels great to be home. I spent the last few weeks skiing out west with my son and girlfriend and did a little house hunting in N California. I am spending the next month off from work and at the beach prior to moving out west. I am enjoying my downtime.

The progress looks good. At least the frame rails made it!

Take Care,
Chris

[rusty428cj]

Fitting the trunk floor and gas tank



Next step was to test fit the quarters, taillight panel and deck lid. Once everything is lined up the trunk floor will be drilled and plug welded.

[Kennedy]

Looks good Rusty. Its not so naked!

[rusty428cj]

Now that the rear panels fit it is time to prep the frame rails. As Brian was cleaning the front trunk floor he found a few rust pin holes. He cut out the bad area and made three patches one at a time to keep it from warping the edge that hangs down.



Brian ground all the welds on the patch than brushed a heavy coat of epoxy in the frame rails






Sorry Chris it is apart again!

[cobragt]

You should use the rear truck floor crossmember reinforcement and corner trunk braces for the convertible to help stiffen it up more. Actually using as much of the convertible parts as possible would be the way to go. Ford has done this with the Cobra "R" models to make them stiffer for racing.

[rusty428cj]

Left side trunk floor welded to the rear frame rail



New rear panel with package tray test fitted and also the quarters and taillight panel installed before the rear crossmember is welded. We wanted to make sure everything lines up in the rear before the rear crossmember is installed.







Rear crossmember welded to the trunk floor and rear frame rail





Rear trunk floor prepped for epoxy primer



Epoxy primed

[SHOVOLVO]

New rear panel with package tray test fitted and also the quarters and taillight panel installed before the rear crossmember is welded. We wanted to make sure everything lines up in the rear before the rear crossmember is installed.

Is the "package tray" sheetmetal new? I have been waiting for several years for Dynacorn to begin reproducing the stamped supports that connect the curved metal that is below the rear glass to the side supports inside of the sail panels... I would love to know where you found this metal if it is new...

Thanks!

[rusty428cj]

New rear panel with package tray test fitted and also the quarters and taillight panel installed before the rear crossmember is welded. We wanted to make sure everything lines up in the rear before the rear crossmember is installed.

Is the "package tray" sheetmetal new? I have been waiting for several years for Dynacorn to begin reproducing the stamped supports that connect the curved metal that is below the rear glass to the side supports inside of the sail panels... I would love to know where you found this metal if it is new...

Thanks!

It came from CJ Pony Parts

[Kennedy]

Rusty, That is great progress. Good stuff! I grinned big when I saw the pics.

cobragt: I will look into the trunk corner braces. Since the rear crossmember is welded in, I am not going to worry about it. I don't know if you saw the earlier pics, but there are some pretty stout subframe connectors installed. Additionally, the seams on the shock towers were welded up. We are also going to install a metal plate behind the rear seats for a some additional rigidity.

The dynacorn piece saved me serious cash. It was about 300 from CJs.

[cobragt]

From what it looks like the convertible brace goes over the other one. We were actually going to do this with my brothers 66 coupe before it was hit in the rear. After it was totaled he got his Fastback and we just transfered everything.

[rusty428cj]

Brian started patching the right quarter and roof inner structure



The outer structure was removed so he can repair the rust under it.





Brian made the first patch

[rusty428cj]

Brian made a few patches than cleaned everything and epoxy primed





Starting to put the puzzle back together

[craigs73]

wow some great work your doing there. i seen the nova build over at steves but forgot about it did you ever get it done?

[rusty428cj]

wow some great work your doing there. i seen the nova build over at steves but forgot about it did you ever get it done?

The owner picked it up to install the drivetrain and he has not brought it back.

[rusty428cj]

More pieces of the puzzle added.

[Motown 454]

Rusty the car is coming along great, nice repair work. It'll be better then new.

[Z06killinSBF]

Wow, nice work. Proof that a car can be built from nothing.

[Ripped]

nice work, I look forward to seeing it continue to evolve!

[Rols574]

I like the detail of the explanations given for the repairs. It makes it very easy to understand for the ones of us who are afraid to tackle this type of work. Keep it up