manley

Also interested in parts from this car.  Surprised a 351 Grande has an 8" rear....???
 
I am especially interested in the firewall pad when you get down that far.

If it was a 351 car, it should have an FMX and a 9". If it doesn't, odds are someone pulled a 302 and replaced it with a 351 using the old drive train. The VIN would answer that question.

This should help.
 

I think we have a new leader in the "Best Avatar" category.  Sorry Pak.

I hear ya.  Mine's been sitting for a while too, but a couple of weeks ago my schedule finally allowed me to get back to it. 
 
Question:  Flipping the car on it's side with this setup - is it a one man job?  What about putting it back down?  I assume it takes at least two able bodied people, no?

Sorry to hear about your incident! I did the same recently (but did not hit the tendon- thank God). I was gun-shy from the grinder for 3 weeks. I've been using a cutoff wheel since I was 10 and never experienced anything such as that.
 
Keep up the great progress, isn't it awesome how the new sheet metal just transforms the car.

They did that to me too at the ER after they stuck my hand in some kind of red cleaning solution that stung like crazy, the Dr sticks the needle right in the wound which probably hurt more the me hurting myself.

Never ceases to amaze me the "repairs" people do on cars. I'm glad my car hasn't had many stupid things that have been terribly expensive to repair.

Ouch. I feel your pain. Couple of years ago when cutting the speaker holes in my deluxe door panels with a box cutter, it slipped slicing my left thumb down to and including the tendon. Probably shouldn't have been working on the car at 1 am.
 
I wrapped my thumb with a paper towel and secured it with masking tape and drove myself to the emergency room. Had to have plastic surgery.
 
It actually hurt more when the doctor was manipulating the cut and poking around than the actual cut. Took some time before I got the feeling and range of motion back.
 
Good work/luck on the project too by the way.

Cool story! Was Guy #1 pissed that you were able to snag it?

Very cool story Mike. Persistence pays off in spades! Thank God (or Al Gore) for the internet.
 
Bob

The Tin Man only requires you cut the back tab open on the front subframe at the rear.
I personally feel they are a better choice based on a few things.
1. They are Rectangular Tubing and a bit larger, I am pretty sure they are thicker walled as well.
2. They go up into the frame rail, and have contact ALL the way around the inside.
3. They look more like they belong on the car, not sitting off to the side.
4. They cup a large portion of the rear frame rail.
 
I'm sure the Maier are a good choice also, after all they have been making stuff for years.
I can say this however, when I jack my car up on the bottom of the torque box area or the sub frame connector it also gets the rear wheel off the ground and if you keep going up it will start to lift the other front tire up as well.

I wanted to update this.
 
I had the Tin Man connectors installed and got her back yesterday.
 
Big difference in the feel of the car. It is much more solid feeling now.
 
I have been having a "shimmy" in the car starting at 47 MPH and going away around 52 mph. While this is not completely gone,
it is to the point that I barely notice it. (I am going to look at things like wheel balance, etc. to fix that).
 
I have previously added a 1 piece export brace and a Monte Carlo bar but I did not notice much change with those, certainly not what I have noticed the the subframe  connectors.
 
They also look like they belong on the car. As far as how low they are, my mufflers are slightly lower so no problem there.
 
+1 to Tin Man.
 
Steve

I would buy your friends positive 9" differential for $50 whether I needed it or not.
 
Dave 

Smack the solenoid with a screwdriver handle and see if it stops.  If so, it's sticking.  Buy a better quality piece.  I have not had any luck with the ones from Autozone and such places.

Mike,
I did something similar to what you did when I was much younger I was helping my older brother remove the cylinder heads off his 66 GTO. We removed the valve covers & were trying to remove the exhaust manifold bolts from the head. I was using a box wrench because there was not enough room for a ratchet wrench & when I was pulling on the wrench trying to break loose one of the bolts the wrench slipped off the bolt & the back of my hand hit the edge of the head cutting the back of my hand down to the muscle/tendons. It took 3 stitches to close it up & my hand was bandaged up just like yours & I was out of action for about 4-6 weeks.
Mike.

OUCH!!! glad your back in business!!:rockon:

Great story! Love reading how some guys find their cars.

Holy crap...that looks painful. Awesome work on the car though!

More cool info Mike. Looks like we have more in common than cars. Me and my car went thru two divorces with two kids. Came real close to selling it, until my good brother who has an R code 69 Mach came to my rescue. Even had it listed on ebay and here. And my car isn't going anywhere either. Again, very cool story.
 
Bob

Mike,
You will need to have them on a host site, I use photobucket & copy & paste them here in my posts.
Mike.

Thanks for sharing, Mike. Good luck to you and happy restoration.

I like reading stories also, this is a good one especially the part about sitting in the garage, Drinking Beers and B.S.ing. ( I can relate to this ).
 
IMO...That dosen't look bad at all, alot better then what I started with. Sounds like you have one of the main ingredients to get this done. ( patience ) Good luck...T.Z

Very very cool

I really enjoy stories like yours. I'm glad you pursued it and hung tough all these years. I too have searched county records & websites trying to find people to ask about their cars or house. Kudos to you.