latoracing

Had to finish up a job that is going to be picked up in a couple of days, with that behind me, its tip time.
As I have had several days to think about how to build these, things went rather smoothly this afternoon. I needed to start off by trimming the inner 2.5" tube to the same radius of the 3" tube. They were stuck together and marked for trimming.

I used some 3/16" round rod for spacers that are taped to the inner tubing. After a little material removal the pins were taped back in place.

I didn't know if this next portion would work in one piece or not, but I had to try. Using the 3" tube as a bending guide I bent the 1/4" rod into a workable shape. A little tweak here and there along with a few trimmings the rod was welded together, Surprisingly  out of one continuous piece. Taping the parts together it looks like it might just work.

I need to do the final touch-ups on the ring and finish trim the inner tube. One down one to go...

Putting my headlights in, these are black, 7 inch LED motorcycle headlights.  The horizontal bar is a white LED.  I have that connected to my fog light switch, instead of using it as a DRL.
This way I can run in the early evening with just the white horizontal LED on, and no parking lot or headlights.  Should look pretty cool.

 

Car is finally home.
Will start final assembly after Labor Day
AusTex..  I think I have previous posts on trunk, will look when I get back home next week.
 

Tried to adjust the doors where it wasn't as oblivious, wasn't great, but was my first time. Second time on a running/driving car (also a fox body) put it on ramps which kept the weight on the wheels. No gap issues. Wouldn't think that adding two fairly short pieces of tubing could mess up a car that bad, goes to show how "rigid" unibody's really are.
(Also not a 69/70 Mustang) I prefer to not have any drivetrain what so ever when accomplishing major structure reinforcements. Get it straight and I'm betting that it will stay straight when the drivetrain is installed. 
 

 

The flange does go up, but on convertibles (which I seem to work on all the time) it is removed. The two pieces of the torque box weld to the upper seam area of the toe board and should fit fairly decent. I prefer to butt weld all my repairs but you can see the remnants of the spot welds in the second picture where it is welded to the top flange of the torque box. I also prefer using two piece torque boxes. Much easier to install.

The flange does go up, but on convertibles (which I seem to work on all the time) it is removed. The two pieces of the torque box weld to the upper seam area of the toe board and should fit fairly decent. I prefer to butt weld all my repairs but you can see the remnants of the spot welds in the second picture where it is welded to the top flange of the torque box. I also prefer using two piece torque boxes. Much easier to install.

I prefer using good masking tape, like the green or yellow 3M tape. Take the tape and cover the area where you're wanting to duplicate with a couple of layers in a 90 degree orientation. Cut the tape where you can manage to duplicate the parts (looks like that area will require several small sections), remove the tape from the damaged area and transfer to your new sheet metal, being sticky helps hold it in place. Cut, bend/shape as needed, a little fitting and welding, your door will be good as new. Very simple, very easy :)

Easy for you to say. You're the guy with an avatar showing two razor blades welded edge to edge! You do amazing work. Mere mortals have to work at it a bit harder.

Thanks to latoracing for providing me with some pointers on how to form the flanges. 
Below are some photos of the driver's vent that I've been working on. I need about 3/4 of the circumference on this vent and a little less on the passenger side. I decided to go a slightly different route and form the needed flange out of two pieces to see if I could avoid fabricating forms. I used primarily a bench vice, two pliers (one positioned on each side of the bend radius), a hammer, and some scrap pieces of metal to help form a sharper bend radius. Oh, and some cardboard to make a template (only a DiGiorno pepperoni and cheese box will work here).
The final photo is of the two fabricated flanges held in place only with some welding magnets, so they're not completely flat.

Working on my console.  Finalized my switch layout, Made my final templates, this is my production version.   I want to order my switches this weekend, should have the council put together in a couple weeks with all the wiring.
Installed my VHS clock on the passenger side dash assembly.

Another option is Shaun's (Street or Track) spindles with his front coilovers.
https://streetortrack.com/suspension/front-suspension/spindles/billet-big-spindles
From his webpage:
We are extremely proud to be able to offer our customers our Billet Big Spindle (patent pending).  Offering a 2" drop, verifiable geometry improvements as well as a significant reduction in bump steer over the factory spindle.  3 years of engineering, CAD design and testing have produced a spindle that fits inside a 17" wheel and allows the wheel to clear the upper ball joint and steering arm.  This means you can fit up to 2" of rim and tire further inboard.  No flares required to fit up to a 10.5" rim and a 315 tire up front with only rolled fender lips.
CNC machined, Tig welded, heat treated & powder coated right here in the USA, this spindle is a major upgrade to the original Mustang spindles.  Think about it.  The original cars were designed for bias ply tires that didn't grip very well.  Now, we are using modern radial tires with lots more grip.  The early spindles are prone to breaking under harsh driving conditions with sticky tires.  If you are serious about road racing, open tracking, building a corner carving restomod or pro-touring street machine, you should upgrade your early spindles.
Tire size possibilities - measured on cars with SOT coilover and rolled fender lips:
1965-66 Mustang 1967-68 Mustang 1969-73 Mustang 17x9.5" with 6.25" backspacing & 275/40/17 tires

18x9.5" with 6.25" backspacing & 275/35/18 tires 17x10" with 6.30" backspacing & 295/40/17 tires

18x10" with 6.30" backspacing & 295/35/18 tires 17x10.5" with 6.80" backspacing & 315/35/17 tires
  18x10.5" with 6.80" backspacing & 315/30/18 tires

Did a couple of these lower holes too...
 

Just a quickie very low production stamp, there is a lot of wrinkles and waves along the outside. The shape and a little around the edge was the goal.  My shop press (20 ton) is useful for the majority of patch panel parts and they surprisingly do fairly well. Having mirrored parts usually requires me to have crude setups, but majority of parts are stamped using laser cut pieces of plate and sharpie marks for alignment. The vent repair part was done by hand, but I have an idea on how to stamp it :)

Just a quickie very low production stamp, there is a lot of wrinkles and waves along the outside. The shape and a little around the edge was the goal.  My shop press (20 ton) is useful for the majority of patch panel parts and they surprisingly do fairly well. Having mirrored parts usually requires me to have crude setups, but majority of parts are stamped using laser cut pieces of plate and sharpie marks for alignment. The vent repair part was done by hand, but I have an idea on how to stamp it :)

Did a couple of these lower holes too...
 

A big day off to the paint shop!
 

Unfortunately, I found very few classics in my club, and even fewer people who actually work on their cars. I find that frustrating, because I like working on things, and talking to like minded people. If you don't have some natural mechanical ability, it will be very difficult. I have one son that doesn't know one end of a screwdriver from the other, but his younger brother will attempt anything. I figure I could do anything, but there are some things I just don't want to do. For instance, I think hog ring pliers would make my arthritis act-up, so unless I can fashion a pair with long handles, I'm not going to attempt upholstery. You will learn techniques as you go along, just by trial and error. You may need to do it over one or more times, but so what? You'll probably do it better than most shops- and believe me that is very true. Only one in four professionals are competent at what they do.
With help and guidance from a group of guys like we have here, you will get it done. These are are fairly simple machines, and its not rocket science. Much of it is unbolting one part and bolting on another. I had never welded until recently, so I bought a welder and through the use of videos, I practiced (and practiced)  (and practiced), and finally built a ramp to get one of my cars in the garage (its one of those plastic cars that we don't like to mention on this forum). The car is too low and the driveway too steep, but now I can drive it right in. 
If you think you can't do something, you're right. If you adopt an attitude that anything you mess-up can be fixed, it makes a world of difference. Just remember that nothing that anyone does is perfect. I tend to be a perfectionist and constantly have to remind myself when something is good enough.

The V-Band clamp on Vic's set-up really helped in getting the system in and out of the car numerous times. Once the over the axle portion was where is should be, the rest had to be finessed into position. There is a lot of clearance between the bars, nothing is close in this area. Now the tips, thats another story.

 

The V-Band clamp on Vic's set-up really helped in getting the system in and out of the car numerous times. Once the over the axle portion was where is should be, the rest had to be finessed into position. There is a lot of clearance between the bars, nothing is close in this area. Now the tips, thats another story.

 

The V-Band clamp on Vic's set-up really helped in getting the system in and out of the car numerous times. Once the over the axle portion was where is should be, the rest had to be finessed into position. There is a lot of clearance between the bars, nothing is close in this area. Now the tips, thats another story.

 

I have a 8.8 in my '68 coupe.  Mine is from a Ford Explorer. The center pumpkin on those is offset, but it works fine.
On the 8.8, you need to buy new spring perches for that diameter axle.  Cut the old ones off, and also all the other brackets/attachments, as they get in the way.
Take your old rear and the new rear lay them side by side.   Measure the distance between the centerline of the perches on your old rear.   Find the center of the 8.8 and mark it.  Take 1/2 the perch to perch distance from the old rear and mark the centerline of the new perches on the 8.8.   Go to your car, and double check the distance between your leaf springs.
Check the distance from your backing plates to the center of the perches on the 8.8 to see if they are roughly even.
Before you weld the new perches on, rotate the 8.8 to match the pinion angle of the old rear.  I measured the angle as close as I could with one of those protractor/angle tools.
Another thing you need to decide is what brakes you want to run on the new 8.8 rear. Now is the time to address that.   Also, check the axle seals to make sure they are not leaking, and change the rear end fluid.  Most of the 8.8 traction locks use a friction additive.   
Last thing is that you will need to modify your driveshaft length, and also the attachment at the rear end.  The 8.8s use a different style, flat plate mount with those annoying metric multi point bolts.
I am very happy with my 8.8 set up.  Cost me less than $500 to get a 3.73 posi installed in my car.
 

Finished product, some smoke lens LED motorcycle blinker/parking lights. My front bumper and grill and lower valance are all going to be black, should be pretty cool
 

Don't know about the smartest nor richest (I'm broke lol) and I bought a field to plant this building and house in, I am sick of raking leaves...

... unless those trees did produce money, then I might plant a few dozen...
 
 

I upgraded my shop recently, went from 1,500sqft to 2,400sqft out in the country away from city taxes and such. You really don't know what all you have until you have to move it in one week. Went from nothing in the way...

... to having to get everything under roof. Our old property sold rather quickly and our new place was on the verge of being completed. A month and a half later, things are starting to get put in place, but there is still a bunch of stuff to go through before it is completely opperational.

Got to get the lift put back together and finish wiring the rest of the building, construct the restroom and small office, go through some more boxes... this is taking forever.