1970 Mustang Retromod - Boss 351

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

This welder is all dial control ,no computer ,you can adjust it while welding, down to almost nothing ,i will find one someday 

[Cantedvalve 128]

We worked on the roof again tonight. I think we have solved the puzzle.  We started by lining up the back of the roof, clamping it in place, and then working in the front.  We got the driver front clamped down, but the passenger front would not go.  I think that the crossmember stub on the front needs to move back about 3/8”.  That would allow the crossmember to move back on the Passenger side, and then the roof would fall into place.  Trick is making sure all the measurements are in.  Still not sure on how.  Here’s how we left it, although it doesn’t look as good as it really is due to removing a couple clamps to use elsewhere.  Driver front is good but looks lifted due to a clamp missing, passenger front needs to rotate to the rear, passenger rear is good, driver rear is good even though it doesn’t look like it in the photo. It may end up needing a little trimming.

[Viperpete 36]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:53 PM, aslanefe said:

Those rosette (plug) welds looks nice, almost no grinding necessary. A lot of times mine builds up and I need to do a lot of grinding, need to figure out what I am doing wrong to make them like yours all the time.

I always start on the edge and go around and end in the middle of the plug weld. Try experimenting with different wire feed speeds so that you can move the tip around enough and not waste so much weld on grinding. 

[Cantedvalve 128]

I do the same thing.  kinda a swirl from the outside in.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Worked on the passenger front roof crossmember stub today. Cut it off, trimmed where it needed , and tack welded it back on. It now flows with the roof, and we can clamp all 4 corners down. So it will install! Here’s a single picture of the tack welded after.
 

[smh00n 87]

That's impressive work. Hopefully the Kid is getting hands on training as well? 

The export brace and firewall mods are smart. My car had manual drums and has been converted to power disc. The firewall is pretty thin and the holes are all over the shop.

[Midlife 814]

It's been a while since we've had an update.  Any progress?

[Cantedvalve 128]

Not really.  It's been too cold here to spray primer.  We have everything mocked up, but I need to spray some inner surfaces before we start welding, so I am waiting on the weather to turn.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Weather seems to be warming up.  We havent had much chance to do work on the car.  I've been rebuilding the engine in dad's mower (Onan P220 for the interested... couldnt talk him into the SBF).  That will be done Friday.  Next week will be warm enough that we can get primer on the firewall (which miraculously hasnt rusted), and continue mock up.  I did start purchasing engine parts.  We also tore down the block to the bones, and it will be headed towards the machine shop this summer.  I hope to start having more regular updates starting next week.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Finished up the mower engine today. It’s back in and running well.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Sand blasted the roof crossmembers and the rear seat support this evening. The boy sanded the inner rockers. Tomorrow epoxy primer goes on the inner rockers, roof crossmembers, rear seat support, and firewall. Pictures then.

Also starting to pile up parts.  Got our HEH-P Toploader, Hurst shifter arrives tomorrow.  Heads are here, as is most of the rest of the engine parts.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Epoxy primer done, and plug weld holes drilled in inner rockers. We reassembled the body sides, roof rails, quarters, and roof.  Everything is fitting well.  Tomorrow we weld!

[Cantedvalve 128]

The big day is here! Today we made sparks! Previously we drilled holes at 5/16” In the inner rocker. We are welding inside to out, as it offers much less area you have to grind on that will also be visible. We did have some exceptions back at the torque box area where we had to weld outside to in. We completed the welds on the passenger side. Truthfully, I did most of it while my son helped, but he did get in there and do some himself, but he wasn’t as confident as I was with rosette welding. We used 5/16” holes, but we could have used 1/4” holes particularly if we were welding outside to in. 

Our process was as such. We put epoxy primer on both the inner surfaces, including where the wells would go. We then drilled holes. We then positioned the body side back up on the car and clamped it. I took a burned up 1/4” drill bit and flattened the end to use as a scraper to remove the epoxy on off the back metal in the hole area and used it with a die grinder. Then we welded. Where you see scorch marks in the first photo was where we had drilled holes and used screws to hold it together. Turned out awesome. Still need to grind the welds flat. About 3 hours of work

Pictures…

[aslanefe 333]

Nice progress, looking good.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Yesterday I welded up the driver side. Completely uneventful, which is a good thing. Today I need to do the roof crossmembers and start final fitting of the firewall.

[Viperpete 36]

Excellent job!

[Cantedvalve 128]

Tonight I welded up the roof support crossmembers, and ground down some of the welds on the rockers. Found a few that I had to touch up with the welder, but still over the moon with the results.  Roof crossmembers were tack welded in place with the roof on, then the roof was removed and plug welds were administered.  Refit the roof tomorrow to check that all is still good, along with more weld grinding.  Also going to pull the quarters and prep the wheel wells for primer and welding.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Some recent acquisitions. We were able to find a nicely restored original Hurst shifter. Reproduction rods and handle, but original levers and T-handle. Also just purchased an original 1969 gauge cluster with tach and 140mph speedometer. Not sure I’ve ever seen a 140mph speedo before. Will obviously need to trade the panel for a 1970, but the gauges will work. 

[Cantedvalve 128]

We spent the morning drilling holes and sanding flanges. We also put the firewall in the car to test fit again, and to see if I can install the torque boxes the way I want. We ran out of 3 inch sanding disks, but they should be here today. The lower cowl panel export brace holes aren’t quite lining up with the firewall. I didn’t play with it too much, but we may have to relocate them. Driver side of the firewall needs to come up 1/4” to meet the cowl flange
 

[Cantedvalve 128]

The last few days we have been prepping parts for primer. Drilling holes for plug welds and removing coatings from parts that wont be accessible once welded in (like the torque boxes and flanges on the wheel wells). Nothing sexy, just blocking and tackling. The weather here was beautiful for a week, which led us to getting a lot done. However, its back to London-type weather for the next two weeks. Fortunately we have enough to do that we will stay busy and not lose time, but damned if we dont want to shoot the primer and weld things together!

We have some powder coating to do on parts that we will probably do just to keep the boy interested, but first I have to rebuild my neglected dessicant drier. We've overused it, and it filled with water (at least it was still taking it out of the air) and rusted the insides (black pipe). I have another section of black pipe that I can replace that part with, and I cleaned up and painted the bottom cap. I need to clean out the top T because I didnt build that part to be removeable. Maybe I can fix that issue and make it a screw in instead of sweated.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Tonight was spent rebuilding my desiccant filter that I had neglected. Last night I sang blasted the castings and painted them. Tonight I rebuilt the copper inner tube. I still need to clean and coat the new 2“ pipe that will be the new housing. the way mine works, is that the air comes in a 3/4 copper tube, makes a right turn in the copper tube, goes down to the bottom of the 2” black pipe, and then is forced up through the desiccant beads back to the top where it goes out the other side. I epoxied a screen inside the outlet to prevent beads from getting out. Some people just put it in the top and out the bottom, but that has the possibility of passing water out if you neglect the beads. Mine had probably 4” of water in the bottom, as the last time I changed it was in 2021

I also extracted a bolt from the distributor housing we will be using. It was stuck and I twisted the head off trying to unstick it. I welded a small sheet metal screw to it that I could put a wrench on, and I got it out. The heat from the weld probably did most of the work.

 

[Cantedvalve 128]

The holes on the firewall for the export brace dont line up with the holes in the cowl.  They are off both in X and Y directions.  The firewall is original.  I replaced the section that the export brace bolts to, but I have the original piece still and it still lines up.  The rest of the cowl fits great.  Should I be surprised if I have to move the holes in the cowl to match the (original) firewall?

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

67s are the same way ,about a half a hole off . I just redrilled them after

[Mike65 475]

Awesome work. When you are dome 99% of the metal will be new.

[Cantedvalve 128]

Yesterday we didn’t do much. We reassembled the desiccant dryer and then powder coated the distributor housing.  We are going for a cast look.  It came out well. Intake will get the same treatment.