Ash's 69 R-code

[Ash 145]

I just took it up another 50mm both ends and I think now I have had the opposite effect, I think it is past the point and is now top heavy. I might go back down 100mm and see how it acts in comparison.

[Ash 145]

I think I'm close to that sweet spot. I dropped it 50mm at the back and now it happily rolled to this point, not quite 45 degrees, in both directions. I've locked it out here and started having a good look around and a bit of a dig.

 

 

Also got the carpets up and out for the first time and I soon realised that the entire floor has been swapped out, poorly.

 

 

 

 

Here at the back you can see the cut with the new placed over the top with a large gap.

 

 

And some shots around of the joints that have been done

 

 

 

 

Some gaps filled with what looks like expander foam

 

 

 

 

And the a real kicker, the new drivers pan looks like it has had a trolley jack or stand put under it then slip off. Then where it has pushed the pan up, its separated from the rail which has then had the open gap filled with silastic.

 

 

Here you can see how deformed it is

 

 

Then it looked it has slipped along to the sill and bit in and torn

 

 

 

I don't even really know where to start. The 4 corners of the pans look aftermarket and the tunnel looks to be replaced with one from another car. The two rear pans and the tunnel look ok but I don't like the way they fit. There's too many gaps and the welding it messy and sporadic.

 

The two front pans both are ratty. The support under the seats are also new and they look good but I'm guessing will have to be removed to repair the pans. Question is, when removing and replacing these pans, what position should the car be in? Should it be on all fours and supported under the rails? Or can it be done on the rotisserie?

[JTG 10]

I've read your thread from the beginning and you seem like someone who prefers it be done 100% correct. With that being said your best bet would probably to put in a new full floor. I think you would want to support the car along the frame and rockers when putting in the floor.

[Lemon Owner 11]

Bit of a shame they messed it up so much. I don't know how to help with that, far beyond my experience.

[Ash 145]

Definitely a shame it is a mess. Means more work to do, what do you do though.

 

I was looking at some pans last night and CJ's have a sale on at the moment. It was under $400 for a full pan. But shipping to Aus was over $1000!

 

I'll do a bit of a ring around and see what is available in Aus I don't expect to get an answer for anything under $1000.

 

I'm thinking that maybe reusing the rear pans and the tunnel, and using the two new front pans I have. I think if I did it that way, it'll be a matter of removing and re-installing. Sure it'll take some work but if that's what I have to do then so be it.

[Junior2561 10]

For perfection, you would want the new full pan. I still kick myself for not going with the entire pan, but my budget didn't allow $650 for a full pan.

 

Surprised by the expander foam though, that is pretty butcher.

[Ash 145]

My budget isn't there either, especially with so much other stuff I really don't have and need.

 

I looked online and found one Aussie price, just under $1100 for which I think is the cheaper one out of CJ's which is under $400. Fucking ridiculous, I would still have to freight that interstate as well.

I'm going to look at a couple of more options but I don't have much confidence in them. At this point I think I'll be rebuilding and reshaping what I have and or with custom sections.

[Machattack 10]

I'm with JTG and Junior on this one Ash, I'm guessing you're the type to regret cutting corners later on. Maybe place a few Wanted to buy ads on various forums, you never know your luck. You may pick up a pan on the cheap from someone who gave up on the job.

[Ash 145]

Hey, that's a good point. I didn't think of that! The two pans I just brought were from a similar situation but I found them on ebay. Will give that a shot. Cheers!!

 

I do like to do things right, or to the best that I can, unfortunately I'm not in the position outlay that kind of dollars at the moment. I usually just gather things along the way as I can afford them. I can't see the car moving moving forward from where I'm at until this is repaired, it's kind of the next step. It doesn't have to be done tomorrow so will give the 'wanted' ads a shot. I'll move onto getting the old ones out in the meantime and keep working away.

[Lemon Owner 11]

The guys at Mustang Auto Parts here in Brisbane have full pans for $720 + $80 roughly to ship. Maybe with a little sweet talking you could be able to get a better price (they generally look after me but I am a regular), however they currently have none in stock with the container 2 - 3 months away. But that may suit you as you still have plenty to keep you busy. Just a thought.

[Ash 145]

Thanks for that Lemon owner. It's looking that way for most of the dealers in Aus, about that price but none in stock.

 

I appreciate you doing that for me, thanks for going to the trouble!

 

I'm tossing up which way to go at the moment. I can get one in the US for around $400, then get my exporter who brings all my stuff over for me to ship it. Not sure how much he would charge, maybe $100-$200 tops I would guess.

 

I can also get both full side pans, no tunnel, for $290, that is locally to me and he has them in stock.

 

I just don't have a great deal of spare cash at the moment and wasn't expecting this. It's going to hold me up too if I have to wait 6-8 weeks or longer for it to arrive. I know I have plenty to do, I was just planning to get the under side sorted out first then move on so I can get it off the rotisserie and onto a dolly to work on the engine bay and rear section. It wouldn't be going back onto the rotisserie after that I wouldn't think. My goal is to have this car running by April and to get all the body work done over winter to spray when Spring comes around. There's a lot to do but by having this goal, which is a couple of paid wedding jobs, gives me a solid target to work towards.

[Ash 145]

Got the grinder out this arvo for 30 mins and instantly found 1/4 inch of bog (bondo) in some of the seams on the underside. Not a great start.

 

 

Then I cut out the new seat support on the drivers side. Wasn't too hard as it was really only held in by 6-7 1 inch bead welds and some silastic.

 

 

Looky what was under the seat support, I nice big hole where the floor pan meets the rocker, and more silastic type of filler attempting to fill the gaps.

 

[bear80 10]

Damn you don't waste any time Ash, as always keep up the good work mate.

[Ash 145]

Ha, gday Bear! Fancy seeing you here!

 

Got some more done last night after the kids went to bed. I need to figure out a couple of things before I remove these pans in regards to alignment and correct placement. I don't know if these are in the right spot and don't' want to copy where they are if they are not.

[Lemon Owner 11]

Looks like they made a dogs breakfast of it. Going to be a bitch but I think maybe a whole new pan is the way to go. I think you will want to make the underside look pretty and with what they have done it will be hard to do that.

 

Good that you have a time frame to finish it. It will definately go along way to making sure you don't loose interest. Good luck and keep on keeping on. Every hour you spend on it is another hour closer to driving it.

[Ash 145]

Cheers Lemon, that's how I'm feeling after each chance I get to put in an hour or even half an hour. It all helps. Life, kids, wife, all that daily stuff has to come first for me, so it is a reward to get that little time to do a piece here and there.

 

I've been searching, looking at different photos of others build, Buckeyedemon's has helped a lot, I'm trying to figure out just what is going on with the tunnel in my car. As I said earlier, I thought it had been replaced due to the way it joins by overlapping and doesn't look very professional. But now I'm not so sure. Could it be that that is how they were? It is hard to tell by photos on a computer screen as most of what I found are on a scale where the whole car or whole floor pan is in the shot. Maybe someone could confirm this with their experience? Also the way the deadener is shot over the tunnel, still looks like the original stuff that is also sprayed sporadically elsewhere on the car.

 

Here's the top of the front of the tunnel, it doesn't look too bad

 

 

Sorry for the hard to tell photo, but you can see how the firewall edge is wavy and the lapping isn't tight. To me I first thought it looked like they had been apart but as I said after looking at others, I'm not too sure if in fact this is how they were?

 

 

The same goes for the rear

 

 

and the under side

 

 

If this is indeed the case, then I wont remove the tunnel as it looks ok apart from these joints. I could easily tidy them up in place. I think it will save a world of trouble if this can stay, it doesn't have any rust. Has a couple of grinder whole which had bog it them, but I can patch weld them and smooth them out to not know they ever existed.

 

Here's also all the crap I dug out of the left seam along the floor pan and rocker, lots more expander foam in there

 

 

Look how much light comes through now in that one spot. It's like this the whole way along.

 

[bear80 10]

Ha, gday Bear! Fancy seeing you here!

Yeah thought i better register so i can comment, and once again thanx for taking me for a run in the 66:thumbup:

[Mike65 476]

Ash that is how Ford did the floor pan it overlapped the lower part of the firewall & the rear pan.

[Ash 145]

Yeah thought i better register so i can comment, and once again thanx for taking me for a run in the 66:thumbup:

 

No worries at all, Bear! I told you it would be burnt in your mind forever, how many times have you looked on ebay at Mustangs? :laugh:

 

Ash that is how Ford did the floor pan it overlapped the lower part of the firewall & the rear pan.

 

Thanks Mike, that's the best news I've had all day!! I really need to learn that these old cars were just not made that well to begin with. I learnt not long ago that this car is a Friday car, things like this are showing that sure is true!

 

That is great peace of mind though, means it can stay in place and I can just tidy it up to so doesn't look so beaten up, hacked and rushed.

[bear80 10]

It's well and truly burned in :whistling:

 

have had a few good looks on ebay so far and am watching a few auctions, this one has caught my eye http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&item=200764971739&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_sacat%3D0%26_nkw%3D200764971739%26_rdc%3D1.

[Ash 145]

Nice, it'd be great to get some more Mustangs around here. It's addictive, be careful! Haha :laugh:

 

That ad looks good though with lots of large photos. Just remember to request a third party inspection and make sure they are willing to help you out a bit with transport before you pull the trigger at all. Give us a yell any time if you have any questions.

[bear80 10]

Cheers Ash.

 

Don't think I will be pulling the trigger finger on this one, as I would prefer a 6 cylinder manual all thanx to your 66 LOL.

 

Your 66 is an awesome cruiser and that's what I want, I don't really want a V8 :eek:

[Ash 145]

Cheers man! :biggrin:

 

They do come up, but not as often as autos will. Have you looked at Craigslist as well? That's where I found mine.

[Ash 145]

No turning back now :biggrin:

 

I removed this section and tidied up the welds along the rocker.

 

 

Didn't like the looks of the waves in the seam here

 

 

This is a bit straighter. Wont even see this part but I guess more then half the stuff done will go unseen.

 

[bear80 10]

That seam looks so much better, and yes a lot of work will go unseen but at the end of the day you will know what's been done and all the small things add up to one hell of car.