Replacing the Rust! - Quarter Panels/Roof Panel/Cowl Assembly/Tail Panel (Part 1)

 We had originally only wanted to replace the passenger side quarter panel as it had been hit on that side at some point in its lifetime. There was a large amount of body filler on the panel and rust as well. But then after looking at the other side, there was rust issues as well so we decided just to do both. The tail panel and trunk brace at the rear also had some issues so we were going to replace them at the same time as the quarters. As if that wasn't enough already, the roof skin needed to be replaced because of rust issues in the upper windshield area. Since the windshield leaked, the cowl assembly was also rusted right through, so we needed to replace it as well!

 We started by cutting off the quarter and dry fitting the new trunk drop off panel and outer wheelhouse. The wheel house and quarter panel on the original metal had been cut and bent upwards as a DIY rim roll to fit bigger tires. Just another reason to replace them with new metal.

 Roof skin and quarter ripped off and most of the welded areas ground smooth.

Before going any further, we cleaned up the surface rust a bit and coated the interior metal with POR15 rust proofing.

 Off comes the tail panel and rear trunk brace. I would like to note that if it weren't for the staggered rear shock plates that we put in, then we would have put some other type of temporary cross bracing in the trunk area to keep the frame rails from flexing inwards or outwards.

 As you can see on the drivers side, someone had cut the inner quarter lips about every two inches and folded them up and out of the way to make room for bigger tires. This is sloppy and must be fixed.

 Workin' hard. Drivers side quarter panel coming off. Removing all of the factory resistant spot welds can be a long and painful process. Stay hydrated!

 As you can see here. A very common rust issue with these old mustangs is in the trunk drop off area. It is especially annoying because it isn't just one panel that would need to be replaced. Rust in this area would mean you would have to replace the trunk drop off, the outer wheel tub, and the quarter panel as well if you opt not to do just a patch panel. If you look closely at the quarter panel in this picture, someone had put a plate of metal down there it looks like to somewhat cover the rust holes...

 Some fresh and non rusty metal! The new trunk drop off patch fit well, was clamped in and then but welded so that the seam was after the drop off as to be not visible when looking in the trunk once the repair is all said and done.

 The butt joint was then welded solid, taking time not to overheat the metal while welding.

 Then, after spraying some weld thru primer on the lip where the outer wheel tub was going to go, we started welding it on.

 I don't know what I'm doing here but probably being picky about something.

Wheel tub fully welded on and it fit very well.

 After some excessive clamping for fun, we lined up the new trunk cross brace. Using the left trunk drop off as a guide, and the underside of the brace which sat in place with the frame rails as a guide as well, we welded it in place.

 After ripping the old cowl assembly off which was completely rotten, we completely cleaned up the firewall and coated it in POR15.

 Since the cowl assembly was off, it was easy to coat hard to reach places like the insides of the cowl vents.

 Scuffed and coated the bottom of the new cowl panel assembly as well.

 

 Since the whole drivers side pillar was completed rotted out where the windshield sat, we managed to pickup a pair of pillars off of ebay to repair this area. Somehow, aftermarket companies don't make these pillars for the car which surprises me because they seem to make just about everything else!

 

A little bit of trimming and test fitting to get it just right.

 

Fits well! All of the rust areas taken care of.

 A quick coat of POR15 inside and outside before welding.

 

Let's do it.

 "Welding"

 Perfect dimes. Lol

Ground down a bit before we put the cowl assembly on. Will take care of the rest when the door comes off later.

Stay tuned for more!

Interior

My Dad and I decided to take a little bit of a different route with this restoration. One of the days during my Christmas break we sat down and made a complete inventory of every item and piece in the car. It wasn't any surprise the amount of parts we were missing or had been broken. This was a good chance to take the approach of getting everything for the car ordered at once. We basically restored all of the little parts left that were salvageable, then ordered the rest that were missing. This way when the actual shell of the car is complete, we won't have to waste our time restoring annoying little parts to get the car done.

 So we started with the seats!

 So we started with the seats! I sandblasted both bottom frames of the seats because they were fairly rusty and falling apart but the seat backs were actually in pretty good shape so I decided to keep them the way they were.

 

After a couple of fresh coats of black. Seat frame bottoms are ready for rebuild!

 

 Seat backs in good shape, barely any rust!

 The seat tracks needed to be completely refurbished. All parts sandblasted then painted, reassembled and greased.

Here's me having a little bit of fun with the new vinyl. Tough stuff to stretch! Nothing a little heat from a blow dryer can't help though. 

 Fully restored seat bottoms. Fresh.

The seat backs were a little bit more of a challenge to get the vinyl stretched over top of..but with a little bit of heat and sweat they eventually popped over and made a tight fit. Dad might have been a little frustrated here :P

The final product. They both turned out well and should look awesome once they are in the car. In this picture they are just missing the trim plastic pieces for the sides.

 A little bit of fresh paint.

 Gauge Cluster repainted as well. We opted not to repaint the white stripes closer to the glass screens. I kind of like this look better.

We had to take this one outside and sandblast the surface rust off of it. It turned out pretty well after a bucket of sand and a couple coats of paint. As good as new!

Completely restored the clutch pedal assembly. Although I wanted to just sandblast the assembly all together and just repaint it, in the end it was worth it taking the whole thing apart and restoring each piece because it turned out awesome!

 This one was a fun one. The wiper motor could have easily just been blasted and painted as well, but I decided to take the extra time and take it apart to have those off set colours. In the end it once again turned out awesome and looks great...Even though you won't see it in the car :P

My Dad decided to take on the challenging project of restoring all of the wiring harnesses himself. What he did was setup up a few work benches, pulled out the good old 1970 mustang wiring manual and repaired/checked all parts of each harness. There was a surprising amount of imperfections where previous owners had tapped into the original harnesses for aftermarket items. Once all restored, re-wrapped in some new wire wrap.

A before and after of the emergency brake pedal.

Just the start of the parts room being filled with restored and brand new parts. Since all of the little stuff is done being restored, the focus can now be on the body of the car. Big projects ahead include both quarter panels, roof panel, tail panel, cowl panel.