The way I see it there was years of my Dad using it as his hunting vehicle (mud holes, trails, filling the frame up with mud, etc), then sitting for a while, then my Mom using it as a daily driver, then sitting for another while, then body work and paint, then older brother driving in high school and wrecking it, then more body work and paint, then me driving in school, then 2 little brothers driving in school (along with battery incident and various scirmishes with numerous objects - granted, a couple of those were me), then sitting for about 5 years, and that is what you get. Car has over 300K on it. It has definitely earned a good scrubbing and cleaning. If a little metal work will get it going then that is what I will do.
looks to me like the kids you know are plain ole rust gremlins, and toss in some battery acid to spice it up. anyway, doesnt look like that hard of a fix. youll need some patience, a good cutoff wheel, a grinder and a decent welder. p.s. you posted what i was gonna say about the submersion before i did, haha. spot on buddy.
Doesn't matter if you go to a MII front end or not. You have to repair those frame rails either way. The MII kit just welds to your existing rails. As far as a doner car, With the exception of the bumper mounts, they will all be the same. I'm not sure if the 73 bumper mounts are the same as the 74-77, or the same as the 70-72, or a 1 year only mounnt. Maybe Seth can shed some light here since he put 73 bumpers on his 74.
Wow, he should have put some baking soda all over it after that happened, it would have neutralized the acid and probably kept that from happening. What does the rest of the car look like? If its not in really good shape and I were you I would just find another body.
Bumpers etc. Front bumpers for a '73 are very similar to the '74 and up. They are very different from the '72 and earlier. Just by what I see in your pics, depending on what the rest of the car is like as far as rust and condition, I'd look for another car. If you have a good drivetrain and/or interior you can always swap that into the new car. I'm here in NC too. Finding decent condition Mavs/Comets is not that hard in our area. You have a lot of work to do in those pics, plus you might need a donor car for parts anyway. Good luck.
The rest of the car has rust here and there, rear fender wells, doors, quarter panels, but nothing that can't be fixed with some grinding and fiberglass. Might need a little welding here and there. That part of the frame is the only place that is completely trashed. The rest of the car is in good shape as it has been worked on and fixed here and there since '92 when us kids started driving it to school. It was driven to the same high school every day for 8 years in a row. Here is a pic from last month when my brother brought it down to my house. Right now the car is one of those that from 30 feet is looks great, but you get close and you can see the rust and small dents and dings. All that is gonna change.....
Thats a really good looking car you have there! If you want to fix it right you might as well find a donor car and cut that piece out of it or maybe even change the whole dog house. I would try and save it though its a very nice looking ride.
So would I have to cut the whole rail out and replace or could I patch it without pulling the whole thing out? Well I guess I still need a donor in order to get the cross member, or are there any aftermarket parts?
I would probably just cut the whole piece out of a donor car and have the job done right the first time. Thats just my though.
If you hadn't posted a picture of the exterior of the car ... I would have said junk it and part it out ... Looks like it would be worth the hassle to try and get it repaired.
I still vote for a whole new front end with new steel rails. You can get a J/Y donor front end, but it's going to be just as much hassel if not more to try and graft on a whole new front clip. Not what I would want to do. Getting the donor steel off in good shape is going to be the biggest challenge. I've gone that way before and it is VERY hard to get the old and new metal to line up right. You can spend days drilling, grinding, and chiseling out old welds off the donor. After you get done doing all that fab work, you still have to put the old front end back together. If you want to do it the quick, cheap, and easy way... First sand blast the whole front end so you know where all the rot stops and starts. Then buy a lot of sheet steel. Then commence to cutting and welding in new sections and patches. It won't be pretty, but it'll work. If it were me, I'd lose everything forward of the firewall including the frame all the way back through torque boxes and the floor. Get the car up on a Jig, doesn't have to be anything fancy, just so that it doesn't move and you have a point of reference. Then measure where the frame started out. The more measurements the better. After you get rid of all the junk, you can run your .083 rect tube from the rear subframe all the way forward. Install the mustang II front end. Fab up some fender aprons and radiator support and call it a day. All new steel, new parts, plenty of peach of mind and a nice clean open engine bay.
thats a very nice looking car. i'd really hate to think of it being junked. sounds likr it has alot of sentemental value to you guys too. as much work as it is I think AOT's post above me is probably the best way to go.
Ok so I still don't fully understand what you mean when you say graft the mustang II on there. Does that mean that the frame is still fixed with rect. tubing and then attached somehow to new suspension, etc? Do I have to convert to power steering? Do I have to change the steering column? How do you fab fender wells and radiator support? Do I have to fab engine mounts? I have no idea on the fender wells, as for the radiator support are you talking 2 inch angle iron? And what about bumper mounts? Will my fenders bolt back on and look the same when its done? So many questions......If I knew more about what you were talking about I could make the decision one if I want to do it. It sounds like a lot of work but worth it in the end. So is there anyone on here that has done this swap and has pictures that I could look at or documentation that I could read? I like the idea, I just can't picture it.
