I got a pretty big surprise last week when I crawled under my car and found that the rear shock mounts were in poor condition. At some point in time the original mounts broke and the previous owner attempted to repair the area. The welds were not holding, the sheet metal was split in several spots, and the shock angle was wrong as the right shock was rubbing on the axel tube. I removed the rear end, exhaust, and anything else that was in my way and completely removed the stock sheet metal mounts. (There was not much left). I then bought a piece of moly tubing, some plate steel, and two shock mount studs. I drilled the tubibing and welded the shock studs in place and then welded the tube to the plate steel. I positioned the tube between frame rails and welded the plates to the inside of both rails. I then cleaned and undercoated the repaired area to blend in my work with the rest of the underbody. The new mount is far stronger then the stock original. I can now feel confident that the mounts will hold up under extreme exceleration!
I'll be doing the same repair sooner or later. Were your shocks originally in line (both on the front of the axle? Mine were staggered.
Yes, both shocks were originally mounted forward of the differential. I think they staggered the shocks after 1970.
Yes, behind the liner is a octopus of vent lines that run through the left quarter and up to the engine bay. The rear end and fuel tank vented here along with others and I am sure it was Ford's way to reburn some of the vapors. They are no longer hooked up and eventually I will remove the unit. Right now it is hidden well and does not pose much of a problem. I had the car shipped from Washington so it was probabl a CA car originally. Mike
