With the state inspection on our 76' Maverick about to run out, we figured it was time to check the car over. I knew it had some rust holes on the torque box, but DAMN! What torque box? This is what happens when there is a water leak in the cowl and windshield and no time to fix the problem. Well that's not entirely true. We did fix the cowl leak problem a while ago but the windshield still leaks. All that water and winter salt did a number on it. But not to worry. By the end of the week it will have all new metal in it.
So Jean, I take it from looking at that repair piece that you have a press for bending sheet metal? That looks real good. Maybe the 77 is not hopeless afterall. I'll have to find somewhere to stash it until i have more time.
I feel your pain. I restored a 67 Mustang convertible which was much worse than that. The only good thing about the Mustang is all the major structural panels are reproduced. I just finished doing the same thing to my 77. The torque box was not as bad as yours but the power steering ram was hanging out in the breeze. Oh well, we do what we gotta do. I wish I had a brake to make nice bends like that. I have to hammer mine over the edge of the work bench.
Believe it or not, that's exactly how we bend the metal. Two pieces of angle iron, a 5lb. hammer and a large vice. Works like a charm. We do have a roller for when we need to put a rounded bend in the sheet metal. The roller is great for making door skins. We pulled the seats and carpeting out of the car and discovered more rust than we counting on. Plus part of the front frame rail was rotted out too. I swear when things snowball on us it turns into a avalanche. Oh well. We can fix it. We have the technology.
hey!!! i feel your pain.....i just replaced my front frames for the same reason from front to back..........i have pics but need to get them scanned yet..........but as i was doing the removal i found alot of rust damage that you cant see until it comes thru the frame rails.....i made my rails from .083 tubing and wrapped them with .064 steel
Dang Jean.....normally that would be a "parts car" in my book. Good thing you have the tools and experience to fix it. When you are done, just for kicks, give us a "figure" (price) of what that would cost somebody if they brought that to your shop and paid you to fix it.
damn,thats one of the reasons i killed my 69.5 mav.if i knew that they were that easily fixed i would have reconsidered.
if i had the right welder i would have given it hell.most i ever got into bodywork is hanging two new quarters on the wifes 71 mach1 mustang.
I sprayed my car for rust mites. Haven't seen any since. I sure am glad we don't have inspections down here anymore. I remember taking my car down when I was a teenager. What a pain that was. Although, thats probably why the insurance rates keep going up due to all the unsafe cars on the road.
