Every bit of the original Ford Maverick spring tower sheet metal is now gone from frame rails and firewall. The Mustang II crossmember comes next. If anyone ever tells you that Ford's spot weld system of assembling an engine bay is flimsy or falls apart - Don't you believe them! That's one tough pile of sheet metal. Thank goodness for the invention of the sawzall and 4 inch cutting wheel
WOW!! Very nice! What are the plans? Who's MII set up are you using? What are you going to do for side aprons?
I'm using Full Tilt Street Rod's crossmember that uses the stock Mustang II coils springs. I like that style because the top hats completely encase the frame rails - Just my preferance. I have the Full Tilt weld plates tacked to the insides of the frame rails. They are in the photo with the plasma cut "FT" showing through the plates. I'm waiting for my certified welder to get some time to completely weld the cage for me before I go much further. Also I bought Full Tilt's unfinished welded version of their crossmember so these pieces need to be gone over also. As far as side aprons go, I have a few sheets of .030 aluminum left over from my stock car days. The front end will all be 1 piece and tilt forward using 2 electric actuators so I want everything to be seen so whatever I come up with will have to be removable or built small.
Very Nice. That sounds like a very cool project. Will the tilt be steel or glass? I have the crossmember from R&C tacked in now as well. I am waiting for a Certified welder to come over this weekend and buzz it in. I love these projects!!!!
Looks great, I'm envious... Question - did you do something to the driver's side rail where the steering box would normally mount or is it an optical illusion? It looks 'bowed out' or thicker than normal.
That's the angle the photo was taken along with some of the weldable primer behind the weld plate making it look weird too. I had to look twice myself
Great pic! That's a good motivator for me. I did some more cutting the other day and got rid of the rusted out torque boxes. A little more cutting and welding and I'll be there with ya!! My R&C cross member will be coming as soon as I get my christmas money.
I've been motivated by so many others on this board that I am happy to be able to pass some of it on. My passenger side torque box is in great shape but my driver's side torque box is bad. I cut out all of the nasty steel and will have to replace a piece in the front and the entire underside plate. When I replace the piece underneath, I'm going to extend it back far enough to be able to tie into the front cage upright bars and then duplicate it on the passenger side.
Are you going to put in subframe connectors? I don't think I'll be putting my torque boxes back in. I think the subframe connectors and the cage will be more than enough to hold the car together. I also welded in 4 outriggers to connect the frame to the rockers.
When I first put the car on it side, I cut the slots through the floor and fit up 2 x 2 frame connectors. I can't weld them in yet because the plan is for them to connect to the rear 4 link crossmember which isn't built yet. I'm keeping my torque boxes because I can tie them into the cage. Here are a few very early photos
