The Green Monster

The progression of the driver's side:

What we started with under the cowl cover.


I decided to cut considerably less metal than I did on the passenger side. I wanted to preserve the correct location of the windshield wiper motor mounts.


I cut out to solid metal this far:


The piece I cut out next to the 64-66 mustang patch panel I will use.


This is going to take a lot of cutting...


It doesn't even come close to sitting down flat.


Cut here, here, here here here......


Starting to lay down like it should.


Glad I saved those scraps, this will need some steel patches.


Here's the first of the three wedges I'll have to install:


First wedge patch done, tacked in place, back corner flap sealed up and rear seam started.


Make a dot, then another dot, then put dots between the dots, then put dots between those dots till you don't have any more spaces.


When the dots wont span the gap anymore and start burning holes in the edge of the metal, it's time for another patch:


From our handy scrap pile, I snipped this general shape.


Pretty close, this won't take much adjusting


It is too difficult to trim small slivers off metal this thick with snips, I used an air grinder with 36 grit abrasive for grinding my welds and it works well for small adjustments like this.


A little more and this one is ready for electricity!


A few tacks later...


Now to fill in the blanks:


Any constructive criticism from experienced welders is welcome. I am new to welding and learning as I go
The amperage is turned all the way down, and I have adjusted the wire feed speed to where I'm not blowing holes in stuff anymore unless I get it too hot by doing too much at once.

 

If you have some pieces you've not used .. try some "Practice" welds on them on a flat surface .. You may need to adjust your heat UP to get proper penetration and fusing of the metals together... If you have the heat too low it will be more difficult to make the weld . When you find the heat that ' Works ' .. then try the cowl area with THAT heat setting . Don't attempt any loooong runs with the welder .. Tack .. then move away and tack Again .. Eventually your weld will be complete. Just my take on this .. Hope it helps.
Cometized
(Chip)

 

Sorry, I was.... completely WRONG!!! I am reading this a year and a half later and I look like an ass.
Removing foot from mouth, I may have been going off the picture which is at a bit of an angle.
I really try to be more factual and less opinionated.

 

I just found this and am trying to work out the details on how I can get it. OMG THOSE SEATS!!!


And... the suspension I want for my Maverick too.

 

Didn't work out. He wasn't selling the whole car, $100 wasn't a real price. Damn.

 

Progress made...patch welds done, grinding and wire brushing done, ospho everything in sight, then 2 coats of POR-15.




The inside of the firewall also got the complete treatment: wire brush, ospho, POR-15...



Wow! what a big ugly hole! It was stopped up with some kind of black tar stuff and a piece of wood. I guess I'll be doing the floor pan AND the toe board on the driver's side.

 

Recent progress on the Monster:

Cowl cover welded back in:

Cleaning off the POR-15 from the spots we need to weld to:



Clamping saddles in place for welding:



Saddles installed!



I look forward to putting my car back together. This has been an enormous project!

 

CONGRATULATIONS !! You've covered a lot of ground in a short time ! Re-Assembly should be a ' breeze '
with this out of the way ! KUDOS !
Cometized
(Chip)

 

More pics of progress made this week:

Metal work on cowl project done!


Haha! Looks like I accidentally filled in one of the holes for the shock tower brace, I'll have to drill that back out

 

Parts are in!!

The big brown truck showed up with the Mustang floor pan/toe board we ordered for the driver side:

It looks like it will be easier to make this fit than the cowl patch panels.

 

While I have been busy at school, Dad has been busy in the shop. He got the old patch pulled up from the drivers floor
it was like havarti cheese:

He cut out the worst of it and did some grinding to get ready for the new floor:

He has done a little more trimming of rusty areas up into the toe board since this picture and has exposed this side of the torque box under the drivers left foot.

Will we need to cut the floor/transmission hump to fit the AOD? or will a big hammer and a torch be enough?

 

Here's the best pic I could find of the floor before we pulled the old patch out:

 

Driver's floor progress:

The torque box, and sub floor were rotted all the way through under the leaking driver's hat.
All of that had to go:

This is what was left after dad got done with the sawzall:

Sub floor (fender well?) patch first:

Next we rebuilt the torque box with much heavier gauge metal:

Here's the torque box completed:

Next a little patch near the seat hump in the floor:

Then trim and test fit the new Mustang floor pan:

Carefully aligned with level of original factory floor:

My corner patch and the tape indicates location of beams under floor:


Nail it in!:

One long skinny wedge patch left to install:

This is my rough cut patch ready to trim and install:

I need to find some seats pretty soon!
I'm wanting Lincoln Mark VIII or Thunderbird/Cougar power leather buckets.
The seats I find will determine the color of the carpet: Black carpet if I get tan leather, tan carpet if I get black leather.

There's a few other bad spots in the body like this small mess under the rear bumper, but nothing as big or serious as the cowl and the driver floor:

And there is a dime size hole in the A-pillar near the roof. I think it was filled with lead and painted over a long time ago. I can dig metal out of the shiny metal filler with my fingernail.It doesn't even show in this pic.


A little bit closer to an actual car with every little project done.
I'll get some pics of the A-pillar hole when I finish the floor patch next time I get to work on it.

 

Yes the seam is leaded at the factory...Grind all the paint off the area...Wear gloves/goggles when you remove the lead. It may pop and spit at you, remove the lead with a propane torch and a wooden scraper of some sort. Don't Grind lead unless you are wearing a respirator. Even then its still toxic to your skin/eyes/lungs etc...Good progress so far man!!! Keep plugging away...

 

and den...
Everything laid out for the next floor patch:

Dots connected.....

After the grind:

A couple of pinholes to fill and it's ready for the P.O.R 15.