Topic: Undecided on Body Prep

[koski19]

It's been awhile and finally received back the Mustang from the media blaster. Interesting to see what lies underneath the paint. Pictures attached.
The car is now at Elite Customs for a check of the frame. I just had a feeling that the car had been in an accident or two over the past 48 years and want to make sure I continue to have a good foundation (straight) from which to work from. Come to find out that the car had a vinyl top at one time which was removed. Lots of pitting on the roof. I'll be replacing both full quarter panels, tail light panel and the rear valance. Other than the complete floor pan replacement, the interior sheet metal looks in great shape.
Since my last update: I located an autolite 1100 carb with the correct carb tag still on and had it rebuilt to concourse by KP Carbs out of New York, Reupholster the rear seat, media blasted a lot of small parts. I'll start a new thread as the body work starts later this week.

Jeff

[CharlesTurner]

That's some serious pitting on the roof.  I would fill them and install a vinyl top back as original.

Why do you think you need to replace full quarter panels?  Seems a shame to ruin the car with reproduction sheet metal.  I would try to patch those quarters if possible.  You'll spend more time trying to correct bad gaps than you would patching.

[koski19]

Only the driver's side is an OEM quarter panel. I found the parts sticker still on the inside. However, the person or shop in the past use hardware
cloth to help support the quarter panels on both sides and the excess is wadded up in the trunk fender well, very unsightly and not very professional.
I have too admit the quarter panels looked good from the outside before I had it blasted, but once I opened the trunk, Wham! that hunk of screen hits me in the face. It's too noticeable and I think it would detract from resale valve or points in a show.

Jeff

[Stangly]

It's hard to tell from pictures the extent of the cancer but I think at first glance I agree with Charles.  How is the quality of the work on the replaced panel.  It looks to me like you could buy partial panels and patches and go with a less invasive approach.  I had to do partial quarters and they took alot of modification to fit correctly.  Also pay close attention to the panels you get for correctness where the lower part of the panel meets the trunk drop.  Many of the aftermarket panels are way off here.

[koski19]

I get the coupe back from the frame shop tomorrow. I'll shoot some photos of the inside rear wheel well to illustrate the hardware cloth that was used.
Maybe then, you guys would recommend a procedure to eliminate this unsightly wire. I didn't want to replace panels before media blasting, now I'm reconsidering. Just need more feedback and guidance.

Thanks as always,
Jeff

[midlife]

That's some serious pitting on the roof.  I would fill them and install a vinyl top back as original.

Is it pitting, or glue residue on the roof?  From the one picture, it looks like upward bumps rather than downward pits.  Maybe it is just my eyes...

[koski19]

It's serious pitting of the roof. When I bought the car the roof was painted. Rust was starting to show up on the roof.
At the time I didn't know it had/was a vinyl top car. My plan is to use MasterCoat metal prep and rust remover. The MasterCoat
silver sealer (2 coats), expoy primer (2 coats), filler, block sand and then 2k primer (2 coats). But that is down the road a bit.
First, I need to get the welding done.

Jeff

[koski19]

I get the coupe back from the frame shop tomorrow. I'll shoot some photos of the inside rear wheel well to illustrate the hardware cloth that was used.
Maybe then, you guys would recommend a procedure to eliminate this unsightly wire. I didn't want to replace panels before media blasting, now I'm reconsidering. Just need more feedback and guidance.

Thanks as always,
Jeff

Here are the photos of the inside rear wheel well of the trunk...This is one of the reasons I was going to replace the quarter panels. To remove this hardware cloth. If someone has an idea as how to remove this, I'd sure be interested.

Jeff

[tomtri66]

I would cut those areas out and patch the wheel wells and quarters recreating the factory seams and butt welding the patches.  I agree that saving the original panels are the way to go.  You will save time and money not having to align the panels and will save date stamps and factory sound deadener etc.

[tomtri66]

I did some work on these areas on my car. Once I welded (my skills aren't the prettiest but the welds are secure), ground the welds, dressed the seams with some body filler, shot it with tinted red oxide primer, patched the factory sound deadener with Spectrum sludge (thanks J. Speagle) and undercoated it came out pretty well.

[CharlesTurner]

+1 to what Tom said.  Sometimes what appears to be more difficult to achieve will yield superior results.  I can guarantee you would spend just as much, if not more, time getting your gaps/fit right with full repro quarters than replacing entire chunks of sheet metal.  IMHO, I think a lot of cars have been ruined by the mentality of replacing full sheet metal pieces instead of patching/sectioning.

[koski19]

Thanks for all the input. The Mustang arrived home today from the frame shop. The Mustang frame is straight and ready to proceed.
I've shot what I think are better photos than previously posted of what I need to do. Take a look. I want to repair these quarter panels to
remove this wire hardware cloth. It also looks like fiberglass was used as well. I have two large welding jobs; 1: the complete floor pan. 2; the quarter
panel repair. Which should be started first or does it matter? The first set of photos is the passenger side rear quarter panel views including the wheel well in the trunk.

Jeff

[koski19]

Here are the driver's side quarter panel including the trunk wheel well view. This quarter panel is in much better condition and was installed in 1982.

Jeff

[Stangly]

+1 with Tom also, these look like easy patches to replace.  You should be able to get partial panels if you don't feel comfortable using sheet metal pieces.  If you are not up on your welding I would start the welding in non- structural areas that you don't see. I would also do some you tube searches on panel patching there is alot of good how to videos out there.

[CharlesTurner]

I would recommend you start with the floor and brush up on your welding skills.  The quarters will take some finesse work.  You might consider asking a pro to help if you get stuck on the quarters.  Get everything cut out first to see what all needs to be done.  Basically looks like some quarter sections and outer wheel housing sections.