Thought I'd start a build log for my personal 1969 Mach I. Picked the car up about a year ago off of E-bay. She was a rolling (kinda) chassis, basically stripped to the unibody with boxes of parts and the suspension loosely hung in place and no steering system installed. This made loading it a lot of fun. Don't know the history as the guy I bought it from simply bought it to resell, but doesn't seem as though it's been on the road for many years. I think it has passed a couple of hands in the current condition. Unfortunately she was undercoated, but aside from that the chassis appeared very straight and clean.
Step one was inventorying all the parts, getting organized and giving it a bath. Spent pretty much all of Fri 26th doing these tasks.
Saturday I started on the needed chassis repair work... there was a staggered shock set up installed that I wanted to eliminate...
...unfortunately upon closer inspection, the LF shock tower was leaning inward by about 1/2". This turned out to be a bit more of a drag than usual as my Porta-Power took a crap on me. So, needed to improvise with the hydraulic jack from the press. There were cracks and cheesy acetylene braze repairs also discovered that all needed to be ground off and re-done.
With the straightening work done, next was installing the frame connectors....
On Sunday I started assessing the fenders. Found a corner of bondo repair on the RF at the back of the wheel opening. Ground out the filler,cut out the sick, fabricated a piece, stitched it in, then ground it smooth. Skim coat of filler will follow at later time.
Toward the end of the day got a bunch of other pieces parts degreased, sand blasted and in primer.
Thanks guys.
Appreciate the offer Dave.... but think I've got my hands full already.... Looks like we have similar projects going....
OK, so Yesterday got the tid bits painted....
Then started hanging the doors. The car came with a new set of "offshore" doors which I am using. The fitment hasn't been too bad. The passenger side went on with minimal hammering needed on a couple of body lines.
The driver's side however has taken me about 5 hours to dial in. Ultimately got it as close as I could and decided it was as good as it was gonna get. This left an unacceptable gap at the front lower corner. Decided to weld build the material and grind it to shape to close up the gap.
Ground smooth and ready for skim coat. In the photo it looks uneven, but it's just the color difference in the metals.
Grabber...I see you're rolling again. Excellent. Looking good man.
Spent a few more hours on it yesterday, until the power went out from an ice storm.... I was almost glad it happened, as I absolutely despise prepping the insides of the hood and deck lid...yuck...so was glad to stop. The shop is a total paint dust covered mess, but the bulk of the nastiness is behind me. Well that is so long as I don't need to do the same to the chassis. I should know that today.
Looks like it used to be a home for critters....
Tops sides done, will attack the back sides today....
Forgot to mention, I took a page from Shelby's book and boxed in the lower control arms. Will be doing a complete Poly bushing install in coming days.
Wed Dec 31st progress:
Decided to hit Home Depot to find some attachments that would help with my dreaded job of prepping the inside surfaces of the lids. Found these two...the first wire gizmo made short work of removing the OE paint from the deck lid, however seemed to have little affect on the aftermarket enamel paint of the hood. The spongy looking one really isn't spongy. I thought it was softer when I bought it, thinking it would conform to surfaces. It removes anything in it's path, but also scores the metal pretty badly, so think it should only be used on rusty surfaces. I then sprayed rust kill inside the framing to address the surface rust I couldn't get to.
Determined the unibody didn't need to go to metal, as the paint and body were in excellent condition. Looks like a brand new 10yr old job that just never got finished. The fenders were a different story. Hard to know what went on here...not sure if these were the orig fenders or not. Maybe the guy spent his time on the unibody with plans to then do the bolt on pieces later... Anyway, they were sanded down to metal. Found a couple areas of sick that will have to be cut out. With the holiday should have the next couple days free to work on it....
Jan 1 progress:
Prepped the rear 1/4 extensions...
Cut out the sick in the LF fender...
Cut a piece to fit exactly into the opening and stitch welded it in...
Ground smooooooth.....
Prepped the front valence. There were mounting holes for a spoiler which I welded up, as I didn't wan't to risk the new one coincidentally having the exact same mounting holes/location. Unfortunately considering throwing in the towel on the rear valence, as I found a lot of filler in it. There had been accident damage that was covered. Turned out the metal is stretched badly, and I'm not having the best luck getting it to go straight again. Will give it a little more effort before deciding to go with a replacement piece.
Applied first skim coat of filler to all....
Planning to spend a good part of today in the shop...with luck will be spraying primer today or tomorrow.
Looking good, keep the pics comming it keeps me motivated to keep working on mine.
__________________
1965 2+2 Fastback,(Wife's future Toy & project)
1969 Coupe, (My future Toy & project)
1999 Explorer Sport (Wifes Daily Driver)
2000 Ranger Xtd Cab 4X4 (My Daily Driver)
Previous Mustangs, 68 J code GT Coupe, 69 Coupe, & 70 Coupe.
Mike G.
MCA#-4549.
Upstate NY, Finger lakes area
"The times I've been mistaken, its impossible to say". - The Moody Blues.
just got out of the garage and i am doing the exact same thing .i worked on hanging the doors also today and had trouble with the driver side but a little higer up not sure if the fender is out of wack .any advice
keep those photos coming it give me hope on my project
Mike65, funny...we car guys seem to feed off one another. Your comments keep me motivated, as my progress keep you..... It's a win win..
Menorah5, Nope...just been at it for a few years... thanks for the compliment.
Joe747, Cool. yep...it can be frustrating. Start a build log, so we can see it. If you have pics up, then I'd be happy to chime in w/ some IMHOs.
Thanks for the motivation guys.....
OK...so finishing up the body work took a day longer than I had hoped, but got her in prime at about 3pm today. Never fails, once you put the long board to it... you always find more that needs attention. Found a few dents I didn't realize were there. Looked like somebody had tap danced on the hood.
Body prepped wiped down and ready....
Hood, finally done. Note how many areas needed a little love.
Panels in prime. (note: I did win the battle with the rear valence)
Body:
That'll be it until next weekend. Then....let the block sanding begin. I'll take that any day over stripping the paint. This is the stage when I actually get in shape again. It's the closest thing to a work-out that I get.
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69 Mach I restoration build log
Looks like we have similar projects going....
Anyway, they were sanded down to metal. Found a couple areas of sick that will have to be cut out. With the holiday should have the next couple days free to work on it....
