Vintage Mustang Forums banner

Project...creep: 1966 Coupe, Ford 3.7L v6/ 6 speed manual trans swap.

100K views 622 replies 56 participants last post by  wicked93gs 
#1 ·
Well, about a month ago I picked up this T code coupe in running(but disassembled) condition for $2500. The body itself is mostly ok...with the exception of a quarter panel patch I dont much care for and rusted floorboards(and presumably a rusted cowl).

I decided to start with the floorboards, a couple pictures from when I was/am adding torque boxes and floor-to-firewall extensions on both sides. In the one inside picture I had not yet re-aligned the torque box after cutting it in two for the install(with luck I will be able to install the passenger side as one piece...learned a few tricks on the driver side). On both floor pans I had to trim away the downward bending lip since the torque boxes have an upward bending lip that goes in the same place. I also had to trim 1/2" from the passenger side outward edge because the bead rolling on the pan was that far off from the car itself(fitment is currently continuing on that pan)

hmm, pictures are all upside down for some reason...but you get the idea.
 

Attachments

See less See more
4
#32 ·


Lower cowl out...looks like the firewall lip repair wont be too bad.





Some pics of the lip repair...ran out of .023 wire in the last 2 inches of the weld(just my luck) so it brought my welding to a stop for the day.



Some pics of test fitting the lower '67 cowl. Looks like I trimmed away a bit too much at the front edge...ah well, it will be ok...might seam weld it there and then seal seal it before the upper goes on just to be sure.



Threw the stock upper back on just to see what I am looking at as far as fitment goes. It will be a chore all right, the angle of the lip of the lower cowl looks like it might be slightly wrong back near the windshield lip...either that or I just need to fully fit the lower first before getting there...regardless I have other things to do before even installing the lower(such as painting the inside of the firewall and dash and installing the firewall insulation) much less, the upper cowl.
 
#33 ·
Looks like I will be spending the next couple days sanding and painting under the dash...but in the meantime, the one vanity piece I ordered came in from CJPP...I couldnt resist...it was $60 off the normal price with the 4th of July sale:



It is their 14 inch "GT350" version...what do you think? It was only 95% vanity...I wanted a slightly smaller wheel for more room as well.
 
#38 ·
Looks like I will be spending the next couple days sanding and painting under the dash...but in the meantime, the one vanity piece I ordered came in from CJPP...I couldnt resist...it was $60 off the normal price with the 4th of July sale:







It is their 14 inch "GT350" version...what do you think? It was only 95% vanity...I wanted a slightly smaller wheel for more room as well.


Love the wheel! I have the 15”

Sometimes I wish I got the 14” for more legroom. That steering wheel just feels right.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#34 ·




Another day of not getting a whole lot done. Mainly working on painting the interior of the firewall and behind the dash and working on the engine bay side of the floorpan to firewall extension seams so I can install the firewall insulation before putting the cowl back on.
 
#36 ·
Actually, nothing I have done to this point has been particularly difficult....some of it has been tedious(lost track of how much time I have spent grinding welds down)...but nothing difficult. I couldn't believe how easy it was to pull the engine out...maybe its because I did this to my Miata:







and every little thing I do on that project is so tight it turns into a mini project of its own:





I am just enjoying all the room available in the vintage mustang while I take a breather from that thing for awhile.
 
#37 ·






The lower cowl prepped for re-assembly, and yes, I drilled a hole literally every single inch for the plug welds. There is no way this thing is going to leak if there is anything I can do about it.
 
#39 ·
Yeah, that is why I got the 14" wheel...even though I have manual steering and I have already dropped the seat risers 1.5". I dont plan on a tilt column and am a tall guy, so legroom is important(dont need another situation like the miata). The steering wheel itself is surprisingly light...too bad it will be awhile before it goes in.
 
#41 ·


Lower cowl welded in place...still have to ground down the 90ish plug welds



The upper test fit in place...have quite a bit of work to do to it before its ready to go in, but it looks workable. For the record...the "alignment" holes are the next thing to useless considering the upper holes are smaller than the lower holes...its kinda more of a matter of getting it close enough and using the fenders to verify you are ok.
 
#44 ·




Today, I started to strip away all the rust and old paint from the upper cowl, making sure it looks re-usable...so far, so good since no one sells JUST the upper cowl that I can find....although I am kinda tempted to use a 67 upper cowl, and modify a 67 hood to fit(always liked the idea of a turn signal hood)...but no need, the metal on this looks mostly good except for some light pitting here and there(which I guess I can deal with once epoxy primed)
 
#46 ·
Well, I have just been continuing to strip and prep the upper cowl for re-installation this weekend(assuming my epoxy primer comes in on time...might even reinstall it without and just give it 4 coats of paint if it doesnt...it will still be far better than what the factory did). But, just so I have a picture update...last night I went and picked up a 67 8" rear end for the coming v8 conversion, a 67 rear seat(which seems to be in good shape and is even the right color...black... but that I will end up reupholstering anyway when I do the front seats), a set of 67 v8 spindles(evidently I cant use them without bumpsteer issues...but they are still good trade items)...and these wheels...the wheels set me back just $110 for the set....just as I wanted for this build...its a set of 05 v6 16" wheels....picked up the spacers/adapters for them as well while I was at it.

 
#47 ·
So today I was all set to finish reworking the upper cowl and get to installation...

So I started making patches:







I cut this piece from my old floor pan(couldnt find any newer scrap) to patch this mutilated upper corner



Placed it up there and scribed it



Fitment after cutting the scribe line


Tacked it in place and trimmed away the excess



A slightly more complex patch







But the same basic procedure...just adding a bend this time



And patching the rot on the front cowl lip that penetrated from the upper cowl, to the lower cowl, all the way down to firewall lip...just in this one little spot.

After tacking the patches in place...misfortunate struck again....its Sunday and I ran out of MIG gas....so evidently there will be no installation of the cowl today, I will have to find something else to do...guess its back to the seat rail restoration...or if I can find some tires at this late date, I can install the 8" rear end.
 
#48 ·
The worst part about today was that humidity never dropped below 71%, so I couldnt even prime, paint, and prep the upper for installation, and tomorrow looks the same...I was able to replace a whole 1 of 8 studs in my seat rails with a cut down carriage bolt before I stopped and didn't trust even those tack welds to hold without gas(it was more of a lets-see-how-this-works task, it does look like it will work fine, the carriage bolts are far cheaper than the studs, will be easier to remove in the future, and are stainless to boot)
 
#49 ·


Started to put the upper cowl back on, I should be done by the end of the day. Fitment doesn't look to be nearly as much of an issue as I was originally thinking it was going to be. So far its all going well...but I guess the true test will be when I get around to the windshield lip.
 
#50 ·
Finished welding the upper cowl down...now I just have a whole bunch of big ugly welds to grind down. I dont believe I will ever try to salvage an upper cowl again...the extra work required with the reconstruction just isnt worth it. Oh well, its in...in the next day or two the job will be finished and I wont have to worry about it on this car for another 50 years.




P.S. If you leave your old dash pad in like I did in expect it to catch fire several times as you weld along the windshield lip.
 
#51 ·
Done. Welds ground down....dont want to do that again for awhile. I do have some body work to do along the windshield lip area before everything goes back together, but that is all...dont have to worry about the sides and bottom for body work since its all going to be hidden under a layer of seam sealer regardless.



I do have a lot of extra bracing to do under the cowl lips on the front and sides, tying to the outer shock towers, the a-pillars, and the torque boxes before I finish this area...but in the meantime I can turn my attention back to the rear floor pan extensions and then putting the interior together, after the rear extensions, I am going to give myself a break from endless metalwork for awhile until after the interior is finished, then I will tackle the taillight panel, the extra cowl bracing, and the front crossmember/radiator support/front fender aprons. Just tired of spending untold hours grinding down welds.
 
#52 · (Edited)
Moving on:



I re-fit the driver side rear floorpan extension patch. I may be a mediocre welder...but one thing I can do is make these panels fit pretty well...nice tight seam fit...if I were using a TIG I am pretty sure I wouldnt even have to use filler rod(or wire as the case may be for sheet metal) for most of it, just set it to pulse and go. I am not entirely happy with how the Spectra panel radius fits around the wheel housing, even after I sectioned it and re-bent the lip...but since seam filler is going over that area anyway I guess it doesnt even matter much...in any case, its miles better than my attempt to patch the old rust pitted piece...not that your car should ever be open to the weather, but keep in mind that if you leave your windows open in a storm accidently...water WILL pool under your rear seat on this panel(ask me how I know). I should have this side and the passenger side done by the weekend at the latest...and then, finally I can start to prep the interior for paint and get away from the cutting and welding until the interior is done.

P.S. Anyone know why my 66 had the 65 style integrated parking brake channels and its odd parking brake system? I mean, its nice to have the channels...I think the angle is probably better...just curious if its normal for 66 to have this style pan, I chose this style(the same as came out) over the channel-less style because it seemed like the sheet metal itself would be slightly stronger with the stamped in channel than without.
 
#53 ·
Today I moved on to fitting the passenger side rear floor pan extension...but just like on the driver side this ledge that drops away from the trunk floor was rotted away:



Instead of trying to salvage it like I did on the driver's side I decide to fab it from scratch(please, someone needs to offer this particular patch!):



I have no idea how others fab compound curves, but this is what I did:























Its by no means an exact copy...but its as close as some of the other panels I have worked with...without having fancy metal working tools, it does the trick

So back to fitting the floor pan, since I ran out of wire...again.



Also like the other side, I had to play with the metal around the wheel housing...but both pans are not fitted and ready for welding...so back at it as soon as I pick up more .023 wire....
 
#54 · (Edited)


Final fitment of the pans...wasted a lot of time transferring seat brackets, painting, doing little cuts and welds as needed. Just needs final welding and the welds ground down and all interior metalwork will be finished...except the rear seat divider install...but that should go fast aside from the extra bracing I am adding to it.

P.S. Also have to add the dual exhaust floor reinforcements after these...and still have some final grinding to do for the drop off panels....and guess I should patch that hole it looks like a PO cut in the quarter...wonder if he couldnt figure out how to remove the windows without hacking the car apart? with a torch no less...sigh
 
#55 ·


Finished welding in the pans...just have some grinding and prime/painting to do and floor pans will be done...though I do still have to install the dual exhaust reinforcements, I think I need to seam seal the back of this pan first.....and find out the correct installation procedure for them(I am sure its just a bunch of spot welds)

P.S. And I do have to get underneath and weld that back lip to the wheel housing as well...hopefully I will be able to take up some of the gap that still exists there in the process
 
#56 · (Edited)
And the show goes on:



After grinding down the floor pan welds, I moved on to the dual exhaust reinforcement plates...I am also going to drill some holes and add some rear seat belt anchors while I am here...not that I intend to add rear seat belts at the moment, but its nice to have the option(will just plug the anchor hole with a bolt for now...well, after I find a couple of anchors anyway)

I am unhappy with the uneven gap between the back edge of the floor pan and the front edge of the reinforcement panel...but considering I am going to be filling it with seam sealer anyway I guess it just doesn't matter...the plates will do their job.
 
#57 ·
Well, Today I started on replacing the front crossmember, the radiator support and both front fender aprons:



The old pieces cut out...both the fender aprons had bad repairs by the previous owner, the radiator support had also been badly replaced at some point, and both it and the front crossmember were rotting at the bottom...so they had to go.



Initial fitment of the replacement pieces. Both the fender aprons are Dynacorn(people gave a lot of bad reviews for the non-Dynacorn aprons due to them just not being shaped right at the top...which means fender fitment issues)...the radiator support and crossmember...arent, but made in Korea like the dynacorn pieces and everything seems to fit excellent at first glance...I dont think I will have any issues here at all. I do have a few inches of frame rail to patch where it sat under the battery...but that shouldn't be a big deal...well, IF I can find some 14 gauge metal around to patch it with.
 
#58 ·
Looking Good! Keep up the fine work!

:eek:)

Tony K.
 
#60 ·
Today I got to work patching the frame rail...I had 1/8" steel bar...so that is what I used:



Batteries do a number on any metal below them, this is what I was working with...not completely rotted by any means...but the pitting was pretty severe.



Welded the plate into a basic 3x3 angle



Cut out the pitted/rotting portion, which was really just the top and side...the bottom is no worse than the rest of the car really so it stays for this decade anyway. Note the crazy bracket Ford had inside here for the bumper bracket...the bracket was badly rotted, so I junked it...it wasnt holding anything in any one place...the nuts probably flopped around like a fish when driving...not exactly sure what Ford was thinking with this silly bracket.



Test fitting the patch



left and right side comparison shot



A closeup of the corner, which had to ground down and blended to match the existing metal



I made some big ugly tack welds on the back side to hold in the bumper bracket nuts...then went around to the front side, turned up the heat on the welder and perimeter welded the front...pushing the weld through the frame rail sheet metal into the nut...it should hold the bumper as well or better than what Ford did with their bracket.



Welded in...one front frame rail, patched and stronger than before...at least this 9 inch section of it.



Front crossmember welded in with a mix of rosette welds and seam welding where applicable...and that is where I stopped for the day...the frame rail patch took me longer than expected....but its all good, I am still days ahead of schedule for starting the quarter panel replacement task....will finish up the aprons and the radiator support over the next couple days.
 
Top