This is number eight in a series of tech articles on a Mustang convertible. If you've grown up in New York State, then it will come as no surprise that road salt can take its toll. This is a 33 year old New York car and the chassis and sheet metal condition will verify it. There are numerous structural failures and cosmetic deformities. We'll repair them one by one and bring it back to its once youthful beauty and structurally sound state.
Well it's been a while but I've been very busy with customer work but now it's back to the 68 Mustang project. In the last article I had the engine in and I was ready for more body work.
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The passenger door lower seam was completely gone. I removed 3 inches from the bottom of the door skin and replaced it with new metal. Once the sheet metal repair was done, body filler was applied to complete the cosmetic finish. |
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The lower door hinge mount on the passenger door was rusted through. I removed the damaged material and ground the edges to prepare for welding in the replacement parts. I'll make them from sheet metal. It's more work but it's cheaper than buying a rust free door. |
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| The completed repair. It took some effort but once the filler and primer are applied and it's painted, the door frame will look like new. | |
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| I couldn't find a replacement deck lid that was any good so I was forced to repair the one on the car. Someone must have tap danced on it from time to time. It was a mess. After an hour or so with a dolly and hammer, I used some metal glaze to fill in as many imperfections as I could. Following that, a few coats of primer and then sand, and sand, and sand, and ............ The dark areas are the high spots. | Once you hit metal, stop and re-prime, then do it all
over again.
Yours truly with an 18 inch sanding board. I stopped counting at eight hours of sanding. Deck lids and hoods are terrible to work with since the sheet metal is so thin it gives under the slightest amount of pressure. So very light pressure is applied using long strokes. It's incredibly boring so listen to some new music or watch TV if you can. |
That's it for this time and there's much more to come. See you in the next newsletter.
Joe Quaranto