Finally got a job done!

Well, I finally got around to finishing up a task on the mustang.

That is, I got nose cleaned up.

One of the problems I've had since I bought this car was that I could never adjust the headlights...the adjusting screws had seized. Another thing is that I've had a Shelby R-Model racing valance for years and never got around to putting it on.

I finally fixed both issues! I tore the nose of the car off. The bumper, the valance, rock guard, grill, nose, headlights, everything. I removed the rusted up pieces, and installed new adjusting kits. I replaced the headlight trim rings, and got that all buttoned up.

I mentioned in my last post that I was trying to get some fiberglass panel to fix the valance. Well, I figured that out! And my solution was either brilliant or absolutely retarded. I was looking for fiberglass panels. The glass had to be thick and strong. Then it hit me. I used to, every day, eat my lunch off the perfect thing! A cafeteria Lunch Tray! So I hit the mighty eBay and got my glass lunch tray. I cut it up with my dremmel and glued it into the place that was missing it's bracket. And it worked! I couldn't believe it!

Then I got to figure out WHY people say fiberglass is hard to work with when using it as a body panel. HOOOLY CRAP! I had to tweak and twist and cut and work. And I have no CLUE what I'm doing and am sure I did it wrong. But whatever, I was actually able to button it all up!

So I'll post a before and after picture!

Before

After

Next is to weld in the front floor pans.

Been too quiet

Work has been in the way of getting a lot of work done on the Mustang, and laziness has kept me from documenting everything, but I'll just put up a quick update post, and promise to have a picture post coming in the next few days.

OK, so Last weekend, my long time friend, Lynn, and a great guy I met on the VMF, Ryan, came over and helped me replace my rear floor-pans. It was a slow start, as I didn't really have all the tools I need (still working on that) but we were able to figure out how to cut the old pans out using a cut-off wheel chucked into an angle grinder, and and welded in the new ones with my cheap 110v flux core welder. It is hilarious to see where the welding started, and where it finished...I really got better as I went along...by the end of the day I was putting down a decent flat bead that probably won't need to be ground down...but where we started? Oy Veh. I was making mountains and leaving holes. So that will need to be ground down and re-welded. I also have to get some seam sealer, and prime it, and undercoat the bottom of the car...but I'll get around to that soon enough. One of the things is, after I grind down the welds, I'm going to shine a light through it and go back and re-weld all the holes I left...But I'm not welding another inch until I have an auto-dark helmet...MAN talk about a WORLD of difference!

In other news, I have completely removed the front of the car...not the fenders, just the headlights, bumper, apron, fender exentions, etc. Basically anything in front of the radiator support. Two of the things on my "First round" list of todo items are to fix the headlights (The adjusting system had welded solid, so you couldn't aim them, and I want to go to halogens too) and to replace the bumper and lower-valence with a Shelby-style R-Model racing apron I've had for a few years. So I stripped the front of the car off this morning, and now have to repair the apron, and work the fiberglass to get it to fit. This will for sure be a learning experience, but I'm looking forward to it.

One thing I noticed in test fitting the racing apron on, it gets in the way of the support that holds the hood latch in place, so I had to remove that support...now the hood latch isn't sturdy enough. I think I have (in my head) a good solution to that, and will basically "Box" the sides of it (woo hoo, more welding!) to strengthen the latch mount. Obviously, the apron wasn't designed to work with the stock latch, and only to work with a fiberglass hood with pins. But I'm not changing the hood in this "go round" so I'll have to engineer a fix.

OK so pictures of the welds, and the mustang with no face coming later this week...if I remember.