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Sheetmetal Repair - Thick SkinnedRust removal and sheetmetal repair is a crucial part of restoring a car From the August, 2012 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Steve Baur Photography by Gillis Performance Restorations
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Of the many cool things that we can do to our hot rods, sheetmetal replacement is definitely not on the list, or at least it may reside at the very bottom. Other than the satisfaction of knowing that your car is solid, it doesn't really make your car go any faster or sound any cooler, and looking better is relative to what your car looked like before you welded in the new metal--oftentimes you've screwed up a decent paintjob just to install a front fender or quarter-panel patch. With most of these cars having reached 40-plus years of age, the vast majority of them will need some sheetmetal repair, unless you buy a car that has already had the work done or one that is possibly a survivor from the southwestern United States. Our Colt of Personality '66 Mustang fastback project seemed to be a pretty solid car when purchased, and for the most part, it was compared to others that were considered at the time. As we've begun to peel back the layers of parts on our quest to improve the performance of our Pony, we've come across more and more previous repairs. While repairs aren't necessarily a bad thing, the quality, or lack thereof, with which they were executed has been less than desirable. As the owner of the Mustang plans to keep Colt of Personality for the foreseeable future, we decided it was best to forge ahead with professional repairs in these areas to provide the perfect foundation. Luckily, we've found ourselves in the capable hands of Gillis Performance Restorations, and while the staff does have a knack for finding all of the uglies that you simply don't want to see in your car, they do a superb job at repairing these foibles. As you'll see in the accompanying photographs, an extensive amount of work went into the front end of the car before we started installing our new Total Cost Involved independent front suspension. In an upcoming issue, we'll cover some of the body mods made to the rear of the car, which were thankfully not as extensive. If you live anywhere other than the Southwest and you're planning on restoring and/or modifying your ride, take a look at these images and their locations in particular for problem areas that you just might have to drop some money to repair prior to modifications. For that matter, it should at least help you make a more educated inspection of a possible future purchase.  1 After extracting the 289...  1 After extracting the 289 at Modified Mustangs & Fords' tech shop, we hauled the rolling chassis to Gillis Performance Restorations in Port Richey, Florida, where Rusty (left) and Brian (right) started the disassembly process to allow better access for the suspension installation. Something about opening the Mustang's lid at this point seems a lot like opening the proverbial can of worms in retrospect.  2 The first suspect area...  2 The first suspect area is one that is common to most vintage Mustangs, and that is the battery area. Here you can see that there were no less than three very poor and brazed repairs.  3 Directly below the battery,...  3 Directly below the battery, and likely a result of the damage to the apron above it, was this patch on the framerail. It was brazed in with several tack welds, but it was easily pried open with a screwdriver. Inside the framerail, there was a nice pile of former framerail, which had since turned into a small pile of rust.  4 The cowl panels are suspect...  4 The cowl panels are suspect in Mustangs, as well as most vintage cars. Ours wasn't in the worst shape, but poor fiberglass repairs made the present rusty state of the cowl panel much more apparent.  5 Brian Gillis loves to poke...  5 Brian Gillis loves to poke at his projects with a screwdriver or punch, and the Ford tool, i.e., a hammer. Here he is testing the integrity of the cowl-panel-to-firewall seam, which was showing signs of rot.  6 After removing the paint...  6 After removing the paint from the cowl panel, we decided to call up National Parts Depot for a replacement of both lower and upper pieces, as well as the side panels. NPD has everything you need to save your Mustang from the flesh-eating ailment. Here, Brian drills out the numerous spot welds to allow him to pry the two-part cowl apart.  7 With the top panel of the...  7 With the top panel of the cowl removed, you can see the rot around the air ducts. Oftentimes there are just large gaping holes in the lower panel, so ours didn't look half bad, relatively speaking.  8 With the lower panel off,...  8 With the lower panel off, you can see just how jagged the edge of the panel is where it meets the firewall. This area is right out in the open for all to see, so considering that and the rot around the ducts, it made sense to replace the panel.  9 Here, you can see the slippery...  9 Here, you can see the slippery slope that is uncovering 40-plus years of exposure to the elements. Brian has since removed the cowl side panels, rear fender aprons, and the front fender aprons--it would eventually get worse.  10 Since project Colt of...  10 Since project Colt of Personality is going to be using a number of modern components in the build, we had Brian weld up the majority of holes in the firewall.  11 The new, lower cowl panel...  11 The new, lower cowl panel is next, and is spot-welded in just like the factory did it. The sight of fresh metal on the car is an encouraging sight that instills confidence.  12 The top piece of the cowl...  12 The top piece of the cowl is next. Here, you can see that we opted to have the Gillis crew seal up the cowl vents. Rather than weld in individual panels and risk warping the entire panel, Rusty Gillis prefers to use a two-part epoxy to bond the metal panels to the cowl panel. Having done this on several cars, the results have always turned out well.  13 Right as Brian was about...  13 Right as Brian was about to fit the new fender aprons, he realized that the framerail wasn't attached to the floorpan. Further inspection revealed that a previous floorpan repair/replacement was done incorrectly, resulting in it sitting too far away from the framerail.  14 With the rust inside the...  14 With the rust inside the passenger-side framerail and the driver side looking questionable, we called upon National Parts Depot once again for a pair of full framerail replacements. In addition to the front aprons, we decided to replace the rear fender aprons, as the hood hinge inserts were rusting out--some were even missing.  15 Prior to installation,...  15 Prior to installation, the insides of the framerails were sprayed with SPI's epoxy black primer to seal them up.  16 Rather than rely on just...  16 Rather than rely on just the spot welds to the floor, the Gillis staff used 2x2 box steel tubing on the inside of the framerails to stiffen up the joints.  17 With no torque boxes to...  17 With no torque boxes to speak of, our Mustang could certainly use some support given the increase in horsepower and suspension performance. To that end, Brian fabricated these supports from some DOM rollbar tubing.  18 The replacement framerails...  18 The replacement framerails come in pieces and need to be welded together. We're finally at the halfway point to installing the actual suspension.  19 Brian measured a number...  19 Brian measured a number of times to ensure that the front end was square and level.  20 With the door tag missing,...  20 With the door tag missing, we felt it pertinent to install the VIN into the new fender apron.  21 After completing the weld...  21 After completing the weld and performing a little bit of grinding and sanding, the fender apron looks just like new.  22 With the repairs to the...  22 With the repairs to the front end of the car complete, the bare metal was given a thorough coat of SPI epoxy primer.  23 As we moved to the back...  23 As we moved to the back of the car to get started on the installation of the rear TCI suspension, the GPR staff mounted the Mustang on a rotisserie, where its underbelly was exposed. It was immediately apparent that the passenger-side rocker panel was compromised.  24 More important than the...  24 More important than the integrity of the rocker panel was the fact that the rear torque boxes were both rusted out. GPR sent us this photo via email after cutting out some of the rusted material. Great.  25a The rear floorpans where...  25a The rear floorpans where they meet the torque boxes were mildly rusty, but given the large amount of work to replace the torque boxes...  25b ...the decision was made...  25b...the decision was made to replace them as well. Just when we thought we were on the upside, we slipped back again. 26 After getting cleaned up, the exposed metal was sprayed in the epoxy primer/sealer while awaiting the replacement metal from National Parts Depot. Though this may look like a pretty bad predicament to be in, we've seen far worse--we're talking Mustangs stripped down to the inner skeleton, which is a thin metal structure to which the rest of the unibody parts are welded to.
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