Mustang Rebuild

The outer wheelhouse replacement part on the passenger side is not going to fit after all. While I figure out what what to do with it I moved on to the next order of business.  The taillight panel and trunk area.  The taillight panel is a straight forward replacement. It fits well and I’ve secured it in place with some clecos for the moment.  I dont want to weld it since I’ll probably be replacing the full quarter on the driver side and it would be a waste of time to weld it up only to drill out the welds on the quarter.  

NOTICE: I pointed out in red circles in the picture.  Even new, replacement panels often need body work to look good.  I’m sure this a problem with the stamping process when the part is made. Again it’s one more thing to deal with although in the grand scheme of things this one is minor.

Work continues on the wheelhouse.   I ended up removing the old outer half.  Once I removed it I discovered the inner half had rust holes through the lower front portion where it is spot welded to the floor pan.  I cut this section out and took some left over metal from the floor pan replacement to fashion a patch.  While I was working on this area, I went ahead and replaced the floor pan section direction under the back seat. The replacement patch for this area was a part made in Canada which I ordered from Mustangs Unlimited.  It was the worst fitting part I’ve ever ordered.  I finally pounded the damn thing into shape but wasted the whole weekend doing so and getting it welding into place.  

The wheel house too doesn’t fit quite right, but I believe it’s manageable.  It’s clamped into place.  It’s too soon to weld it.  I cant do that until the quarter panel is in place and fits it properly.  Then the wheelhouse half can be welded into place.

As you can see in the photo, I’ve trading in the old 40 cu/ft Co2/AR bottle for this 80 cu/ft bottle.  I ran out last weekend because I left the bottle open and it leaked out over a few weeks time.