10/24/05
Got the flat piece of the inner rocker out as far as the rear door jam, Looks like there was a squirrel living in there at one time there was a bunch of cotton or some kind of bedding material something had set up housekeeping. Anyway the outer rocker is in amazing shape considering that the inner rocker is so rusted. As a matter of fact it was the outer rocker that was holding up the drivers side of the car with the engine in as that was the only solid metal that I could find to put jack stands under. It must be the only piece that ford rust treated!
Not to sound to much like a commercial but I ordered the passenger seat, left and right inner frame rails, a kit that has all the plastic hole plugs for the car, and a set of front springs Thursday night from Northcoast and they were delivered to my house on Monday…that is awesome service, and the parts are good quality.
Here is the inside of the outer rocker with the inner panel removed. They look rusty in the picture but it is really just surface rust. The part where the rust is was strong enough to hold the car up even with the engine in.
This is a picture of the new inner rocker panel
The blue shock is the old one, next to the new stock spring (black). The springs that were in the car were WAY to stiff for me. Also much shorter than stock but I don’t think that they lowered the front end any. I was told that they were removed from a car with a much larger engine than my car. You can see how much thicker the coils are. Guess the previous owner wanted to stiffen up the ride….he did. Anyway the blue ones are going on Ebay I don’t need them. If you want em give me a shout.
10/22/05
Didn’t get a lot done this weekend, had to do real work…anyway I got the drivers toe board dry cut and fit in place and put it and the seat pan in to test fit. Also I got the old seat pan repair removed and did some prep for the new inner rocker. I decided to go ahead and replace the full passenger side seat pan and inner rocker panel as well. I ordered the parts today. Also I ordered stock springs and I am going to do the Shelby Shock tower mod to lower the front end and improve handling. After closer inspection the old passenger seat pan replacement was Ok but what they did is use the rocker panel as part of the seat pan and cut out the bottom of the inner rocker…Guess it worked but it is a shortcut for sure, I will post pictures to make it easier to understand. The old drivers side seat pan repair was a total mess. They just cut away the inner rocker panel and slid the seat pan under the cut.. it was not even welded in to the rocker.
Another view
Another view10/18/05
Got the old seat pan out and the new one in place, dry fitted. I had to drill out all the spot welds that held the inner rocker, seat pan and outer rocker, it took about 3 hours in all. I did it each day for an hour after work. Once that was done I still had to do some air hammering and chiseling to break the stubborn welds but I got it out. I put the new full drivers seat pan in, to check fit it and looks great. I am going to outline where it is with a marker and then cut 1/2 inch below that for the final installation and welding. Next I need to remove the inner rocker and replace it first. This should be a piece of cake as it is just a flat piece of metal.
Drivers new seat pan in place, if you look close you can see where the inner rocker has rotted to the point that it is no longer connected to the bottom of the outer rocker..also you can see all of the spot welds that had to be drilled out….I’m not gonna lie, drilling out all those spot welds ……sucked….
Another angle of new seat pan.
10/16/05
Got the drivers front outer frame and panels primed (wheel well area), looks good. Also cut out the drives floor pan and started removing the inner rocker panel. It’s a real pain, tons of spot welds to be drilled out. I will post pictures later.
10/15/05
DRIVERS SIDE FRAMEWORK IS DONE!!!
Today I got frame welding all done. Welded in the bolts inside the frame where the power steering attaches, its finally $%$#$%^& done…..I duplicated the spot welds that were factory and I added some bead welds for extra strength. Now I can start working on inner rocker and seat pan. After that the drivers side work is DONE.
Outer frame clamped in place before welding.
10/9/05
Put drivers fender back on to check alignment and fit before I finished up the welds on the inner fender panel. The panel is basically welded in with about 6 spot welds and is solid but I wanted to make sure the fender fit before I finished it. Guess what…..IT FIT…..it was PERFECT!! It was square and level. It matched the pre-teardown measurements! Also I put the hood back on to make sure that everything was as it should be, it was…This is a big deal (at least to me) as it means I got the frame parts in the correct place when I welded them in. It was good to see it look like a car again with all the panels and hood in place.
I also drilled the holes in the frame rail for the power steering piston and got it mounted. This is the part that pushed through the frame rail and started the whole restoration. It is solid as a rock now and its great to see that thing in and ready to go.
Outer fender in place with all the new frame parts welded in.
Another angle
10/2/05
New Shock tower, and inner frame rail welded in, inner fender tack welded
Closer shot of new Shock tower, frame welded in and inner fender
New inner frame rail, inner fender and shock tower from outside.
New inner frame rail, inner fender and shock tower from outside.