Finally had to put her down....

[66 Ruststang]

to restore her! We haven't been on this forum, well since pretty much the MAA and 45th Aniversary show. This past summer we moved cross the country to California. Now that we are settled, I decided it was time to go over the car and give it a new paint job.

Here is a photo from a Cars and Coffee cruise in we did the first weekend of Jan.


Plans are to have it completed by the 50th MAA and Anniversary show. Man I hope I can get it done before then. Here are some pictures of our progress thus far.

Been finding lots and lots of bondo

Some bad rust and old repair patch under passenger side toe/floor area

Daddy's lil' helper


We now have all of the interior ripped out sans the dash and headliner which will be coming out next. Also have all of the exterior trim removed too. I have the old repair patch on the passengers side removed, and started on removing an old one on the drivers side. Still identifying all the trouble spots, we've bought quite a few parts, but are finding new areas as we go along......Lots of work left to go.

[66 Ruststang]

Update..... headlight buckets, front and rear bumper, both valances off. Looks like the front end got crunched at some point. Also rear valance will need replacement, and rear tailight panel. Removed the battery tray, all of the bolts broke, and looked like swiss cheese. Also managed to get the windshield trim off without damaging it.....water was entraped underneath and more rust...



Still finding lots of bondo. Started using a chemical stripper, seems to work pretty well.



crunched lower radiator frame crossmember

[AZ SVT]

I bet she will be a beauty when finished.

Sweat equity reaps big dividends!

[MustangOne]

Been there done that. Looks like a lot of work ahead. Keep us posted :)

[66 Ruststang]

Thanks for the comments. Here's a little update:

Been busy re-arranging the garage and putting as much parts as I can in our storage shed in the backyard all weekend. Our *new pony door panels came in, but we ordered parchment instead of white, so I'll either send them back or try painting them with upholstrey paint. Not much work was done on the car this week. Found a nasty dent in the passenger quarter panel next to the door jamb that had over a half inch of body filler. Sandblasted the rear fender extensions last night and took the bumper mounting brackets off the bumpers to blast those too.

Made the decision to tear the car all the way down. Just have been finding more rust then I expected, it is even on the inside of the roof, and on the inside rear pillars, pretty much everywhere. We got a quote for $1200 to rotissere media blast the unibody. Which is not much more than just doing the interior and exterior on a rolling chasis, I figured it would be worth it to get the undercarriage done too. Should be hopefully picking up an engine hoist this week. I'll post some more pics later.

[66 Ruststang]

Well it's been awhile since I last gave an update. We live on an Air Force base, and as such our house gets shaked from time to time by sonic booms. I had our camera in the garage, and a sonic boom knocked my bicycle off the wall, breaking our camera. So... we finally picked up another camera yesterday. Also added an engine hoist to my tool collection. :) Here is my progress since last time.

All of the interior is now out. Only things left to take out are the column, steering wheel, pedals and heater box.



Took off the exhaust, the motor, trans and radiator today. Also power washed the undercarriage until it got dark outside.




My garage is now packed with new and old parts everywhere. Wish I had a two car garage!



What's left... still have to pull the gas tank, gas and brake lines, the rest of the glass, doors, front fenders, and then the suspension before taking it to be media blasted. I haven't gotten to work on it quite as much as I would have liked, but have put in some late nights this past week.

[AZ SVT]

It looks like great progress to me.

And, you are making perfect use of that garage space!

Thanks for the update. Keep 'em coming.

[66 Ruststang]

So I stayed up a little late to get some work done. Removed the front and rear glass, and disconnected the rear suspension. I've got to quit getting underneath the car. I keep finding more rust through. Guess I'll be very good at welding when all is said and done. Now on to the pictures.

Picture from this past Sunday. Can you see a theme?



Don't Touch!!






Just a short month ago.........

[AZ SVT]

Theme? What theme? ;)

Looking good!

All the best,
Charlie

[66 NAG]

[QUOTE=66 Ruststang;15373]

QUOTE]

I see there are some fancy looking tools being used on this job.;)

What is that white thing that is shaped a little like a triangle (pointy bit to the top) on the shelf next to the the instrument cluster. Looks like is has an electrical cord and a blue dial. What on earth can this be used for? :D

Keep up the good work and before long you will be known 66 Noruststang.