ROCKERS, COILS, SHOCKS

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.

Ford Mustang rocker panel Restoral
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.
69 Mustang rocker panel
This is a picture of the new inner rocker panel

69 Mustang inner rocker panelThe 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.

69 Mustang toe board replacement
Seat pan and toe board in place, I still have to replace the front outer rocker and treat the rust on the kick panel.

69 Ford Mustang toe board replacement
Another view
Classic Mustang toe board replacement
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.

69 Mustang seat pan replacement

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….

Ford Mustang seat pan replacement

Another angle of new seat pan.

Classic Mustang seat rust
Drivers seat pan before replacement. You can see the toe board was several pieces pop rivited in place…..

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.

69 Mustang frame replacement
This is the finished drivers frame and panels. I have put on a coat of Extreme Chassis Black Primer.

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.

69 Mustang Frame rail replacement
This is the inner drivers frame rail. Before I close it up by welding on the outer frame rail I first preped it with Eastwoods Extreme Chassis Black Primer, and undercoating. Where I was going to weld I only used weld thru primer (the gray stuff)

69 Mustang Frame rail installation
Same as above but a different angle. If you look close you can see where I spot welded in the shock tower and frame parts on the bottom and where I seam welded the frame to the inner fender panel. I also spot welded it on the other side but I added the seam weld for extra strength.

69 Mustang Frame inner rail replacement
This is the inside of the outer frame rail. You can clearly see here where I used undercoating (the black) where I would not be welding, and weld thru primer (the gray) where I would be welding…..this puppy is NOT going to rust again! As you can tell from the overspray I used the undercoating first and then the primer. Also you can see where I drilled out the many holes in prep for the spot welding.

69 Mustang Frame rail replacement welding
Outer frame clamped in place before welding.
FordMustang Frame rail replacement welding
Another angle

After the welding is completed and A Arm back in place.

1969 Mustang Frame rail replacement
Another angle

Classic Mustang Frame rail replacement
I can’t believe its really all welded!! Just some cleanup grinding and then undercoating!

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.

69 Mustang fender replacement
Outer fender in place with all the new frame parts welded in.
Ford Mustang fender replacement
Another angle
10/2/05

69 Mustang shock tower replacement
New Shock tower, and inner frame rail welded in, inner fender tack welded
Ford Mustang shock tower replacement
Closer shot of new Shock tower, frame welded in and inner fender

classic Mustang shock tower replacement
New inner frame rail, inner fender and shock tower from outside.

69 Mustang shock tower installation
New inner frame rail, inner fender and shock tower from outside.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.