[J_Pro205]

Forum Introduction:
Hello everyone, after about 6ish years of purely lurking, and 3 years since purchasing my Mustang, I figured its time to make a build thread to share progress and pick up advice along the way. Some basic info to introduce my car:

• 1969 Mustang Mach 1
• Purchased Nov ’19 as a mostly complete roller from New Jersey
• Was NOT a numbers matching car, came with a 351C that had a few bent rods
• Factory manual car with 9” rear
• RUSTY… holey (literally) moley (I’ve never spelled that out, but seems right)

And some basic information to introduce myself:

• First restoration project, but not first crack at extensive modification to a vehicle (including cutting/ shaping/ welding). Definitely learning as I go no matter what I do with this or any other car
• Mechanical Engineer, so I have absolutely over planned everywhere and probably have/will overcomplicate most of this project
• Auto Cross and Time Attack/HPDE enthusiast. Have only been racing with sanctioning bodies for 3 years, but I plan to continue that as long as I can, and, as I’ll show in this thread, I plan to use the Mach 1 to itch that scratch

I’d also like to preface this thread with this note: I am NOT a professional in any aspect of what I do. I work out of my home garage when I can outside of work, using mostly basic tools and materials. I’ve had to get pretty creative to find some solutions so far, but that’s one of my favorite parts.

Alright, introductions aside, I’ll get to what everyone actually wants to see/hear. After graduating and getting settled in my first big boy job, I helped one of my best friends build a rather serious time attack car for the GridLife Time Attack series. After a few years of building that into a solid platform, I decided it was time to dedicate my time to build something for myself. Since I was a kid, I had always had a love for the 1969 Mustangs, specifically the fastback body lines.

In the years leading up to buying the car, I created a kind of project statement to outline what I wanted the mustang to be to me. This will help me keep myself on a set path to an end goal instead of meandering off half way through and finding myself making something that differed from what I had envisioned. “To build something inherently unique. A mustang that retains it’s intended heritage, while also utilizing advances in engineering and materials and creative, subtle, design elements of my own creation. It must be a useable vehicle, one that can be daily driven to work on fair weather days, make grocery runs, long distance trips with family, attend and be competitive in autocross, attend and be enjoyed on track with Time Attack or HPDE. I will show myself what I can do when my passion is given freedom.”

It may be a little sappy, but on the days I don’t feel motivated, that statement kicks me back into gear. I know my goals and aspirations for the car are large and lofty, but I don’t believe a project is worth doing otherwise. To meet all of these goals, I came up with an extensive list of things I wanted to do and researched seemingly endlessly to make sure my decisions would fulfill my goals. I am confident they will, and once I had a solid base, a steady day to day, and some savings, it was time to start working.

I had been planning, researching, and saving for this car since college, so in 2019 I had decided to start seriously looking for a car in need of restoration to begin. Realistically, I figured I wouldn’t find the right one until 2020, but to my surprise one seemed to fall right in my lap that fit the criteria/budget I had set. I bought the car from a small classic dealer in New Jersey. He had bought it to restore, but he said he didn’t have the time to give this one attention. He had warned me it needed some metal work, and honestly, I didn’t know what to look for exactly, but pictures sure can hide some things! Seeing it in person showed some more rust than I thought, but I got if for what I thought was a decent price, so we trailered it home 13 hours to begin its new life in my 2 car attached garage!

Pictures below are from before tear down. Since that time, I have 657 hours in including tear down and metal repair. It’ll be probably a bit before I catch up to real time for updates, but I’ll do my best to highlight the good stuff leading up to today without being too detail heavy.

Things definitely looked good from the outside. Inside was ok, it was a maroon interior painted black, so that was a bummer, but otherwise, complete. Most parts seemed to be in good shape, so I felt it was a good starting point. By this point, I had already created an extensive timeline in excel detailing what would need done, an excel part tracking sheet/cost tracker/cost estimator, and a word document journal to document every step along with hours logged and spot welds cut (that part was for giggles, but its actually been a cool statistic to track). Did I mention before I was an engineer? No? Well, I’m sure the stereotype comes through now with all the documentation!

 

[J_Pro205]

Vehicle Teardown:
After a few months of hesitancy, I finally started teardown. My goal was to remove every part from the body as I knew some extensive metal work would be needed. I documented every part by snapping a picture, noting how it was fastened, how many fasteners it used, what they were, where they were, and how the part came out. I then tagged all fasteners with small part baggies and the actual part with tape or a gallon bag, depending on size of course. This was then all tracked in the journal along with notes after each day of work to learn from later. Again, it may seem like overkill, but it has come in clutch more that I thought already, and I’m still working on metal! Most aspects of the teardown were what I would assume to be pretty standard, below I’ll share some highlights and finds along the way.

I waited a bit to tear into the engine, but between some bad pitting in some bores and a few bent rods, I’m not sure the fate of the engine, but it seemed bleak. (worst bend pictured, others were bent out of straight, but not by a lot).

Just about anytime I banged on the car or used an impact, rust fell off, this was a fairly common find after a few hours under the car, that’s when I started to realize how bad it was.

Did I have to spend multiple days getting the right tools and patience to cut out the leaf springs? Yes…

I was proud of this one, I wanted to store the front and rear glass in something rigid enough to carry, so I used some old PVC laying around to make a carrier with a center divider. Once the windows were out, I wrapped them in some cheap HF moving blankets and cardboard. So far they have survived a few trips in the house, down stairs, and now through a move to another state, so I’d say it’s worked!

A common theme that carried through this teardown was eviction… I found numerous mice nests/homes/metropolises. The first came in the heater box.

The second and third came from the headliner. I kept just about all things from tear down, the headliner, went right into the trash.

As I mentioned, the interior was painted black over red. I’ve kept the pieces, but I’m not sure if I’ll reuse them or not. Thankfully, I have a lot of time to decide on that.

 

[J_Pro205]

Jig Design/Build Overview:
Once the car was more or less entirely stripped of parts and just a unibody/shell, I began work on my chassis jig. I saw this as one of the most important pre cursors to my work on the car, so I spent quite a bit of time researching what others had done, what was critical, and what was best practices. I decided to build a “skateboard” platform that would have suspension hard point mounts that would also help locate structural members when they would need replacement. At each end would be bumper mounts that grab the body the same was as a rotisserie for support. Additionally, I have 2 moveable legs that run the length of the base that could be set and utilized for supports along the way. The adjustability ensured I could essentially install a vertical support anywhere within the package of the body.

Main structure was 2x2 tube. Adjustable bars were 2x1 tube. Supports were 1x1 tube. Bumper support verticals are 2x2 tube and the mounted bars are 2x1 tubing. Suspension hard point mounting bars are also 2x1 tubing. Anything that had adjustability was welded to a 2.25x2.25 .120 wall tube that I cut 1 wall off of to make a C channel that slid snugly on the main structure. I then drilled a hole in the outer wall and welded on a nut so I could lock the position with a bolt “set screw”. All suspension hard point mounts are made this way along with the runners the length of the base. I also used some of the frame drawings online to measure my car to make sure it was straight before making this jig. Thankfully, all measurements seemed to check out within standard tolerances for the 60’s. Don’t mind my random margin scribbles/algebra…

Unfortunately, I don’t own a vehicle that can transport items longer than 8’, so I had to bring the steel in cut and then weld it back together straight to make the base. Thankfully my garage was pretty level and I was able to get it almost dead on.

I bought a cheap set of heavy duty casters to add onto the bottom of the jig.

You can see here the sliders I made for the outer structure.

Man, it was nerve racking getting the car up onto the jig, but it got there!

My next update will start on the metal work/fabrication. This is the step I’m still working in, but I knew this would be the most extensive portion given my plans and the state of the body. Thanks everyone for reading if you got this far! I’ll do my best to be regular on updates, but I will say, it could be spotty. My wife and I just welcomed our first child, and that’s really the only reason I’m working on this rather than the car. I feel like I’ll have some more inside time now than garage time!

 

[QuietChris]

Welcome to the VMF. Congratulations on the little one. Good luck on the project.

 

[Boom]

Welcome, nice project and congrats on the baby!

Looking forward to see how the project progresses. You've put alot of work into that jig.

 

[J_Pro205]

Thanks guys! The Jig was fun to work on. So far it's been worth its weight in gold given how much metal has been replaced. After work I'll add some info and pictures from the start of the metal work.

 

[CJM68GT390]

Welcome.
Yes, us engineers tend to over think things. But that’s ok.

 

[wawazat]

Looks like a great start. You might want to follow Shaun at Street or Tracks build on his 1970 (Wife 3-Part II) as it’s currently in the body repair phase.

 

[Grabber70Mach]

Welcome to the VMF. Nice project you are working on,sounds like you've got a solid plan. Looking forward to following along on it.

 

[J_Pro205]

Thanks you guys! I've spent about 5 years so far on the forum, not necessarily as an active member, but more of a lurker and sponge. I've utilized a lot of information found here to help guide my planning and path forward.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

Before cutting out any metal, I wanted to brace the entire body the best I could to prevent unintended twisting or bending. I used some green painters tape to plan out some triangulation of 1x1 square tubing.

With the basic supports planned, I cut the 1x1 and installed to match and support the main structure.

There were quite a few known problem areas from purchase and initial overview once home. A close friend who’s done a good deal of work on some classics, including a 68 coupe, showed me a few things I hadn’t seen when picking up and didn’t know to look for. A few early finds are shown below:

Floor was rough, rotted away or poorly patched significantly.

Torque boxes on both sides were in very poor shape. Both were patched and barely hanging on under the floor and at the frame extensions.

The floor near the rear torque boxes was pretty bad as well, not as bad as the front, but still in need of replacement.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

All 4 frame rails and both front extensions were falling apart, the front frame rails at the firewall were essentially held together by some epoxy, and the rears were patched before, but not with weld. They had some slider over panels bonded over rust with epoxy. I started by removing the rear frame rails and waited a bit to get to the front.

Removing paint/grime/rust to get to the rear frame rails really showed this car’s true colors underneath. Outer wheel houses were patched poorly and slathered in filler. Rear quarters were hot garbage and full of shotty patches and tons of filler and bondo (measured up to ¾” in areas). Inner rockers were questionable. Trunk floor was in bad shape. Trunk drop offs were terrible and patched all over. Passenger outer rocker required a few patches, driver side needed replaced.

 

[Kjsmitty]

“Rust never sleeps”
- In this case not for 54 years anyway..😜 But you are doing a great job of putting it to bed!!

Nice jig and I totally respect your PVC action for your window storage..👍

Welcome! Great project and future restomod. Following!

 

[Boss5Oh]

Save the tunnel area you cut out. If you intend on installing a larger than stock transmission, it can be very useful.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

While working to remove the inner rockers, I found the third mouse complex. They PACKED the passenger side rocker with insulation.

Front passenger side kick panel was rotted out at the bottom, and the front extension to the outer rocker was in bad shape, so I made a patch for the kick panel and replaced the extension.

The rear passenger quarter panel to rocker and door panel (probably not official names) had quite a bit of rot developed, so I had to cut and make more patches for the problem areas.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

After removing the body filler covering up the rocker patch, I cut a piece of poster board to match the curvature of the rocker panel to make sure I matched it with my patch, and to see how bad the previous patch was.

Shop foreman came out to make sure I wasn’t dilly dallying around this day…

Right in front of this patch was a bad spot, so another patch was needed that was much less complicated to make.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

The trunk floor was basically totally made of patches. I wanted to adjust some of the dimensions in the area anyway, so I decided to re-design the rear trunk floor and make my own.

After marking all metal that needed to come out, I took a bunch of measurements to layout the new metal and used poster board to mock it up.

Super high tech bending practices using some spare square tubing, clamps, mallets, and bodyweight.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

Some sections of the patch went under the rear seat panels and curved around the frame rail next to the wheel wells, so I used a small piece of thin scrap to find the curvature needed and then matched that to the panel before install.

After finishing the rear floor, I prepped the new frame rail for install on the passenger side, and prepped the outer rocker with POR 15.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

At this point, I should share some more details about modifications being made outside the realm of just metal repair.

For the rear end, I had decided during the initial planning phase to go with Street or Track’s Full floating 9” rear end and 3 link/watts link suspension set up. This utilizes a rear coilover set up, so the leaf spring mounting locations will not be utilized. During my extensive research, I had also found Shaun’s guide on the convertible inner rocker install. Another user (their username escapes me at the moment) had posted a long thread on torsional stiffness of the chassis and how the convertible inner rockers made a large improvement in this measurement, so I had decided to go this route for my car as well.

Once the passenger side frame rail and inner rocker were tacked in place, I moved on to the driver side and found the forth mouse settlement in that rocker panel.

I removed the rear driver side frame rail at this time too. I didn’t know they made frame rails that would pivot around the patches, must have been an option for rear steer back when…

This was my pivot point. A patch that slid over the bad metal and had a few tacks and seam sealer holding it together. Cool.

 

[J_Pro205]

Metal Fabrication/Replacement:

I prepped the frame rail and inner rocker the same as the passenger side, and got them mocked up.

Before tacking the inner rocker in, I removed the outer rocker in preparation for installing the replacement. I made a few attachments to my jig to mark where the outer rocker needed to be placed to match the original.

Due to the layered nature of these cars, I found myself often removing one part, but before tacking in the replacement, another part needs attention, so on and so forth. If the timeline feels like I’m having some issues finding and fixing an issue right away, that’s the reason. The outer rocker is a good example of this. I ended up finding the front driver side kick panel was beyond repair, which lead to the cowl being cut and the eventually removed as well.

After the kick panel was in, I tacked in the inner and outer rocker.