Project Tetanus, my '66 coupe restoration

29267 Views 202 Replies 41 Participants Last post by xcelr8, 2 mo ago

xcelr8

Discussion Starter · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

8

After selling the Charger my late father and I built together I was looking for another car. Found this one online fairly local and had what I wanted, V8, stick, no power anything and was complete. Upon disassembly she had lots of rust issues and I thought about tanking the entire thing. Instead, maybe foolishly or not, I went back to my roots and dug into it. Sold some other stuff to buy the welder and tools needed and started disassembly in my garage. Here's her journey.

Car looked really great... they hid a lot of the wrong really well.

Started tearing her down.

Jig built and plan in place

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #2 · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

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Once the front end was on a jig and damage assessed, I started on the drivers side.

Once the drivers front clip was off I could cut the side cowl panel out then the rotted firewall area.

Once those were done, on to the toe board.

Then on to the drivers floor. Three layers of metal on this side. New seat platforms and floor supports were also done.

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

Now that I had something for the new front section to attach to I moved back to that.

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

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Rinse/repeat on the pass side.

Original pass side front section removed and new installed.

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

9

The cowl.... Wasn't as bad as I had thought. Lots of the firewall lip I had to hand make and a ton of bondo/roofing tar was jammed into the rust holes. Actually enjoyed doing this part.

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

10

Trunk, rear frame rails, rear trunk brace and wheel housings were next. They weren't too bad, but figured if I was already doing this much I may as well replace it all with new metal. Again, one side at a time starting with the rails.

Wheel housing going in.

Finally the trunk section.

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 17, 2015 (Edited)

It's been three winters doing 100% of the work all by myself to get this far. Radio on, heater going and two layers of clothes gets it done.

I don't have any pics of the full quarter on just yet but that's where I stopped in spring. Boating season started back up and that took up all my weekend time. Now that summer is over and boat is out, I have some small odds/ends to tie up on the drivers side then I'm building a cart to turn her around and start work on pass side quarter and wheel house. There's lots more pics at my signature below if interested. Stay tuned!

agb_abq

· #8 · Sep 19, 2015

Well done, man! That is a lot of good work right there, and in the way cold north at that!

I used your front end jig ideas when I made my own this year to replace my passenger side full frame rail/shock tower assembly, so thanks for that. Kinda gave me the confidence needed to get after mine, as your rust issues are much worse than my collision & rust issues combined.

Keep it up and post those quarter panel pics when you can. ('cause that may be next on my list as well

)

xj220

· #9 · Sep 20, 2015

That's awesome, great job. I know it's so easy to just ditch the car but there's something to be said for bringing it back to life and fixing the rust. It's giving the car a new lease on life. Good luck.

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xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #10 · Sep 21, 2015

Thanks guys! Glad the jig pics helped out. Will be a real treat when I cut that out from under the car in a couple of weeks.

Mustmatt

· #11 · Sep 21, 2015

Holy cow, there was more rust on your car than the titanic! And, you did an awesome job getting rid of it and replacing all the panels. Great work on this!!

xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #12 · Oct 6, 2015

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Finished up the rear quarter and door jamb area last weekend. Also decided to pull the jig out from under the car after three seasons of working on it. Not a big deal to most, but to me it was a white knuckle moment. Happy to say she didn't fold in half lol. I also yanked the rear end so I can fit the body cart and finish seam sealing/undercoating the bottom. Finally, fixed a small rust hole in the front corner of drivers door as well

Next set of pics will be her on the cart and moved 180 deg.

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rarebreed

· #13 · Oct 6, 2015

Wow, gives me hope. My Dad's '65 FB has similar rust issues as it was an Ohio car. Front frame rot and floors. not sure on the rear frame rails yet as I have not assessed the full extent of the damage. You did a great job on this.

Congrats.

digitalsolo

· #14 · Oct 7, 2015

Well, I will never complain about the rust repair I've had to do on mine now. Great work!

xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #15 · Oct 26, 2015

3

Built a quick cart with my friend and turned her around yesterday. Time to start surgery on pass side.

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RideInStyle

· #16 · Oct 27, 2015

great work

xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #17 · Nov 25, 2015

2

Week or so ago I hung the replacement door and partially cut off the rear quarter. More of the same but luckily the tail end of the rocker is in good shape. That will save me a day of fab and such. Also removed the wheel housing and partial rear floor pan but I'll have pics of that later. Basically just more rust carnage.

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drummingrocks

· #18 · Nov 25, 2015

You do good work! Subscribed.

Caper50

· #19 · Nov 25, 2015

Looking real good, some very good progress. It must be quite a nice feeling to pull the front jig out.

xcelr8

Discussion Starter · #20 · Nov 25, 2015

Thanks! Getting rid of that jig was a big deal. It's taking a while doing everything myself on weekends here/there, but this metal work is almost done. Going through the pics gives me a seizure lol

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