Initial car inspections are often made from twenty feet away. But at that distance, I can’t tell much about a car. To do that, I need to get up close and personal and inspect the exterior and interior of the car.
INSPECTING THE EXTERIOR
I start with the exterior and walk around the car to look for telltale signs that might give a little dent-and-ding history on this pony. I start at the left front wheel. With the front wheels aimed straight ahead, I measure the distance between the rear of the tire and the leading edge of the fender, as shown in photo 1. In this case, the distance is 3½ inches. I’ll compare this measurement to the right side and look for any difference.
This is a crude driveway measurement, but a very telling one. A difference of less than ½ inch between the two sides is acceptable on an unrestored forty-year-old Mustang, but a greater difference could indicate the car has been in trouble at some point and will need to be closely examined by a competent body shop or front-end alignment professional to determine what, if any, problems exist. The difference between the left and right sides of this Mustang measured less than ¼ inch; an acceptable measurement.
PHOTO 1: A rough measurement of the wheel base is taken by measuring the distance between the rear of the front wheel and the leading edge of the fender. This measurement, which is about 3½ inches, is compared with the right front wheel. A difference of more than ½ inch could indicate a structural problem with the car requiring professional help. Both sides measured almost the same, 3½ inches.
Next, I look at the overall condition of the body, starting with the front structure. With the hood closed, I examine the fit of all the panels. In particular, I want to examine the way the hood aligns with both fenders. Notice that I’ve already marked many of the problem areas where the gaps are too narrow with a colored water pencil. A water pencil is a marker that uses water-based color instead of a permanent ink or dye. It washes off easily and won’t harm the finish. Unfortunately, this poor fit was common in its day and is acceptable in some circles even today.
The real test is demonstrated in photo 3. The rear edge of the hood should be parallel to the cowl with no deviation whatsoever. On this car, the right rear corner is tight against the cowl panel, whereas the left rear corner has a wide gap. This indicates that at some point someone made adjustments to the fit of the hood to get it to open and close without binding. This could indicate structural damage to the front of the car, so that’s where I need to look next.
I start by opening the hood to look for obvious signs of structural damage. This usually is found in the form of hammer tracks, slotted fender mounting holes, or damage to the fender aprons or core support that has not been repaired. In the hood, I find evidence that someone had hammered and banged around on the right apron (highlighted by the colored water pencil).
Aside from the hood not fitting and the hammer tracks on the fender apron, another sure sign this car had been in trouble in the past is the left fender marked Taiwan. Ford made its own fenders in 1968, and its factory wasn’t in Taiwan.
Because of all of the above-mentioned problems, I’ll need to take some structural measurements before making the car undrivable. Why? If the engine compartment cross measurements I take are not equal, the car may need to visit a body shop to receive some structural alignment repairs, and I’d rather not have to push it. But that’s for later. For now, I continue my inspection.
The fit of the left door is terrible. This is far worse than what would be expected from a factory fit or even from many years of wear and tear on the door. It doesn’t follow the contour of the quarter at the top and sticks out more than an inch at the bottom. Ideally, I’d like to see this door sitting flush with the quarter panel and exhibiting no more than a ¼-inch gap between the two panels. But even the factory wasn’t that precise. Ford liked to see the panels flush but would tolerate up to a ½-inch gap between the two panels.
PHOTO 2: A visual check of the hood to fender alignment is made. The damaged areas are marked, as are the areas where the fit between the three panels is not acceptable.
PHOTO 3: This gap is critical. Here the left hood to cowl gap is wide, and the right gap is narrow, indicating that the hood as been shifted at some point. This could mean the car has been in a crash and needs to be examined by a competent body repair professional.
PHOTO 4: Another sign this car has been wrecked. Hammer tracks were found along the top of the right fender apron.
PHOTO 5: The fit of this door is far worse than would be expected from forty years of wear and tear.
PHOTO 6: Inside the door, I found the cause of the problem. The outer skin has been replaced, as evidenced by the poor welding job. Also notice that the data plate is missing. Marti Auto Works will make us a new one.
PHOTO 7: This large circular break in the fiberglass deck lid will require some attention later on.
PHOTO 8: Where does the jack instruction decal belong? This photo will tell the tale.
PHOTO 9: A quick way to measure the square condition of an engine compartment is to measure from the rearmost fender mount bolt to the forwardmost fender mount bolt on the opposite side, then repeat this measurement from the opposite side. This Mustang is square to within ¼ inch.
PHOTO 10: Problems, problems. This marker lamp isn’t falling off the fender. The mounting hole was stamped wrong, and this was some body man’s idea of a good fit.
There are more telltale signs of this door having been in trouble before. At some point in this car’s life, the outer panel on the left door had been replaced. This is seen in the poor welding job along the edges of the panel and confirmed by the poor fit of the door.
Moving to the back of the car, I need to inspect the fiberglass deck lid, where I find cracked paint. How do I know the panel is made of fiberglass? The edges are thick and appear molded, not rolled as they would be if the outer skin were made of steel. Also, as evidenced in photo 7, damage to steel doesn’t result in a large ring of cracked paint such as the one found here. Steel bends and dents; fiberglass panels crack in this circular pattern when they’ve been in an impact.
Inside the deck lid are the jacking instructions. A picture is better than all the guesswork in the world when it comes to deciding where to place the new instructional decals once the car has been refinished.
So far, I haven’t found any problem with the car that can’t be overcome. But then, I haven’t finished the inspection of the front unibody structure. Remember the poor-fitting