PHOTO 13: This roof drip rail molding is gently pried off using a wide-blade trim tool to lift the inside edge of the molding and release it from the drip rail.
PHOTO 14: Behind the drip rail molding lies yet another molding. This one hooks under the drip rail and must be carefully pried off.
PHOTO 15: The console goes next. The components are laid out and photographed before storing.
What is the condition of the roof panel mentioned earlier? Surprisingly enough, Ford was careful to apply a solid coat of green paint to the roof and about double the amount of adhesive required to hold the top cover in place. Any rust worm looking for an easy meal was out of luck with this car.
REMOVE THE CONSOLE
Next on the teardown list is the console. This one consists of three major components: the lower base, the top cover, and a radio surround piece. The bad news here is that once I unbolt and remove these pieces from the car, I find that the radio surround piece and the radio housing had been hacked apart by someone determined to install an oversize CD player in the dash. Salvaging this part of the car may prove to be my undoing. But in keeping with the rule of body repair of always putting off until tomorrow what was promised yesterday, I move on.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Before continuing with the restoration, I want to pause and take stock of what has been accomplished so far. I’ve taken over one hundred photographs detailing the parts removed from the car and their approximate mounting locations, paying particular attention to the intricate inner workings of both doors and quarter panels. I want to be sure that months from now, when I start assembling this car, I can easily tell where and how each part should be installed. I’ve also noted the condition of all these parts on the master list, making a note beside each entry that will require additional parts or a complete overhaul later on. Parts that need to be replaced are then transferred from the master list to a new parts list, and once I have a substantial list compiled, I’ll place an order.
To that end, it is time to pick up a few catalogs and spend a little quality time making a wish list of needed parts. Over the years, I’ve learned that the more parts ordered at the same time, the better the discount and the more savings on freight cost. It also helps to consider time and distance. The farther away the parts supplier is located from your front door, the higher the shipping cost (generally) and the longer it takes to get the parts (sometimes). But I don’t let either of these factors stop me from using a company that has treated me like a real customer in the past. At one time or another, I have either ordered from or sought information from all of the companies listed in chapter 1 of this book. That’s why they’re here: they all treated me like I was the only customer they had that day.
After stripping the exterior and the interior, the Mustang is a shell with the engine, drivetrain, and dash assembly still in it. I have an engine stand just waiting for the engine, but something I learned a long time ago is that engines and drivetrains are a lot easier to remove with the front sheet metal already off the car. But because panel-to-panel alignment back in the days of “build it faster because everything looks good at 80 mph” was not a priority, I still have a lot of sheet metal work to do to this car. So for now, the engine stays put and the body hammer comes out.
The next step in the restoration project is to work on the sheet metal. This includes aligning both fenders to the hood and making a serious lead repair on the right fender.
ALIGN THE FRONT PANELS
Body Shop 101 teaches body repair technicians that every panel on the front of the car aligns to the hood. That is to say if the hood isn’t in perfect alignment with the body structure of the car, nothing else, including the doors, will line up.
What do the doors have to do with the front sheet metal alignment? Photo 1 is a good example of what I’m talking about. Think of this fender as if it were hinged near the front of the door. Swinging the front of the fender out-board will cause the rear of the fender to shift inboard, particularly at the point marked by the X. That, in turn, closes the gap between the fender and the door just below the stripe (lower arrow). This also causes the gap at the top of the fender to widen (top arrow). A closer look shows this is exactly what is wrong with this fender. It has been shifted outboard at the front, causing the gap at the top to widen and the gap near the bottom to narrow.
Note: When I shifted the right fender, shown in photo 1, inboard at the front, the top rear of the fender moved back and outboard slightly. This slight shift closed the wide gap at that point and caused the gap along the area near the X in photo 1 to widen slightly. The result was a better gap line between the door and the fender, which was what I needed to happen in the first place. That’s why alignment always starts with the hood. The alignment of everything else keys off this single panel.
PHOTO 1: The door to fender alignment is terrible. The door rubs the fender near the lower arrow, and the gap is much too wide near the upper arrow. All of this is because the fender has been shifted outboard at the front.
Photo 2 shows where I’ll start the alignment process. The hood must be aligned with the cowl, which means the gap between the cowl and the rear edge of the hood must be even and parallel. I make the necessary adjustments by loosening the hinge bolts and shifting the hood either forward or backward as needed. I use the Eastwood Panel Gap Gauge shown in chapter 2 to help make this gap perfect.
PHOTO 2: Fender alignment actually starts here, with the hood. The hood must be aligned with the cowl first, then the fenders aligned with the hood.
PHOTO 3: Although the hood and cowl alignment is critical, the alignment between the hood and the tip of the headlamp housing is critical as well.
PHOTO 4: This is the result of our alignment work. All gaps are even, about ¼ inch wide, and the tips of the headlamp housings align with the leading edge of the hood.
At the same time the rear gap in the hood is being established, attention must be paid to the alignment between the leading edge of the headlamp housing and the leading edge of the hood. Recall I had left the headlamp housings in place? I did this because they play an important role in getting the hood into perfect alignment with all the other front sheet metal pieces, such as the fenders.
Note: The fit between this headlamp housing and the fender is far from acceptable, but it isn’t something to worry about at this time. Whoever installed this housing failed to attach all of the mounting bolts, so the housing moves at will. I’ve already had the headlamp housing off once, and I know I can easily shift it into the correct position when needed.
When both fenders are in perfect alignment with the hood, you should have the result you see in photo 4. All gaps are even and not too wide, about ¼-inch width is normal, and the hood is in alignment with the leading edge of both headlamp housings. What are all the marks on the panels? When the initial inspection of this car was made, I marked every problem area I could find, including dents and alignment problems, so that nothing would be overlooked once I began the sheet metal repair work on the car.
Did I have to do anything special to reach this point