1969 Mach 1 Restoration

rusty428cj

Rusty Gillis
This 1969 Mach 1 was bought new by the current owners Aunt who was a school teacher in West Virginia. It has a 351 with a 3 speed manual transmission. The current owner bought it in 1992.

Looks pretty good in the photo.



Around 10 years ago he quit driving it when he noticed this rust around the power steering bracket. He did tell me a few years ago he did take it out for a short drive.



The owner starting taking it apart and had it delivered to us.



I noticed around the quarter scoop hole that something was going on. It looked like they had put a quarter patch on. This is what we found. They had a quarter skin over the original rusted out quarter panel.

 
This is the left rear frame rail



Right wheel well



Front frame rail



The top of all the fender aprons look like this

 
I have never seen quarter over quarter panel, some people do crazy stuff to make a buck!
 
Joe's Notchback;38542 said:
I have never seen quarter over quarter panel, some people do crazy stuff to make a buck!

Wow I couldn't believe that either! Makes you wonder what the alignment of the other panals looked like after they put the quarter over the old one!
 
Rusty,

I just wanted to say thanks for documenting these restoration that you do, it's great to see the "right" way to do things when so many people/shops just cut corners.

Thanks for sharing!!

Steve
 
This is inside one of the shock towers



Since the floor and frame rails were so bad we ordered this from Thoroughbred.



Dynacorn parts that have come in



We made a jig with the stock suspension points and correct dimensions to build the car on.

 
I'll be watching this build. My first car was a 69 Mach1 that I still have. Keep up the amazing work!
 
I'm not sure what was used for a patch in the wheel well



The quarter panel was cut off



Not much holding the outer wheelhouse



Brian added braces before he cut the floor out



 
Brian has the floor cut out



Needs new torque boxes



I just had to show this again



I was told by the owner that this was done at a Ford dealer in a small town in West Virginia.
 
Why am I not surprised?
The lowest quality work I've seen has come from dealerships.
I have noticed their estimates always seem to have the least
amount of hours allocated. So it stands to reason.
 
Brian wanted the shell sanded and epoxy primed before he starts to install. Almost ready for a couple coats of SPI epoxy



 
Rusty, What system did you use to strip the roof, firewall and inner structure? It appears to be very well prepped.

John
 
John Long;38639 said:
Rusty, What system did you use to strip the roof, firewall and inner structure? It appears to be very well prepped.

John

Brian uses a wire wheel, 3" brown prep pad and 80 da
 
rusty428cj;38640 said:
Brian uses a wire wheel, 3" brown prep pad and 80 da

That equates to a lot of diligence and attention to detail. The part that is stripped is nicely done.

I remember a few threads ago, you said Brian used the Green Corp 50 grit Rolocs. I bought a box of them and like them a lot for finishing the welds. I also picked up some of the 3 inch x 1/4 cut off style discs which worked very well for knocking the welds down. I appreciate that you are willing to share what you have learned from experience.

John
 
I bought a lower rear quarter panel patch from some forgotten source, maybe Mustangs Unlimited. The patch panel is made just enough oversize to fit right over the rusted out portion WITHOUT cutting the old panel out first. If you try and use it that way then it would have to be shrank in mearly all directions. I wonder if that qp was made for the same reason - cheapo repair, don't matter if its right or not its out the door and the 'till went ka-ching.
 
Is this "real time" speed? If so, it's very impressive!

If I ever get a Mustang I'll have a hard time not sending it to you. I know I could never have the patience to do everything so correctly, and I'm pretty patient!
 
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