69 Mach 1

[river1]

When I get started I'll post some camparision pics in your thread if that's OK.    Jbird

how about beside the just comparison pics you allow us to follow along with your build in it's own thread :T)  PLEASE

thanks jim

[enjenjo]

I will let you all follow what I am doing, but there won't be any pictures until monday. Bowling tomorrow, A wedding saturday, and an anniversary party sunday.

A little background on this car. It's an original 69 Mach 1 with the original motor. so it is worth spending a few bucks doing it. It is really not that bad, but bad enough that it needs repair to make a nice car out of it.

The inner fenders are marginal, the spring towers are OK, but he bought the entire inner fender assemblies and I am replacing them at the firewall, along with the torque boxes, and the lower firewall/toe board panels. The frame extensions under the floor are bad, and the rear frame rails are rusty where the rear shackle attaches. Also the outer rear wheel houses are bad.

So, since the frame for the most part will be removed, I need to make a jig to hold everything in place while I am doing it. So I have made brackets that bolt to two of the front suspension mounts on both sides, and four brackets that fasten to the pinchweld on the rockers front and rear. these will be welded to tubes that go across the car, and these in turn will be welded to two tubes that go front to rear. Once all this is welded up, and braced off the floor, I can cut out the bad parts without the rest moving.  I am also cross bracing the door openings, and diagonal braces from side to side inside the car. At this point, the brackets are made, and fastened to the body, the tubing is cut, I just have to weld things together.  If I had a frame table I could have used that, but I don't, so this will be the next best thing.

[wayne petty]

i would like to see them also....


how about wall mounting an old camcorder... or a web cam... so we can all watch...  or play it on you tube later...

once of my friends posted one of my cell phone movies of the unloading of the dirty house...

wayne

[chimp koose]

Lets have some pictures.I find the buildup of a vehicle most interesting.

[jaybee]

What style of build does he have you doing on the car?

[enjenjo]

What style of build does he have you doing on the car?

This is more or less a restoration. Since this is a Mach 1 he wants to maintain the value.

[enjenjo]

Ok, since most of the floor will be cut out, I wanted to hold the sides of the body in place while I was working on it. So I bolted steel angle to the door latch mounting, so I had something to weld to without damaging the body.

[enjenjo]

I also bolted some plate to each hinge mount.

[enjenjo]

Then I welded 1x1 tubing in a triangle from the latch plate to the hinges.

[enjenjo]

Next, I had to figure out a way to jig the front of the car, so it could be cut off and replaced with new sections. To mount the jig, I welded an angle to the rocker boxes in 4 places.

[enjenjo]

I then welded 2x2 tubing to the angles, with a gusset to keep it from bending side to side.

[enjenjo]

Next, I needed a way to locate the inner fenders in front, so I bolted an angle to the steering box mount, and the idler arm mount.

That is all for today, more tomorrow.

[jaybee]

When you said numbers matching Mach I it makes sense to do a restoration.  Nice prep work, can't wait to see more.

[enjenjo]

OK, I have some more pictures to post, here we go. I made a frame out of 3" square tubing for the base of the jig. This was welded to the 2x2 tubing fastened to the rocker panels in the last step.

[enjenjo]

I then welded and braced the angles that were bolted to the steering mounts to the 3" tubing