Transmission Crossmember & Rear Seat Pan (Cont)

It took me a little longer to finish up the transmission crossmember and rear seat pan than I expected. The front cross member just needed a second coat of Rust Encapsulator. The area was not very rusty except for the two sleeves which the transmission supports go through. However, I like using the Rust Encapsulator as a primer and for added insurance. I'll coat this later with Extreme Chassis Black but I'm waiting on this for now.

There is were numerous holes on the driver side of the rear seat pan. I welded in a small square of metal to completely replace the section filled with holdes. I smoothed it out with a grinder and then put a little body filler on it. This is obviously not necessary but why not make it look nice and practice on areas like this. If you can't tell from the slight waviness, the holes were two the right of the seat belt mounting point.

This corner of the passenger side rear seat pan had several small holes. I ended up filling them with weld which I believe is a little unconventional. I then grinded it smooth. Since I had a little body filler still mixed up, I used it here also.

Remaining tasks until I install the floorboard:

- Create Tab for Sub-Frame Connector

- Strip and Paint from Frame Rails

- Strip and Paint Firewall

Transmission Crossmember & Rear Seat Pan

I started today with the holes in the rear seat area where the seat belts mount. I believe these were from previously mounting exhaust hangers in this location. The majority of the holes could be hammered smooth and then filled with weld.

There was one section with a larger hole with thin metal around it. I tried unsuccessfully to fill it with weld but kept burning through (even using a backing plate). I cut a little square patch panel and welded it in to fix the hole. I only had a little difficulty with the welding. I'm getting much better.

Once I was done with this patch, I grinded the welds down smooth and decided to put a really thin layer of body filler over it to make it disappear completely. I've yet to sand the body filler smooth so I'll attach a picture once I finish it up.

While waiting for the filler to dry, I decided to go ahead and strip the transmission crossmember. I used a wire wheel and a sheet of 120 grit sand paper to clean up the inside of the crossmember. Once cleaned up, I painted the cross member with Rust Encapsultor.

If you are keeping track, I'm down to the following before installing the floor:
- Create Tab for Front Subframe Area
- Strip Front Frame Rails & Prime
- Finish Work on Underside of Toe Boards

I'm going to remove the finish work on the underside of the toe boards. I'll do this when I'm doing installing the floor. However, I'll add that I want to strip the firewall before putting in the floor. It will be much easier with the floor out so I'll do it in the next few weeks.

- Create Tab for Front Subframe Area
- Strip Front Frame Rails & Prime
- Strip & Paint Firewall

Driver Side Toe Board Installation Part 2

I started a little later today but still worked the majority of the day on the Mustang.

The toe board is now fully welded in. I grounded down all the welds, fixed any pinholes, and grinded some more. By 2 o'clock, I'd killed my first grinder and had to go by another one. I suppose I should not burn up the second one if I continue to get better at welding.

After all the weld seems were ground down, I put a small coat of body filler over the seams, and then sanded it all smooth. I put two coats of Rust Encapsulator on the panel. There was no rust but I've purchased several cans and have just been using it as insurance.

I'm very glad this panel is in. I've been procrastinating it for a while now. It seems like the longer I procrastinated the larger the job seemed to be. While it was not super easy, it was certainly something I was able to tackle in a weekend.

This is a picture from when I started removing the driver toe panel. It gives you an idea of the rust. I stripped the torque box, coated it with Rust Encapsulator, and the top coated with Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black. I did the same with the frame rail which is covered by the toe board.

The following picture shows the toe board after I finished up the welding, filler, and paint.

The following picture shows both the replaced driver and passenger toe board. I still need to strip the firewall and the dash. I'll probably go ahead and strip the firewall before I replace the floorpan. It would be much easier to do it now rather than laying down on the floorboard once it is in.

I test fit the Dynacorn full floorpan yesterday before installing the driver toe board. The fit was excellent. I'm really looking forward to installing the floorboard but I have a little work left to do.

Driver Side Toe Board Installation

I've been procrastinating welding in the driver side torque box for about two months. Today, I decided I wanted to get the job done today.

I started at about 9 o'clock by working on fitting the reproduction panel to my car. It fit fairly well but the area under the steering colum was designed differently. The contours were off so I had to spend a little time shaping the reproducton part to fit the design of the firewall.

There was a little other work needed but nothing incredible. I think it is just a given that a reproduction part just gets you close. To make it actually fit, you are going to need to do some work. Especially when it is just a portion of an original panel like a toe board.

I did test fit the floorboard in today before starting on the toe board and it gave me the motivation to work until about 5 o'clock this afternoon. I'm not the best at welding but I just keep getting better. Unfortunately, I require a large amount of grinding time. Regardless, I installed the toe board and just have to do some finish work on it tomorrow.

I'll put some pictures of the toe board up tomorrow.

2011 Good Guys Spring Nationals

I did not spend any time working on the car this weekend. Instead, I went to the Good Guys Spring Nationals in Fort Worth. From what I understand, the show is normally held in late Summer and this is the first time they arranged for the show in early Spring.

There were about 1,500 cars, vendor displays, swap meet, and autocross racing. I spent Friday and Saturday there and think I saw about 70% of the cars. I love all types of cars but wish there were a few more Mustangs to give me ideas for mine.

This car had the perfect stance. The fender well of both the front and rear is 26" off the ground. The car has 18" rims which was a little surprising as I would have thought they would have looked too large. I still plan to go with 17" rims but should still be able to mimic the stance.



I've thought I would leave the corral off the front of my Mustang and just leave it blacked out. However, I saw the grill below and it is really nice looking. I don't know how it would look with the low key appearance of my car but I took a picture to keep it in mind.



Looking at all the muscle machines and pro-touring cars really got me to thinking about everything I would love to do to my car. Then I remembered it does not even have a floor. I guess I better get to work as I've been slacking off lately.