1968 Coupe Project

rustaddict · Mar 2, 2016

I am trying to trial fit my inner fender, new torque box, and floor support. I will also be installing a new toe pan to repair the bottom passenger side of the firewall. I believe the rear of the inner fender fits flush against the firewall and then the torque box welds to the firewall and goes over the top of the frame rail flange that welded to the firewall, is that correct? I'm guessing that I need to repair the firewall first, weld the frame rail and floor support in 2nd, and put the torque box in last, is that right ?

horse sence · Mar 2, 2016

Correct

rustaddict · Mar 8, 2016

I bought this rear end yesterday to replace the 6 cyl. axle in the car now. It is an Explorer unit with 4.10 gears and limited slip. I gave $150 for it.

rustaddict · Mar 8, 2016

I stuck the radiator support in place and put a few clamps on it just to see a trial fit. I am going to go outside in a few minutes and take it back apart and start repairing the firewall. It will feel good to burn a little welding wire. Maybe I will feel like I am getting somewhere then.

LILCBRA · Mar 8, 2016

rustaddict said:

Really diggin the 55!!

rustaddict · Mar 9, 2016

LILCBRA said:
Really diggin the 55!!

Thank you. That's my "me" project. I have wanted a 55 Chevy since I was a teenager and at 43 I an just now getting around to building one. This 68 Mustang is supposed to be a me& stepson project. So far it has been just me but I haven't said too much about it because there's not too much he can work on until I get the new front end welded on it.

LILCBRA · Mar 9, 2016

Really long story that I'm sure no one needs or really wants to hear about, but I had a 55 since my dad died in 1983. He wanted it left to me, so the whole family knew it was mine and I would do something with it. I actually had some plans laid out, but it always seemed that something would get in the way. Well, recently it was legally taken from me and I'm not sure there is anything I can do about it. It really p!$$es me off! But they are honestly the first car I loved and can think of none better, including Mustangs. Someday I will have another....

rustaddict · Mar 9, 2016

Man, that is ROTTEN ! If you are not sure that there's anything you can do about it, then that means that you are not positive that you CAN'T do anything about it. Get that sucker back! Not only is it a 55, but it was your Dad's 55. There is only one of those on the planet.

LILCBRA · Mar 10, 2016

A little bit of the rest of the story: When I was in my accident last April, my mom come down to Atlanta from Iowa. Since I was out of it between my injuries and a reaction to pain meds, I don't even recall being in the accident much less her being here. My wife (fiance at the time) said my mom come down and tried to take all control over what was happening concerning me. My grandmother even ratted her out and said she was snooping around my house looking for something. I started becoming coherent during my last week in the hospital when no one was around. After about a month or so, I wondered why none of my family was contacting me and checking up on me, so at the advice of a counselor, I wrote a lengthy letter to my mom, brother and sister basically telling them that their behavior is unacceptable and will stop right now. I tried calling everyone to read it to them but couldn't get through to anyone except my sister, so I decided to email the letters to them. I wrote 6 printed pages to my mother and her reply stated "All I can/will say is that I got your letter." I still haven't heard from her or my brother and it is coming up on one year since my accident. The 55 was in my mom's name since I was a minor when my dad was killed (car accident) and I never foresaw anything like this happening, so I didn't think too much about it. A couple months ago, I found out that my mother moved into my brother's house and signed my 55 over to him. My dad never had anything written up legally and the note that he scratched out one time has long since disappeared, so I don't think there is really anything I can do about it. I will probably research it when all of the medical expenses are finally taken care of since I have to get another lawyer involved now. I don't think it's gonna be pretty......

rustaddict · Mar 10, 2016

I just noticed you are a Georgia boy. Did you ever meet a guy in the Air Force in Warner Robbins named Mikey that owns a black 5.0 coupe? Just curious.If it was titled to your Mom and not mentioned in a will,there's not much out there that can help you. I'm afraid I will have a situation similar to yours in the future and I have thought quite a bit about how I will handle it when the time comes. I don't know the whole situation and I'm not an expert in affairs like this, but here are my thoughts: Without any surviving paperwork, the law probably won't be able to help you.It is a good thing that it is still in the family and not sold to some stranger. At least you know where it is. About the only chance you have left of getting the 55 back is to repair the relationships you have with your Mom & siblings if that is possible. You may have to do some stuff you dont want to do. I have messed with old cars all my life and one thing I have learned is people change. I can't tell you how many times I have seen someone get their dream car and have all these plans and then they were ready to get rid of it a short time later. People have short attention spans. Layoffs happen,divorces happen, money troubles,peoples lives can change before they know it as you already know. That is going to be your best chance of getting Dad's 55 back. 55's have two big things that make them easy to want to get rid of. They are expensive to fix and they are worth a little money even if they are rough. My best advice is to skip the lawyer, the court, and making a tense family situation worse and try to get in a position where you can snag it when he or his family decide to get rid of it. It might not seem fair to have to buy something that was promised to you but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

rustaddict · Mar 11, 2016

Back to the Mustang. We have decided to paint the car acapulco blue with a blue interior, per my step son's request. Makes life easy for me and I'm glad he didn't opt for some funky color.I have the firewall repaired and am trying to pre fit everything before I weld the rest of it on. I am going to a swap meet this weekend and hope to come home with a few parts.

tray694 · Mar 14, 2016

Acapulco blue should look great on the 68, did you have any luck at the swap meet?

LILCBRA · Mar 14, 2016

Actually, I'm an Iowa boy who now lives in Georgia

I'll try to be brief with this since it's your thread and not a counseling forum or anything. But I basically refuse to be the one who steps up to try to make amends in this situation. If they do, I am willing to listen, but I will not initiate. I am the one from our family who always tries to do everything for everyone in the family (and for friends too) and I have been taken advantage of for far too long. I'm there to help when help is needed, but when I need help with something more often than not everyone is too busy. For instance, my brother basically blew his truck up pulling a travel trailer to Arkansas or somewhere near there (don't remember exactly where he was going). So I offered my truck so that he could get to where he was going. When my truck returned a week later, it was damaged. He did not offer to help with repairs, but I made them anyways because it's my truck. This isn't the first time for this. When I need something like help replacing a roof on my house or a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, he is too busy. Or my mom who throws temper tantrums like a toddler when things don't go according to her plan. The last visit I had with her that's exactly how she acted. We only had a limited time to visit when making a trip from Georgia back to Iowa to pick up my II. She knew we were coming as I was in contact with her well in advance. We arrived at her house to find her not home. I tried calling her cell multiple times and left multiple messages. I didn't hear from her until the night before we were leaving to come back to Georgia, so I made arrangements that we would come to her house in the morning and leave from there. When we come in the house, she was literally pouting like a toddler in her rocking chair, complete with stuck out bottom lip and crossed arms. I tried to initiate conversation with her to only receive nods and uh-huhs or nu-uhs. I was starting to get impatient with her for her acting like this, but tried not to show it. She didn't acknowledge my fiance or her kids when we walked in the door, so my fiance was fed up and wanted to leave too. When we finally did leave, mom was a little more open with us, but she still failed to acknowledge my fiance. My fiance had tried to arrange for my mother's transportation the previous Christmas only to have my mother snub her plans and tell everyone that my fiance didn't want her to come because of her dog. My mom also tried to blame us on this trip, saying that we didn't try to call or see her. So my now wife has had it with my mother for a while. Now couple just this tidbit with everything that happened with my accident, and I've had it with my mother's attitude and will no longer tolerate it. When she steps forward to offer my wife and I an apology, then I may consider amends. But given everything that's gone on in, especially in the past year, I can no longer be a part of it and continue to be a healthy, grown adult. This is longer than I anticipated, but is still just a snippet of information, a small example of everything between my family and I. Them taking my 55 away was just the icing on the cake, or the last nail in the coffin, depending on how you want to look at it. Ok, rant over!

So, did you find anything worth while at the swap meet? And the blue will look good on the car! Here is a thought for you and your son to consider-have you thought of a neutral color interior like grey? Just thinking in the off chance you guys change your mind on the exterior color, the interior will match no matter what. Our 67 has a parchment interior and a purplish paint job now. I ran the door tag numbers and found that it was originally Clearwater Aqua and my wife wants to take it back to that color eventually. It also had a black interior, but being in Atlanta and not having AC in the car, we are going to leave the parchment interior alone. We wouldn't be able to do that if the interior would have been changed to a matching color of the paint. Like I said, just a thought for you to consider. I'm sure you already have!

rustaddict · Mar 16, 2016

I hate to admit this, but the swap meet was lame. It gets smaller every year. From what I understand, the fairground keeps running up the price to sell or show and people are getting tired of it. There was a clean aqua 68 coupe and a 70 Boss that didn't have a Boss motor in it. That is always a let down. Now for the good news. After leaving the show, I went to see a guy in Oxford, NC who was supposed to have some Mustang parts. Boy did he have some Mustang parts...somewhere between 50-75 Mustangs from 73 back. I lost count of how many 69-70 Sportsroofs he had. There were Conex boxes and racks full of stuff and the guy had a few restored cars, including a 70 Mach1 with a 427 tunnel port transplant and an Indian Fire 70 Mach 1 that was one of the best restorations I have ever seen, but I am no expert. I bought a right fender, a monte carlo bar, some V8 motor mounts,and a hood latch from him.

rustaddict · Mar 16, 2016

Here is the 427 Tunnel Port

tray694 · Mar 16, 2016

That's too bad on the swap meet. Its getting hard to find ford parts at most swap meets now, It drives me crazy. Sounds like you hit the jackpot in Oxford though. 427

horse sence · Mar 16, 2016

rustaddict said:
I hate to admit this, but the swap meet was lame. It gets smaller every year. From what I understand, the fairground keeps running up the price to sell or show and people are getting tired of it. There was a clean aqua 68 coupe and a 70 Boss that didn't have a Boss motor in it. That is always a let down. Now for the good news. After leaving the show, I went to see a guy in Oxford, NC who was supposed to have some Mustang parts. Boy did he have some Mustang parts...somewhere between 50-75 Mustangs from 73 back. I lost count of how many 69-70 Sportsroofs he had. There were Conex boxes and racks full of stuff and the guy had a few restored cars, including a 70 Mach1 with a 427 tunnel port transplant and an Indian Fire 70 Mach 1 that was one of the best restorations I have ever seen, but I am no expert. I bought a right fender, a monte carlo bar, some V8 motor mounts,and a hood latch from him.

All the swap meets seem to be this way ...No ford parts .you can find anything Chevy you could want . Show up with Ford parts for sale and you will sell it right on the spot . I have had people hang on the side of the truck as i drive in just to make sure they get the part if they can see it in the bed .

rustaddict · Mar 23, 2016

Do these holes look like they are in the right place? Neither the shock bracket or the support bar that goes to the firewall will line up.

LILCBRA · Mar 23, 2016

Just from Googling Monte Carlo bars for 67s, it looks to be in the right place. We don't have one in ours to compare. Here's one owner's procedure for installing the export brace as well as basically the same question, posted on this forum: http://mustangforums.com/forum/clas...-monte-carlo-bar-won-t-clear-comprssor-2.html

Post #13:

Courtesy jdraper from mustangforums.com

"The best way to get the one piece export brace in is to support the car from the center (pan if you can) and let the body sag....it will pull the shock towers out away from the center slightly, allowing the brace to go in easier. It also helps if you can put a ratchet strap across the brace to pull it together slightly. Put it in without the shock tower tops on so you can access the center. Once it's in, release the strap. This will hold the bolts in place so you can put the shock towers back on."

horse sence · Mar 23, 2016

sometimes you have to move the bolts around a little in the slot to get them to line up with the shock cap holes .

1968 Coupe Project

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