framerails on my 88 t-top

hsean · Nov 12, 2006

the framerails are pretty much gone what is an easy fix or should i try welding new section in or complete front replacement i have a donor car that is mint

billison · Nov 12, 2006

From what i can tell there is no "easy" fix to frame rot, you pritty much have to cut out and weld, what condition is the car in? is it driving, or is the drivetrain out?

hsean · Nov 12, 2006

i just bought it yesterday and drove it 588 miles all the way home from new jersey to michigan it looks like the passenger side is rotted away all the way to the firewall to the point that it broke away from the shock tower .the driverside is also going bad .i have an 87 body that is mint but is not a t-top would like to see which is the easier route to restoring this car cutting out the sections that are bad or just replacing the whole front end.i don't plan on driving it anymore worried about it caving in. how much would it normally cost to replace a front end if a shop did t?

hsean · Nov 13, 2006

anyone have any idea

Flavadave4 · Nov 13, 2006

cut out and weld in new pieces from donor car. make sure everything is sqaure when you weld and tack first so nothing warps

billison · Nov 13, 2006

You'd have to call around, a idea you might want to concider is cutting the t-top roof off and putting it on the mint car, and swap the doors, just a idea. i bet the t-tops is sweet...

billison · Nov 13, 2006

Flavadave4 said:
cut out and weld in new pieces from donor car. make sure everything is sqaure when you weld and tack first so nothing warps

I agree, if it's something you can do, and if you want to really build the car, you can just pull the drive train and take care off all the under body rust, all engine bay rust and rust proof/paint it, if i had a way to pull th engine, that's what i'd do..

Prime Lord · Nov 13, 2006

billison said:
You'd have to call around, a idea you might want to concider is cutting the t-top roof off and putting it on the mint car, and swap the doors, just a idea. i bet the t-tops is sweet...

+1

When I dropped my headliner the other day I noticed something interesting. The T-Top frame is simply riveted into the car. If you drop the headliner and drill out the 20 or so rivets, the whole T-Top frame will just drop right out of the ceiling. You could...in theory....drop that T-Top frame out of the rust-bucket, and make all the appropriate measurements on the good car, cut the roof (while supporting the center of the car so it can't flex) and rivet the T-Top frame in. From there its simply a matter of swapping the doors and the weatherstriping.

Anyway, Thats the way I'd probably do it. Unless your dead-set on having 2 cars. heh. Then your up for cutting and welding a LOT of new metal underneather there. If its gone up to the strut tower, its gonna take a LOT of work.

Congrats on the Fox3 T-Top purchase. Theres not to many of us around. Whichever way you do it, always rock w/ the tops out.

billison · Nov 13, 2006

the non t-top car will have the pattern for the t-tops in it, should be a mostly easy swap

hsean · Nov 13, 2006

thanks guys ,i really want to keep this car not cut another being they were rare ,i just blew 2200 on this car and i already have another 83 t-top donor which is also a rust bucket. i wish i would have thought of that before i bought this car.i'm thinking i can have my friend cut out the sections that are rusted and reweld in the new sections.instead of dropping the whole front end atleast that is what it looked like to me today.this is the last year for t-tops for this car so i'm sure it may well be worth restoring.hey prime lord how bout some pics

billison · Nov 13, 2006

give us some pics of the t-tops cars....i'd give your left nut for a t-top mustang

hsean · Nov 13, 2006

the 83 t-top has been gutted and i plan on pulling the motor and trans soon and than giving it away to a friend who is going to try to piece it back together, t-tops are awesome but they leak .atleast this one i just bought does have minimal floorpan damage. as soon as i get it looking half way decent i'll post some pics .right now it needs alot of work.

hsean · Nov 13, 2006

the 83 t-top has been gutted and i plan on pulling the motor and trans soon and than giving it away to a friend who is going to try to piece it back together, t-tops are awesome but they leak .atleast this one i just bought does have minimal floorpan damage. as soon as i get it looking half way decent i'll post some pics .right now it needs alot of work.

Prime Lord · Nov 13, 2006

I'll have some pics tomorrow. I'm going to the body shop in the morning to check on their progress.

billison · Nov 13, 2006

I have a vert, i'd love to trade it for a t-tops cars, good luck with yours

hsean · Nov 15, 2006

thanks, talked to a friend who owns a bodyshop i am going to take it to him they do great work.another question, i looked at the title and nowhere does it say t-tops so i'm guessing that the vin number must have some kind of code for t-tops in it.

hsean · Nov 15, 2006

this is my fourth mustang foxbody,but my first t-top that i bought that actually is drivable.looking forward to getting it restored like a cobra clone but with a dugan wing .

Prime Lord · Nov 15, 2006

Yeah, if you get a VIN decoder, you'll find the T-Top code. Titles ususally don't list things like that.

Good luck w/ the project man, its taken me almost 6 years to realize my dream of restoring my T-Top GT.

billison · Nov 15, 2006

the title will say if it's a vert, coupe or hatch..

hsean · Nov 15, 2006

thanks ,i'm hoping 2 years max on the resto i bet yours is going to look real sharp

framerails on my 88 t-top

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