Progress Thread HeHateMe gets bent

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As mentioned above my 67 has a cable operated knob that mounts under the dash next to the ebrake. The cable operates a little flapper door that is inside the vent that allows air to come in when the knob is pulled. Pull it out when you want air. Push it in when you don’t. I assume the Falcon would have a similar setup.
 
Here's pic w the door open, my cam batt died so no pic of the door closed. You can see the door and latch on the right.
 

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The Monster had the same open cowl vent that all fox mustangs have. Since I did not intend to replace the factory air box, I blocked off that vent. I have an aftermarket, street rod style Ac/Heater unit hanging there instead.
In hindsight, there are days when I wish I could just pull in fresh air w/o having to have the windows down, but in Alabama fresh outside air is usually accompanied with 90% humidity, and an ambient air temp equal to about the same.

Bottom line for me, is that the days that the vent would be welcome do not outweigh the days that it would stay closed.
 
The Monster had the same open cowl vent that all fox mustangs have. Since I did not intend to replace the factory air box, I blocked off that vent. I have an aftermarket, street rod style Ac/Heater unit hanging there instead.
In hindsight, there are days when I wish I could just pull in fresh air w/o having to have the windows down, but in Alabama fresh outside air is usually accompanied with 90% humidity, and an ambient air temp equal to about the same.

Bottom line for me, is that the days that the vent would be welcome do not outweigh the days that it would stay closed.
So no fresh air even with a/c? It's on recirc all the time? Seems would be an issue running a/c when it's super muggy.
 
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So no fresh air even with a/c? It's on recirc all the time? Seems would be an issue running a/c when it's super muggy.
Recirculate will dry and cool the inside of the car faster than having to continually dehumidify outside air. But smoking, BO, too much perfume and Taco Bell constantly on recirculate will be an issue.:ack:
 
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Recirculate will dry and cool the inside of the car faster than having to continually dehumidify outside air. But smoking, BO, too much perfume and Taco Bell constantly on recirculate will be an issue.:ack:
Fortunately...I don’t smoke, I bathe every day, Don’t wear perfume, or eat in my car,.....So it works for me.
Recirc also seals the interior from the ******* with the the F250 in front of you with the bully dog chip blasting black diesel smoke.
 
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Fortunately...I don’t smoke, I bathe every day, Don’t wear perfume, or eat in my car,.....So it works for me.
Recirc also seals the interior from the ******* with the the F250 in front of you with the bully dog chip blasting black diesel smoke.
I did not think you perfume much. The comments were for general consideration. But if anyone’s wife likes CoCo Chanel too much (or you are hooked on Polo), It could be a toss up between that, the diesel and the dead skunk on the side of the road.
I like a cabin air filter, especially when the AC is not on recirc.
 
I'll see if if can Adapt some Ebay cone air filters to the bottoms of the air inlets...ala cabin air filter. I'm make sure they are some nice anodized color and chrome to make the HeHateMe Peanut Butter Falcon faster!
 
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So, I've built engines from lawn mowers, to 2 stroke dirt bikes, to SBF, BBC, and once even helped on a SBC. But I've never done any really car fab work or body work. So HeHateMe is my blank canvas to either learn to do it right or royally :leghump: it up.

I'm starting on things that can't be seen when the car is together, like the cowl and the inner structure and even the floors. Speaking of cowl, I went ahead and bought another top cowl in much better shaped than mine along with the 2 air hats. I'll probably put them in, since they are pretty big pieces to fill in those gaping holes on the dash. I'll see if I can adapt the mustang air inlets or something in the car to be able to open and close them. I won't have the heater at least to start.

So here is my first fab project I am working on. This piece of the inner a pillar structure. Of course I picked something with a curve at the top and two flanges in different directions and not quite 90 degree bends. I have it roughed out. I am about to go start beating and banging on it to see if I can get it into shape. The piece wraps from the upper door hinge plate around to the dash. I am going to slice it next to the dash and leave that part alone since it's in decent shape and there's some meat behind it to weld to. I'll have to make the pillar part that has a couple of bends and piece that in. I'm sure that someone with more skill, more tools could make these pieces pretty easily in bigger more one piece units, but I am just going to make the pieces that I can, then weld and smooth. Like I said, most of it, except in the door pillar where the weather-stripping goes aren't seen, so I am hoping that I learn as I go and when I get to exposed pieces, I can do a better job.

So this is the piece that goes from the bottom of the windshield area down to the hinge, and back around inside to the dash. I am making it stop on the hinge side of the bend, so I can make the inner piece separate and hopefully it works out. I have to take a file and straighten out the hinge cutouts first. I roughed them in with a drill bit and jig saw. My HF jig saw sucks...or maybe I do.

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Here's some pics of what I'll be trying to work on today.


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Pray for my soul. My NY resolution was to stop say GD, MF, F This, F It all while working on my stuff. Let's see if I can get thru one hour, let alone One DAY.
 
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Let's go with pictures...I've been out there for about 10 hours other than stopping to eat some pizza.

I'll go over these....first is the main piece of the A pillar structure I cut out and am making to replace. Maybe I'm lucky I don't have experience doing metal fab like this. Because I have limited tools, I am just making stuff work to make the shape or bend I need. I was using some body hammers and a ball peen hammer, but it's been much easier convincing this 16 gauge steel to move with 3 lb mechanics hammer.

Finally, I hit everything with rust converter. I'll cover all my new pieces in weld thru primer. More to show.

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The easy part was the heavy 16 gauge inner structure piece. I took my time and used unheard of patience to move it a bit at a time until I got it to bend to my will.

Next is the piece to patch in the window channel. I used a manila folder for a template. After a lot of trimming, bending, hammering, trimming, bending, etc, I finally got it into an acceptable shape.

One note, I didn't remove all this layer because it goes up flush against the dash and I didn't want to mess with anything on the dash.

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I finished tonite up by putting a coat of weld thru primer on everything. I also made a C shaped bracket to weld in and support the back edge of the 16 guage inner structure, rather than trying to wrap it all the way around. It's cover by the 20 gauge metal that completes the cowl. My big concern when I patch the cowl back in is to make sure the interior is pretty much water tight. I want to make sure I don't leave a big hole where water pours in.

This first picture shows my try at a cheap a$$ $135 shrinker stretcher off Amazon....It worked for what I needed!
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If that is all 16 ga. steel that you got to bend like that, good on you. I certainly couldn’t have done it any better. You owe it to yourself to buy and get decent at using a mig, and dump that el cheap o flux core box. I’d even go so far as to say even better would be you invest in a tig. I’ve been looking at the rust, and am still scratching my head as to why you wanted to go down this path, but it’s your path to go down, not mine.
I woulda cut and welded every piece as a strip instead of bending it. ( That’s just because bending heavy ga. sheet metal is a pain in the dick). One strip at a time, with inside corners that butt together welded on the inside/backside, then grind the outside edge of the welded seam to form a smooth radius. That way, you can make a more compound curve that follows the actual curve of the windshield.
But that’s me. Your bends look close enough to work. You just got to get a better welder.( And quit relying on your brother) The flux core welder is almost too hot for 16 ga. steel, and impossible for stuff thinner than that

Mig welding is monkey see, monkey do. There is very little technique required after getting the heat and wire speed right. If you can make a zig-zag motion with your index finger, or a cursive small e, then you can master the technique required to mig.

Im considering upgrading my TIG. I have an el cheap o chinee unit that works great, but want a Lotos combo TIG/ plasma cutter. The el cheap o tig would be el cheap o for you.

Learning to TIG on the other hand is not so easy. especially when trying to weld rusty steel. I don’t think that stuff is galvanized but if it is, it’s even worse. Ive had to force myself to use the tig more, especially doing light ga. stuff like exhaust tubing. It just looks better, there’s no weld spatter, and the weld bead, as bad as I am at it is way smaller than my best mig pass.
 
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If that is all 16 ga. steel that you got to bend like that, good on you. I certainly couldn’t have done it any better. You owe it to yourself to buy and get decent at using a mig, and dump that el cheap o flux core box. I’d even go so far as to say even better would be you invest in a tig. I’ve been looking at the rust, and am still scratching my head as to why you wanted to go down this path, but it’s your path to go down, not mine.
I woulda cut and welded every piece as a strip instead of bending it. ( That’s just because bending heavy ga. sheet metal is a pain in the dick). One strip at a time, with inside corners that butt together welded on the inside/backside, then grind the outside edge of the welded seam to form a smooth radius. That way, you can make a more compound curve that follows the actual curve of the windshield.
But that’s me. Your bends look close enough to work. You just got to get a better welder.( And quit relying on your brother) The flux core welder is almost too hot for 16 ga. steel, and impossible for stuff thinner than that

Mig welding is monkey see, monkey do. There is very little technique required after getting the heat and wire speed right. If you can make a zig-zag motion with your index finger, or a cursive small e, then you can master the technique required to mig.

Im considering upgrading my TIG. I have an el cheap o chinee unit that works great, but want a Lotos combo TIG/ plasma cutter. The el cheap o tig would be el cheap o for you.

Learning to TIG on the other hand is not so easy. especially when trying to weld rusty steel. I don’t think that stuff is galvanized but if it is, it’s even worse. Ive had to force myself to use the tig more, especially doing light ga. stuff like exhaust tubing. It just looks better, there’s no weld spatter, and the weld bead, as bad as I am at it is way smaller than my best mig pass.
The stuff with the compound bends is 20 gauge. The 16 gauge is the big arrowhead thing with the square holes for the door hinge. I made it one piece for strength, plus it is completely covered so it will never be seen again.

I've got a 220v MIG, but my panel is somewhat full. If they make a 4 pole breaker for it, I can free up a spot to put a 220v outlet in the garage. They used a 2 pole spot to put a 1 pole GFI breaker for the tub. It came with an adapter cable to plug it into 110, but my brother can't find it after he moved...so I'll make one, to at least use it on 110 with gas for the sheet metal. Probably get some .023 wire.

I knew it was a rusty car when I bought it. My hope was it wasn't too terrible. In my eye, it's not too terrible. The main things I am working on will never been seen. The inner cowl, the inner A pillar, even the a pillar. I have thought about on more complex curves to do exactly as you say...make individual pieces, weld, and grind til they look perfect. I think TIG is great, but face it, the 60 year old car has lots of rust. As far as my brother, I'm mainly saving his time for the structural fab...the cage, subframe connectors...the stuff my life might depend on. One thing I have coming to help with the thin sheet metal is a copper spoon and a copper spot weld vice grip.

Also, I planned on over a year to do this. Why? Still have 2.5 years of college to pay for. No sense of going all in, when I can't afford to actually get it running. Also, I want to move. Step-son is in 11th grade and the wife wants to wait til he graduates to move. So I have a 1-2 years where I can't go really crazy on the car. I'm planning on spending a couple hundred bucks per month and weekend time going forward, saving up for the big expenses like floor pans, cage, and the rear end, whatever that ends up being.
 
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