Progress Thread Horse Sense - 66 Coupe To Fastback Conversion

[horse sence]

i got it leveled and squared up, it wasn't to hard to do it was pretty close already. i managed to get the outer wheel tubs and trunk drop offs in. i could have gone a lot farther if i had the panels.good news is the panels are on the way from dynacorn and should be here start of next week.
i got to use my new saw . GO GET ONE, this is the best saw i ever owned. i overlaped the trunk drop offs and sawed through both pices at the same time so i could butt weld them in. the only thing you will not like is it cuts to fast. i give it an A+
i had to take out the rear end because it was causing the rear half to sag, it looks like a dodge rear end? its about 2 inches wider than the ford. i dont know why they even used it? the u bolts are square i cant believe some of the things people did to these cars .

 

[mtaqua]

Someday, when I retire I am going to do this, keep the pics coming. I still wish I would have done this with my coupe, as I probably cut as much off (except the roof). I bought a dewalt electric sawzall, the biggest one at Lowes. I have abused the crap out of it, still works as new. I do like the roof cutter you found, looks like it would be nice in tight spots.

 

[horse sence]

i bought the big millwakee and its great for hacking off a roof,but this small one is great for patch panels and fine cutting. i think it has a longer stroke than the other saws and thats why it cuts so good.
if i had all the sheet metal here i think i could build this car in 4 days easy
what takes the most time is trimming out the car. it looks like a have a couple more lined up .i may have to get a bigger shop. there is a 100 x 80 metal
building for sale on on prety good size lot here in town. if i had the money i would buy it. i could fill that sucker up pretty quick.

 

[lauras70mach1]

8 3/4 Chrysler rear

Edit - going by the width there it's either an E body or B body rear. If it's a sure grip you could get some bucks for it from a Mopar guy.

 

[candphall]

How do you think that handy roofing saw would work cutting out floor pans?

 

[horse sence]

How do you think that handy roofing saw would work cutting out floor pans?

i already cut a toe board with it ,not a problem it realy cuts

 

[horse sence]

i welded in the rear trunk brace and the tail panel,new metal is sooooo nice.
the ford tail light panel is perfect .the trunk brace is extra heavy duty.
i trimmed the lip of the outer wheel tub, i am going to roll the wheel lips and the tubs are such heavy guage they will not roll with the wheel lip. i will tack the wheel lip to the tub after i roll it. i set a quarter in place it is going to line right up.
my friend brought his 66 out today and since i am out of parts for a little while
i will trim his out.

 

[horse sence]

8 3/4 Chrysler rear

Edit - going by the width there it's either an E body or B body rear. If it's a sure grip you could get some bucks for it from a Mopar guy.

Chrysler,Mopar ? what language is this , french ?

 

[horse sence]

i unloaded my friends car this morning ,it is a 65. the floor has been replaced and so has the trunk floors and rear quarters .i forgot i partially sand blasted it a few months back,it still hasn't been primed. i will start cutting this weekend.
it has a very nice roof ,any one need a 65 roof? if not i am going to cut it up. i don't have a place to store another roof. i will probably start cutting sunday

 

[horse sence]

i started cutting my friends car apart. i took off most of the roof, just need to trim off the very front. took out part of the tail panel . i left the latch assembly ,it is good so i will just trim off the rest of the tail panel. i removed the back seat area and the back window strip. the car didnt even flex when the roof went through. it already has torque boxes so it is fairly solid. another friend has a set of doors for my 66 so i will pick them up tomarrow. i have to go to Harbor Freight tomarrow and get some more jack stands ,they are on sale right now and he lives just down the road from Harbor Freight.

 

[Ryan Miller]

Looks good. You keep things moving along quickly.

 

[horse sence]

it will go real fast when the pieces get here.
i picked up the doors from my friend,they are both rotted out. since i dont have any doors right now they will work to align every thing.
i picked up a set of jack stands ,they didnt have the 3 tons so i had to get the 6 ton. when i got to my friends house he gave me another set of 6 ton stands,i have plenty of stands now.

 

[horse sence]

i took the door hinges apart ,sand blasted and primed them, put in new bushings and put them back together with new pins . one of the springs is headed to the moon i think ,it took off like a rocket .i heard it bounce off the walls acouple of times and then it was gone. good thing i had another one. i remembered today that i have a pass. side door. i have had it so long i forgot about it. i guess i will buy a Dynacorn driver door. i bolted the door on . it lines up pretty good .it was a new door that a friend gave me because it has a small dent in the middle of it ,easy to fix.

 

[horse sence]

i cut the quarters off the red 65 this morning ,what a mess. the outer wheel tubs have been patched by taking a new one and notching it out and slipping it over the old rotten ones, at least twice . the inners look like a quilt ,lots of patch work. the quarters were new but very poorly replaced. i am going to have a lot of clean up before i can get started on this one.

 

[horse sence]

i got the floor and the small patch in the toe board done today.i butt welded the toe board in. i made my cut in the middle of the flange on the frame rail so the weld would not be seen in the engine compartment , the top weld will be hidden by the torque box. i used my hole punch on the edges of the floor pan,another one of those you need it tools.mine punches a 3/16 hole ,just perfect for plug welds. the floor went just perfect. nice and tight all the way around. i used a hand full of screws to pull it down tight then welded it down .even my welder worked good today. it made the prettiest welds ,nice and flat .just a light buff with my angle grinder and the welds were smooth.

 

[66Coupe289POWER]

Looks very good. I was thinking about getting one of those flange/hole punch tools. You may have just convinced me I need one.

 

[horse sence]

yeah the amount of time it takes to drill those holes and then grind the bur the the drill bit leaves, this thing is a real time saver. make sure you get the 3/16 punch though the 1/8 is to small. the flanger comes in handy more times than you think as well. i got this one at Harbor Freight about 15 years ago

 

[horse sence]

i got the seat boxes welded in this morning.
they went in so easy and fast that i had time to perform self kidney surgaryi raised up into the window post .i knew i was going to do it .i should have wraped the post with with a towl ,shoulda, woulda ,didn'ta and paid the price. my friend smashed the crap out of his thumb the other day with a sledge hammer . he said the same thing ,he knew he was going to do it but he did it any way oh well what you gona do

 

[horse sence]

still waiting on sheet metal ,seems like every time i order parts they take forever to come in.
i started trimming off the old metal on the red 65 .the rear door posts are rotted out and stuffed with bondo .the more i trim the more i have to trim.it has had the trunk floors, rear frame brace and several pieces replaced already and they did a very poor job doing so. half the welds dont do any thing,they are just laying there. the welds that did hold are blobs .the trunk floors were trimmed at the back to slide over the rear bumper brace .it all has to come off. atleast the front window frame is in good condition, just needs a blasting .i have the trunk floors but i am still waiting on the rear floor brace and new bumper brackets so i am kinda stuck for a bit. i cant do anything on mine because i am waiting on floor supports so i can do the torque boxes. i guess you have to order parts 3 months in advance

 

[horse sence]

yes yes yes. just got a call, the sheet metal finaly came in. i have a couple of deliveries comming in today so i will have to pick up the sheet metal tomarrow.