Very rough 65 coupe to fast back conversion

[horse sence]

Well ,i have been waiting for sheet metal for several months now ,it finally came in !
I have a 65 coupe ,very rough but most of it trims off any way . The problem is someone has replaced a lot of metal that would not normally trim off so i will have to ,probably ,have to remove most of it and start over .
The front clip has already been replaced and i am not sure it was aligned correctly the floor has been replaced but not finished and just welded on the edges of the sheet metal.
Wheel tubs were replaced but i dont think they were aligned correctly .
The passenger side rear frame rail has a half length repair and i can definatley see it is off in both length and pushed over to the driver side ,now you can not just hang this metal and weld it where you think it looks good ,this will be a tough one i am pretty sure !

 

[horse sence]

Finally got the sheet metal after several months waiting ,its almost impossible to get some of the pieces right now !

 

[horse sence]

Few more pieces trying to get lost in my storage

there is all kinds of parts hiding in here ,two dismantled 56 ford fairlanes in boxes ,and a 37 ford pick up ,along with many many mustang parts stacked in things ,under things and on things !

 

[7991LXnSHO]

Well ,i have been waiting for sheet metal for several months now ,it finally came in !
I have a 65 coupe ,very rough but most of it trims off any way . The problem is someone has replaced a lot of metal that would not normally trim off so i will have to ,probably ,have to remove most of it and start over .
The front clip has already been replaced and i am not sure it was aligned correctly the floor has been replaced but not finished and just welded on the edges of the sheet metal.
Wheel tubs were replaced but i dont think they were aligned correctly .
The passenger side rear frame rail has a half length repair and i can definatley see it is off in both length and pushed over to the driver side ,now you can not just hang this metal and weld it where you think it looks good ,this will be a tough one i am pretty sure !

Sometimes I start a resurrection type project and wonder if it’s worth it.
These amaze me. I hope it lines up better than you fear.

 

[horse sence]

Sometimes I start a resurrection type project and wonder if it’s worth it.
These amaze me. I hope it lines up better than you fear.

It will line up when i am through with it ,i am just worried about what i have to pull back off because it was just slapped in place .

 

[horse sence]

I have a compact Bosch laser that i will be using to square it up ,especially the rear frame rails because i can clearly see passenger side is way off , It shows verticle and horizontal at the same time ,about the size of a large tape measure and it is self leveling if it gets bumped .
Kind of hard to see the laser in a pic for some reason but easily seen when in use

 

[horse sence]

What a mess ,i knew better than to take on someone else's work !
Wound up having to plasma cut it into pieces to get the badly welded pieces off ,i wanted to save the wheel tubs but there was just no way! I have a feeling i will have to cut off the passenger side rear frame rail as well ,it is a good 4 inches to the driver side and looks like 1 inch to short . The driver rear door post is all screwed up so it has to come off .as i said ,you cant just hang that metal and weld it any old place !

 

[horse sence]

A whole day trying to square up the frame rails on this thing ,i dont think anything was measured it was just welded in . The passenger side was 3 1/4 inches inward and about 1 inch down . I jiged it up between my posts on my car port and pushed it over with a porta power ,i put a screw jack at the very end and one at the front of the rocker and jumped on top of the rear rail ..dont laugh ,it worked ! Clean up the rust and it will be ready to put the back end together .

 

[dennis112]

Man, you're a glutton for punishment on this one!

 

[horse sence]

I welded the end brace in while still clamped together ,didnt move a bit when i released the clamps . I clamped the trunk floors in place a set a new gas tank in to make sure it was square and all the holes hit right on . I have to pull it back apart and blast and prime the rails and it will be ready to go together .

 

[horse sence]

Got the plug weld holes all drilled . Now that the frame rails are square and level it just sets right back in place

 

[horse sence]

Who ever got the idea to powder coat parts that are going to be welded STOP ! stop it now ,you can not weld through that crap ,even grinding it off ! I dont know who makes these trunk floors but they are much thinner metal than dynacorn and that makes it even worse with the powder coat ,and the smell. They welded but took me twice as long and the welds look terrible ,the grey dynacorn metal welded with no problems .lots of grinding now because i had to build the welds higher than i wanted

 

[horse sence]

Both wheel tubs are in ,next is the back seat divider and then the tail panel . Its going together good now !

 

[horse sence]

The seat divider did not take long

 

[horse sence]

Tail panel is in . Looks like both rear door posts have to come off and i have to finish trimming the windshield frame then its ready for the door structure

 

[horse sence]

Back into it . Got both door frames in along with the front and rear roof braces . Set both quarters in place just see how it was going to line up ,looks like a very good fit but ,the lower corners inside the quarter vents is welded in 1 1 /4 inch to low ,nice job Dynacorn ! That is why i like the un welded pieces . I will have to drill them loose and raise them up and i will be ready for the roof rails and then the quarters .

 

[2Blue2]

I’m always impressed with your resurrection process.

Carry on!

 

[horse sence]

Real nice ,they gave me one 65 roof rail and one 67 roof rail ! The only difference is the 67 is 3/4 inch longer at the door ,a bit of trimming and it was all good .

 

[horse sence]

Quarters are next but the end caps have to be fit to the quarter first .i forgot to order end caps so i will use the caps from my nephews car just for fitting

you can see in the last pic the quarter needs to be squeezed in to align with the cap .

 

[horse sence]

A little hard to see in the pic but the end caps are almost a perfect fit