UnderControl Posted April 30 Author Report Share Posted April 30 Someone posted some pictures they took from this past weekend's autox so I've got a couple new action shots. 3 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 1 Author Report Share Posted May 1 Well, that escalated quickly. Might be easier to get to inner lower quarter before there's a frame rail in the way. The door is back on the 66 as well. 2 Quote Link to comment
Rustbin Posted May 1 Report Share Posted May 1 6 minutes ago, UnderControl said: Well, that escalated quickly. It can do that, if you'd rather not rebuild the whole Jeep, just patch that bit and ignore the rest. Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 1 Author Report Share Posted May 1 Current plan is to cut out all of the rot I can get to, and slap together the simplest patches I can. Surface rust will get cleaned as much as I can be bothered before treating and painting. The order of operations is today's ponderance. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 1 Author Report Share Posted May 1 After last weekend's autox I decided to bite the bullet and get new tires rather than fight with the old ones and/or pickup bad habits from fighting them. Unfortunately they don't make the re71s in the 275/40s I was running previously. On the one hand, the shorter tire is advantageous for my gearing, but now I have a new problem. Needs more low. At some point this season I may try swapping out the steeda competition springs for the h&r race springs, which should lower it ~1/2" up front, and maybe a little less out back. I have been quite pleased with how the suspension has been performing, just looks silly with a 4 finger wheel gap. It's a touch chilly here today, and I was technically supposed to be working so haven't had a chance to warm up the tires and give them a proper test, but the fact that I wasn't spinning at the torque peak in second on the way home is a good sign. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 2 Author Report Share Posted May 2 Other than a small square off the back and chasing out some porosity, the lower quarter is patched up. Happened to have some random piece of 18ga in the small scraps slot that was almost perfectly sized for for that inner section. Threw a few beads in it because I could. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 3 Author Report Share Posted May 3 (edited) XJ now with moar stronker frame rail half. With the threat of rain, that still hasn't come, I packed in the welder after getting this section burned in. Instead I turned my attention to that religious section of floor above the mid section of the frame rail. If weather cooperates I'll hopefully be able to make that patch permanent tomorrow. Past me opted to make the rust around the rear window frame future me's problem. Sadly that future me has become current me. So, that's on the list while I'm in here. I am half tempted to replace the window with a gull wing access panel. Edited May 4 by UnderControl 2 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Weather did end up being great this evening, but I decided to get the rest of the floor prepped so I can just weld it all in one go. Didn't strictly need to cut out that much, but it's quicker and easier to make one mostly rectangular patch vs several oddly shaped ones. The tricky bit of this one will be that house shoe flange I'll need to make to reconnect the fuel filler tunnel, and trying to match the little bead detail at the front edge. I'll keep the option of just making the flange out of a second piece in my back pocket in the event I find it's taking too long. 2 Quote Link to comment
Rustbin Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 You could just weld on the flange Fitzee style, and cut out the original bead detail then weld it into your panel, if you don't want to hammer the shape into your panel yourself. Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 The bead I'll do with the bead roller. The flange I would like to try to shape, but will just weld a separate piece of strap as necessary. Necessity here dictated by the quick portion of "quick and dirty". Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 6 Author Report Share Posted May 6 Rained all fricken day here yesterday, so no dragging the welder outside. I did get the patch panel wrapped up though. Flange is 100% gud nuff, a little trimming and fitting of the filler tunnel and reinstalling the interior trim will have it looking as good as factory. This was actually my first time making a wooden buck for hammer forming. 2 Quote Link to comment
Rustbin Posted May 7 Report Share Posted May 7 So much for quick and dirty, it looks nicely executed with trying a new technique. A little adjusting to fit and it will look better than new. Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 7 Author Report Share Posted May 7 It was pretty quick anyway. Took longer to get it welded in this evening. Just got to close up the wheel well and fuel neck tunnel then back to finishing the frame rail. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 8 Author Report Share Posted May 8 Saved the ugly for the welds on the tunnel I guess. Haven't had that much blow out in a while. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rustbin Posted May 9 Report Share Posted May 9 There must have been rust pits hiding, just grind off the high points and cover it with carpet and it'll all be good. Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 9 Author Report Share Posted May 9 No rust to speak of in the tunnel, I blasted and surface prepped it while it was out. I do have the welder turned up for 16ga and it's possible the tunnel is 20ga, but I didn't measure it. Had to stop myself from getting too crazy blending out the welds since it's going to be covered by carpet. Also got a template knocked out for the rest of the frame rail repair. Actually got the mustang out to test the new tires, and came away with two observations. The shorter tire definitely made a big difference for gearing, acceleration is significantly more violent. And I'll never find the limit of these tires on the street...not that I would do that anyway. 2 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 10 Author Report Share Posted May 10 Template is now metal. Got the hole cut for the fuel filler hoses. A bit more trimming and it'll be ready to weld in. 2 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 12 Author Report Share Posted May 12 And welded. I did mark and drill a pilot in the inner side for the filler hose hole before welding on the outer. I also made up some flanges to connect to the floor. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 13 Author Report Share Posted May 13 Got the big hole made on the other side, and after a quick test fit of the filler neck and hoses, burned in the pass through tube. Followed by the flanges to connect the rail to the floor. Still have a few little patches to make here and there, but that's the hard part done. Thinking I might kick the can a little farther down the road on the window frame as I'm strongly considering the gull wing thing. 1 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 14 Author Report Share Posted May 14 Bumper and shackle brackets actually bolt on now. Got the pilot hole for the shackle hole I had previously welded drilled through all three layers. I'll have to go find an m12x1.75 nut to add to the nut plate in the frame rail, but I'll probably do that when I get all the new hardware. I also still need to weld the captive nut where the original shackle bolt went, but I did verify that I actually got the hole for it properly lined up. 3 Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 17 Author Report Share Posted May 17 Not the way you want to end an autocross. Didn't make it 100 yards into my first run. Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 17 Author Report Share Posted May 17 Update. Looking like the thermostat housing blew, known failure point on these engines. And for some silly reason the MAF extender didn't like being full of liquid. Cleaned and dried the MAF extender and the car started right up. Thought for sure I had finally blown it up when I rolled it off course steaming out the hood. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rustbin Posted May 18 Report Share Posted May 18 5 hours ago, UnderControl said: Update. Looking like the thermostat housing blew, known failure point on these engines. And for some silly reason the MAF extender didn't like being full of liquid. Cleaned and dried the MAF extender and the car started right up. Thought for sure I had finally blown it up when I rolled it off course steaming out the hood. That's way better than the rod out the side of the block scenario that first came to my mind. Quote Link to comment
UnderControl Posted May 18 Author Report Share Posted May 18 Yep, thought for sure I'd finally split the block. She lives to die another day. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted May 18 Report Share Posted May 18 On 4/25/2026 at 8:06 AM, UnderControl said: A proper welding jacket goes a long way for making overhead a more pleasant experience. Although I did manage to burn a hole in mine. I'm always reminded of a meme from a welding thread on jeep forum. My pin hole burns were from exploding hemp seeds. Saw my first Mustang when it came out, I guess spring or summer '64. I remember I was walking home from school and it was warm. It was brown with red? interior and a convertible. It was outside the Ford dealership. Didn't think much about it as I was a Dodge boy. Years later a friend and I rolled his '65 271 horse fastback. In '71 I drove another friend's '71 Mach one Boss 429 4 speed for an evening. In 2013 I drove a 550 horse '13 Shelby 500 with a 'Super Snake' 300 horse upgrade conversion. The conversion was almost $40K. I suspect the owner, boyfriend of my daughter in law, was a drug dealer. ... and that's all I have to say about Mustangs. Quote Link to comment
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