109jb

Below is a previous post of mine. All of the mustangs are similar in how the front end is put together and the techniques are the same.

I just replaced the entire front end on my rust bucket 70 fastback so I know what you are going through. The parts that I wound up replacing were the front frame rails, frame rail extensions, aprons, shock towers, radiator support, front crossmember, full floors, inner/outer rockers, trunk ... As you can tell just about everything on the bottom side of the car from front to back.

The way I did it was one step at a time. My car had lots of mid-western rust, but it didn't have any evidence that it had ever been wrecked. I basically gutted the car and then leveled and supported it with a frame I constructed out of angle iron and square tubing. This frame wassecured to the floor of my shop, bolted to the car at the door hinge locations, and tack welded to the rear torque boxes. Careful measurements were made of everything I could think of with a notebook dedicated to the project. Plumb lines were dropped off of the frame rails and marks put in the shop floor so that they could be replaced in the exact location as the originals Bracing was tack weldedat the door openings and across from one side to the other before anything was cut out.

I replaced as little as possible at one time always double checking measurements. For example, I replaced the rockers first one side at a time, Then I replaced the passenger front frame rail/aprons/tower leaving the driver side intact until the passenger side was done. It went on from there,

Nothing was what I would consider really difficult if you can weld, just tedious. You definately don't want to get in a rush about welding something in solid, tack welds are key until everything is lined up right. Parts wise, the cost isn't a killer, but I have several hundred hours into what I've done so far. Doing it myself and considering the cost of the car I bought and not counting my time, I now have a solid uni-body structure at less dollar cost than what a solid car would have cost me up front. In my case I specifically wanted a 70 fastback because I had one when I was a kid and solid fastbacksgo for a premium. Here in the midwest it is just about impossible to find a classic mustang that isn't all rusted out and finding a specific model that I could afford was even worse. In the end, if you can afford it you are probably better off getting a solid car. In my case I was able to spread the cost out over the about a year to get where I am which was a consideration. Another consideration is that without my workshop this project wouldn't have been feasible. Being able to basicall bolt the car to the floor of my shop for a year made this project do-able. The amount of space that all of the removed parts take up is also amazing.

Hope this helps,

John B.