Jumping Ahead--Part 2

If I had a nickle for every time I had to say, "Things didn't go according to plan"  I would be retired and be driving my Mustang around because I could afford to take it Dave Scribling Restoration in Crawfordsville, Indiana just up the road from me and have a full-blown restoration done.   Needless to say, the progress I was hoping to make on "Step 3" turned out to be more like "Step 2.4".

I have learned an important point; if you're going to purchase an aftermarket part, be sure it is made with original Ford tooling, or by a company that comes very close to making it like original.  The right front splash apron must have been a cheaper piece, even tho' I got it from a place that "Mustang Monthly" magazine recommended.  But I also have to say that cars built 40 years ago were not made to the exact tolerances the cars of today are built to.  So I should expect some "tweaking" and "massaging" of pieces parts, but not a major amount which is what happened.

So here's what I was able to accomplish on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.  I was finally able to find the last couple of hidden spot welds and get them cut out.  This freed up the center part of the crossmember and out it came, still leaving the "ends" which were welded to the frame rails.  A total of 18 spot welds and 2 fillet welds had to be removed.   Reminder...the spot welds had to be drilled out of the offending part while still leaving the metal intact in the good part, i.e. tedious work, especially when doing it on your back!  (Face shield REQUIRED!!!)

Then I tackled the end pieces and got those removed.  Each side had 14 spot welds and 1 fillet weld to remove...

Then all of the surfaces were cleaned up with a grinder and sanding disc.  Then I started fitting the new parts together using my measurements I took before taking the car apart and used vice grips to hold them in place.  I measured from a bolt on the rear splash apron to the front of the radiator support on each side and then did a "cross" measurement that went from bolt to the opposite corner.  This guarantees squareness of the parts on installation...and that the front end won't look crooked when assembled.

Everything looked like to was going to fit without too much work...but then when I checked my measurements and squared everything up, the front splash apron (above) would be short about 1/2" on the bottom and 1/2" too long on the top with it attached to the front radiator support.   So the process of  removing and adding metal began...but  that I'll tackle on my next post.   So stay tuned...