1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
The customer had this car media blasted and primed before he brought it to us, which revealed that some work had already been done by one of its previous owners. We cleaned up some of the previous repairs as well as made repairs to whatever else it needed to be restored. This car will be both street and strip, so major suspension modifications were made. The front suspension was already modified by somebody else, so we just worked on the rear suspension, where we mini-tubbed it, converted it to coilover shocks, and narrowed the rearend. We also added a roll cage.
This is what the car looked like when the customer brought it to us. Although another shop installed new quarter panels, they were warped and only stitch welded on. The rear tail panel needed to be replaced as well.
There were lots of little rusted areas that needed to be cut out and repaired. This is Justin repairing an area in the trunk.
We attached a brace above the rear tail section before we removed it...
to ensure the new panel was installed in the correct location.
Here's a shot of the passenger side quarter panel after we fixed it...
and of the driver side.
Rusty area in the driver side wheel house before...
during...
and after repair.
Rusty area in the passenger side wheel house before...
during...
and after repair.
Once we repaired the rusted areas in the rear of the car, we placed the wheels and tires that the customer is going to use in the correct location and began the custom rear suspension mock-up process.
The rear wheel wells needed to be mini-tubed.
Since this is a uni-body suspension, the frame rails needed to be tied together with sub-frame connectors and a crossmember. This shot was taken looking from the top...
and this was taken looking from underneath the car.
The rearend housing was centered and leveled.
A panhard bar was installed.
Shock tower mounts were installed.
As you can see, this is not a stock suspension. This view is from the rear...
and this view is from the front.
Once the rear suspension was installed, we installed a roll cage. This cage is fully gussetted and welded to the frame and inner rocker panels.
This car will have a back seat, so we made the rear crossbar removeable for easier access.
Once the roll cage was installed, the inner sheet metal needed to be finished. Here's Evette making panels.
After all repairs were made and fabrication was complete, the car was seam sealed and primed on said areas. This is what the inside of the car looked like...
and the outside, when the customer picked it up. The wheels and tires in this picture are not the ones he'll be using. He'll take this to his favorite body shop for finish body work and paint. This is going to be one hot Mustang!