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PHOTO 10: A hydraulic ram is used to push the inside edge of the left quarter panel up. This causes the quarter panel to move up and roll outward, exactly what is needed.
PHOTO 11: The fiberglass deck lid has a very large, circular crack in need of repair.
PHOTO 12: Both sides of the deck lid and quarter extensions are ground clean of the paint and old gel coat. I’ll rebuild both sides using Norton Structural Bonding Adhesive #4618.
PHOTO 13: Looking from the left side of the car, you can see the masking tape dam along the seam where the extension meets the quarter panel and in the opening where the extension meets the deck lid. This well created by the masking tape is filled with adhesive.
PHOTO 14: The crack in the gel coat has been repaired and the extension filled and brought level with the deck lid.
PHOTO 15: To finish the repairs to the deck lid, a thin coat of plastic body filler is applied.
A desirable characteristic of panel bonding adhesive is that it can be easily sanded smooth using 40-grit sandpaper on a 5-inch sanding block. I put on a dust mask and spend a few minutes sanding the adhesive smooth.
With both panels built up and sanded smooth, the fit between all three panels has improved dramatically.
FINISHING THE DECK LID REPAIRS
All that remains to finish the deck lid is to remove the remainder of old paint and to cover it with plastic body filler. This deck lid has no less than five coats of paint on it. Sandblasting and chemical stripping is out because the panel is made of fiberglass. Using a grinder is out because grinding tends to eat into the fiberglass. The solution is to convert the grinder to a sander by installing a Norton backup pad #43165 to the grinder and using a Norton 8-inch 40-grit sanding disc #23606 to quickly cut through the layers of old paint.
The last step is to cover the entire deck lid with plastic body filler. Why am I doing this? Even after using a grinder, the surface is still rough and pitted, so the best solution is to apply a thin coat of plastic body filler to the entire panel. Once the filler is block sanded smooth using 40-grit and then 80-grit sandpaper on an 8-inch block to progressively smooth the surface, the panel will be ready for primer.
REMOVE THE SHEET METAL
Now that I have finished repairing and aligning the sheet metal, I can remove the hood, fenders, deck lid, and quarter panel extensions. All are bolt-on parts, and I remove them one at a time, bagging and labeling the bolts as to which part they came from as I go.
At long last, the bolted-on sheet metal parts have come off the Mustang, and all I have left to do to make this ride an empty hull is to remove the driveshaft, the engine, the transmission, the suspension components, the steering system, the firewall, the dash, the fuel tank, and the differential.
REMOVE THE DRIVESHAFT, THE ENGINE, AND THE TRANSMISSION
Removing the engine and transmission is a relatively simple process, particularly when removing them as a unit. Of course, this means I also need to remove the drive-shaft. All that is required is a couple of hours and following the correct procedures.
Although it’s easy, engine and transmission removal can be messy because the remaining fluids may leak out. To help ease that problem, I have a 2 x 3–foot flat metal tray with a ½-inch lip that I slide under the car to catch the spills. I still employ the discount auto parts store plastic oil change tub to catch residual transmission fluid, oil, and antifreeze, but the real floor saver is the 2 x 3–foot catch tray.
Before removing any of the major parts, remember to take photographs to assist you when reassembling the car. For example, photo 1 may look like a useless picture of a very cluttered engine compartment, but actually this photo will become a key part of putting this car back together. Where does the engine information decal belong? How are the heater hoses and air conditioner lines routed? By referring to the photo, you can tell the decal is on the left fender apron, the heater hoses pass along the right side of the engine, and the air conditioner lines are routed along the left side (driver’s side). Anything else that might be important later? How about the warning decal on the fan shroud? Both the engine information decal and the fan warning decal should be noted for replacement on the new parts list to be sure they get ordered at some point.
PHOTO 1: Some pictures tell a lot. For instance, how are the heater hoses and AC lines routed? Where are the engine compartment decals located? I could spend hours looking through shop manuals for this type of information or just a few seconds glancing at this photo.
REMOVING THE DRIVESHAFT
I start the process of removing the engine and transmission by removing the driveshaft. First, I need to remove the two U-bolts connecting the rear universal joint to the rear axle pinion yoke. I slide the driveshaft forward just enough to free the universal joint from the yoke, then lower the driveshaft and pull it back, sliding it out of the transmission tail housing. I wrap the rear U-joint with masking tape to hold the caps in place. I will be replacing both the front and the rear U-joints with new ones from National Parts Depot later on, but just the same, I don’t want the old caps lost or the needle bearings inside the caps to spill out over the floor.
REMOVING THE ENGINE AND THE TRANSMISSION
Once the driveshaft is removed, I can begin removing the engine. After taking a few good photographs, I start disassembly at the front of the engine and work toward the rear. The first parts to be removed from the car are the radiator and the air conditioner condenser. These are the most fragile components in the engine compartment, and they must be protected at all cost. One wrong move can easily punch a hundred-dollar hole in the radiator or render the condenser useless. To remove the radiator, I remove the upper and lower radiator hoses first, and in this case I also remove the automatic transmission fluid-cooler lines attached to the bottom tank of the radiator. I then unbolt the radiator and lift it straight up and out.
PHOTO 2: A trick to keeping the U-joints intact is to wrap the unit with masking tape to secure the caps and prevent them from falling off.
PHOTO 3: How are the pulleys and belt brackets mounted? One picture tells it all.
PHOTO 4: The primary vacuum line tees to the Y connection that branches to the distributor that connects to the diaphragm that Y connects to the carburetor that tees to the … You get
