Giggling like a school girl

[turbohunter]

Well it ain't elegant.
But it is strong as hell and it wont leak.
After about a hundred and fifty billion welds then using seam sealer to go over the welds I've almost got the interior of the cowl finished. Since Ford left a lot of wavy garbage in here I figured it was better to get it to work than look pretty. In that vain I left most of the welds a bit proud as not to thin out any metal by accident. It's not a Rusty Gillis job but it'll work.
We actually had a little rain and it flowed very well right out the side.
Only have to put in the upright cylinder part a little sanding and paint it with some sealer type stuff then get to the next layer.

Concerning that.
There is a dimple in the backing plate under the skin which is under the wiper motor.
Does anyone know what that is for?
Mine is rusted out.
Check pic below.
BTW experimented with two different seem sealers. Por 15 and also a 3M product.
The POR 15 dries hard and is sand able. The 3M product not so much. It stays a bit gummy.

[turbohunter]

All done underneath.
Big difference.
Thought silver might look good when looking through the grate with the car a darker blue. We'll revisit that later.
After

Before

On to the top side

[turbohunter]

Thought I'd catch you up 'cause I'm bored at work.
Almost done with the cowl. Have to finish grind some proud welds.
Don't have a closer pick.
Have the rear end torn out. Picked up my new Currie unit yesterday. Also made a trip up to Calvert to get the rear suspension.
Soon as I get some days off I'm going to finish up the welding, wire brush clean and paint the rear end. Install the rear suspension and axle. Hopefully my measurements will hold up as far as tire clearance.
Then on to the front end. Just a stock rebuild for now. Maybe bearing strut rods.
Hopefully getting it back to a roller in the next month in order to take it to the chassis shop for substructure and a roll bar/cage.

[mlcraven]

Very nice job on the cowl.

[turbohunter]

Thank you Michael that's very kind.
I know it's not pretty inside the cowl, but it works, and I learned a heck of a lot for next time.
Hopefully after a few more weeks of elbow grease I can start getting it to look like the beauty it is again.
As well as being fast

[ScotiaFE]

|Looking Good Marc!
The best upgrade for the front to go fast, is the roller spring perches.
And lots of power.

And that's not rust, that's just a couple of pin holes.
You want to see rust. Come on out to the eastern shore.

[turbohunter]

Thanks Howie.
That makes sense.
BTW I went with the -1 inch springs in back.
I'm going to give it a try.
The guys at Calvert told me if it mocks up badly they'll change them out.
Also as far as the front goes. I called the po and he verified the front springs are stock big block springs.
My immediate thought is to cut a half coil off to begin with. The Calvert guys recommended Moroso for front springs.
Trying to keep costs down since I'm building the entire car and thought I might just go with the stock springs at first.
Easy to change.
Happy to here anyones experience with that.
Just for fun here's a pic of the new rear end.
Had it made 58 inches from wheel mounting surface to surface.
35 spline axles
4.30
3.25 bearings
Wanted a Detroit locker however they are way on back order.
As a result went with the Yukon locker. They have a great warranty, can't find any bad news about them, the Currie guys swear by them and they are supporting drag racing more these days. So why not?

[Nightmist66]

Hey Marc, good job on the cowl. I have the Calvert split-monos with 1 inch drop on my 66. Running Mickey Thompson 255/60R15 ET street radials. As far as the fronts go, I used stock replacement big block springs and kept cutting a quarter at a time until I was satisfied with the height. The springs had been on the car for some years so they were already settled. In the end, I believe I ended up taking 3/4 of a coil off. I bought the roller spring perches and camber kit from Opentracker, 67 mustang tubular lower control arms and tubular tie rod adjusting sleeves from Global West, and KYB shocks. I also had some upper front shock mounts made from 1/4" thick flat steel plate mainly to try to save my low hanging Ed's headers on the street, but will also benefit at the track with better rise. I think you will like the Yukon unit. I had runout problems with several new carriers when setting up my new rear. I finally settled for the 31 spline Trac-Lok from Quick Performance. It looked great out of the box and set up perfectly. I have probably 700-750 miles on the unit with no complaints. Still waiting to get it to the track though. Btw, with all the roller/solid bushings in the suspension I think it actually rides smoother now. Having a hard time uploading pics with the file size, so a link to a couple photos below.

http://s12.photobucket.com/user/jaredaebly/media-full/Mobile%20Uploads/20140811_173048_zps9brlcgrs.jpg.html
http://s12.photobucket.com/user/jaredaebly/media-full/Mobile%20Uploads/20140811_173152_zpskvjwpzrz.jpg.html

[turbohunter]

Thank you very much for that info.
It's nice to know my thinking is in the ball park.
Also thanks for the car pix, that tells me a lot.
BTW your car is beautiful.

[Nightmist66]

Thank you very much for that info.
It's nice to know my thinking is in the ball park.
Also thanks for the car pix, that tells me a lot.
BTW your car is beautiful.

Thanks Marc, I appreciate it! Glad to help.

[ScotiaFE]

Damn Marc, that is a serious rear axle! 
One mod you want to make now is to weld up the back of the spring perches.
They WILL collapse if given enough hook.
It may be a little late now but you could have got Currie to do it. It is an option.
I really like Currie stuff.

http://www.currieenterprises.com/cestore/productsRE.aspx?id=4295

[turbohunter]

Good idea Howie.
Wish I'd have thought/known about that before hand.
But easy enough to do now.

[cobracammer]

2nd on Currie. I have a 9" currie. Solid nice piece with all brackets welded at their factory

[turbohunter]

Well after all the rust repair and a day of cleaning the under side of the car up I decided to give myself a present and do some fun stuff. So I stuck the rear suspension in. Boxed in the rear of the perches before (thanks Howie).
Oh yeah, now we're talkin'.

[Nightmist66]

Excellent work Marc, that looks great! Are those Nitto tires? Can't wait to see the rest of the car finished.