OK...I'm new here but no rookie to cars and restorations. I am new to Mustang restorations though and have taken on a biggie for my first.
67 Convertible that needs all structural & floor board replacement from cowl back. So far, I have enjoyed my progress and am confident that I will get this done, but I need some direction, support and maybe even clarification.
Anyway....here goes...
Over the past few days, I have been working on the right inner rocker, cowl side panel, floor support and front torque box. As of last night, I have everything either welded or tacked into place, but it was quite a fight, and I am concerned that it shouldn’t be. I was wondering if I could get your opinion on the order of installation that I chose, and the challenges that I had. First, given how rusted everything is, I think I was fooling myself by thinking that there was no sagging. I say this because of the fight I had lining up the inner rocker. Before I removed any rusted pieces, the door fit very poorly, almost as if it was back too far. I adjusted it and had it closing pretty nicely. Then I removed, in the following order: 1 – cowl side panel 2 – torque box 3 – Inner rocker 4 – Front Rocker Extension At this point, the door still seemed to line up the same so I thought I was golden….until I began reassembly. I reassembled in the following order, with applicable challenges 1 – front rocker extension – This was easy & pretty straight forward 2 – cowl side panel – I had a heck of a time getting this to slide in to the under dash area where I needed it to go, but after some trimming I got it welded into place 3 – Inner rocker – About the rear 3 feet lined up nicely with the top and bottom of the outer rocker so I clamped and tacked it in a couple of spots. From that point forward, the inner rocker seemed to be up too high about 3/4” all the way forward. I used two floor jacks and a length of 4x4 under the outer rocker and jacked it up to within ¼” and tacked it in place. After letting the jacks down, the door fit poorly, so I readjusted it to fit nicely. I believe at this point, I had it back to where it was originally so I was feeling pretty good about my inner rocker install. 4 – Removed and installed new front floor support (connects seat platform to front frame extension) – Again, pretty straight forward, lined up nicely and door alignment remained the same. 5 – Torque Box – This was a huge pain! I didn’t have enough room to slide it into place so I took my port-a-power and supported it against the tunnel (with a 2x4 behind it) and pushed the front of the rocker structure out until I was able to slide it into place. Once I released the port-a-power, the rocker structure was out too far and I had gaps on the outside where the torque box meets the inner side of the inner rocker. To remedy this, I took my come-along and wrapped it around both driver and passenger rockers and connected the cable ends to each other and tightened it. It didn’t pull in too easily, but I managed to get everything tight underneath and in the front wheel well. I still had gaps where the torque box meets the inner side of the rocker so I thought that with any aftermarket parts (US Made), I maybe had to adjust it. I heated that area with my torch and hammered it until it met the inner rocker and then tacked it into place. I tacked all other areas of the torque box and removed the come-along. At this point, my door gap was terrible and the door wouldn’t even close! My optimistic side tells me that the car had indeed settled and sagged over the years of rusting and all the fight I put into it was simply realigning everything to original and that I would just need to realign the door to match the now original body alignment. I spent about an hour aligning the door, but it is now pretty much all the way up where the hinge bolts to the a-pillar, which is concerning to me. I still need to adjust the front side of the door out some so that it lines up with the rocker from front to back and so that the vent window isn’t so tight against the seal (the door sort of “pops open” when you push the button to open it) I may be able to adjust the striker a bit to help with that too. I am in the process of acquiring factory measurements for the frame structure and such to see if I am off/on. In hind sight, I should have done this first. Any thoughts on if/what I may have done wrong or should do differently on the left side, or god forbid…I should re-do on the right? One area I think I may do differently is not do the cowl side panel until I have the inner rocker, and torque box in place.
so...direct me, correct me, encourage me or whatever else any of you can do would be much appreciated!
You can see everything I did in the order I did it. With Pictures. Anyway I found that when I removed the rocker extension that is when the car seemed the weakest, I could really move things around. I tool pre teardown measurments and fortunately for me even though the car was a rust bucket it was straight. Anyway if I would you I would use the factory reference. That will tell you if you are Ok. Good work and good work. I know it is alot but it is so rewarding to drive it and have people ask about it, knowing you did all the work to bring it back to life.
I've never gotten into rebuilding a car that needed that much work yet, but there's one other piece of advice I can give though. If you haven't done it yet rebuild or replace your door hinges if they're worn otherwise it's going to be difficult keeping it in alignment.
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1968 Mustang coupe, Acapulco Blue, 289 2v, C-4, Power Steering.
Hopefully a 1969 convertible or Sportsroof (non Mach or Boss) for next Mustang project
Trying to find my father's 1973 Mustang Grande he bought brand new. 3F04F126773 last known registration and title was in New Jersey, 1982.
Get the reprint of the Mustang Shop Manual it has the body/chassis measurements and exploded views to help you in your massive project. Accurate measurements are a must or else one wrong measurement will lead to a progression of wrong placements of parts and welds. there is also another series of books by Jim Osborne Reproductions,AM0016 1967 Mustang Body Assy. Manual, AM0017 67 Interior Assy. Man., AM0018 67 Electrical Assy. Man., AM0019 67 Weld & Sealant Assy. Man., and AM0020 67 Chassis Assy. Man. the cost of these books is quite reasonable and most Mustang resto vendors offer them. I bought mine at
National Parts Depot and they are reprints of the factory manuals. Good Luck-------- Chuck , One more thing the Jim Osborne manuals are packed with exploded views and assy. notes and assy. revisions as the factory used them.
Thanks for the suggestions. Dan - Your site is the one that actually encouraged me enough to decide that I can do it so I have been all over it seeing how you did it. great info, thanks!
Jay - I have ordered up a hinge kit. They feel pretty tight but I am sure every bit helps!
The Greek - I have the specs on the way. I am thinking I have it right on, but better check before I go any further.
I am in the process of fitting and welding in the right toe board and hope to have that completed tonight. Next will be the front passenger floor board and then I will go back through and make sure I have everything welded.
From there, I will go after the left side & after that, the rear frame rails/torque boxes.
Man....I'm having fun with this! I want to get a web site going with all the pics and details, but no time right now...
OK...I actually sprang for the full length floor pans for each side and have the upper seat base removed.
Since the outer lip of the new pan is down (so that it can be welded to the lower lip of the inner rocker), I am unable to slide it through the small gap between the lower seat reenforcement and the inner rocker.
My question is: How have others done this? I suppose I could remove the lower reenforcement, but the pics I see on the web show it in place. Are people trimming that lip off in the area of the seat reenforcement to get it to slide into place?
OK...I actually sprang for the full length floor pans for each side and have the upper seat base removed.
Since the outer lip of the new pan is down (so that it can be welded to the lower lip of the inner rocker), I am unable to slide it through the small gap between the lower seat reenforcement and the inner rocker.
My question is: How have others done this? I suppose I could remove the lower reenforcement, but the pics I see on the web show it in place. Are people trimming that lip off in the area of the seat reenforcement to get it to slide into place?
Thanks much!
OK...after some looking I figured it out. Floor pan has been fitted, spot weld holes are drilled, underside is coated and I will begin welding it in tomorrow.
1967 Mustang Convertible Restoration Assistance 
