The 300

[hiball3985]

Good luck with the move. If I ever had to move again I told the wife I would rent a backhoe and dig a big hole to throw everything in and just drive away

[Jeff Norwell]

The struggle is real Jim.

[RICH MUISE]

You're young, you'll survive, lol. At 71, it was hell on me moving last year. How far away is the new home?
Oh, and I'd be really surprised if after driving your car for a while, you felt it needed the rear sway bar.

[Jeff Norwell]

ha ha ha ......
Rich.. we are moving about an hour deeper into the countryside..... Amish territory .... 20 minutes from Lake Huron.

[Jeff Norwell]

You're young, you'll survive, lol. At 71, it was hell on me moving last year. How far away is the new home?
Oh, and I'd be really surprised if after driving your car for a while, you felt it needed the rear sway bar.

Rich.. here is where we are going.........

https://www.visitgrey.ca/unique-grey/communities/neustadt

[Jeff Norwell]

Well... been a very busy year... so much so..Really don't know where 2018 went...... A year ago today ,we decided to sell and move,our daughter was graduating and getting off to go to school,.... Re-vamping the old house,selling,buying and moving,along with my hectic work schedule....being a partner in a car show and all that entails,.... it has been very busy.
But of course..... I started some big changes to my driving 57,..... Started off to just....."replace the rockers"..... well. we all know how that turns out.............

[Jeff Norwell]

So.... after a year or 2 of getting the mechanics worked out and driveabiltly to a nice area..... I decided to do some body repair....well.... or i thought so......
When i bought this car.... I knew it had some horrible work done in the past... but to be honest.. horrible sins are dictated by the size of your wallet and ability.Things in bodywork done 10,15 or 20 years ago...just don't fly today or last.So I can never be harsh on previous work.
And we all know that the general intent of Ford, was to SELL cars....NOT create machines to last longer that 10 years.

At any rate... I have a few VERY talented friends that excel in metal fabrication and body repair..... Hard to get them because they are never slow....
my pal Rob P. is quite amazing.... builds,fabs in metal and is a deep interest in Blacksmithing and has a forge... makes all kinds of neat stuff..Owns a couple of early fords and really isn't afraid of any challenge.Rob did a TON of work on Hotrod Donnies gold/maple sugar  57 Ford.

So he agreed to work on the car and change out the rockers and maybe a bit of dent work....

He called me and asked"What do you want to do with this car?"
After looking at the car and attacking the rockers.... it had some serious issues...... We needed to replace the rear quarters(lower area)(Front,rear and complete fender lip..both sides) and the tail-pan was junk.

And so it began........
drivers side.....
Someone.at one time..filled the rockers with foam.... but moisture and crap...... just stays in and is trapped..... funny thing. in brand new cars.. they use this practice.... On Dodge ram trucks.. in the doors,tail gates and beds..... rust just happens and never sleeps.

[Jeff Norwell]

The passenger side was equally as bad....Please note.... the next bunch of pics are not for the weak. hahahah

[Jeff Norwell]

There was much rot and rust on the lower quarters.. both sides.... I had EMS panels for this day and used them......At least the only foam was in the rockers... the inner braces and inner panels were in excellent shape.. all coated and painted before the outer quarters installed.
The rear pan was also EMS and installed.

My car is a custom 300.... but I now chose to use just custom trim.Now was the time.
Inner Pass. wheel well had issues and was dealt with from my parts car.

[Jeff Norwell]

All the panels have been coated to prevent any further deterioration.

[Jeff Norwell]

The front fenders.....

I have a few sets of front fenders... some good,some horrible(just used for sections)... I picked my best set,thinking they were really good...
the fenders that were on the car had some terrible rot in all the usual places..... The headlight area was literally sculpted in fibreglass ..... the lower sections of the fenders at the bottoms were just as bad.

Fenders that were on the car.

[Jeff Norwell]

The inner fender boxes(behind the grill) were toast... fortunately,..I have several very good sets... they have been replaced and painted.. waiting to install(sorry...no other pics)

[Jeff Norwell]

Back to my new fenders... which I thought were good......
I have a good friend Tom......and Tom made the repairs on the replacement fenders... they needed Lower patches and had some pin hole rust issues.. all done and ready.


Before......





Stripped and getting repaired......All custom 300 holes filled...

[Jeff Norwell]

Fenders ready for paint......

[Jeff Norwell]

(Note).... I have the fender Eyebrows.... which I will be panel bonding in the next few days.