57 Custom 300 Body Off

[fdlrc]

These markings are on passenger side A post. The CE matches the color code on VIN tag, curious what the other codes mean??

[mustang6984]

LOL!!! Mine doesn't even come close. However...I DO still have the title somewhere in my stuff...<thinking it might be time for a vin number reading road trip... >

[fdlrc]

I do know mine (heavy emphasis on mine) was built in Dearborn. The guy I bought it from is in Michigan, but he bought it in Texas. It explains why this car is fairly rust free.

[RICH MUISE]

Amazing how much seam sealer they put on these cars, and something I've never seen duplicated to that extent on a rebuild. I think that's a good thing.

[mustang6984]

When we tore down my '69 Fastback Mustang we commented on that as well. I duplicated that effort when we put it back together...figured that was one of those cases where more was better. But I have seen a lot of Mustangs that when restored don't have much, and they seem to be noisier and one had a musty smell...which I can only guess meant the floor got wet now and then when driven on rainy days.

Amazing how much seam sealer they put on these cars, and something I've never seen duplicated to that extent on a rebuild. I think that's a good thing.

[fdlrc]

Typical stuff.

[RICH MUISE]

Nice job on the replacing of the outer wheel well flange, and that trunk drop/inner rear quarter is in wonderful shape. On both sides, my inner wheel wells were eaten up about 2-3 inches back and my drops were almost nonexistent. Lots of hammer and dolly/anvil work to replace all the rotten metal. I started by rolling a bead the shape of the inner wheel well at the top of the verticle 1"(?) wide flange and then cut that up into 5" sections,

[fdlrc]

Rich, in the second photo did you notice how thick the filler is? It gets even thicker at the bottom.

[RICH MUISE]

I went back and looked. Typical "make it look good" quick fix, but I'm really surprised on your car.........it looked so good before. Good call on the full restoration, Les. Nice to see them done right. BTW, for the rusted out inner dogleg on mine, I carved out some oak 4x4's I had from an old pallet and made a buck to hammer form them. a bit of cutting and welding involved to get the complete shape, but it was a fun project.

[fdlrc]

Seen your car, you really did a good job. One never knows until you strip the car, but I had an idea there were bigger problems than just where paint was starting to lift; magnets never lie.

[Frankenstein57]

The butt weld on body panels seems to be the preferred method , does anyone use an overlap seam?  To much potential for trapped rust? I'm doing floor replacement , then moving on to body panels. I appreciate any input. Mark

[CobraJoe]

The butt weld on body panels seems to be the preferred method , does anyone use an overlap seam?  To much potential for trapped rust? I'm doing floor replacement , then moving on to body panels. I appreciate any input. Mark

I have stopped welding my panels, except when absolutely necessary. I have been using a flange tool so I can overlap my panels and then glue and clamp in place. It stops a lot of the rusting behind the panels that you really can't treat afterwards and saves a lot of time doing bodywork by not welding.

[fdlrc]

Interesting view on making panel seams, I've not seen that done. I have some work to do on my 74 Bronco later this year so I'll have to take a look.  A lot of different ways to skin that cat.

[RICH MUISE]

I did the flange seam overlap on the back half of the rear quarters, also floorpan footwells. IMHO, properly prepped and sealed there shouldn't be a rust issue. On the back quarters, having the double thickness adds a lot of strength, and particularly for a novice welder, it's much easier to get a good weld without blowing through. Just make sure your sheetmetal is pretty much where you want it to be after you put the flange in it, and before weld because the double thickness makes it a bit harder to Straighten. You should have less heat warpage though, which helps alot. Also makes positioning the panel easier because you can put temporary sheet metal screws in through the flange.
Panel bond if you can get sufficient flanging done so you have adequate bonding surfaces is the modern way to go.
I got my flanging tools from Eastwood.

[fdlrc]

Thanks for information. I will read up on it and maybe use it in the future. I'm pretty much done with the 57 as far as panel fix is concerned.