1983 GL, project: Cheap Thrills

Another score today.

I've been searching for an 83/84 oem hood scoop for as long as I can remember. Looks like this:

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They're either impossible to find (only two year option), or priced over the moon, or the sellers won't separate them from the hood. Even if it's a completely rotted out mess.

So I email my guy in Ontario that's bringing me some parts this xmas on his trip home.

Turns out they have one.

REALLY? I'LL TAKE IT!

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Now, it wasn't cheap, but it wasn't stupid either.

Worth it to get the hood scoop I've wanted for soooo long.

So he's now bringing down two doors, t-roof glass and a hood scoop.

It's going to take a big chunk out of my car fund money, but worth it.

Only thing is it pretty much kills the forward facing scoop I was working on. I may finish it sometime, but the proper 83 style scoop is staying on the Mustang.

:)
 
Yep. Hoping to get the drivers floor in this weekend and maybe start on the T-Roof.

Tomorrow it's up early and start cutting out the rot. Hopefully burning new metal in by supertime.
 
I'm looking forward to having it parked next to mine at a NS Mustang Show no later than 2018 :FordSmile

5.0s 2014 parked next to mine at this year's Steele Show.

 
It's looking like it's a possibility.

Maybe not quite finished (are they ever?), but a possibility none-the-less.....
 
Pulling the dash and column out in order to start rust repairs.

I suddenly find myself wishing for 5 minutes in a locked room and a baseball bat with the f-tard who designed the attachment method for this thing.

Be no problem on the assembly line when there were no doors or windshield on the thing. Al they would have had to do is angle a few fasteners differently and then everyone from the service dept to shadetree mechanics wouldn't want their blood every time you had to touch the damned dash....
 
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Started cutting and it's not as bad as I though it would be:

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The really bad stuff was limited to the floor pan itself. Caught it just in time as it's not into the unibody channels other than a light surface rust here and there. That will clean right up. Then a shot of weld through primer and I'll be off to the races.
 
Last bit of the rear floor came out this morning.

Cleaned up the rusties and hit it with Tremclad inside the frame rails.

Fitting the replacement pan as we speak.

Then I'll make up a small patch panel where the floor meets the firewall and start burning it all in....
 
Well, it's in:

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At least it's somewhat fit to the car.

The cut off wheels were disintegrating at a foolish pace, the welder was giving me fits with blowing through perfectly good metal no matter what I did and the tiny little hole (ie: single car garage) I'm working in was frustrating me to no end (I think I've actually invented a few new swear words).

I frigged up a couple cuts and it has a bit too much space in some of the butt joints and it's a little off here and there due to the pan being a "universal" fox mustang pan.

So I have some shaping and beating to do yet, but it's getting there...
 
Well, after 20 years of using an old Canadian tire cheapo welder, I've finally had enough.

Blowing holes in my new floor pan was the final straw.

I just ordered a Lincoln 180.

220v mig welder that can take a spool gun. Its a step tap voltage instead of the rheostat style, but my cheapo 110v only has high and low and wire speed. Neither setting ever seems to do well.

Garage is all set up to use it, I have a 220 welding plug installed when we moved in.

I bought it at homedepot.ca as it was the lowest price I could find. Only thing is I have to wait for free delivery. But to save 120 bucks over the closest competitor, I was willing to wait a couple days. That $110 will cover my gas bottle...
 
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Last pieces of the T-Top puzzle:

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They are in "reasonable" shape and I could just bolt them on a repaint them, but they have that little bit of rust starting in the pinch welds and there are several coats of paint on them, the last being some gawd awful kind of rattle can flat black. Someone has tried to tidy up the rust before and didn't do a very good job, It would only be a matter of time before they bust out again. One of the frames actually has a crusty hole in it already.

My 83 doors are factory fresh and it just makes more sense to me to cut the window frames off and transfer over the internals.

As a side bonus they are working power windows and even have power mirrors. I was already swapping to power windows since my car is non-A/C (and will stay that way), but I may look at doing the power mirrors also. They sure can be handy.

The reinforcing plates are "pop riveted" on the doors on these ones so they will be easy to transfer over to my 83 hardtop doors.
 
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Had a liitle WTF panic moment last night.

I was reading some talk of model year differences and got my curiosity up so I jumped out of bed and went to look at the sticker on the driver's door.

I realized it was the replacement door (white inside) but figured I'd look anyways since I was up.

Some wanker had sprayed over the sticker with the flat black. I grabbed a red scotch pad and started scraping.

Eventually, the date code popped out: 04/91.

WTF!?!?!

It's gotta be a g-d convertible door! No way it's (at least not originally) a t-top door with a 1991 vin! Last year for the t-top was 88!

Now I'm panicked. Did they swap the glass? Did bubba lie to me? Can I even get him to give my money back? Ive already told my other guy I don't need the door glass he had! I'm so screwed!

Charlie Brown:
Aaaaaauuuuuggggghhhhh!!!!!

OK, OK, OK.

Calm down here man.

Let's figure this out before I drop a brick right where I'm standing.

I grab a large sheet of paper and the passenger glass i know came from a t top car (I took it out). I trace the profile of the glass and cut it out since a direct comparison between drivers and passenger glass is going to be very hard with one glass still in its door (didn't want to take door apart in case I had to return it) and they curve in opposite directions

I tape my paper template on to the convertible door and: its a match.

At least enough of a match for my shaky tracing and scissoring to say for sure it's not the heavily sloped back convertible glass.

It's also thick like t-tops glass.

So, calmed again i run the power window glass back down into the door for its protection and I trudge back off to bed.

I was thinking I'll need a valium or trazodone to get back to sleep though....
 
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Not pretty, but getting there slowly:

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My new lincoln 180 is making it much easier, although skip welding sucks no matter how you look at it.

More goodies showed up:

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The wheel is from a mercury, but i dont really care as i'm going to cover it in leather.
 
Yep. I'm referring to the process and how much of a PITA it is to do and not how it looks.

Zap, skip, zap, skip, zap, skip and on and on.....

I'll be glad when the floor is done and i can move on to something else.

I have no idea how people can stand doing this for a living....
 
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