Bringing the '65 back to life

[racecougar]

It's been a long five weeks of vehicle repairs and crappy weather, but we got back to the '65 today. We spent some time picking through our doors to decide which two we'll use. We were able to settle on this one for the drivers side, but I'm not sure what we're doing for the passenger side door yet. I started welding up cracks and bumping out dents while Dad sandblasted and rebushed the hinges we'll use for both doors.

[Ta2Don]

Glad to see you back in action...
Our weather forecast shows Old Man Winter taking his vacation finally… ready to get back after mine...

[racecougar]

Very glad here, too. We're soooo ready for winter to be over.


Today was another good day at the shop. While the inside front lower corner of this door wasn't rusted through, it was pretty beat. A piece of a York air conditioner will make a good patch panel. Cutting out the old sheetmetal exposes the mud collected between the inner structure and the sheetmetal. This corner wasn't far from rusting through. After cleaning up everything I could reach and shooting a little zinc primer, I welded it up. Using a flux-core MIG on super-thin parent metal isn't much fun, but it is doable with a little patience.


Dad and I slapped on a pair of rebuilt hinges and installed and aligned the door to the cab.


It's actually starting to look like a truck again.

[racecougar]

Dad took the trailing arms, rear coils, and rear shock mounts to the blaster yesterday. I stopped by the shop after work today and we primed it all.

[Ta2Don]

[racecougar]

Today we installed the rear axle, bumped a couple of dents out of the driverside door, and started looking at our steering column/box options. The rear axle, trailing arms, springs, etc. will come back out later once we've determined parking brake cable bracket placement, desired axle width, panhard bar mounting, shock relocation, etc. It's all just installed for mock up currently.

[racecougar]

Another dusty day in the shop. We got the driverside door, door jam, rocker, and cab corner stripped down to bare steel.


While DA'ing the door we noticed a couple of pinholes in the front lower corner. Cutting away the outer skin revealed the dirt and rust we expected to find lurking there. Dad whipped up a new corner out of another piece of that York air conditioner, and I buzzed it into place.

[racecougar]

We finished up the body work on the inside of the drivers door and door jamb yesterday, then shot both with primer today.

[SayBye]

Nice work!

[racecougar]

Thanks! I stopped by the shop after work today to reinstall the door so Dad can do the final body work on the exterior of the door and the cab corner.

[racecougar]

I drilled the trim holes in the door today while Dad worked with filler on the cab corner.

[Ta2Don]

Closer and Closer!

[racecougar]

After an exciting drive home in the Mustang from the alignment shop this morning (insane downpour plus a little hail for good measure), I went over to the shop to work on the '65. I tackled the power steering box install using Captainfab's special spacer/adapter plate, while Dad spread some filler on the door. Hopefully we'll get time to shoot some primer this coming weekend.

[racecougar]

Spent the day getting dusty. It's ready for primer. I may get over there and shoot it tomorrow after I hit up a swap meet in the morning.

[racecougar]

Scored a few items at the swap meet this morning, but didn't find the rust free passenger door I'm looking for. I went over to the shop afterward for a little prime time.

[racecougar]

Swung by the shop after work, blocked it all out, and threw another coat on. It's getting there.

[Ta2Don]

Lookin' good!!! Closer and closer...

[racecougar]

Thanks! Blocked it all out and shot another coat today.

[racecougar]

I pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve in my neck yesterday, so I couldn't accomplish much today, but we did locate and begin to prep a few interior parts for paint.

[racecougar]

It might not look like much has changed, but I just need to finish up the one door panel and bump a few dings out of it, sand the other panel, then clean and hang everything for primer. I had to knock off early today to go to my friend's wedding, but I hope to shoot some primer tomorrow.

[racecougar]

Primed all those little interior panels today.

[racecougar]

Painted those pieces tonight, though I forgot my camera at home and had to make do with my less-than-up-to-date camera phone.

[racecougar]

We weren't happy with the color/texture match with these parts to the dash, so I sanded them down and re-shot them today. Managed to get it right this time.




Dad wet-sanded the driverside door jam today as well. I'm hoping to spray a coat of satin black on the jam and interior side of the door tomorrow after we hit up a swap meet in the morning. Fingers crossed that we find a workable passenger side door tomorrow.

[racecougar]

Woke up at 4AM and saw the sun rise at Gateway Motorsports Park with Dad while searching for parts at the swap meet. We unfortunately came home empty handed, but the day wasn't a loss, as we were able to get the first coat of satin black on the interior side of the drivers door and door jam. One more coat, then the door can go back on for the last time.

[racecougar]

Darker than a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night.