I’ve been doing some work on the Mustang lately. I spent a week or two cleaning up and rearranging things in the garage to get more room to work on the two projects there – my airplane, and the Mustang. Now I can get to much of the car without needing to move things around. It’s far from perfect, but it’s quite a bit better than things have been for a while. With some time and some space to work, I started assessing the scope and severity of the issues that need to be fixed.
I think I’m adopting a new strategy for the car. I’ve been reluctant to really get into the project due to the enormity of the task list. Floor pans, trunk floor, quarters, wheel houses, on and on and on. But if I do nothing, then nothing gets done. The engine is ready to go in. I think I’m going to just start from the front and work my way back. With the car done from the front seats forward I’ll be able to drive it, which will give me a lot more flexibility. Accordingly I decided to:
- Fix the front end sheet metal
- Clean up the engine compartment
- Pull and rebuild the transmission
- Pull and rebuild the power steering components
- Overhaul the front suspension
- Install the front disc brake conversion upgrade
- Fix the perforated firewall
- Fix the floor pan welds
- Drop in the engine and transmission
At that point I can drop in a seat and drive the car. I like the idea of being able to drive it, if only to make it much easier to move it around, for example to back it into the garage to work on the rear half of the car.