1965-1968 Ford Mustang Core Support Replacement

Our '66 has a fresh nose and is straight as an arrow. Making sure the unibody is straight and properly welded together makes bolt-on sheetmetal installation that much easier.

Progress on our '66 hardtop is moving right along, thanks to the swift work of Classic Creations of Central Florida and the generous assistance so far from KS Reproduction, Goodmark Industries, Virginia Classic Mustang, and others. In previous articles, we tackled rear framerails and trunk floors, as well as the recent addition of torque boxes when our new floorpans were installed. We wanted to finish up the back of the car before moving on to the cowl repairs and the front sheetmetal, but a problem prevented us from doing just that.

The problem lies in the fact that Danny Gaydos of Classic Creations prefers to hang the doors when installing full quarters--which, in all actuality, is a good thing. We just didn't know to order the doors sooner. Since our original doors were well beyond repair, we decided to order up a pair of reproduction doors. The doors were on back order and, to keep things moving, we moved on to other metal repairs. We hope to finish up the rear quarters and get the sheetmetal completely assembled in time for the Silver Springs show, which by the time you read this, will have been almost two months ago.

We're going to save the cowl for a later article, even though we have the patch panels here now. Instead, we will go forth with the engine compartment area and replace the radiator core support and inner fender apron, where the battery tray bolts in. You will also see that we came upon a surprise in the framerail that had to be repaired as well. The core support and inner fender are both KS Reproduction items and are available at many Mustang parts retailers. The lines are crisp and the holes for the starter solenoid and rubber battery shield are already stamped in the inner fender panel.

1 To obtain the proper measurements, Danny Gaydos of Classic Creations diagonally measured the engine compartment from one fixed point to another, and then repeated the measurement for the other side--effectively checking the front end to verify if it is out of specs.	2 After Gaydos recorded the measurements, he used a Sawzall to cut away the cancerous metal at the inner fender by the shock tower. Notice the coil spring cover has had the nearer-most bolts removed before cutting. Make sure you wear eye and ear protection while cutting.	3 After sectioning the bad metal at the center of the core support, Gaydos removed the second half of the rusted core support to complete the major cutting operations.
4 Using a wire wheel, Gaydos removed the old paint and sealer to expose the original spot welds for the inner fender apron and the core support. This step is necessary to accurately locate and drill out the spot welds.	5 Gaydos located the original spot welds and drilled through only the top layer of metal. The drilling operation is a skill that takes time to master. If you have little patience or "feel" for drilling, then we suggest a special spot weld cutting drill bit.	6 Once the spot welds are drilled out, the remaining pieces of core support can be separated from the inner fender. Here Gaydos grabbed the end of the strip of core support and pried it away.
7 The same steps in photos 4, 5, and 6 are used to separate the remaining old metal from the right shock tower and the first crossmember.	Separating the old metal from the shock tower brace.