The ash trim needs to wrap around the entire panel. I’ve got the top and bottom done and now I need to add trim at the front and back ends. I’ll start with the front fender. I use my body template to trace the perimeter of the body onto my panel. There are pencil lines that show the front edge of the door. That lines up with a face of the forms. It’s faint but it is the second line just above the oval cutout.
Now I can trace the outline.
Now I can see that I’m going to need to add a patch since one of my cherry strips is too short.
I’m using a ½” gap between the fenders and my panel. The ash trim for this layer will be ½” wide. So that means I need an offset of 1 inch from my template tracing. I use a new blade (okay a few new blades) in my utility knife to score a cut on that line. It is a slow process. You can see I only need a small piece of that patch.
Once I get the score through the panel, I use rasps to smooth the cut into a fair curve.
Now I can make a blank for the fender trim.
I use my template to trace the fender shape and offset that to get the outer curve.
I can use that curve to get a ½” wide strip. Then I fit it to match the joints at each end.
Now I can glue the strip in place. To be honest, by knife cut and rasp work did not yield a very tight joint. There are enough contact points to get a solid glue up. Clamping across compound curves does require some imagination.
Now I can work on the trim where the back fender steps back to the side of the bed. This is a straight cut that just clears the face of the form. The middle pencil line shows the inside of the form. A pull saw works nicely here.
Again, some creative clamping is needed to get the strip to match the curve of the form and close the glue joint.
The result looks pretty good.
The process for the curve of the back fender is the same as for the front. The clamping method is different.
The template for the back fender shows that I need to add a small taper to the horizontal strip. The taper goes from 0” to 1/8”.
I should point out that all the ash trim will get a second layer. First I’ll put fiberglass cloth over everything. The second layer will completely cover these glue joints. The next part will be about the fiberglass process.
Wow, it’s coming along! My car buddy in MN (who widened the track on a 1974 mustang by about 4 inches, and made all his own new body panels) has been loving watching, too.
Thanks for the comments - pottz - the finish line is a ways off. I'd guess June but my crystal ball sucks. 😂 Dave - making your own body panels is a whole 'nother level above this! Do you have a picture?
You are braver than I am. Making cuts that cannot be undone would probably paralyze me. I would just stand there and look at all of the work that I could undo in a single mistake.
--Nathan, TX. Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.
Steve, here are the two from September: the rear deck and support (another part he fabbed, because there’s more stuff under it now) and the t-handle is the battery cut-off.
And “working on the new clutch”
He also cast aluminum for a new differential cover, valve covers, and a bunch of other things. I’ll try to get you photos of the exterior as it got put away for the winter (so his wife can park in the garage).
And yeah, this car was a basket case when he got it. He’s basically built a new car, using a few parts from the original. The last update I had, he was epoxy-painting the sway bars because it was probably the last “warm enough” day of the year.
Nathan, I'll probably have to cover up a mistake or two. The further along I get, the longer I plan before the next step. Dave, that is an amazing project! Way more than what I would take on. I've always been a fan of the MustangII but they seem to not get chosen as project cars that often - or at least from what I see.
Steve, your work on this is outstanding, the detail work is extremely difficult and your solutions, like the 3 dimensional clamping with bungee cords, are spot on. This project must be pushing your patience to its maximum. If I tried this endeavor my psychiatrist would have a field day with me. 👍
Thanks Oldtool - I don't really get impatient (unless the glue is setting up). I kind of enjoy big complicated projects - lots of problems to work out.
Steve I just found this blog and I'm so impressed and excited to see the final result. Now I have to go back to the beginning and catch up. Very cool project.
Thanks John! Dave - I am as interested to see where the Mustang ends up as others are in seeing this project Dutchy - The blog is pretty well caught up. I am in the middle of the fiberglassing now. It will be several months before the wood panels are done. I'm not sure if cars like these are ever done.
