37 Ford build--IE: old Header issues thread /37 Ford/5.0/GT40P heads

[randyr]

Besides the house chores I have been working the door gaps . Welding and metal finishing so the Taiwan skin looks better . I had to cut some down in the front and weld it up some in the rear . I think I am getting happy with its fit and calling it done .

That looks good Bobby! So when you do that are you just welding a bead down the edge of the door then grinding down to where you need it? How are you keeping it from warping? These are all things I'll probably have to do so I wanna know more about how it's done.......

[IC2]

Bobby - that looks real good - so good that I'm inviting you to help me fix one of my doors.

Now, why I now lack clearance at the upper reveal is a mystery as that clearance was fine before disassembly and now - a paint chip and virtually no clearance with the rest of the door being good@#$% gremlins most likely.

[bluestang67]

That looks good Bobby! So when you do that are you just welding a bead down the edge of the door then grinding down to where you need it? How are you keeping it from warping? These are all things I'll probably have to do so I wanna know more about how it's done.......

Randy just right I weld just the door edge building it up where its wide and just welding where I ground to open the gap a bit . , but I do It In slow intervals between welds . There is 3 layers of metal there so war page is not a issue . I put my 110 Lincoln On lowest setting ( A ) And adjust wire and just jump around . Here I could weld the rear and it cooled when I went to the front .

Grinding you have to be careful the metal is thin and will not take much to make it thinner or grind through . I would knock off the heavy with a 60 grit hard disc , Then I used 80 grit roloc to get it down smother .

The very edge I used a file to make it straight after I roloc off the thicker areas , you can control the metal cut much easier this way . Grinding at this point would look like waves . Plus filing just almost naturally makes it straight edge .

Dave you already painted would make me shiver LOL


Remember when hanging a empty door it should be high in the rear . Or you need to simulate the glass and mechanical weight and hang it over door . Then make adjustments .

[randyr]

I'm still working on this rear seat installation. I'm glad I'm doing it now rather than after the paint work is done!

I ran into a few snags along the way, which is to be expected. First, I had to modify the floor pan under the seat a little because of where my rear sway bar attaches to the frame there was no clearance for the long bolt & bushings. I formed some pieces of 16 gauge steel then cut out that portion of the old floor and welded in the new. Yes, I know the welds aren't too pretty but they'll be covered up with sound deadener and the seats!

Then I had to fabricate some mounts for the seat frame and the seat belt receivers. I also added some support to the center of the seat frame so I could get rid of that stack of wood in the previous pics.

I still have some things to figure out on the back of the seat plus the best way to mount the seat belts but it's coming along.....ever so slowly.....

[randyr]

Well, the back seat fitting continues. I just finished making brackets to mount the seatbelts/shoulder harness from the '05 GTO into my car with the help of 35FordCoupe. He has a '06 GTO and actually took the rear interior side panel off his car to take pictures of how the belts are installed in the GTO. It was way beyond the call of duty but REALLY helpful & GREATLY appreciated!!!!

As shown in some previous pics, I mounted the seats and welded in the seatbelt receiver latches. From there I needed to create brackets to mount the seatbelt mechanism plus raise the front of the package shelf about 1.75" to match the taller seatbacks.
The first pic shows the original placement of the package shelf. I cut that out and started over. The seat belt mechanism had to be mounted at an angle to free up the internal locking mechanism. That's why the brackets are cut at an angle. I improvised with the materials to make these brackets. I cut up a low-rise cart that originally came with my welder. It was strong enough and available. I had already purchased a different cart for my welder so this one was just waiting to be repurposed.
I still have to get the correct anchor bolts for the upper mount and redo the X-brace for the package shelf.
Overall, I'm pleased with how it turned out. It'll look much better when I get everything media blasted & primed.

[IC2]

Randy - you're doing a great job. I'm not sure that I would have even bothered with rear belts

[randyr]

Randy - you're doing a great job. I'm not sure that I would have even bothered with rear belts

Thanks, Dave! You're probably right, I doubt there will hardly ever be anybody in the back seat but I'd rather do it now and say I did rather than later wish I had..... the belts came with the seats so I just had to use 'em..

Did you get your new seats in yet? Been cruising in your car much?

[IC2]

Did you get your new seats in yet? Been cruising in your car much?

I finally got the seats in late Thursday afternoon but the weather turned to rain and I was gone yesterday so really haven't had it out with them yet. But, I did try the pedals and I no longer am totally pretzelled, only kinked. I can't believe how long the riser/slide assembly took to build, but I'm sure you could have told me. I am going to lower them a bit more - easy now that I know how to build the risers plus already have a layout template. Photos will eventually follow but the big desktop with a ~TB of storage and my albums had a new ASUS MOBO die so it needs some TLC, probably tomorrow