1968 Front Subframe Replacement

[MaNiaCaL]

Hey Mustang People. I hope someone here can and will help me with a friends project. 1968 Coupe. Mostly a survivor. However it lived in Ohio.

The front sub frame is rusted through on both sides. We are working on this car almost every Friday night for about 3 hours. From what I can see I have to tear everything on the front of the car off. The fenders (inner and outer), suspension, engine etc.

I’m looking for an exploded view of the sub frame parts. His is rusted from the bumper all the way under the floor pans.

My level of experience: I owned and built a 69 Mustang almost 20 years ago. I am a Heavy Duty Truck Tech. I currently have a 73F100, and a few VW projects. I can mig and arc weld. Basic fabrication and machining skills. I own and know how to use a tape measure and level.

I believe that this is part of what I need, but it isn’t complete.
CJ Pony Parts.

I’ll get him to order a NPD catalog this week in hopes I can find something there. I’m still in research stage (you tube, google).

Another concern I have is removing the old subframe under the car without burning through the pans. If anyone has done this job, please post some tips or PM me. Switching it to a Mustang 2 is out of the question. Bolting on tubular isn’t gonna happen. Wanna stay original.

I’ll try posting a few crappy cell pics I have. I do have a YouTube channel of my own, so I’ll post some of the car there (link in this thread) once I come out of the editing room with it.

The car now lives in Texas. So hopefully this will be the only time I have to fix the rust.
Thanks in Advance

 

[horse sence]

You will need to remove the motor and transmission,front suspension ,and all the outer sheet metal .i would replace one side at a time so you have somthing to measure from,take several measurements before you cut out anything . If you have to do full frame rails ,i would also remove the torque boxes as they are probably bad as well .If the fire wall has rust this would also be the time to replace that . You will also need to remove the front seats and carpet and any underlay under the carpet .It is not that hard to do ,you will see spot welds in the floor from the inside where the floor is spot welded to the frame rails and the torque boxes as well as up the edges of the fire wall . Drill through these spot welds ad the front end comes right off. I have done this several times and posted pics hefe in the tech forum .

 

[horse sence]

https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/front-frame-rail-fixture-and-more.891002/

 

[MaNiaCaL]

That’s almost exactly what I was looking for. I didn’t know what the torque boxes were called.

Is there a specific supplier that you’d recommend?

Thank you so much.

 

[horse sence]

National parts depot ,Mustangs Unlimited is the two i use most but any one that supplies Dynacorn sheet metal ,you will not be happy with anything else

 

[MaNiaCaL]

Update time. We work on this car a few hours almost every Friday. We removed all outer sheet metal and made a few discoveries. Please forgive me for swearing like this, but I’m used to old Chevy sub frames that just bolt on. Because of that the front subframe isn’t as rusted as we thought. The worst parts are at the bumper bracket mounts. I believe I can plate this if need be.

It’s the long boxes under the floor pan that are rusted out (not the torque boxes). I included a NPD catalog pic of what I think they are. The inner floor frame supports.

So here are my questions.

1. Am I right about the part? (Rusted pic provided)

2. Can I replace it independently without having to remove the subframe?

Thanks

 

[WORTH]

Keep in mind they rot from the inside, so look inside all the frame pieces before you make decisions. also, REPLACE is generally easier than PATCH, when doing repairs, and the parts are pretty cheap.

 

[horse sence]

Update time. We work on this car a few hours almost every Friday. We removed all outer sheet metal and made a few discoveries. Please forgive me for swearing like this, but I’m used to old Chevy sub frames that just bolt on. Because of that the front subframe isn’t as rusted as we thought. The worst parts are at the bumper bracket mounts. I believe I can plate this if need be.

It’s the long boxes under the floor pan that are rusted out (not the torque boxes). I included a NPD catalog pic of what I think they are. The inner floor frame supports.

So here are my questions.

1. Am I right about the part? (Rusted pic provided)

2. Can I replace it independently without having to remove the subframe?

Thanks

Those are called floor supports. Once you remove them you will probably find more rot

 

[MaNiaCaL]

Yeah ok.

My concern is this cut. It’s complicated. I have a scarfing tip on my torch. I dont really wanna burn things I don’t have to. I guess I’ll do the best I can and plan on replacement here also.

Would you recommend removing the coating before cutting?

 

[horse sence]

Yeah ok.

My concern is this cut. It’s complicated. I have a scarfing tip on my torch. I dont really wanna burn things I don’t have to. I guess I’ll do the best I can and plan on replacement here also.

Would you recommend removing the coating before cutting?

Yes ,remove the under coat . Drilling the spot welds is much cleaner ,but not as fast ,or as easy .

 

[MaNiaCaL]

I have been drilling spot welds when I find them. Clean is quality. The radiator support was put in with a combo of spot welds and beads.

This next mount is solid bead.

What do you recommend for removing the coating?

 

[horse sence]

Lots of scraping . Sand blasting is best

 

[MaNiaCaL]

Thanks so much. Here is a video of the start of our journey.