Progress Thread My 79 Coupe Is Alive.
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That is just beautiful brother
.
I wish I could see it in person!
It’ll be interesting to see what you do with the interior.
.I wish I could see it in person!
It’ll be interesting to see what you do with the interior.
Thanks, I'm pleased with how subtle the fender modifications turned out. It is clear to spot if you really know these cars from the shape of the wheel opening and how much gap there is behind the tire, but it would not be obvious to the casual observer.
That is true, but you did very well making it so subtle. Are you putting a full race car type aluminum interior in it?
I got lucky and found a three piece spoiler from a hatchback for not too much cash. It was a bit beat up, so I figured it was not too blasphemous to hack it up and try to make it fit my coupe. I cut apart the end caps and fiberglass repaired them to work on the coupe, then epoxy bonded them to the middle piec to make the whole thing into on piece from three.
Out freakin'-standing!
Yes on the aluminum for the interior. Not entirely race car though as I did not like the bare metal floor and ordered a custom vinyl carpet. Also have a modified center console going in with red leather shift lever and e-brake boots.
techforlife
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- Dec 29, 2017
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I've been slowly working at the interior getting it looking hopefully half as good as the exterior. I finished up the dynamat on the floor and got the vinyl mat laid in place and mostly fitted.
Next up was to finish the rear seat delete and get the back trimmed out. I also made a headliner and after a less than acceptable attempt at making trim for it, I went and pulled some trim from a couple of cars at PnP. I still had to do a lot of cutting and fabricating to get it finished up to my liking. I worked on the drivers side first which took me most of a days work to figure out. The passenger side went much quicker using the templates I had made.
Next up on the list is kick panels and the door skins.
Next up was to finish the rear seat delete and get the back trimmed out. I also made a headliner and after a less than acceptable attempt at making trim for it, I went and pulled some trim from a couple of cars at PnP. I still had to do a lot of cutting and fabricating to get it finished up to my liking. I worked on the drivers side first which took me most of a days work to figure out. The passenger side went much quicker using the templates I had made.
Next up on the list is kick panels and the door skins.
I gotta ask..I've been slowly working at the interior getting it looking hopefully half as good as the exterior. I finished up the dynamat on the floor and got the vinyl mat laid in place and mostly fitted.
Next up was to finish the rear seat delete and get the back trimmed out. I also made a headliner and after a less than acceptable attempt at making trim for it, I went and pulled some trim from a couple of cars at PnP. I still had to do a lot of cutting and fabricating to get it finished up to my liking. I worked on the drivers side first which took me most of a days work to figure out. The passenger side went much quicker using the templates I had made.
Next up on the list is kick panels and the door skins.
What's the point of the dynamat if the rest of the interior is aluminum? I think it looks good, but seems like it'll be noisier than hell anyway, regardless of the sound barrier on the floor.
My original thought process was that the dynamat would be all I would put on the floor in the back. I had done the rear firewall to close off the trunk with the fuel cell and had planned to do aluminum on the doors only in addition. Then of course as the paint and body work progressed and the car was looking way nicer than I had envisioned, I decided I needed to up the ante on the interior to match the exterior. Thus the complete rear seat delete sheeting and all the rest. I didn't want carpet in it, but wanted to improve the look of the floor, so I had the custom order vinyl mat made. With that, I just finished doing the dynamat on the front as well.
We'll see how loud the aluminum makes the car. I don't doubt I'll be chasing a few rattles later.
We'll see how loud the aluminum makes the car. I don't doubt I'll be chasing a few rattles later.
I doubt that'll make a lot of difference. Think about how loud exhaust tones would be in a hard surface by itself. The carpet, upholstery, and headliner w/o the benefit of sound barrier insulation does a huge amount of sound dampening just because it's sound absorbing material. Yet Mustang interiors are notoriously loud just as soon as a loud exhaust is added. When you get rid of that, and convert it to a aluminum, not only will it amplify the sound, there'll be separate rattles that comes from the vibrations of the metal itself.Put dynamat on the backside of the aluminum sheeting?
Adding Dynamat to the back side will dampen the vibration related rattles, but it's gonna be loud in there.
I don't want this to come off as a bash. I think it's a beautiful car, and the work is exceptional
It's a race car themed build, I get it. But I think he plans to street drive it too.
He does have the bigger sheets 'dimpled' I think that may help with the 'tinning' sound and if he put some type of sealer between the overlapped pieces could help, still the sound is going to bounce (reverberate?) around the cabin, who cares, the 'cool' factor will be undeniable 
I fully expect this car to be loud, harsh and stiff; it's not built for comfort in any way. Its all manual steering and brakes, heavy clutch, non reclining seats, no AC, no radio even. Not going to be a daily driver but yes it will be street driven. I have no expectations of long distance trips in it, if I do any longer runs, I'll probably be using ear plugs or maybe ear buds for tunes since there is no radio installed. More likely will be to trailer it for long trips if needed.
It'll be a beast, but it'll be fun.
It'll be a beast, but it'll be fun.
Made some progress with the doors now. I had to do something with the lock rods inside since on the 79 doors the button used to come out through the front of the armrest not the top of the door like other years. the latch is different too, so could not just make it like the newer ones either. I rebent the rods to get them in a good location and made the end a 90 degree to come straight out the door panel. I made a support plate to keep it in place. I also installed a couple rivnuts in each door for some pull handles.
Next I made up some ThermoPan panels to seal off the inside of the doors and add a bit of sound deadening maybe.
Then it was on to making the actual door panels. The drivers side went quite well, but as I was rolling the beading into the passenger side, the die came loos on my bead roller and made a mess of the bead. So since I had only just enough aluminum to do, I will have to go get another piece to remake that panel.
Test fit
And final fit with cover plates for the lock buttons and all handles installed.
Next I made up some ThermoPan panels to seal off the inside of the doors and add a bit of sound deadening maybe.
Then it was on to making the actual door panels. The drivers side went quite well, but as I was rolling the beading into the passenger side, the die came loos on my bead roller and made a mess of the bead. So since I had only just enough aluminum to do, I will have to go get another piece to remake that panel.
Test fit
And final fit with cover plates for the lock buttons and all handles installed.
Man, you did great on that driver's door. As far as the sound Mike is talking about, I bet your mufflers being in the far back will help quite a bit with drone. Not saying you will have no drone, but it will be less than if they were in the factory location.
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