another '65 2 dr wagon saved!

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While the wagon is at the shop getting a new lid I have turned my attention to the stock gas tank....I was fortunate when I bought the car to get the stock 20 gallon v8 gas tank with it....this gas tank is not repopped and is definetly in need of a resto....plus the intoxicating fumes from the foul odor of old gas in it have gotten pretty old....Yeah I could have done it myself but I felt that the professionals can do this one as well...For $275 the shop is going to soak, clean, rust proof, and seal/repaint it....Everything on this tank is a good indicator of saving it as only surface rust exists....the sending unit didn't survive and was full of lots of crap and rust....falconparts.com has a replacement which I have already ordered...the tank is supposed to be done by this Wed/Thurs

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Update on the roof: Mark from the bodyshop emailed me saying that the old roof is completely off.....the A&D Pillars were cut half way down and carefully measured to match the new donor roof...he is going to carefully take off the drain trim on the new roof tomorrow and cut off the A&D pillars half way down to line everything up as per the measurements......so today amidst the madness of things to do I will stop in to pay him another deposit and gradually pay him off by 1/17/2011 as per our contract

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Stopped by Mark's shop today and what did I see? Yes she is officially topless!

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Today I got my restored gas tank back...Mark over at the shop POR 15'd it inside/outside...he also wired in a ground to the corner of the tank so it will attach to the sending unit....the only problem that I have now is I believe I got the wrong new sending unit from falconparts.com....Ford actually made two sending units from '60-'65 for their gas tanks....the funny thing is that I matched it up properly with the old sending unit that was beyond salvage.....Might be because it was made in Taiwan...this is where the repops can be a nightmare

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Update on the roof situation....Mark has the new donor roof clamped in ready for weld...he used a pulley system to lift and lower the roof for measurements....he told me he lifted and raised it 36 times to get everything lined up right

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Roof is officially in the books as finished! Mark did an awesome job and everything is tight with no flexing in the body.....now onto the cowl next....I gave Mark the donor cowl pieces that were taken off of a rust free falcon by Brian Lukas out in CA....thank god for rust free metal! He should have the cowl done in about 2 months....Mark is also going to weld in the missing tower brace as well as the replacement firewall piece

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Update: I know I haven't posted for about a month as alot has happened on the grocery getter! The cowl is officially done as well as the firewall/tower brace.....Mark is now going to start on the last of the big structural jobs on the tudor: torque boxes, floor pans, trans tunnel, and fixing the DS front frame rail....I also lucked out in finding a rust free PS rear quarter/spare tire well section on Ebay...the guy cut out the section from a falcon wagon which is a match for what I need.....Man talk about saving alot of fabbing and $, I am truly blessed!

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I visited Mark again today for an update on the tudor....He has started on the PS by removing the front floor pan....I was fortunate to see that the frame rail is in great shape and won't need replacing....The funny thing is, is that a former owner in the past must have welded another piece of metal over the existing floor pan to try and fix the rust! There was a huge amount of tar up against the rocker which can be said for the other side as well...The toe board was also poorly repaired in the past and is evident in the pictures....I have a replacement donor trans tunnel piece which he is going to weld in as I turn the tudor back to a 3 on the tree....The DS is going to be a different story and I am expecting the worst on that but it will be fixed RIGHT

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Update: all of the floor pans have been welded in and the only section left to do is the rear seat platform where the rear seat bolts down....prior owner had put down sheet metal over top of the rusted out floor...I am still looking for a good parts wagon to take that metal section out of and reweld in the fresh donor piece. I have also started on the spare tire well....Few weeks back I was able to get a hold of a rust free rear quarter/spare tire well section from a guy out in AZ....I have taken the piece apart carefully removing the spot welds in preparation of proper blasting and rustproofing