Howdy folks!

My 66' has sat in my barn for about 6 years ( I was injured on the job and, well, I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions. ) however, I'm back on my feet and ready to get back on the project.

The 289 was swapped for a fresh 302 in 2001' ( stayed asperated and kept it late model ).

Just recently had the C-4 done, including a new street / strip valve body from PA racing. It replaces the old *green Dot* valve body with the PRN2D1 shift pattern. I like to manual shift when I am rodding and that old style valve body prevented that.

Notable spendatures include -

New S/S Craiger wheels and 60 series tires.

Complete brakes all the way to the wheel cyl.

New springs front and back, including shocks.

I've also ordered a complete interior kit. From carpet to door panels.

Total spent is right about 4k including labor.

So, I've got about 6k left for body work and misc stuff I am sure to run into.

I know for sure I need q-panels in the back. I can get away w/ repairing the fenders and possibly the passanger door. I think the drivers side door is beyond repairing as the whole shell is cancer ridden.

I will also most likely be replacing the floor pan. Question here is - Do I replace the whole pan since I will have the interior tore apart? Or do I jsut replace the bad spots w/ appropriate pieces?

I'm getting very anxious to start driving my Coupe. I normally drive an F-250 4x4 and the fuel mileage is about to break me. The coupe suprisingly enough gets 18 mpg if I can keep my foot out of it.

And the last question is - will 6k be enough to have the body work done and a decent paint job? I'll be ordering the parts myself, I just need to find a reputable shop to do the work for ***

Thanks.

Robert.  

I suspect the cowls are toast also, this can get very expensive.  What about the frame rails??  I would also check where the shock towers tie into the frame rails. Beware of the rust you can't see.  

The cowl was alredy mentioned, nad I've hear of several thousand to repait that correctly.  But it depends on how much work you do yourself.  The repair is fairly easy if you know how to weld a little, but drilling out all those spot welds will drive you crazy. I know, I'm in the process of doing that now.

As for the floor, I'm replacing the whole thing with one piece, I think it'll be alot less work than trying to peace together different sections.  

Let's see...replace both quarter panels, replace the drivers door, repair passenger door and replace floor pan.  After all the repairs are completed then you have to paint the car.  Here's the way I'd approach this:1. find a good used door at a salvage yard; 2. Buy a wire welder and practice, practice, practice; 3.  Buy a HVLP paint gun and practice....I think you get the idea.  I honestly do not think your 6k is enough to do what you have left.  I participate in another site and there has been quotes from body shops posted that are outrageous.  No one wants to work on these cars because they are labor intensive to work on and they can make more money doing insurance work.  One of our members was quoted almost 6K just for the paint job.  IMHO it's best to learn to do these things yourself, if your able.  Good luck.  

So, I'm about 3'ish months into the work now. Alot has happen since then. I've gotten alot stronger and feel alot better, so I'm trying to do some of the work myself. It's very rewarding.

Updates are.

Complete front suspension minus spindle and steering box. Everything else is new. I did most of this myself w/ the help of a friend.

New Export brace. Ended up with a bottle jack and some pieces of 2x4 lumber to get things lined up.

Floor pans replaced. I helped a friend of mine do this. It's really not all that hard. The worst part for me was getting up and down all day. This was a weekend project.

New fuel tank and feed line ( had some fuel delivery issues and decided to replace it all )

Have all of the sheet metal ordered. Replacing driver side quater. front and rear valance. I'll most likely just pay to have the quater done. The rest of the body work I am going to attempt, however, I'll have friends walking me thru it.

Here are some pictures. The are decieving as the right rear quater is gone and there's some typical door rust, etc.





 

Hi im still working on my 65 coupe I just got it painted about 2 months ago and it is very nice I worked on the car about 100 hours before it was painted replacing rusted out spots and helping sand the car,the cost of the paint job was $4000, cost of paint alone was $1000, I also replace parts of the drivers floor pan ,I had a full floor pan and just cut off the parts I needed I did the work in a saturday, hope this helps 65A