Hello and kind greetings from a new member

[JohnM]

All about me introduction
I live in Perth West Australia. My small time hobby for the past 40 years is importing US muscle cars with the purpose of restoring them depending on the car, some to original condition others a more restomod style. I do all the work myself to show class standard. You could say I'm a perfectionist, if I'm not totally satisfied with the finish of any part of the build I'll do it again until it is as good as new or better.

I started out specialising in 69 -72 Corvettes and one 69 SS Camaro that I still have. In more recent years I have focused on 65 - 70 Mustangs mainly because that is what the market in WA wants more of.

I have 2 Mustangs now, a 66 Coupe I'm currently in the process of a major restoration. The worst bit is over, the car is straight and I have just finished a show class black paint job, with the Shelby style red stripes.

As many of you would know how time consuming that part is especially with black. It needs a final cutback and buff but I'll leave that as long as possible during the assembly stage.

Well I think that's enough going on about myself, it gives you the picture of who I am and what I do.

I stumbled across this site while searching for a specific item. I have not quite found exactly what I want to build it but I'm getting some good ideas.

The story is;
The other Mustang I have a 1969 Convertible, I've had it for many years and I could say it owes me nothing. The issue is it was the worst car I have ever seen with rust which has now all been removed but very little of the car left over. Over the last 2 years I have added a new piece of sheet metal for the 69 to a parts order from the US. I now have a complete car consisting of all the metal bits. It adds up to a lot of bits. It's a mammoth task to now reconstruct the bits back into a car.

As the car was being dissected I took a large amount of measurements as well as corresponding measurements from undamaged Mustangs of the same year. I have all the dimensions from the Ford shop manual as well as highly detailed drawings I made of where all the measurements apply that Ford did not supply.

Finally to the point
What I need to build is a frame jig with a reasonable degree of adjustability, because I know where the bits go but I need the adjustment to hone in on the exact positions. It's just like a big jigsaw puzzle.

Most jigs I have seen were built before the car was dismembered and usually not to the degree of this one. If anyone has seen or knows of such a thing your input would be most appreciated.

John

[Jon]

Hi John - welcome to HomemadeTools.net

Sounds like you have your hands full! Regarding the frame jig, try making a new post in the Help Me Build... subforum.

[kbalch]

Hi John,

Welcome - glad to have you here!

Lots of car guys hereabouts (including yours truly), but the sort of frame jig required for the full restoration you're attempting is a very specialized item. As Jon said, post in the Help Me Build subforum and you may very well get a nudge in the right direction.

Meanwhile, we'd love to see photos of your finished projects and, of course, any tools you've built along the way.

Ken

[DIYer]

Hi JohnM, welcome to the forums! Can't help you with the jig you need, but I would love to see pics of your restorations.

[JohnM]

Thanks guys I will give the "Help Me Build" a go. I do have photos, I need to work out how to post them. Funny thing one little tool I built was for removing spark plugs from V8 engines with very little room. You could put the plug socket on but you could not get a ratchet on, it was in too far. An extension bar could not be used because even the shortest one you can buy (about 3") was too long. So with a spare 3" extension I cut the middle out and welded it back together and ended up with an extension bar 1" long that is perfect for getting those plugs out of tight spaces.