rusted front clip

['73mach1marc]

I am new to the board as well as to fords/mustangs. I have a'73 mach1 that needs a complete restoration. The front clip/frame rails are very rusted and need replaced. What is the best & most cost effective way to go about this. Can the front end/frame rails be taken from a solid donor car, if so what models/years? or can they be purchased through suppliers. Thanx.-Marc

[Phillyfanfrombirth]

I'm going through the same process on a 68 coupe...

Don't bother with a "donor car", it is more work than it is worth... also check the floorboards while you are at it...

I went through http://www.cjponyparts.com/ . I've had pretty good luck with them, and was even able to save a couple bucks on some of the parts that I needed through their ebay auctions. Mine were shot... and since I'm not one for tearing things apart after I put them together, I decided to redo most of the front suspension while I was at it...

Costs were:
$115 for set of full floor pans. (via Ebay)
$350 for a starter suspension kit
$50 for a new idler arm.
$90 for a set of torque boxes.
$250 for a set of full frame rails...

A ton of time... a 10lb spool of mig wire and gas to go with it... a 4 1/2" angle grinder with some cutting wheels and a wire brush attachment... primer, paint, seam sealant... a garage... and a really big broom.

Also search around for measurements... I was lucky enough to find the measurements for my 68 on this website, not sure about the '73. I also TOTALLY cleaned out the engine bay of damn near everything... engine... tranny... washer container... and so forth... as well as the interior as I needed to pull out both floor pans...

Best of luck... it is more of a job than I thought it would be, both in time and money, (luckilly I'm a welder by trade, so that part of the equation isn't too much of a hassle for me) hopefully the end result will be worth it.