Rust

[Tuitasi32]

Need some opinions on the rust i found. Should i continue on this build or move on from it. It all seems to be surface rust. Im also thinking the left side is bent/crooked a little bit. I took the fenders off because my left door was misaligned with the fender.











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[endub]

I wouldn't worry about that. Wire wheel on a drill will knock most of that off.

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[wraithracing]

None of the rust that I can see in the pictures concerns me. It all is easily converted or blasted away. The possible front end damage may be more of an issue. Might be worth taking it to a local body shop and have them put it on a frame machine and check it. Most likely it is repairable, so I believe you will be fine, but much better to start with a straight car that tracks properly than spend time and money on a Bent on that eats up tires and is squirrely to drive.

Rust Release https://rustrelease.com/ is an excellent product for removing rust without blasting or sanding. I swear by the stuff. They have a gel you can use on large body parts that can't be fully dipped. Eastwood Rust Encapsulator https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-bl...over-rust.html is a great product for converting rust and sealing it. POR 15 https://por15.com/collections/rust-prevention is another great option, but sometimes can be expensive when doing larger areas. Last Tamco Paints has direct to rust primers that work really well. https://tamcopaint.com/collections/primers

Hope that helps and good luck!

[Tuitasi32]

Thanks for the tips. Yea i wasnt too concerned about the rust, really just wondering why my door is so misaligned. Hoping the cars not all bent. Undercarriage looks fine. Has subframe connectors. Also the left rear corner sags lower than the right.


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[wraithracing]

I don't really see anything in the pictures that concerns me in regards to being bent, but it's hard to say for sure. If you can get pictures in the engine bay of the frame rails at the shock towers that is usually the best place to spot any front end damage.

If the vehicle moves under its own power and can be driven on and off a frame machine, many shops will only charge you an hour or two of labor to check it. Might be worth the couple hundred bucks to be sure.

As for the door, I would need pictures of the door to have a better idea of what is going on. Most likely you have worn hinge bushings, worn striker/striker bushing and with some tweaking and adjusting the door will fit just fine.

[JTurbo]

I'd wire wheel the surface rust, clean really well (Lacquer Thinner) then hit it with POR15.
You should double-check inside the cowl for any additional rust or rot.

There used to be a picture online that showed the dimensions of the front unibody.
You could use that to roughly measure the front end to ensure it wasn't out of whack.

[Tuitasi32]

Heres some pics of the door.


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[wraithracing]

Hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks like maybe the door needs to be moved back towards the rear quarter. What is the gap at the back of the door look like. I also can't tell for sure, but your fender to door gap is larger at the top then the bottom from what I can see. That could be due to hinge bushings being worn, door placement or even just the front fender not being aligned properly. I assume the front fender is just set in place, so that is part of the issue. I can't tell from the pictures if you are tight at the window frame to the body or not. Also if the window frame to body gap is even all the way across the top?

Door gap and fender gap are HUGE to me and I spend a ton of time on my Foxes getting them as close to perfect as possible. I generally don't grind and weld on the door edge to make them Riddler Award Perfect, but still mine are most often better than they ever were stock.

Door can move up/down forward/backwards on the hinge post so often you can adjust that until you get a nice gap at the back edge of the door to quarter panel and that will generally improve your fender to door gap in the front. It's always a compromise as the Fox body has a ton of +/- tolerance built in and everyone is different. So it can take some time and work to get it right.

[Ray Dog]

Are the front end dimensions of an 88 the same as 79-86?
I have shop manuals for my 88 LSC and it includes Mustang data as well.
It includes frame dimensions of the frame.