NOSE JOB

I bought my Mustang used a few eons ago. I never planned on keeping it this long. Usually I changed cars every few months. I have had a 55 Chevy, 69 Camaro, 70 1/2 Camaro350 SS, Chevy Shortbed, several 4x4s, a factory 396 Pontiac Station Wagon, and assorted others.

It is a 1979 Mustang Cobra with TRX suspension. Sunroof, AC, Leather Seats, and a 138hp 302 4speed. The front seats have been changed, it has a 5 speed, and the engine has about double the horses now. I have a feeling it was one of the first foxes made.

The color is 3J Bright Blue. A Cobra had its own paint scheme, and the TRX had its' own, and both combined made a third. Good looking car. Once in awhile people want to buy it. In the past I tried to sell it and couldn't, and now I guess I have too much work into it for the money I would get.

When I bought it the nose was already repaired from an accident, and over the years it has been getting shabbier. So a look out was made for a good replacement at the wreckers. For several months there was nothing but junk. Then a 1986 car showed up. It was in perfect shape, kind of. 'Driven by a little old lady, then given to her grandson who smashed both sides in.' But the nose and hood were perfect.

Since it was autumn and I had the paint for several months I decided that the newer style would be used.

   Old and New.
  The new hood was painted like a GT but it was a 4 cyl. car. I debated about leaving the black, but decided to use the 1979 paint scheme.
  The old front has an airdam from a ranger pickup ruck. This wasn't re-used.

At this point the Ford oval in the new nose has been filled in. Never liked that. A piece of plastic was cut from a damaged nose. After all the paint was ground off an oval was glued in using a specially made 2 part glue that I had around for years.
After sanding and priming an oval line was still seen. So a grinder was used to purposely rough up the line and more glue filled it in, followed by careful sanding and flexible primer.
  Under certain light angles a ghost oval can still be seen.

After the old headlight bar was removed it fell apart. There's your problem.

   Under cover was quite a mess. Several previous quicky repairs had to be fixed. In fact the nose bolts wouldn't line up with all the holes, especially on the drivers fender. The flange had to be cut, bent, and re-welded.
While I was there the wiring was tidied up. I had already used the headlight relay tip found on; http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/tech.html
and now wired up the sidemarkers to flash with the turn signals. Flish-flash-flish-flash.
Years before a small power steering cooler was added, bolted to a piece of flat stock. This was removed.

  A small jack was used in front of the tires to push the fenders out a bit for future tire clearance.

  A new bumper was needed. The old one was a composite of cellulose fibers bonded together with lignin, and was falling apart.
  I was going to use the one from the same car as the rest. But as I walked around the yard there was a 92 mercury marquis with an aluminium bumper. Doing some quick measurements showed it would fit.
  A few mods were done. The ends had triangular tips that were cut off. The mounting pads were in the wrong place and were replaced with a 2x6 board screwed top and bottom.
  The turn signals were positioned with bits of plywood and screwed in from the top. The signals were also taken apart and painted gloss white inside.
The plastic comb in the center fit the nose cone perfectly.

On the last few years of the fox mustang there is a brace from the hood latch to the bottom of the rad support, and even then only a few have it.

  I added one, and it was the perfect place to attach the new power steering cooler. It is from a chevy truck, where it stood vertically. Ends from a stock hoop cooler were brazed on.

  The area was made more airtight to make sure the rad got all the air that came in.

  You can see the bottom of the bumper board. I left it full width as a handy spot to attach stuff.

  The old hood had a depression to mount the Mustang emblem. The new one didn't have one. So I pried the emblem off. But what I thought was a metal collar was plastic and it wrinkled up. Great. It was in perfect shape for 25 years and I screw it up in a few seconds.

  Luckily I could make one on the lathe from aluminum. After it was polished three small bolts were drilled, screwed in and glued with JB Weld. Then most of the heads were ground down.

  Some chrome was missing so tinfoil was rubbed on and glued over behind. Then all four emblem colors were re-painted from the inside and the roundel siliconed on.

  Notice that in the late 70's-early 80's the horse is different. The head is more erect and the tail straight back.

  So where to put it? The hood has no depression in it. I did cut the piece out of the old hood before taking it to the wreckers as a core. (and the hoodscoop)

  But I noticed the inner support of the nose was bolted to the outside. Using the expanded mesh from a guitar amp a grill was created and sandwiched between the two pieces. Simple as that.

  You can also see the ford oval is missing.

   The bottom of the radiator shroud was bent up and the spot welds were loosening so a piece of angle steel was attached with self tapping screws. This created a small airdam about two fingers wide.

  The steel came from a bed frame.

Finished. A quick spray of the stock color and it's good to go. Actually all the painting was done before assembly. The black areas are truck bedliner in a spray can. Stinks like super glue.

  Not shown are the fender extensions needed to match up with the wider bottom of the front end. Four holes had to be drilled for each one. The side mouldings are also bolted on instead of being glued, and are a different style.

All the headlight adjusters were frozen tight so the ones from the old front end had to swapped over and aligned. Fun.

  There was also quite a bit of trouble getting the hood to close. The new latch is thinner, so I sectioned the old one and it works if you drop the hood.

  Oh. The grill by the windshield has to be changed as well as it is wider.

		Old and New. The new hood was painted like a GT but it was a 4 cyl. car. I debated about leaving the black, but decided to use the 1979 paint scheme. The old front has an airdam from a ranger pickup ruck. This wasn't re-used. At this point the Ford oval in the new nose has been filled in. Never liked that. A piece of plastic was cut from a damaged nose. After all the paint was ground off an oval was glued in using a specially made 2 part glue that I had around for years. After sanding and priming an oval line was still seen. So a grinder was used to purposely rough up the line and more glue filled it in, followed by careful sanding and flexible primer. Under certain light angles a ghost oval can still be seen. After the old headlight bar was removed it fell apart. There's your problem.
Under cover was quite a mess. Several previous quicky repairs had to be fixed. In fact the nose bolts wouldn't line up with all the holes, especially on the drivers fender. The flange had to be cut, bent, and re-welded. While I was there the wiring was tidied up. I had already used the headlight relay tip found on; http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/tech.html and now wired up the sidemarkers to flash with the turn signals. Flish-flash-flish-flash. Years before a small power steering cooler was added, bolted to a piece of flat stock. This was removed. A small jack was used in front of the tires to push the fenders out a bit for future tire clearance.
		A new bumper was needed. The old one was a composite of cellulose fibers bonded together with lignin, and was falling apart. I was going to use the one from the same car as the rest. But as I walked around the yard there was a 92 mercury marquis with an aluminium bumper. Doing some quick measurements showed it would fit. A few mods were done. The ends had triangular tips that were cut off. The mounting pads were in the wrong place and were replaced with a 2x6 board screwed top and bottom. The turn signals were positioned with bits of plywood and screwed in from the top. The signals were also taken apart and painted gloss white inside. The plastic comb in the center fit the nose cone perfectly.
On the last few years of the fox mustang there is a brace from the hood latch to the bottom of the rad support, and even then only a few have it. I added one, and it was the perfect place to attach the new power steering cooler. It is from a chevy truck, where it stood vertically. Ends from a stock hoop cooler were brazed on. The area was made more airtight to make sure the rad got all the air that came in. You can see the bottom of the bumper board. I left it full width as a handy spot to attach stuff.
		The old hood had a depression to mount the Mustang emblem. The new one didn't have one. So I pried the emblem off. But what I thought was a metal collar was plastic and it wrinkled up. Great. It was in perfect shape for 25 years and I screw it up in a few seconds. Luckily I could make one on the lathe from aluminum. After it was polished three small bolts were drilled, screwed in and glued with JB Weld. Then most of the heads were ground down. Some chrome was missing so tinfoil was rubbed on and glued over behind. Then all four emblem colors were re-painted from the inside and the roundel siliconed on. Notice that in the late 70's-early 80's the horse is different. The head is more erect and the tail straight back.
So where to put it? The hood has no depression in it. I did cut the piece out of the old hood before taking it to the wreckers as a core. (and the hoodscoop) But I noticed the inner support of the nose was bolted to the outside. Using the expanded mesh from a guitar amp a grill was created and sandwiched between the two pieces. Simple as that. You can also see the ford oval is missing.
		The bottom of the radiator shroud was bent up and the spot welds were loosening so a piece of angle steel was attached with self tapping screws. This created a small airdam about two fingers wide. The steel came from a bed frame.
Finished. A quick spray of the stock color and it's good to go. Actually all the painting was done before assembly. The black areas are truck bedliner in a spray can. Stinks like super glue. Not shown are the fender extensions needed to match up with the wider bottom of the front end. Four holes had to be drilled for each one. The side mouldings are also bolted on instead of being glued, and are a different style. All the headlight adjusters were frozen tight so the ones from the old front end had to swapped over and aligned. Fun. There was also quite a bit of trouble getting the hood to close. The new latch is thinner, so I sectioned the old one and it works if you drop the hood. Oh. The grill by the windshield has to be changed as well as it is wider.