1971 Fury GT, Gold, Promo Car

The steel coated prebent lines are nice OE appearing with the shielding on them. Since I doubt you'll be driving this in any severe weather I'd go that route as they'll probably last as long as the car. I use the copper/nickel stuff on my 20-30 year old beaters whenever I need to do lines.
Do you have a link to a reputable supplier plz? Thanks.
 
I'm not doing anything until the subframe is done. I want to make sure I don't have to buy another, or worse, a parts car.
It was sandblasted this weekend, but a 2nd sandblast needs to be done.
They are planning to break off the welds for badly bent left side mount flange so it can be bent back into correct shape.
They are hoping to start welding Wednesday night
Views from below.
PXL_20221106_180600774.jpg

PXL_20221106_180649318.jpg

Trans mount still attached to keep the subframe square.
PXL_20221106_180639525.jpg

PXL_20221106_180632238.jpg

PXL_20221106_180619317.jpg
 
I'm not doing anything until the subframe is done. I want to make sure I don't have to buy another, or worse, a parts car.
It was sandblasted this weekend, but a 2nd sandblast needs to be done.
They are planning to break off the welds for badly bent left side mount flange so it can be bent back into correct shape.
They are hoping to start welding Wednesday night
Views from below.
View attachment 566227
View attachment 566228
Trans mount still attached to keep the subframe square.
View attachment 566230
View attachment 566231
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Looks like the old farmer drove it "Dukes of Hazard" style!!:steering: It does look repairable to my amateur eyes though. Nothing crunchy! Keep us posted......
 
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Why do you want to break the welds on this? It is probably easier to bend this back into shape in place. Any simple scissor jack and some heat from a map gas torch should walk this out completely.
 
Perhaps you've already fixed this, but:

Clamp some flat-bar to the red area and start to hammer the lip down flat - this will make the whole area stiffer for the next step. (obviously you can't do that the whole way to the tip due to the bend) Use your judgment for where having the lip helps, vs fights you to straighten the whole thing - this depends on how much twist is in the green area.

Attach a 3/4" Pony pipe clamp at either of the blue lines (simply depends on how it'll fit in there) and clamp to somewhere up at the engine crossmember that is stronger than what you're pulling here. (I can't speak for other brands, but I've abused Ponys for years and they are extremely durable)

After you have some tension on it, give a few well-placed hammer hits. Be aware the pipe clamp may pop up when the metal moves. (ziptie or bungee it to that availabe hole?) Assess, re-tighten the clamp, hit it again.

Cantilevered metal like this wants to absorb the hammer's energy via vibration, so the tension of the pipe clamp helps with that.
But the pipe clamp alone likely will not provide enough pull, so needs the hammer.

Intentional, well-placed hits will be your friend.

Then finish reworking the lip when it's all moved straight.

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Why beat yourself up (or the frame) trying to bend it cold... heat is your friend, believe me that was the downfall of my 2nd 1968 PK21, when I straightened the RF stub horn I did it without heat, the whole major part of the frame cracked a year later. When I bashed the LF of my 1968 Fury III I straightened the horn with heat, cherry red hot the whole horn area, a decade later when the car went to the boneyard, no cracks.

I hope you are going to measure the stub since you have it off the car (right?).


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The stub frame is at a welder's shop under repair. They are going to use heat to bend the subframe mount.

How do you advise I measure it after I get it back?
 
I have found a large pipe wrench to be helpful in situations like this. My old 3 foot has won it's share of battles! Lindsay
:rofl:

Gotta love it, plumber's tools, that's as bad as a mechanic that has a claw hammer in his Snap On box.

Rebuilt and Dyno Tested! - 440 from 1970 Coronet R_T Convertible_00_01_49_05.jpg


For anyone else doing something like this on your own (I did in my teens) rent yourself a Porto/Porta Power, or buy one for that matter, they ain't that expensive.

11-29-22.Porta-Power - AAA Equipment Center.www.aaaequipmentcenter.com.jpg



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:rofl:

Gotta love it, plumber's tools, that's as bad as a mechanic that has a claw hammer in his Snap On box.

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For anyone else doing something like this on your own (I did in my teens) rent yourself a Porto/Porta Power, or buy one for that matter, they ain't that expensive.

View attachment 569638


.
You don’t need fancy tools to do most metal work on these cars. I own a porta-power, but I also use a 3 foot pipe wrench, claw hammer and one of my favorites, a spud wrench.
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Okay. The subframe repair almost turned into a problem, because the main welder for the shop passed away, so he never touched the subframe. His partner has a day job, so any projects in-house got very much delayed. My three-week job turned into a 3 month job. But to his credit, Ben Haticole did finish the job. There were quite a few cracks across the front area below the radiator support. The most concerning one was a crack in the left side strut rod mount. Ben and his new assistant repaired all of those and bent the front portion of the frame back into shape. I think the work they did was excellent. They did also used heat to bend back the main mounts that install on the floor pan under the dash. They cleaned up the frame with blaster and wire wheel. Finally they painted it with 3 coats of POR 15 gloss black. After all that work, Ben and his new assistant felt that the subframe was square. The original cost for the job was going to be $1000. The actual cost in hours was about $1500. Because of the huge delay in finishing the job we agreed on a final cost of $1200.

Front View, finished subframe. The mounts that extend outward from the transmission cross member are important, because although they are unused, they do provide alignment while installing subframe. Only the main mounts and the mounts at the very rear of the subframe have bushings and fasteners.
PXL_20230118_165354231 subframe.jpg

Rear view
PXL_20230118_165429383 subframe rear.jpg

Bushings, fasteners, spacers after I cleaned them. I painted the bolts, studs, nuts, and spacers. The fasteners, bushings, and spacers for the main mounts are the 4 in the front. I did get some replacement bushings from a parts car. I consider myself highly fortunate that the bushings for the main mounts and rear mounts ended up being in very good to excellent condition. I don't have a source for new bushings.
PXL_20230111_200701971 bushings after scrub.jpg

Subframe under the car
PXL_20230118_171540327 subframe RS.jpg

PXL_20230118_171606307 subframe LS.jpg

I used 70" x 22" piece of three-quarter inch plywood under the engine cradle and transmission cross member. Also it helped to have 2 assistants, one at each front corner, to keep the subframe steady while I lifted it on the hydraulic Jack.
PXL_20230119_175834576 subframe lift 70X22X.75.jpg

PXL_20230119_175938314 subframe lift.jpg

Right side main mount below the floor under the dash.
PXL_20230120_214305876 RS Main.jpg

Upper Bushing part number is visible below, if you can find them.
PXL_20230120_214335524 RS main.jpg

PXL_20230120_214350981 RS main.jpg
 
Right side rear mount. This was the only area where damage caused variance in the alignment side to side. Right side rear is 10/16 inch away from the pinch weld at the rear corner of the subframe. Undamaged left side rear was 13/16 inch away from the pinch weld at the rear corner of the subframe.
PXL_20230120_214411481 RS rear.jpg

A big positive was that the main mounts which are forward of the rear frame mounts ended up being in the exact same position in distance from the pinch weld. Wheel Alignment depends a lot more on these mounts being right than on the rear mounts being right.
Left side main mount
PXL_20230120_214542492 LS main.jpg

PXL_20230120_214709683 LS main.jpg

left side rear mount
PXL_20230120_214725225 LS rear.jpg

once I had the subframe reinstalled according to the procedural sequence and torque specs in the body portion of the factory shop manual, I took this picture of the damage to the bottom of the right side of the subframe.
PXL_20230120_214848756 RS rail.jpg

The test, to see whether the damage was incidental, was whether the unused mounts at opposite ends of the transmission cross member lined up with the matching holes in the supports under the passenger compartment floor.
This is the right side bracket alignment for the end of the transmission Cross member
PXL_20230120_224356290 RS align.jpg

this is the left side alignment. Both are about as close to perfect as I could ask for in a 52-year-old car.
PXL_20230120_224550903 LS align.jpg
 
These are some pictures of how the front of the subframe lined up under the radiator support panel. Every measurement that I took comparing right side gap to left side gap between the subframe and the support panel was exactly the same. I thought this was amazing given the damage to the front of the subframe caused by the farmer towing the car by the thin cross member under the radiator support rather than by the thick cross member that is the engine cradle. Was it worth $1200? I think so.

The only place where I had some heat cracking in the bushings was at the subframe mounts for the radiator support panel. For now, I'm going to move on from that, but I might come back and replace those bushings, if I can find new ones. The 2 studs on which the bushings mount are not hard to remove.
Subframe at radiator support panel
PXL_20230120_215806480 rad sppt gap.jpg

PXL_20230120_215855060 rad sppt gap.jpg

right side radiator support mount, the left side looks pretty much the same.
PXL_20230120_215950298 RS rad sppt mt.jpg

PXL_20230120_220002607 RS rad sppt mt.jpg

Views of the subframe installed
PXL_20230120_220612762 Upper subframe.jpg

PXL_20230120_220709046 Lower subframe.jpg

Next up is the front suspension. I'll post some pictures as I make progress. Thanks for looking!
 
Not to be a critic, and not that I have the skill to do it, but just to ask between friends here. Why didn't this get fixed?
Seems odd they let that go out the door based on the type of car being repaired?

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Not to be a critic, and not that I have the skill to do it, but just to ask between friends here. Why didn't this get fixed?
Seems odd they let that go out the door based on the type of car being repaired?

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Good question: I had a hard time finding a professional to work on this subframe out of the car. After the shop owner passed away, I agreed with his partner to do what was necessary to make the subframe structurally sound. Essentially, I took what help I could get. I expect it will align okay. As long as that happens, I think a body shop could pull that dent out later.
 
Great to see that progress is being made Ben! Sorry that the original welder died. Good that his partner took the job on despite the delay.
 
Working on Suspension and Steering now:
Long time ago I was listening to a video by Bruce Adkins on rebuilding a 440. He said, "if you don't like cleaning, get another hobby."
Upper control arms, they were not the right size for any of my tubs so I soaked them for 1 day, but one side of the arm was sticking out of the solution of rust remover, so I changed position of both upper control arms and changed the tub for day 2.
PXL_20230218_184548842.jpg

Rust Aid is $13 a gallon at Lowes so it's a lot cheaper than a gallon of carburetor cleaner.
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You can tell which side of the arm wasn't in the soup. It's important to get the grease off as much is possible before you put the part in the solution. Rust remover does not remove heavy grease.
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Day 2 soaking
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upper ball joint bolts and offset washers after 2 days of cleaning in solution and a meeting with my wire wheel
PXL_20230220_160935648.MP.jpg

each day the upper control arms got a scrub in my utility sink. It's right by the washing machine and dryer, so it was important to tell my wife what I was doing and also cleanup anything that dripped outside the sink.
PXL_20230220_161950781.jpg

After 48 hours and 2 scrubs in the utility sink, upper control arms look decent. They will get sprayed with brake cleaner before being painted. My friend Jerry has a shop press. Because of lacking space and infrequent need, I do not. Important to clean up the control arms so I don't mess up his press.
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Upper ball joint mount on upper control arm. I'm hoping that 2 days of soaking in rust remover loosened it up.
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For anyone who does not know, the upper control arms are different. The drivers side, left side, is wider on the forward arm of the control arm, marked L. I think it's also cool that the factory paint ends short of the upper ball joint.
PXL_20230220_171302266.jpg

Passenger side, right side upper control arm: the control arm is also wider on the front side of the arm.
PXL_20230220_171319737.jpg
 
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