The Case of the Foreign Rear Axle.

The last couple of weeks I've been hard at work both in the garage and on the internet trying to decide what to do about this 1967 Ford Falcon/Mustang 7.25" axle. Upon closer inspection it soon became apparent that not only had a previous owner cut the lower chassis middle cross piece out and welded in a lower piece (then butchered that!) but they'd also completely cut away the lower rails at the rear sides of the car, presumably to allow for the 'new' axle shafts to exit the frame. 

So the workload has increased again. This had all been done without removing the body from the chassis (obvious by the fact there are no welds on the backs of the rails) and when comparing original chassis photos one can see exactly what they've done. In the photos above none of the middle upright tubes should be there, (or the diagonal tube on the left in the top photo) and the outboard horizontal rails in the middle are also additions, as well as the shock mounts. The original mounts were ground off and new ones welded on, lower than they should be, again to compensate for the foreign axle. 

All in all, more work than I'd hoped for with the chassis. 

The good news is though that I found a Ford Capri Mk1 Atlas Axle with gear ratio 3.22 here in the States and it's on its way to L.A now so I'm now committed to getting the chassis back to original with the correct axle.  

Anyway back in time a few days. I completely stripped the chassis of all steering, brakes, hubs, suspension etc, and here's what was left...

A&M Sandblasting here in L.A blasted the chassis for me and they were brilliant. They're super friendly and helpful, picked up the chassis and delivered it back, and for a very reasonable rate so I couldn't be happier. 

A few days later...

It's so great to see what you've got to work with without all the dirt and grease. 

Upon closer inspection rust-wise I think it's only the lower side rails that need replacing. They're the first ones to surrender to corrosion and I was prepared to replace them anyway. 

Now the fun really starts! Time to buy a small MIG welder, buy the metal, cut away the bad, the ugly and the unnecessary, fabricate new tubes, tack them in, then hire a mobile welder to come to weld them in properly with a high voltage welder. 

Watch this space Marcos lovers...