Transmission Tunnel Work

This post has been a long time coming, not because I haven't wanted to post anything, but more because real life has managed to steal a lot of time away from the mustang.  I hate when I can't get my mustang (therapy) time in.

So in this thrilling edition, we will take a look at the horrible hack job that was done to the transmission tunnel by a previous owner trying to stick I don't know what type of shifter/transmission in the car.  I sourced a piece from a 70 Cougar, found out the shifter opening was the wrong size, cut and adjusted it, and welded it in (many thanks to Dennis for getting me the measurements needed and the people on the VMF for confirming the repeatability of those measurements).  Here are the pics of the process.

Here it is after cutting it out of the Cougar.

Here is the mess that needs to be repaired.  I marked off with my paint pen the area I was looking at replacing.  (I started using these pens after seeing them on other blogs, and I was tired of fighting with sharpies, these work SO much better.)

Cleaned it up some, quick lick of paint, and it just isn't the right shape.  For a 64 -68 mustang, the hole needs to be square.  If it wasn't for Dennis' measurements, I may not have ever realized this.

After lots of measuring, here is the first cut.

After more measuring, here is the second cut.

Welded it back together, filled in the holes from brake line screws and from cutting out the crossmember.  Then ground everything down and checked for those pesky pinholes.  Fixed those and whew, the hole is the right shape.

After some paint it looks pretty good.

Here it is all fit, cut, and tacked into place.  After confirming the measurements several times, I proceeded to weld it in.

Here it is fully welded in.  I used the tack and move method to eliminate any chance of distortion.  It takes longer to weld a piece in, but it looks better after the effort.

I had to fill in this area with a patch as the piece didn't quite match up with the floor on this side.  It is tacked in place right now, I still need to finish welding and grinding it.  You can see some marks with the paint pen where I still  have some pinholes to fill, but for the most part it is pretty much done.  One more thing off the list.