Did this on a 1969 Barracuda. Rails were completely rusted through and there was a lot on the inner fenders too.
Take some time and look at how these cars are constructed. Basically, it is just a bunch of stampings that are spot welded in place.
My goal was to install the new front end like it was done originally (within reason), in other words, don't torch and hack it apart. Take the time to drill out ALL the spot welds. If done right, the new piece will slide right in. There is a tricky area where the T-bar crossmember overlaps the top of the rocker panels.
I got a donor front clip from a southern car. I did NOT replace the firewall.
Stripped all the unnecessary stuff off the donor being careful to drill out the spot welds.
There is a pinch weld where the front floor meets the bottom of the firewall and those welds were drilled out as well. My front floors were bad so I replaced those at the same time and that's where one of the floor joints is. (last step)
I sandblasted and painted the new clip inside and out and actually added reinforcement plates inside the rail to beef up the T-bar sockets. (I live in the rust belt) The black paint in the photos is POR15 and it's inside the rails too. I used weld-thru primer in areas where the welds are.
Before final welding, I clamped/screwed it in place and hung the fenders to made sure everything lined up. The donor parts are kinda deep bronze in color and the original cuda parts are brown in the pictures.
It's been awhile. Car has been on the back burner since then so no real updates.
That's my $10 home-made rotisserie made from scrap metal and junk I had laying around. Most of the ten bucks was for hardware. Hey I'm strictly an amateur. If you were closer I'd give you a hand.
