Richy's 1970 xw ford falcon restoration - pt 2

Welcome to Part 2 of Richy's XW Falcon Restoration

The XW Falcon project is progressing considerably. The next step on this restoration is to strip the car down and preparing the body for sandblasting. 

While dismantling the XW, we were able to locate visible rusted metal requiring attention. One of the things that Richy liked about the XW was that the major rust was easily visible. The other interesting aspect of this car is that it didn't show rust in some of the more typical problem areas for these cars. 

The Bad

We were confident that there weren't any major surprises, but, there was the question mark in regards to a common rust area, the cowl panel (plenum). The front guards would need to be removed to inspect the cowl panel. Upon removal, we were surprised to find a large rust hole in the right-hand side. The cowl panel will require extensive repair.

The bonnet was also too far gone. The inner frame was rusted as well as the outer skin on the front. This potential repair would require the bonnet to be split, repaired and rejoined. Fortunately, this will be replaced with a new item sold here at Mustang Auto Parts.  

The Good

Although the disappointment of the cowl, there we no other nasty surprises when removing the other panels, i.e. boot, chassis rails, floors, roof and pillars are in excellent condition and won't require any repairs. 

In the next instalment of Richy's XW restoration, we will be covering more detailed photos of the stripped-down XW.