74' XB Coupe

[97elxr6]

Hey guys,

Recently picked up a green xb coupe so thought it would be a good idea to get some feedback and thoughts. The old boys first car was a tropic gold xb coupe so intentions are a full metal resto to that spec. I'm not as experienced as many of you guys here so any tips would be great! It is an intended father son project... a very slow one.

Currently running a 351 with 4speed man.. Got the ford verification letter the other day and as with many of these coupes much has changed.

Originally

Eng- Y 302
Trans- B T-bar auto
Paint- L Mushroom Beige
Trim- S2 Saddle cloth inserts
following options: 03, 05, 06, 32, 39, 48, 56, 90, 46

It's a JG65PJ however ford tells me its a June car?

Somebody has attempted to make a GT replica out of it, as it has the black outs and added front and rear spoilers. Unfortunately it has the typical rust repaired with bog... Somewhere along the line its also lost its GS wheel and grille. Hope the purists don't have a go but we have decided to keep it a gt replica...

Just curious how many mushroom beige coupes where made as you never see that colour... must be for a reason!

I'll try get some pictures up of the worse repaired areas

[Geez Louise]

Congrats on the coupe purchase. As for keeping it a GT replica, your car...keep it how you want

I have seen the figure for beige coupes somewhere before...but not too sure where. Someone else will know no doubt

Looking forward to seeing some pics.

Best of luck.

Cheers
Col

[cob115]

Congratulations on your find I agre with Col ,make the car the way you & your son want ,Iv got a soft spot for tropic gold ,as my first coupe was that color in the 80s ,pics s a must

[King Neptune]

Well done, Sounds like a good base to start from. I have seen a couple of M/beige cars over time, & with fresh paint (or looked after paint), they look really good, especially with highlites. Older, faded paint jobs look a bit dull. You will find a few on different web sites. I think one of the GT sites has a link to all the colours with some photo attachments.
Best of luck with the project.
Cheers Rob.

[97elxr6]

I should have mentioned i'm in my 20s and posting as the son! I've added a few pics as it sits at the moment. The rear is a bit of a mess, rear window panel and boot gutters all need attention. Hopefully can keep the original tail panel. May get around to taking some more pics of other areas but this is what was on the computer at the time.





Inside the boot, underside of the rear window panel.


Boot corner, where they have gotten creative and used a 15 x 15mm steel square tube in place of the gutter along the top of the tail panel

[ianxy351]

No where near the worst I've seen by a long way. a very long way. If that is the worst of it you've got a good buy there. Good luck with the build.

[rvsm]

yeah mine is way more f upd

[Apollo66]

Looks good, nice to see another coupe go to a good home.

[GTB 351]

Sounds like a great project.
Does your front spoiler have brake cooling ducts? Been on the lookout for a spoiler like that, do you know who made it?

[macman]

I'm actually surprised at the condition of that parcel shelf, looks good! And the underside doesn't look too bad, lots of surface rust to treat. Of course it's always XXX worse when you actually get stuck into it BUT that looks like a very promising start IMO.

[u2canb12]

Looks to be great condition for its age, I would be happy if my rear parcel shelf resembled anything close to that. Good luck with the project and as many of the forum members will say, its your car, build it how you want it to look.

I have subscribed to this thread and will be follwing with great interest.

[97elxr6]

Took a few more the other day. Lower rear quarters have had work done. Drivers side seems to be worse in wheel arches and sills. As for the front spoiler, yes it does have brake cooling ducts.







Bit of work done on bottom of a pillar.



Interior was redone to suit which doesn't look too bad. Quality of panel work and paint isn't too great though


Previously had a rear antenna in the rear quarter panel, was also covered up

[97elxr6]

Some rear end coupe pics. About half way through atm. Will post rest when its done

Before and after





Inside left boot repaired, right side comparison







Gutters before and after






A lot more pics to sort through. Some pretty dodgy previous repairs, plating over rust and bronze straight over rust.

Both boot corners, and gutter along tail panel changed, rear window panel changed, both sills, rad support changed. Bottom of quarters front and rear to be done once out of the boot.

Rear tail panel was not changed. I'll post up some of the right rear once completed as it will be quite a repair.

[Jacko*]

Great work so far, I will be watching with interest. I'm about to start similar repairs myself.

[bionic2006xr6t]

Nice work so far. If you haven't already trial fit your back window and rubber before paint yes it's a pain in the *** but you don't want to have to take a grinder to your freshly painted car to make it fit later.

Cheers Ryan

[97elxr6]

Some older pics off my phone taken a while back.




Old right rear repair top two photos, new section and repair bottom two

[JG65TE]

one of the best coupe bodies I have seen in ages. did u weld a panel on the b pillar where the roof joins the quarter ? bottom left pic

[97elxr6]

Yeh, the old weld was an overlap so was all cut out. Bottom left pic is a new section made up and edge joined.

[neptune blue]

Coming along nicely Paul

[97elxr6]

Rear panel was saved. Did not use a repo tail panel.

Some more old right rear tail panel repairs. Was rebuilt


New sections made up and now also have a bottom rear gutter as well as a straight tail panel.

[neptune blue]

Steady as she goes Paul
The quality of the work is great