Any body guys? Splicing mark viii's here..

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poniesviii

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I wish I had a gen 2 to pull in the garage next to my gen 1 to compare.

What's your vote on the easiest way to splice gen 2 tail end on a gen 1? There's nothing wrong with my gen 1, it's not wrecked.

So, 100% complete quarters roof down and from door jam back probably?

Or, Stair step splice above the wheel wells up to the trunk jam close to rear glass?

Also, I assume my gen 1 trunk hinges are in the same location, bolt right up to the gen 2 lid, correct?

I don't want to hear anything about how I should buy a gen 2. I would have alot more work to get the same car in the end.
 
then gen 1 thin tail lights match the thin gen 1 headlights......i think it would look goofy.....you'll need the smaller hump trunk lid too
 
Um, because I want a gen 2 rear on my gen 1.

And I'm not going to have either gen headlights in my car.

I know I'll need the other decklid. that's why I'm asking about hinges.

C'mon, if it's junk keep it out guys, simple question here.
 
Hmmm... I've often wondered what the differences in the chassis themselves were.

I would start by getting a gen 2 trunk lid and seeing if it will bolt on, and if there is a difference in the trunk opening. If is is the same you won't have to mess with any inner structure stuff.
 
I would splice in the sail panel and do the complete outer quarter. That would be the easiest way. A waste of time, but thats the correct way to do it.

Neat idea, but when all is said and done only a few people will even know it has been done. Alot of work for that.
 
I have seen a front clip from a gen 1 put on a Gen 2.
I think the would be the way to go to get the look your after.
 
completely random thoughs...
if the trunk lid could be interchanged the bumper cover swap should be pretty straight forward you would only be left with grafting in the gen2 tail lamps...thay would be be a fairly simple graft.

strangly I was thinking of doing a gen2 front clip on my gen1
 
poniesviii said:
Um, because I want a gen 2 rear on my gen 1.

And I'm not going to have either gen headlights in my car.

I know I'll need the other decklid. that's why I'm asking about hinges.

C'mon, if it's junk keep it out guys, simple question here.
Click to expand...

What kind of lights are you going to have on the front then?
 
my best advice to you....go to the yard and try to bolt a gen2 trunk on a gen 1 car......use the yard for all your experiments
 
I definitely would NOT cut both quarters completely off just for tail lights. I don't know for sure if the hinges are the same or not, but if they aren't those can be swapped out. If I were going to do this, I would cut about a foot forward of the tail light pockets off the donor car, then on your car cut out only as much as you need to to get the gen2 tail light pockets to sit flush. Once you can lay your gen2 section in over your gen1 quarter, trace on the back of it around the hole so you will know exactly where one panel is going to end and the next begins. Once you have your gen2 tail light pockets cut out, trim on your quarters about 1/8" out all around the hole, and use some of the metal that you cut away and aren't using anymore to make a lip around the hole that you now have in your quarter. The goal here is to have the hole in your quarters slightly bigger than the new tail light pockets, with a flat surface that is sitting just beneath the level of the quarter panel so you don't have any metal overlapping and sticking up to hide. Doing it this way, you will be able to weld the new pocket in, and since it will have the lip underneath you will know it is in there solid and not going anywhere, and then once it is welded in, you can grind the weld smooth and hit the area with filler to smooth everything out.
 
There were a couple of Guys that did the 50/50, one was on here before I think. They both put Gen 2 asses on their Gen1's. I think it was 1/4's, trunk & bumper cover.
 
Blenderhead said:
I definitely would NOT cut both quarters completely off just for tail lights. I don't know for sure if the hinges are the same or not, but if they aren't those can be swapped out. If I were going to do this, I would cut about a foot forward of the tail light pockets off the donor car, then on your car cut out only as much as you need to to get the gen2 tail light pockets to sit flush. Once you can lay your gen2 section in over your gen1 quarter, trace on the back of it around the hole so you will know exactly where one panel is going to end and the next begins. Once you have your gen2 tail light pockets cut out, trim on your quarters about 1/8" out all around the hole, and use some of the metal that you cut away and aren't using anymore to make a lip around the hole that you now have in your quarter. The goal here is to have the hole in your quarters slightly bigger than the new tail light pockets, with a flat surface that is sitting just beneath the level of the quarter panel so you don't have any metal overlapping and sticking up to hide. Doing it this way, you will be able to weld the new pocket in, and since it will have the lip underneath you will know it is in there solid and not going anywhere, and then once it is welded in, you can grind the weld smooth and hit the area with filler to smooth everything out.
Click to expand...

Thanks Blenderhead. I'm aware how to overlap, score, cut, weld, finish.. thanks for the how to though! I like your idea of keeping the cut close to the pockets, but I fear that I may need a bit more gray filler primer and some extra sanding if I don't go further forward a hair.. but I could be wrong, thanks for the thought! I'll have to inspect with some const. paper cutouts and see how different the virtical and horizontal contour is. Also, with the other decklid, I'm thinking it may be easier to cut about an inch out from the trunk jam all around up to the window for a nice flush fit.

I really don't think I'll swap out both quarters after thinking about it. It would be alot more work, and when it's done it's not going to be any different than if I would have.

This is where you guys may think I'm going nuts, if I can figure out and test a decent way to attach urethane to urethane smoothly, I may cut a couple inches out of the rear bumper cover and across the trunk floor, run a straight cut forward above the wheel well up to the pillar, and take out a couple inches between the quarter glass and side window. The support inside where the seatbelts bolt to won't leave, rather just be covered by tinted quarter glass via a forward splice.

The reason I got to thinking about this is because -the car's just too long when it's layed on the ground. I'll only take out 2-3 inches so the car doesn't begin to look too tall. And I want suicide doors, with the pillars grafted into the roof. The only way to make it look good is to do something between the two pieces of glass. Besides, that part of the car is going to hurt the rest of my project and make it look a bit cobbled. I need the whole car looking new or it's not worth any of this work at all. I already got to work on flush mount rear glass. When I'm finished you guys will crap at how well the glass matches the contour of the car straight from ford without any work at all. On a black car at night you won't be able to tell there's even a back window there. I just need to take out the gen 1 glass and replace with the gen 2 so I can shave my antenna. Then sidemolding. Gas door will stay. But I'll have a pretty seamless car.

I'd also like to look closer at bringing the hood up as a cowl and playing with the wiper setup so it's more hidden.

The majority of this project will start this fall after this season's driving. T56 is still planned with side exit exhaust (through instead of under the quarters) so I have my work cut out for me. It's either do this to this car or spend 30k on another one, and I don't want a bank note again. Feels nice without debt.

Thoughts are welcome. I'm not sure about the shortening, but I'm sure about the headlamps and gen 2 rear. The rear will be modified after the swap as well, won't look like a stock piece on any gen.

Fun huh. Ha.

Thanks guys.

Chris
 
sounds like its going to be a lot of fun take lots of pics so we can see the progress too. i am really interested on how you are going to do your hood cuz i am getting ready to put a cobra intake on my mark and don't want to put up all that cash that is needed for an LMS hood. Good luck!
 
Thank you. I find I do things better if i don't get recognition until it's done, so I'll prob just post up after it's complete. Unless I have questions on opinions.

The hood I'm talking isn't going to help with clearance, just curb appeal. If you want extra clearance put some (thanks to jeremi for this idea) .. half inch spacers between your k member and frame, adjust your air suspension to bring the front back down, and you'll have more hood clearance. Might need some steering shaft modification though, you'll have to figure that out. Good luck.
 
hey,

I like your idea...I always thought about taking the best parts of gen 1 and 2 like that as well. I thought you should know that i tried to do side exhaust on my gen 2 and i simply couldn't get it without hitting the gas tank but if your talking about that much work moving the gas tank up and channeling the floor isn't that much more. Let me know how it turns out. You should also check into doing the complete quarter swap and breaking it with a sleeve on the sail panel if i remember correctly there is a difference in the panel flair. I'm a professional body man by the way so if you have any questions on that type of stuff shoot me a pm, I'd be glad to help.
 
the hinges are the same, the deck lid is not, you could not simply put a gen 2 lid on your gen one, and then use the gen 2 rear bumper, the gen 2 lid tapers inward on each side of the neon light, meaning so do the gen 2 rear quarters around the tail lights, the only way to do it would be to cut off the quarters on your car, part of them, all of them, whatever you want and then weld on the gen 2 quarters. i know you dont want opinions but your nuts lol, more power to you if you attempt it, but your in for way more work than you realize, half way through it you'll ask yourself " WHY " also!
 
I had a gen II that I parted awhile back and wanted to do the same thing on my gen I. The gen II rears are much nicer looking. After spending some time researching it was going to be too much work.
 
Gen I bodies on a Gen II would be better...you'll get obd2 tuning capabilities and have the easy to find parts unlike the 96...plus it's easier to do the splicing by just swapping over the Gen I front end to the Gen II
 
I would probably go with the Gen II chassis as a starting point and modify from there...
 
Thanks guys.

Yeah Jamie I know how it is to get into something then ask why. But I'm not looking at it as a chore, more as a hobby, so I'll be patient. The more work it is the more I'll enjoy having it when it's done.

I don't want to start with a gen 2. If it's not this car I have no desire. I could pay someone to screw my girlfriend too but without doing it myself what's the point eh. i appreciate the consideration though.. this car is sentimental, I don't want a different one too bad.

Do any of you use adobe photo shop? maybe take those 2 inches out and show me how it would actually look?

lsc8- curious what you mean about the diff on the panel flair..
 
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