Hi everyone, many of you have already seen some of my pics I previously posted in different areas on here but I figured I would just add my progress pics in this section to make it easier. Building as a very clean driver/local show type AAR. I really enjoy driving these cars and this one will bring back a ton of memories for me. It's an FE5 Rallye Red AAR, 4 spd, 391 car.
My friend Tony glass beaded the entire inner and outer unibody structure and him and his son Nick epoxy primed everything for me. Awesome job! :worship:
Made a great foundation to start metal work on.
Metal work with a good friend and a very patient man. Taught me a ton about replacing metal.
Few more
More and some paint work. Resto Rick's Dip Primer kit and PPG single stage enamel.
Nice progress :twothumbsup:
Wow! Nice job!
Looks fantastic, you're definitely doing it the right way :worship: :drinkingbud:
Thanks guys.... much appreciated. Also, thank you Mike Ross for all your tech help. Things are very tricky during the paint and body stages and Mike has been a great help in keeping me from making more than a few errors now that will cost me later. Thanks man :ohyeah:
Few more pics before I have to go back to work. Lol
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Off to my buddy Tony's shop for final straightening and paintwork. I'll post up my suspension pics tomorrow :)
Quote from: 6Pack70 on November 06, 2018, 04:46:51 PM
Wish I could figure out how to turn my photos... grrr. Lol
I gave up... I click the "notify Moderator" button in the lower right corner & ask Cody to fix it for me.. It's not like he's busy or anything... :vipermanhiding:
Quote from: 6Pack70 on November 06, 2018, 04:46:51 PM
Wish I could figure out how to turn my photos... grrr. Lol
The other day I had the same issue...while on my computer I would edit the photo, turn it where I wanted it, THEN crop it slightly as well, before saving...I found that worked ...for me anyways :alan2cents:
I'm gonna try that for sure. Here's a few more I missed when posting the others.
Some axle pics. Brand new Sure Grip unit and bearings from Dr. Diff. Also, his crush sleeve eliminator kit, new Timken tapered axle bearings, new inner and outer seals, 11 inch brakes, drums... everything new. Amazingly, the original 3:91 ring and pinion were in excellent condition so they were reused. :burnout:
Few more
Looking great.
Very nice detail work :twothumbsup:
Thank you.... cant wait to get the body back soon from paint and do some assembling while the snow is flying outside. Hoping to have it back home before Christmas.
wow great car. lots of AAR cars being restored right now!
VERY nice work! :worship:
Thanks guys :) :) Here's some pics of the front suspension. Not everything is tightened up yet.
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It's amazing, with all the information available and help from others, what the average person can do to this level of detail on their own. As an "average Joe" you're making the other "expert" restorer look like an armature, good job Eddie, you can work at my shop any day.
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This will be a nice car when it comes together :clapping:
Thanks :) I'll keep posting up some pics of different things that I completed until the body is painted and home.
This is the close ratio, 833 that came with my AAR. Pad is blank on it. Likely a replacement trans in the car's early days. Trans was in excellent condition inside and only bearings and seals were replaced. I also saved the original shifter levers and replaced them with the later 2 hole versions for a slightly shorter throw. Garage art hanging on the wall lol
Quote from: 6Pack70 on November 06, 2018, 04:16:34 PM
Thanks guys.... much appreciated. Also, thank you Mike Ross for all your tech help. Things are very tricky during the paint and body stages and Mike has been a great help in keeping me from making more than a few errors now that will cost me later. Thanks man :ohyeah:
I would love to hear what the potential "errors" are....many of us can't afford to make mistakes that would have to be redone. :thinking:
By the way you are doing beautiful work!!
Two big ones...right up front.. be very aware of the rear side markers if you are replacing rear quarters. Make sure they fit properly. The repro trunk extensions are from AMD are very nice but when replacing these and the rear quarters, you need to fit your side markers. Do not assume they will just slip in. It could be too tight of a fit and you can fix this before any paintwork. Next is to be sure to fit everything to the body before you paint. Use the bumpers, brackets, grille, headlight bezels, tail lights... everything you are gonna be installing after paint, test fit it before paint. It's time and effort well spent, especially if you, like me, found that things need some tweeking. You dont wanna be hogging things out on a freshly painted body that you assumed would fit because its brand new. New AMD quarters? Plan on modifying the holes for the quarter window fuzzies. They are not in the right places for a 70 Cuda. Test fit the fuzzies and put the holes in the right place....before paint. :) Thank you for the kind words on my project. :):)
Thank you! These are very helpful tips! :perfect10:
A couple of my favorite pics. Jeff hates me taking his picture as you can see him trying to get outta the way lol. This is the man who was a huge help in getting the sheet metal hung on this car. He just retired and was kind enough to not only weld all the new metal on at his place but he took the time to teach me a lot. Not something everyone likes doing. Yes, the car on the lift is an AAR also. That's his and it's a 4 speed also. He's working on it now and I'll be helping him with detail items for it very soon. I'd love it if we both finish our AARs at the same time.
Heater Box. Thanks Jim at J.S. Restorations, for rebuilding and re-plating my original blower motor. Thanks Cody for the info on getting my original stamps made. :worship: There is no clear coat or anything on my heater box plastic. Just cleaned after disassembly with hot soapy water and Scrubbing Bubbles foaming cleaner with a toothbrush. Blow dry and polish with Rolite metal and fiberglass polish with a micro fiber cloth. That's it. Nothing trick or super secret.
Rolite
That looks perfect.
Visited a good friend Mitch a little while back and he asked if I needed bumpers. Of course I said yes, I have my originals but they need a lot of help. He said here ya go, take these home with you. We'll talk price another day. What a great guy! I also brought home his 70 Charger R/T grille to restore for him. Grille is done and I'm delivering this coming weekend. Couple pics of the new bumpers for my Cuda and his freshly repaired and painted grille assembly.
My pedal assembly. Mostly raw steel cleaned in Evaporust, rinsed and dried and then RPM'd. Some pieces I glass beaded and sprayed them with Slip-Plate.
While the body is being painted, I figured now is a good time to tackle this sub-assembly. Lots of broken plastic mounting bosses on the trim bezels, dash pad is toast.... the usual lol Got everything blown apart a couple days ago to see what I'm working with. I have the original AM radio and had it repaired and made sure it functions. New ash tray from Tony's Parts. I also picked up a few non Rallye gauge clusters for parts if needed. I actually already had a beautiful new dash pad arrive a while back but it was damaged in shipping. They literally stepped all over the box and crushed the pad badly at the defroster area. Boot prints and all on the box. Sent it back and received a full refund. It's a shame because other than the damage, it was flawless.
Lookls great , I did the same thing detailing everything while the body was being painted
The original harness looks very nice except for one little wire for the door jam switch has some of the insulation peeling on it and showing some copper wire. I'm still considering just biting the bullet and purchasing a new M&H harness.
Quote from: 6Pack70 on November 20, 2018, 09:01:41 AM
The original harness looks very nice except for one little wire for the door jam switch has some of the insulation peeling on it and showing some copper wire. I'm still considering just biting the bullet and purchasing a new M&H harness.
It's what you can't see inside the harness that is scary....the copper is 48 years old remember. New harnesses is just good insurance. :alan2cents:
This is true...my mind is made up. :bigthumb:
Good job Eddie, the website resident expert isn't remotely close to your talents. You're attention to detail and the amount of work you actually do yourself is in the upper class of restoration with the so called "professional". We have had extensive conversations on the phone, can't wait to meet you in person, need a job?
Thank you Mike, that really means alot to me man! Parts that you personally had your hands on and made flawless for my project, gives me the inspiration I need sometimes to do many things myself on this Cuda. I dream about going to work every day in a shop like yours. I could set my ham sandwitch on the floor while I work lol.
Quote from: 6Pack70 on November 07, 2018, 09:42:58 PM
Thanks Jim at J.S. Restorations, for rebuilding and re-plating my original blower motor.
You're welcome Eddie. Beautiful work on the heater box. It looks awesome! :bravo:
Quote from: HEMICUDA on November 20, 2018, 09:48:20 AM
...need a job?
I agree Mike. You should do some cherry picking with Eddie. :tool:
Quote from: anlauto on November 20, 2018, 09:20:47 AM
It's what you can't see inside the harness that is scary....the copper is 48 years old remember. New harnesses is just good insurance. :alan2cents:
:thinking: If that's true with copper being 48 years old Eddie, I guess you should toss your restored heater box motor and I should just toss these 70 Charger concealed headlight door motors, in the trash can. :haha: :rofl:
Jim
Thanks for the kind words guys :) I'm finding that many parts on my AAR are one year only....1970. What's the difference in fuse boxes from 1970 to 71-73? :huh:
The 70 fuse block is different then the 71-73. I believe it might be the horn relay area???
This has become for me a journey in E-body anatomy and physiology by a Doctor of Mopar. Congratulations! :bigthumb:
Quote from: Slotts on November 20, 2018, 12:27:09 PM
Quote from: 6Pack70 on November 07, 2018, 09:42:58 PM
Thanks Jim at J.S. Restorations, for rebuilding and re-plating my original blower motor.
You're welcome Eddie. Beautiful work on the heater box. It looks awesome! :bravo:
Quote from: HEMICUDA on November 20, 2018, 09:48:20 AM
...need a job?
I agree Mike. You should do some cherry picking with Eddie. :tool:
Quote from: anlauto on November 20, 2018, 09:20:47 AM
It's what you can't see inside the harness that is scary....the copper is 48 years old remember. New harnesses is just good insurance. :alan2cents:
:thinking: If that's true with copper being 48 years old Eddie, I guess you should toss your restored heater box motor and I should just toss these 70 Charger concealed headlight door motors, in the trash can. :haha: :rofl:
Jim
No tossing those little gems in the trash.....not when you're able to breathe a new life into them Jim. Many thanks again buddy. Incredible workmanship!
Eddie
YES...the M&H main dash harness uses a 71-74 style fuse block with the main difference being in the horn relay area as mentioned. YearOne supplies a horn relay that "will work" . If you have patience you can carefully unclip the wires and switch them over to your old fuse block. I believe it's only the inside half that is different. :thinking:
I don't think it's necessary Jim to throw out the headlight and blower motors because of the 48 year old copper windings inside of them, but it's certainly a good idea to open up and inspect them during the restoration of the motor as you've pictured. :twothumbsup:
I had a customer supply "restored" harnesses done by a company here in Canada.....what a nightmare...they had more wires crossed up then were correct.... :pullinghair: and basically it was still 48 year old stuff with the dust wiped off :alan2cents:
Excellent! I believe I have a mint original 70 fuse block setup that I could switch the wires to. Keeping my Cuda's original harness together for reference should help me make sure all the wires are transferred correctly. :bigthumb:
There is a repo 70 only fuse block out there Evans wiring had them
Wow... T/Anks for the huge effort showing your work.. a true labor of love! My hat tips to you!
Thank you for the helpful tips guys. I'm gonna do my best to keep this thread going and pass along how I do things and the products I use. There have been many of you guys that have helped me and you don't even know it. I believe posting how you do things inspires many enthusiasts and may take the fear out of doing things yourself and possibly even discovering ways to do it better. Dozens of my own questions have been answered simply by reading many of your posts. I like returning the favor and sharing how I do things. :worship:. Eddie
Yes: Nice work and you will help lots of people with their projects.
...and it goes round and round... :grouphug:
Nice work. Does anyone know if the stripe on the clutch spring on his pedal assembly is the same green color on a 69 B body. B bodys have a different spring, so I'm guessing it's a different color, anyone know what it would be.
Thanks Gary :) Not too sure on the color stripe for the b body cars.
Finished painting the dash frame, glove box door and ash tray today. :banana: I cheated a little and left the original clips in place and put a small piece of Gorilla tape on each one. I will also sand some other areas in order to maintain good grounding. I very lightly glass beaded the frame, glove box and ash tray, then used Sems black Self- Etch primer on them. Baked in the oven at 95 f for 45 minutes. Then very very lightly misted Rustoleum fine textured black on everything. Just an even mist from 2 feet away. Waited 1 hour, then misted 4 even coats of Sems Trim Black from about 15 to 20 inches away. Sata Minijet gun. 40psi. Fluid needle choked off just a tiny amount. Back in the oven for 1.5 hours at 100 f. Came out pretty nice.
That texture looks great.
Great work.Did you test fit your rear light markers with the light socket in place?
Yup, I was going to say the same thing. The factory actually left the lower driver's side area bare steel, but yours has a much more "finished" look....over restored if you will :twothumbsup: great job.... :worship:
P.S.....if you got an oven that big, you must be able to bake a lot of cookies at one time :drooling:
Thanks :) I'm gonna start repairing a couple pieces of the plastc bezels and get into the gauge cluster this weekend. Also gonna install Tony's Parts ash tray. Just getting started and I'm already excited to see how the entire dash, as finished subassembly, is gonna look. :)
Great detail in this thread! Thanks for posting!
What kind of oven do you have that accepts a dash frame!?!?
Quote from: B5fourspeed on November 21, 2018, 06:51:14 PM
Great work.Did you test fit your rear light markers with the light socket in place?
Yes, I fit them as a complete unit and man they were really close to the trunk extensions. I also noted that when they were still installed on the original rotted out quarters, they were a pretty tight fit also.
Quote from: anlauto on November 21, 2018, 06:54:20 PM
Yup, I was going to say the same thing. The factory actually left the lower driver's side area bare steel, but yours has a much more "finished" look....over restored if you will :twothumbsup: great job.... :worship:
P.S.....if you got an oven that big, you must be able to bake a lot of cookies at one time :drooling:
Guy must have been loaded who painted these things. It had almost no paint at all on about half of the frame. They probably didn't want grounding issues when new either but geez. I wanted it to look nice as a whole when its done and not look like it was slammed together in a rush. lol
The oven I used is at my work. I try to do all the prep work at my house and if time permits, I'll bring some things into work, shoot them and bake them in the ovens there. You could fit a couple cars in their oven. I believe it actually produces a better looking and more durable finish on some parts.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on November 21, 2018, 06:41:39 PM
That texture looks great.
Thanks!! I did a small test on dented glove box and it came out nice. My up close pictures make it look really grainy and heavy textured but its really not. Its pretty smooth and even. I tried to keep it simple, make it look pretty accurate and keep the $$$ down. I wanna drive this Cuda and enjoy it. :banana:
I think baking the paint is a good idea.
Just setting up some of the dash items. Tony's Parts ash tray came out pretty sweet. My dirt cheap (eBay purchased) rivet tool put some scratches on the black paint and dented the ash tray a tiny bit because I used it with the wrong tips. They were for a slightly bigger rivet so they marred my paint a bit. I can touch up those areas though. I used a couple of very light coats of Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze paint on the glove box latch just freshen up the color a bit. I'm still working on the original plastic bezels for everything.
Couple more
:popcorn: Thanks for sharing the photos. Now that the NY weather is chasing me indoors, I'll be putting my standard dash back together soon too. Your pictures showed up at the perfect time.
You're doing some really nice work.
Thanks.... I appreciate it. That cold snap yesterday was crazy!!! I put the heat on low in the garage, turned on Velocity, drank my coffee and just tried to get as much done as I could. Honestly I'm gonna have to wait until the holidays pass to spring for a beautiful dash pad for this thing. Lol
Disassembled, cleaned and detailed the heater control unit, headlight switch panel and radio bezel today. The factory texture paint came off the plastic easily with some careful razor blade work. Then a roughed up with a fresh purple scotch brite pad and a very thorough wash with warm soapy water and blow dry. Toughest part was figuring out how to protect the factory silver circles around the headlight, dimmer and wiper switches. Then it hit me.... bolts and washers. One washer in the delete location had to be drilled out with a step bit and the taped in place to protect the silver. I removed the factory decal/foil and cleaned it gently and reinstalled it with a small amount of 3M trim adhesive. Here's some pics. :)
Switch Panel
This is what I used for the texture paint. It's not a dead nuts match for the original super small crinkle paint.....but it looks really good.
Very nice!
Thanks :) This is more like a dash cleanup, detail and check that everything functions good than a full blown restoration. I just can't justify spending 3 or 4 grand on the dash alone knowing that this car is going to be my driver/ local car show type Cuda. Anything that looks like it could be trouble right away, gets replaced.
Couple dash pics before I cover it up and store downstairs until new dash pad arrives. Waiting until the holidays pass for that to happen. :bigmoney: I have a few more items to work on in the meantime.
Does anyone know what the Orange wire that is taped off would be for? It's in the upper left of this pic. Black connector on it with what appears to be the original tape on the end of it. Maybe for an option my AAR doesn't have?
Orange is dash light circuit... BTW they reproduce the decal for wiper/lights/dimmer..
http://www.performancecargraphics.com/Dash_Stuff/Switch_Labels/E-body_Standard.htm
The orange wire supplies power to the flood lamp for the heater controls....I'm surprised your car is missing the light altogether, I thought they were a standard light on all dashes :dunno:...I'm going to check the AAR I'm taking apart....stay tuned...
Post up what you find Alan :) I'd be curious why someone would have removed that light from my car. Doesn't show any signs of it ever being there but hey..ya never know. Thanks :bigthumb:
Quote from: 1 Wild R/T on December 06, 2018, 09:48:01 AM
Orange is dash light circuit... BTW they reproduce the decal for wiper/lights/dimmer..
Ooh....thanks for the tip on the decal also. Never even knew he had those decals available. I might be grabbing one of those. Thank you :bigthumb:
http://www.performancecargraphics.com/Dash_Stuff/Switch_Labels/E-body_Standard.htm
Quote from: 6Pack70 on December 06, 2018, 11:04:38 AM
Post up what you find Alan :) I'd be curious why someone would have removed that light from my car. Doesn't show any signs of it ever being there but hey..ya never know. Thanks :bigthumb:
You're good to go ! The standard dash AAR I'm doing right now doesn't have the light either...maybe it's a rally dash thing ? :thinking:
Ok great.... cuz I just gave one of those lights away to someone in need of one. Lol. Thank you for checking.
I was just thinking about this light, not being installed in my Cuda. This car has the standard dash like many AARs, but it's optioned with the light group. Ash tray light, glove box light, map light, trunk light.... but no heater light on the instrument panel. Strange. Maybe it is only included with Rallye instruments.
Truely strange , I believe it should be there especially with the light pkg :thinking:
I agree with you... why it's not there is a mystery to me. :dunno:
Fantastic job man! :clapping:
Thanks Cody :) Much appreciated.. I'm now actually looking forward to taking some of it back apart to install a new dash pad soon. Plus , I just picked up a busted up gauge bezel with really nice original Brake and Oil red lenses. They will soon replace the originals in mine as the white lettering is faded pretty bad. On a side note, I ended up spending learly an entire day carefully cleaning and inspecting my original dash harness and decided to keep it and re-use it. A new harness would be around 530 bucks and I would still be adding my Cuda's options to the new harness and quite possibly swapping out the fusebox to be more correct. I decided it wasn't worth it unless I was having this car points judged. I found nothing on my original harness that would make me think something could go wrong. Additionally, the car will be fully insured.
Wait, I just had another thought, maybe on the non-rallye dash cars, the Road Lamp switch is in the way? Rallye dash cars have the switch located on the bottom of the dash frame correct? Maybe a whole bunch or maybe all Road Lamp equipped Cudas with the standard dash are missing the heater control light. :dunno: Tough to say for sure. Here's a pic of my original setup all cleaned up with no light. Next pic is an original un-touched light. Doesn't look like it would interfere with a Road Lamp switch to me. Any other Non-Rallye gauge AAR owners out there have this light? I might be just overthinking this a bit.... I should just install the light and enjoy. lol
Thanks for all of your details on the details...
My visit to Tony's shop today. Body looks incredible and the guys are doing a great job. Can't thank them enough. :worship: FE5 Rallye Red will be coming soon. :banana:
The pictures of the body masked off - why do the quarters and fenders have darker tinted primer above the body accent line? Artifact of guide coats for perfecting the edge?
That's exactly what that is :bigthumb: I asked if they could make that trademark Cuda body line straight and sharp, then knock it down just a little before final prime. Doors are done and once they go back on, they'll put the finishing touches on the lines. Can't wait to see that red on it, getting super excited :banana:
Bet your getting excited Eddie. Nothing like color to get you pumped up for the next steps.
Got that right buddy.... I was losing sleep Saturday night just knowing I was headed over to visit the body yesterday morning. Lol. I had a mental list of the little things that I wanted to check on. These guys didn't miss a thing and they're fixing things that you never see until you start sanding. I'm sure you know all about this. Lol.
At this time everything gets pushed up to the third level meaning the concerns and worries are at defcon 5. Make it or break it so to speak. So many things are going through your head that you fail to see the trip wire right in front of you. My dad came up from Arkansas and we tag teamed the color/clear. This allowed me to relax a bit but I was still nervous as hell.
I'm saying all of this because I'm with ya brother. I know what you're going through and in the end it will be awesome!
Thanks for the kind words Chet. Every so often I do have to tell myself to relax, it's an automoblie. However I'm sure it'll be a sleepless night before I spray the Organisol. Lol
Quote from: anlauto on December 06, 2018, 10:39:08 AM
The orange wire supplies power to the flood lamp for the heater controls....I'm surprised your car is missing the light altogether, I thought they were a standard light on all dashes :dunno:...I'm going to check the AAR I'm taking apart....stay tuned...
A little late but if a car didn't get the A01 light package there was no convivence dash lights. The dash in the picture has A01 and A04 along with headlight time delay
:banana:
Nice: An exciting time for sure.
Won't be long now :bigthumb: :drooling:
Just a few more weeks before more PPG Concept starts flying. Then it will sit for a little longer and then Cody's formula for the Urethane Organisol. I can't wait to shoot that. Tony, Dave and Brandon are doing an incredible job on the body and paint. All three of these guys do not mess around or cut corners. I'm so lucky to have these guys helping me with the AAR. :worship:
Hood has been straightened and smoothed and is in DP90. The bottom will remain untouched and the top will get scuffed with scotchbrite before Organisol treatment.
Really great project and details thanks
Wow really digging the color and attention to details
Looking great Eddie. Looking forward to the Organisol.
Getting close on the paint now Chet. Doors and decklid back on, gaps look really nice. Maybe another week or so and it will be in the booth. :banana: :banana:
Can hardly wait to see the final master piece. Both the Cuda and Challenger in this color just look amazing! If I had the doe and the time I'd bring my T/A back to the same color.
Just putting the finishing touches on the new booth and then it's up next. :banana:
Is the under carriage all being painted the body color?
Resto Rick's urethane dip primer.
Looks great ! :drooling:
Yup: I like that.
Rick sells nice stuff with great instructions.
Today is a great day!!! Cuda is painted and in a couple weeks the textured black Organisol will be flying :banana: Thank you so much to Tony, Dave and Brandon at Menands Classic Cars for going the extra mile on my Cuda. I normally never do this, but I put all my faith in these guys and trusted them with my project, and the results speak for themselves. :clapping: Great group of guys that take the time to listen to what you want and offer any help they can to make it what you want. We truly need more guys like this in this hobby. Thank you again guys. Soon the assembly will begin at home. Can't wait.
Valances, mirrors and turnsignals.
Couple shots in the new booth.
Impressive!!! :worship:
That looks awesome! Reminds me of the one I had years ago. Regretting selling it even more now. Good luck with the build.
That just looks awesome! It's really amazing how perfect we can get these cars nowadays with modern materials and lots and lots of work.
Thanks guys..... and thank you AMD. Lol
One word WOW.
technically 3 words.
Looks like some glass. Your painter did you right. Congratulations. Looks :wowzers:
Awesome! So glad you're at this point now. The real fun stuff begins now. Can't wait to see it person someday. :veryexcited: :veryexcited:
The paint works looks great :twothumbsup:
Thanks guys..... I'm looking forward to spraying the Organisol Saturday and bringing it home on Sunday. :banan
Quote from: 6Pack70 on April 02, 2019, 04:19:43 AM
Thanks guys..... I'm looking forward to spraying the Organisol Saturday and bringing it home on Sunday. :banan
Awesome! Looking forward to seeing some pics! :takepicture:
Home safe and sound :banana: :banana: :banana: Organisol just the way I like it. On the flatter side with some decent texture. I'm so excited to start installing all the items I've gathered over the past few years.
This morning
Organisol I shot was Cuda Cody's Urethane formula with just a tiny bit more flattening agent. 3 coats, approximately 4 feet away on bullet pattern. Thank you for the tips on how to spray this Cody. Very much appreciated. :worship:
:clapping: Looks AWESOME!!! :veryexcited:
Wow - Looks great!!! :wowzers:
Thanks so much :bigthumb: I'll post up some better pics soon.
Oh yeah.
FANTASTIC :drooling:
Just beautiful! :drooling: good job! :bradsthumb:
Wow :perfect10:
So happy this is behind ya now Eddie. Looks like you knocked it out of the park. Days like Saturday make you so proud and it couldn't of happen to a better man. Now the fun stuff begins (not that you haven't been having fun) but, seeing it in this state puts it all into perspective being, you're getting there. Hooray! :veryexcited: :veryexcited: :veryexcited: :veryexcited:
I love it !! :twothumbsup:
Thanks so much guys, more pics coming soon. :)
Is the car assembled yet ? :yes:
Lmao......its close, hopefully by the end of the week hahaha :bigthumb:
Still plugging away at it when time permits. :)
Undercoat today. Thanks Reso Rick :bigthumb: :bigthumb:
couple more
few more
That's all I have for today... next up is to install the suspension and get it back down on it's wheels and tires. Then install the headliner and get going on the interior and glass. I plan on being extremely careful and installing the engine from topside...when that day comes. lol
LOOKING FANTASTIC :twothumbsup: :twothumbsup: :twothumbsup:
Why would the engine go in from the topside ? What possible reason could you have for doing that ?
nice :twothumbsup:
Wow, fantastic work.
Thanks guys :) I won't have the engine done until late fall into winter Alan, and a good friend of mine would like to borrow those body dollies as soon as possible. He's helped me out a ton, so I'll get the suspension on and get those dollies over to him. I have the stand for the engine, trans, K frame and suspension but I'm ok with doing it the non-assembly line way. Done it many times since the 80's with no problems. Just gotta be careful.
Great detail work!!! Keep pics coming!
Go weld up another set of dollies for your buddy and keep that baby on casters. I'm heading to garage right now to build our third engine cradle. Just to easy to put the whole assemble in within 5 minutes. 👍👍
Great car!!
:iagree:
or just drop the K frame when the engine is ready to go in , faster & easier then putting it in from the top
I might actually do just that. Only takes maybe an extra hour to set it up when I'm ready and slip it under the car. :bigthumb:
If you plan to drop it later don't fully seat the ball joint tapers...
Excellent point... that would suck breaking those apart just to reinsatll them a half hour later lol. Thanks for the tip. :cheers:
If you're not moving the car around a lot, you can even put blocks of wood between the frame rail and the LCA and don't bother installing the torsion bars :alan2cents:
Quote from: 6Pack70 on May 05, 2019, 06:20:00 AM
I might actually do just that. Only takes maybe an extra hour to set it up when I'm ready and slip it under the car. :bigthumb:
It is seriously the best way to install it , you can have everything on the engine carbs , wiring , fan, exhaust manifolds , no need to lean over the fenders , except to plug in wiring & attach throttle cable , far less chance of damage !
Definitely the right way and I'm going to just leave the front suspension snugged up. Not real tight at all. That way its off the body dollies. Build the engine in the fall and put it on the fixture with the K frame and trans. Then I'll lift the front up and slide the entire sub-assembly under. :bigthumb:
Not to beat :deadhorse:
With all the discussions on many different forums that is the way to go safely.
I have zero help regarding everything I do on my car. In my head I can envision how it will work in stages all alone and safely.
Mike.
Couple updated pics. Decided to just drop the engine in topside. I know, I know...underneath is better. In my case, its just gonna work out better for me next spring to install engine and trans topside. Done it many times without incident.
Very nice.
Details look fantastic on this project :drooling:
Curious....what's the stamp on the gas tank, I've never seen that before :thinking:
Quote from: anlauto on May 30, 2019, 08:06:35 PM
Curious....what's the stamp on the gas tank, I've never seen that before :thinking:
FWIW here is a picture of the fuel tank on my T/A. It was an NOS fuel tank in original packaging when I obtained it.
Of course, that doesn't prove what original tanks installed on the line actually were marked.
I've actually seen this Armco Long Terne ink stamp on the steel fuel tank before quite a few years ago. However it was on the topside under the tank pad. I purchase a reverse image decal of the same logo with the 70 date and decided to stick it in a more visible area just for fun. Then I used good solvent based ink and a dense foam roller and rolled a couple light coats on over the decal. Once removed, it leaves this image on the tank. I like 71 Chargers too and many of their tanks jave the Pittsbugh Steel logo and year date on them. Pretty neat detail if it shows up in a visible area of the tank.
The tank I saw very well could have been a replacement tank also but I couldn't be certain. Thanks for the kind words too :bigthumb:
Cool detail. very interesting. The coils of steel sent from the steel manufacture to the gas tank manufacture likely had their logo printed on the outside of the large coil. The first couple of blanks cut from the coil likely contained all or part of their logo and once formed into a gas tank the logo was still visible. I would imagine very few tanks received a logo.
I don't think it was something the gas tank manufacture stamped on.
The above is just my theory and only my opinion of course having worked in the steel auto parts industry for 28 years.. :alan2cents:
couple cool pics from one of my old 71 Chargers.
Interesting :thinking: :dunno:
Nice! Thanks for posting the photos.
No problem....I probably have thousands of photos of interesting Mopar things lol
The details are fantastic!! Nice job, really nice JOB!
Thanks Cody...and thank you for the all the extremely helpful tips on this forum. Very much appreciated :bigthumb:
Very nice - I like the details too!
I really like the detail on the gas tank..... correct or not. It reminds me of something I saw at Mecum on a NOS set of Polyglas tires for FORD from the Steven Juliano collection that I might incorporate on my Mopar Polyglas since I live in Akron, Ohio I'd just change the destination to the Plymouth Hamtramck plant. I'm sure it would make people stop and wonder.
That tire stamp is cool!!! Just this past Saturday, I was wiping the dust off the trim rings on my Cuda and sure enough, I noticed the remnants of clay red lettering on the rear G-60-15. I couldn't fully make out what it said but now I know what it was. Thanks for posting that pic :banana:
Quote from: 6Pack70 on June 27, 2019, 04:00:45 PM
That tire stamp is cool!!! Just this past Saturday, I was wiping the dust off the trim rings on my Cuda and sure enough, I noticed the remnants of clay red lettering on the rear G-60-15. I couldn't fully make out what it said but now I know what it was. Thanks for posting that pic :banana:
Your Welcome, Great job on the car !!!
Thanks so much. All I had time for recently was installing the tail panel stainless trim, rear bumper and original valance panel. Starting to really look like a Cuda again. Lol
:clapping: Very impressive build. :popcorn: :inlove:
Yea...I like it :twothumbsup:
Thanks guys.... much appreciated
:drooling: beautiful car, well done! :clapping:
Awesome! It's a great car.
Looking great as the details come together :twothumbsup:
Thanks guys :) I'm ready to tackle the headliner next. Can't wait to install more of the polished stainless trim. Once again, my friend Mitch in Vermont helped me out with clear side glass. He had quite a few nice pieces and let me pick through his stash to find the nicest pieces. And shockingly, they are dated the same as my chipped and scratched originals!! Super nice guy who wouldn't take a penny for the glass and a mint left door window regulator. :worship:
A true Mopar friend! I know they make the repro stuff but I would sooner install scratched OEM than the repro.
In the past week, I installed the headliner (recovered and reused the original sail panel boards) and installed my dash and steering column. Thanks so much to my buddy Steven for calling me right away when he spotted this beautiful original dash pad that Tim in Alabama was selling on Facrbook. Huge thanks to Tim for bringing it to Carlisle and handing it off to my buddy Steven to bring home for me. Two great guys!!
Couple more
:popcorn: Loving the photos! :clapping:
Looking Great! Funny back in the 70's & 80's we would look to the northern areas for dash pads & soft trim cause the cooler climate seemed to be easier on the vinyl.... Sheet metal was trading bait..... LOL..
Now you find a cherry dash pad in Alabama.... I bet it came from up north...
Tim is a very nice Southern gentleman, and he took the time to talk with me on his way to church and agree on a fair price. Nice guy. He said ironically, it was removed from an AAR Cuda. Lol. He said he's had it installled in his 71 Cuda for quite some time. He decided the time had finally come to install the correct dash pad in his car. Win win for both of us. :banana:
Great details... :clapping:
Just a couple updates. E.C.S. carpet installed, along with the original cleaned up seats and a set of Phoenix Graphics stripes. Yesterday was the first sunny warm day in a while. Good day to clean the garage floor.
Couple more
Engine build coming soon. :banana:
Looks awesome!
Very nice.
Thanks guys 😁 I have a bunch of photos from the 5 hours it took me to install the stripes ( I'm a rookie on AARs) but I didn't wanna bore anyone lmao
They came out nice for a first timer. My only complaint is Pheonix uses white carrier paper so you have no choice but to trim the decals pretty close so you can get accurate measurements for final placement. Not a big deal until you keep squeegee ing over the now tightly trimed decal and putting tiny marks from the plastic squeegee on the paint. I buffed them out but i wasn't expecting that to happen in a couple spots.
Looking good! :bigthumb:
That look great! :)
:drooling: You say the seats are original. :1place:
As bizzare as it sounds..... yes, they are the original seats. I was off work Christmas week, so each day I cleaned the seats like crazy....removed the tracks, dipped them in solvent to clean all the old grease out, glass beaded and repainted them. New heavy grease and now they glide like new. Seat belts were soaked in a bucket of hot Dawn dish soap and scrubbed. Hinged covers repainted in Sems Trim Black. I'm gonna be sending a core set of belts out for restoration and new webbing but these originals will do for now. 👍👍
Haha...pics were from Sunday. I'm about 10 min from Albany. I think we're about 2 hours apart buddy :cheers:
Ya About 90miles sounds about right. Sunday we had 50mile per hour winds. :handshake: