got it back from the dipper and the journey begins. No surprises, very solid car. needs Lt rear 1/4 pnl and some repair here and there. trunk floor gone but everything else came out great. Don't need to to work on frame rails or floor pans. more pics as i get going.
couple more
Quote from: SRT392 on February 27, 2021, 07:53:26 AM
got it back from the dipper and the journey begins. No surprises, very solid car.
:twothumbsup: Excellent. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say 'no surprises' after getting the car stripped....
What's your plan for sealing it up ? I would guess that's the next step ?
Very good solid platform to work with! :twothumbsup:
First all the repairs.. new rear 1/4 pnl, trunk floor and tail light pnl. other repairs as required. then Cody gave me the name of some 3M sealant that i'll try and use in my glue injector i made for wood aircraft wings.. i turn it up to 135 psi and the glue gets into everything.. the glue has the same consistency as the sealant so it should get into the seams. then clean up the laps and make it pretty. first up get all the welding done..
Looks good, I remember when I got my 51 Dodge pickup dipped when there was a place in NJ to do it. Boy was I sick when I got it back. Not a speck of rust but lots of Swiss cheese! You'll have to find a way to coat all those hidden panels on the back side. To bad there's no place that also dips in an E coat afterwards.
Ok, so today was spent in the shop building Stearman wings and in-between i started in on the Cuda. Started taking out the trunk floor and everything else in really good shape. Frame rails and trunk floor/fuel tank stiffeners in great shape so this may go easier than i expected.
I'll be watching this one :) :popcorn:
Hard to put a price tag on starting with solid foundation.
In for this build.
anybody have a front section of a drivers side fender that i can section into my original? the rest of the fender is in excellent shape and i don't want to spend 700 to 1000 for a repop that probably won't fit. i do have nice rt and lt doors and base hood that came with the project that are extra if someone can use them...
Your trunk reminds me of how mine looked when I got it. Swiss cheese but like yours the frame rails were good. Keep up the good work. :twothumbsup:
couple pics of the trunk floor removal. Everything underneath was in great shape so it was just a clean and prep for primer. Got the AMD trunk floor and it fit very well. had to fix one corner from shipping damage but the rest of the fit was real good. new trunk extensions (came with the project) from Year One kinda fit but will need some work. repaired all the brackets and other parts from removal (spot welds) and rust damage and will now make a fixture to apply pressure to both sides so i get good contact for my spot welder. After trunk floor then tail light panel and last the drivers 1/4 panel..
New trunk floor and trunk floor extensions installed fitted and spot welded in for the last time. Once everything was in and tied up i cut out the tail light panel to fit the new one. When that's in I'll take off the driver's quarter and replace it.
Also sectioned in a patch panel below the lowest body line and saved the rest of the quarter on the pass side..
finished up the clean up from the removal of the old tail light panel and did the initial fitting. only some minor adjustments so the AMD tail light pnl seems to be good. i'll get this final fit done and prepped this weekend and spot welded in then on to the drivers quarter pnl...
WOW! You're not letting any grass grow under your feet. Very nice progress! :twothumbsup:
got the trunk floor and tail light pnl spot welded in so everything is stable again and wanted to see what i was going to deal with under the beat up/rotted 1/4 pnl. and surprise it was in awesome shape. just a very little patch repair on the very bottom of the wheel house.. the rockers were in perfect condition..
This is probably the first time I've read about someone opening up an interior body panel and finding things in good condition. :bradsthumb: That's great news.
What a good starting point! It really keeps the momentum going.
Great body one of the better ones I have seen in a long time . You are so far in front with that body in that condition Awsome moving along very well cheers :australia:
so today was rebuild the bottom of the wheelhouse. Crud got packed in on the drivers side and the water did the rest. at least it didn't take out the rocker. just some localized pitting which i'll repair next. first is what i started with and then how it turned out...
ok, so this week in preparation for removing the drivers 1/4 pnl i built up this frame jig to hold it in place. Used a laser level to get a level ref line on the 8 posts so now will level the body and then check all the dimensions to make sure its still straight then lock it down and remove the 1/4 and replace with new one. Frame jig is fully adjustable for any car.... most of the steal came from my scrap pile but i did have to get 25 ft of 2x2 1/8 wall. wow 25 ft is now $250..... i'd hate to see what lumber is doing....
well the 1/4 is all removed and everything got cleaned up repaired as required and the first fitting of the new one... very close only some minor alterations and then tag it in. Then off the jig and onto the rotisserie.
Quote from: SRT392 on May 27, 2021, 08:13:49 PM
ok, so this week in preparation for removing the drivers 1/4 pnl i built up this frame jig to hold it in place. Used a laser level to get a level ref line on the 8 posts so now will level the body and then check all the dimensions to make sure its still straight then lock it down and remove the 1/4 and replace with new one. Frame jig is fully adjustable for any car.... most of the steal came from my scrap pile but i did have to get 25 ft of 2x2 1/8 wall. wow 25 ft is now $250..... i'd hate to see what lumber is doing....
A+ moving right along.
Gotta ask what the buck is for?
that's not a Buck but its a WWII Stearman Biplane wing. Its number two and i have 2 more to go. about one per winter...if you want a pic i'll put one up...
Quote from: SRT392 on May 30, 2021, 06:30:55 PM
that's not a Buck but its a WWII Stearman Biplane wing. Its number two and i have 2 more to go. about one per winter...if you want a pic i'll put one up...
No pic needed for me. But very cool. I had always wanted to build a miniature.
can anyone help me out with the distance from the bottom of the stick to the top of the latch bracket??? i need this to finish the repair of the bracket and install it...
HELP, Hey folks i need the measurement in the picture.. The picture is for ref only and to show what i need. this is for a 70 Cuda. can someone put a stick on their car and get a measurement???
Let me know if I am measuring at your target spots- from the edge of the bracket for the latch, I'm seeing 5.2cm per the caliper (right at about 2.05").
Glad to get additional measurements if that will help.
Ben
yes sir that is exactly what i was looking for.... thanks a bunch, now i can finish the bracket repair and install. this should insure i have the correct spacing for the latch and deck lid catch.. thanks again..
So, waiting for some supplies (paint) from Eastwood and the wing is finished so back on the Cuda. Before an After shots of the rear window channel.. everything was good except parts of the channel where junk accumulated and stayed wet so surgery was is in order...sectioning new metal in where necessary...
And here is the passenger side after surgery.
The drivers quarter pnl went on for the last time and is all spot welded in place. then off the frame jig and onto the rotisserie and on to the little repairs, priming and initial body work.
oops, sorry for some reason it attached them 90 degrees off and i can't change it...
Holy cow, did you ever put the wing pics anywhere? Is there a forum somewhere that shows of people building stearman bipes? I'd LOVE to see that.
By the way, great job on the Cuda sheet metal!
Cuda 416, try the "Stearman Restorers" page. lots of what it going on... i will be doing an upper wing this winter and will pass on some pics for those interested in what's inside one... Cuda progressing and hope to be in paint sometime this winter...
so everything on the quarter panls is completely spot welded in and i put up the new rear valance and filled and re-drilled the mounting holes. everything lines up just fine now...
here's something i found today in the rear fender (wheel house) well. the dipping removed everything but the Youngstown foundry stamp
so a lot of time spent but not a lot of visual progress. Taught myself how to lead the seams. in a previous life someone took out most of the lead from the seams so i re leaded them to just below the surface and then used Icing to final level. the drivers side i had to clean all the lead out first to put in the new quarter pnl so putting the lead back took some time to learn.. also have the drivers door almost brought back from the dead and will post a few pics later this week..
working on the seams and while waiting for icing and primer to set i was working on saving the drivers door.. hard to see in the photo but it was close to needing a skin or another door. At least there was no rust and it actually fit the car real good so just save it.. it had a long gouge down the complete length and prior body folks used a slide hammer so a bunch of holes. I made some fixtures for my pull riveter to flatten out the holes then welded them up and ground them off. pulled the depressions out and pulled the gouge. then leveled it and iced it to rebuild the lower line.
Really nice work. I've been able to figure out most of the stuff that goes with restoring a car, but body work like what you're doing is something that completely escapes me.
Thanks Dakota... no difference between you and a professional except a few tricks and they can do it a whole lot faster. A pro shop would have knocked out the door in 1 or 2 days but it took me 12 days. The leading took me a week to figure out before trying it out on the cuda...
and also finished the deck lid up. it had some rust issues to deal with but that was solved with some metal and the welder and it was under arched by 1/16th. so a tweak and some icing for leveling and we have a good fit.
Sorry what are you referring to when you say icing?
icing is thinner than regular polyester filler and is used for leveling and feathers out very very fine. marvelous stuff but keep it thin and for leveling. it spreads real nice and is self leveling to a degree.. similar to Glazing putty but a little more course
Quote from: SRT392 on May 27, 2021, 08:13:49 PM
ok, so this week in preparation for removing the drivers 1/4 pnl i built up this frame jig to hold it in place. Used a laser level to get a level ref line on the 8 posts so now will level the body and then check all the dimensions to make sure its still straight then lock it down and remove the 1/4 and replace with new one. Frame jig is fully adjustable for any car.... most of the steal came from my scrap pile but i did have to get 25 ft of 2x2 1/8 wall. wow 25 ft is now $250..... i'd hate to see what lumber is doing....
I'm planning to build a similar frame jig. Did you use factory measurement to build and adjust the stud or did you adjust them to the body? How well did it line up? I measured on 3 different cars and they all differ 1/4- 1/2". Did you have to pull down the body or was it strait. One of mine were kind of twisted somewhat but straightened when quarters were removed. Sorry for all the questions but I'm starting a new project this winter and was inspired by your jig. :bigthumb:
the jig is universal and fully adjustable. it is level and dead on square. so i used the frame dimensions from service manual and other posts here and set it up to see how close it was. mine was actually close enough that it pulled down tight and was only 1/4 to 3/8 out on a couple of the points. Reset those and pulled it down tight. after removal and replacement of the 1/4 pnl it all stayed in place by about 1/8". i also have a couple of large "I" beams i can slip under the two long sides of the frame jig and using the "U" bolts clamp to the "I" beams for anything that is stubborn. It seamed to work fine as the deck lid which came from a 72 parts car fit real well after 1/4 pnl replacement. The AMD new trunk lid not so much. I have been real lucky on this one as it was never wrecked. It was beat up a little hear and there but nothing that went deep to the frame rails or core. It had the usual rust in the trunk floor (that got replaced) and the tail light pnl was messed up real good from a previous life break in with a crow bar. With the tail light pnl needing replacement that made the one piece trunk floor an easier task.
Quote from: SRT392 on November 07, 2021, 06:42:45 AM
the jig is universal and fully adjustable. it is level and dead on square. so i used the frame dimensions from service manual and other posts here and set it up to see how close it was. mine was actually close enough that it pulled down tight and was only 1/4 to 3/8 out on a couple of the points. Reset those and pulled it down tight. after removal and replacement of the 1/4 pnl it all stayed in place by about 1/8". i also have a couple of large "I" beams i can slip under the two long sides of the frame jig and using the "U" bolts clamp to the "I" beams for anything that is stubborn. It seamed to work fine as the deck lid which came from a 72 parts car fit real well after 1/4 pnl replacement. The AMD new trunk lid not so much. I have been real lucky on this one as it was never wrecked. It was beat up a little hear and there but nothing that went deep to the frame rails or core. It had the usual rust in the trunk floor (that got replaced) and the tail light pnl was messed up real good from a previous life break in with a crow bar. With the tail light pnl needing replacement that made the one piece trunk floor an easier task.
Thanks for info! funny you mention the aftermarket trunk lid. I replaced the quarters and adjusted to an old lid. Gaps were fine but when i installed the new lid the gaps are wider. Didn't wanna bondo up the gaps so I have to be ok with a somewhat wider gap :dunno:
don't have to accept the gap if you don't want to. go to page 3 on this thread and look at the first pic of the door. the edge might look a little funny as i needed a little over 1/32 to tighten up the gap in that area so i added a little over a 1/16 by welding directly on the edge. go slow and move around and because its arched it won't warp. when i'm done with the door i'll put it back on and grind the gap where i want it. good luck..
finished up the basic repairs on the drivers door today so put it up and ground off the welds to get the gap where i want it. got some contour blending to do between the door and the 1/4 pnl so that will be next..
finished the major work on the right (pass) door so i put it up and started setting and fitting the rear gap.. actually coming along ok.. starting on the pass fender this week. will take some work but def salvageable...
Been working forward. So the pass fender took a good bit of work to straighten out and i had to put a patch panel on the lower rear section but it is going to be ok in the end. here is the first fitting to check the lines and see how close i got the gap "readjustment" welding. one piece at a time...
and now with a lot of work i finished up the left fender... lines are good and it took some edge welding to get the gap consistent but it is very close now.. next is the front valance. it actually looks in decent shape so i hope it fits..
Finishing up the front valance and will have a pic of that in a few days. Needed to put it through the planishing hammer to get it back but it is coming along. Also fitted rear window louvers from Dales Cuda Shop. nice unit.. Also am in need of the measurements for the front windshield trim clip holes. i had to replace most of the lip and am missing where the holes were. if someone could measure from the the center detent over it would be greatly appreciated Thanks
Ok, working forward and got the front valance fitted and it came out ok. Put the Hood on to see where we are and will go after fitting it as required this week.. After everything is fitted then I'll take it apart and start going after all the internal painting and sealing and the seam sealer.... Thanks again Floyd, got the front, top windshield channel drilled and the roof/pillar seam re-leaded and finished off...
Deep appreciation for you guys that step so far into these bodies.
Looking good.
Mike.
thanks Mike.... glad i'm doing this for me. I would hate to watch my bank account tank with all the labor going into this....
I know it's likely in this thread somewhere, but I'll ask again.....What colour is going on these beautiful straight panels ? :wowzers:
Hasn't come up yet here but at home its killing me.. here are the ones i'm thinking about.. what's the vote here? and to add to these the original color was B7. But since i didn't get the original motor it's getting the crate 392 SRT
Well I'm a Blue fan, have Deep Water Blue Pearl on my 70 Challenger.
I am just amazed at the effort and quality going into your build, I am not a paint & body guy. Great work!
Looking great!!!! really like your attention to detail. I am going to vote for Blue, but that orange you have there on the list looks killer.
I say do what you want, thats what I did and I have zero regrets.
Thanks All, i can do all the metal fixing part real easy as well as the primmer and first block but the finish fill prime and block i'll leave to the paint guys. i don't have a booth for this kind of painting. Also thought about Black.. Black and a Cuda just work but i don't want to be cleaning it every day.. i'm tending towards the teal or the burnt orange.
I like the burnt orange or the blue :alan2cents:
The tangerine color gets my vote.
I like the first color, metallic red (or Dodge's current Octane Red) or black. My original 1970 Cuda was black and I swore I'd never have another black car and I didn't for 45 years until I painted my current Cuda. I decided to go back to my roots and paint it black. I get tons of compliments on the paint and body work at the car shows. Since it spends most it's life under a car cover and with the advent of the "Calif Duster" it's really not that big of a deal as it was with my original "daily driver" '70 'Cuda.
i love black and it looks great on a cuda. i just hate taking care of black.. wish our 2012 SRT was that maroon color...
Just an update. things are progressing but the bodywork takes a lot of time.. The first block is done so its ready for the paint shop. Not going to paint until i can drop the motor and tranny in and pre fit it. waiting ( since Jan) for the QA1 engine mounts so i can get that done. The overhauled 46RH showed up so its now attached to the new crate motor.
Another update... QA1 engine mounts showed up so it went together and dropped the body on it over the weekend. Only two small easy to rectify clearance issues but no cutting involved.
OK all, while the cuda is at the paint shop i have been working on small parts for it. one project that came up was modifying a different alternator for the 392 crate engine. Filthy Filbert here on the forum and i conspired and created a new machined alternator pully to allow for adapting a 2006 Cherokee 5.7 / 6.1 alternator to the 392. This allows you to use a different mounting position on the 392 and not have to cut the frame rail for clearance. below are some pics of the mod and Filthy Filbert has a few more pullies that he will sell.. He had them CNC made and they came out looking real nice. you can contact/PM either one of us for making the change.
The Alternator is a 160 amp # 56044380 AC or 56044380AH REMI 12656 I got off Rock Auto for around $105
Looking good, it's nice you'll be able to change alternator in car.
With the factory set-up, I'll have to pull the motor if the alternator ever goes out.
Hopefully that never happens............
Thanks Rod, if you ever want to make the change let me know and i'll walk you thru it. not expensive at all. will pass on some pics of the cuda in painting when painter gets back from SEMA.
Quote from: SRT392 on November 02, 2023, 09:09:43 AM
OK all, while the cuda is at the paint shop i have been working on small parts for it. one project that came up was modifying a different alternator for the 392 crate engine. Filthy Filbert here on the forum and i conspired and created a new machined alternator pully to allow for adapting a 2006 Cherokee 5.7 / 6.1 alternator to the 392. This allows you to use a different mounting position on the 392 and not have to cut the frame rail for clearance. below are some pics of the mod and Filthy Filbert has a few more pullies that he will sell.. He had them CNC made and they came out looking real nice. you can contact/PM either one of us for making the change.
The Alternator is a 160 amp # 56044380 AC or 56044380AH REMI 12656 I got off Rock Auto for around $105
Nice work! I'm curious as to why you needed to machine a custom pulley? Was the one that came on the Jeep unit for a different belt?
I think a little notch in the frame sounds a whole heck of a lot easier :dunno:
Alan, a notch is easier but the goal here was to do as little permanent modifications as possible, so in the future if i find the original eng i can put it back and, it looks cleaner.. Brad, the 5.7 /6.1 alt when it mounts isn't quite as long as the one that comes with the 392 crate motor. i spent HOURS searching for a pulley from anything that stood out a little more and came up empty. came close and used one to make a prototype from but just didn't like the way it looked. So we made one that looks like something that would have come from the factory. This also allows you to use the same belt that comes with the crate motor.
Quote from: SRT392 on November 03, 2023, 07:42:58 AM
Alan, a notch is easier but the goal here was to do as little permanent modifications as possible....
Didn't you have to remove the front suspension bump stop brackets to install the QA1 front suspension ? What's a little notching after that ?
Quote from: SRT392 on November 03, 2023, 07:42:58 AM
Alan, a notch is easier but the goal here was to do as little permanent modifications as possible, so in the future if i find the original eng i can put it back and, it looks cleaner.. Brad, the 5.7 /6.1 alt when it mounts isn't quite as long as the one that comes with the 392 crate motor. i spent HOURS searching for a pulley from anything that stood out a little more and came up empty. came close and used one to make a prototype from but just didn't like the way it looked. So we made one that looks like something that would have come from the factory. This also allows you to use the same belt that comes with the crate motor.
Could you have made a couple "washers/bushings of sort" and shimmed out the bracket where it bolts to the engine to get the pulley in the correct spot fore/aft? So the Jeep pulley is a different diameter than the 392 crate engine pulley? Not criticizing just learning..... :slapme5:
Brad, So no you can't just add some shims as the 5.7 / 6.1 Alt has a fork mounting on the top. It is a very close fit and no space for shims. You would have to put it up on a mill and shave some off and then use shims to space it out on the top and then the bottom would need shims also to keep the mounting and alignment correct. Also milling off the upper rear fork would weaken that area substantially. The pulley for the jeep and 392 are the same diam so no problem there. You need to bring it out to line it up with the belt so that means a longer pulley. If you try to shim the Jeep pulley out then you lose the thread engagement for the Alt shaft and pulley thus leading you back to finding one that works with the right offset or making what you need. So the easiest way to make the change is to use a stock jeep alt that mounts to the 392 and just change the pulley. everything else remains the same including the belt.. the cost of the alternator and the new pulley is still less than the cost of a new alt that comes with the 392.
Alan, yes i did but i did it very carefully and saved the pieces so going back only requires placing the parts back in place and a quick rosette weld. Also if you don't do the coil over and just use the QA 1 K frame then you don't have to remove them.
so while waiting for paint to be completed I've been finishing assemblies. The Dash is now compete and just need to wire it all up.
How do you insert a picture from your computer? I'll put some up if I can figure it out.
IMG_1338.jpgIMG_1338.jpg
i think i got it figured out
I like the dash emblem, I'm doing something very similar on my current build. Did you make that yourself ?
Allan. I did not do these. I worked it thru with Givan MAC at alphawireedm. It was a little tough for him because of the small size and sharp corners. He finally got the process worked out and it came out great.