1970 Barracuda Reanimated.

[Marty]

Thank you, Tony!

[Marty]

Installed the sport mirrors which included replacing a bad Rivnut on the right door. The pinch weld area was prepped and painted in low gloss black then the rockers were drilled and the rocker panels installed. I painted the inside of the door handles with cast iron gray using adhesion promoter first then installed them into the doors. Drilled and installed the Pentastar.

[Marty]

 I removed the "K" frame and suspension to go through it later. Now I wanted to paint the blackout in the wheel wells.

Nothing really special in prepping the surface and masking that hasn't been covered before. I used a detail gun that would have a small pattern and lowered the air pressure to keep the overspray down and to give me a splattered-like look to mimic undercoating. I used a 2K single-stage semi-gloss paint.

I had a set of wheel well moldings sitting on the shelf for quite some time, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to install them due to fitment issues that I had read about. I guess now was the time and I wouldn't be concerned about the finished product. I gathered up some tools which included "C" clamps and plug welding vice grips. I found an old rubber squeegee that I used for wet sanding paint and cut it up into squares.

The molding had two pre-drilled holes. I centered the molding and clamped it at the top with the vice grips with the rubber pad lightly glued to the jaws on the molding side. Installed the "C" clamps\rubber insulator to the outside of the pre-drilled holes. I made sure that the molding was snugged up against the wheel well lip. Using a spring-loaded punch, I marked the pre-drilled holes, drilled a pilot hole then finished with the proper sized bit. Grabbing a trim screw, I dabbed some Anti-Seize on the threads and screwed it into the hole.

I removed the vice grips, marked the hole, only this time going through the molding flange, drilled, and installed the trim screw. I worked my way down the sides using the vice grips to hold the distorted trim in place then installed the "C" clamps as required, remove the vice grips, and drill/install. This whole time I had to put pressure on the trim up against the lip until I could get the vice grips in place. Sometimes using the palm of my hand or at times pushing lightly with the head of a rubber mallet. Using discretion.

I used 5 screws per side with one at the top. 11ea. Marked the molding with a marker at the approximate spots to drill.

There were some areas that wouldn't fit as close as I thought they should but it isn't that noticeable once you're standing away from the wheel wells. The shine from the paint and molding masks the minor gaps. The molding edge is ridged and you are not going to get it any closer than it is.

No marks, distortion, or scratches from the clamping action, and overall they look pretty good. Next time I'll check the product reviews first.

[anlauto]

Car is looking real nice 

[cudamadd]

Very nice job looks great 

[Marty]

Very nice job looks great 

Thank you!

 

[Marty]

Car is looking real nice 

Thank you too!

[usraptor]

I wish you had installed your wheel molding before I did mine.  Get idea using the clamps.  I had the same issues of not fitting very good with mine and fought it every inch.  Great job and the car looks amazing BTW. 

[usraptor]

Question: Where did you get your door molding clips from?  The ones I bought didn't fit the molding properly and I had to modify each clip to get them to fit into the molding.  Even then I wasn't happy with how they clipped to the door. I've read that this seems to be a common problem with repo clips.

[Marty]

Thank you for the compliment above.


Sometimes you have to show the stubborn part who's Boss.


I used the clips that came with the door molding. (OER? I don't recall.) I did do some minor trimming to the bottom of the clip. There was some flashing under the clip that made it sit too high off the surface so it wouldn't snap in place, so it was trimmed off with a razor blade. Other than that no other trimming was needed to get them to fit "into" the molding. I figured I would have a fight on my hands, but the molding snapped right in place and stayed. Surprise me that's for sure.

[Marty]

The back seat is finished.

[usraptor]

Thank you and BTW the back seat looks amazing.   

[Marty]

Tackling the "K" member and suspension was a breeze. I had it apart in no time. The prior owner just had everything in place and the hardware just snugged so everything came apart very easily. No grease or grime to mess with either.

Once the "K" member was free from the suspension, I used a chemical stripper to remove the paint. I used Citrus Strip. No media blasting was available at the time. I stopped using Kleen Strip since they removed the Methylene Chloride. That stripper just lays there and does nothing. Waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned. I also use the stripper that is in the home improvement aisle. They haven't ruined that stuff yet.

I removed three coats of paint, Factory, LimeLight, and spray can black. It appears as I went further in the re-finishing of the suspension, everything was sprayed in green at one time.

The paint was removed and the stripper deactivated. I dried the metal and removed the stubborn paint with a 3M Roloc Bristle Disc (green) and hand-sanded it in the tight areas. Cleaned the "K" member once again then sprayed on a couple of coats of epoxy black primer then finished it with low gloss black activated single stage.

I used this on the lower ball joints. https://harborfreight.com/3-4-quarter-inch-forged-ball-joint-separator-99849.html

[Dakota]

Nice work!  That stuff looks great. 

[Marty]