1970 Barracuda Reanimated.

[Marty]

Crawled back under the 1970 Barracuda to install torque boxes. The box was trimmed and prepped for fitting then welded into place. Touched up the welds and sprayed on some epoxy primer using a Preval bottle. Finished it off with low gloss single-stage black.

The 1971'Cuda engine compartment was prepped and refinished. The finish in the engine bay was in excellent condition so I used a red Scotch-Brite pad for the prepping. But first I wiped the area down with Prep-All to make sure oils and other contaminants were removed.
 Just before sealing I applied two coats of adhesion promoter to ensure that all the hard-to-reach areas were able to hold the paint. Spraying on "two coats" of adhesion promoter is important to hold the paint. Once flashed, a coat of epoxy sealer was applied. Two coats of Tawny Brown Metallic were applied then two drop coats finished off the base coat. Clear as required.

*It's important to note. Whenever I spray metallics/polys, I always use slow or very slow quality reducers. Never fast or medium. When spraying silvers, I use"very slow" reducer only. Then I finish with a drop coat. This way I reduce mottling and striping. The slow base stays wet longer so the metallics can flow, mingle then settle properly together. Slow reducers also dry more thoroughly since they stay open to the airflow longer. Good gun control helps too.

I also started wet sanding the body using 1000,1500,2000,3000,4000. I used 3000 and 4000 foam discs/wet on the D.A to finish up the color sanding.

[Marty]

Dug out the heater box and did a quick inspection. Very minor damage but overall nice shape. Disassembled it and did some heavy cleaning using #0000 steel wool and lacquer thinner. The only spot that needed attention was a hole the size of an eraser that needed some attention. I placed a piece of tape on the outside of the box and packed the hole from the back with some panel adhesive. Removed the tape. The repair was smooth and did not need any further attention.  Prepped and painted all the metal items. Sprayed on two coats of adhesion promoter, letting it flash in between coats. Three coats of low gloss clear coat. 6-1 mix. Reassembled after curing using the heater box rebuild kit.

E-Brake. Media-blasted the brake assembly. Applied one coat of epoxy primer then refinished the assembly. The release handle was missing the bushing. I found some bushings at the local parts store. I picked the one the handle fit then filed the outer side till it press-to fit into the flange. I did apply some glue to make sure it stayed in place. Dorman PN 14041.

Finished wet sanding the 1971 'Cuda and the buffing begins. Finished up the front fenders.

[Marty]

Pulling more parts off the firewall. The pedal assembly was media blasted and epoxy primed. Once dry the pedals were painted in gloss black. The epoxy I use is Autobahn Epoxy. The Autobahn brand is an older PPG formula. Tough as nails. Once it's mixed you'd better be ready to use it. It dried fast and hard. 1 to 1 mix. Add up to 25% reducer as required. I used medium temp.

Then came the Air vent. I used a citrus base stripper to remove the first Limelight repaint. Then a heavy cleaning.

The defroster vent just needed a good cleaning along with the gas pedal.

As far as the 1971 'Cuda, all the buffing was completed and the rockers were blacked out. I need to give the body a good bath to remove the sanding sludge then I'll start on the hood.

This week I was asked to do some work on a 1970 Challenger T/A. The owner needed some carb work and I was asked to freshen up the interior hard parts. Once the parts were removed I took the kick panel to a friend of mine who owns a collision shop. He matched/tinted the color in basecoat. The parts were scrubbed with a red Scotch-Brite pad and Sem Soap. Once dry, two wet coats were applied. One coat of clear coat mixed with a flattener. I tried eggshell but it was a bit still too glossy so I went with flat using a medium temp hardener. 4-1-1.5 mix. Medium temp hardener.

[dodj]

You is a busy boy. Nice looking work.

[Marty]

Thank you.

Too busy actually. I'm only posting a (E-Body) portion of my week.

[Marty]

Moving to the rear of the interior, I wanted to finish up the headliner by installing the sail panels. I suppose I should have waited to install the back window since I would have had more room to work in. So, I pulled the glass. (No big deal.)

I placed the sail panel up against the spikes to mark the hole for the coat hanger. I did this by painting the screw head that was in the frame and pressed the sail panel against it. That marked the cardboard so I could drill it.

I tried to use a metal clip to hold the sail panel at the center onto the frame but it just wouldn't go. It got to the point where the clip was distorting the cardboard. So, I grabbed some velcro and stuck it on the hole where the clip went into and to the center of the sail panel. While I was at it, I wrapped the lower spikes with velcro and the bottom of the sail panel too. I installed the coat hook/screw to line up the sail panel and pressed it to the pillar. The velcro worked great to hold the curve at the bottom of the sail panel. Glued the front and the rear of the sail panel to the spikes/pinch weld and used wind lace to hold the panel cloth till the contact cement dried.

Installed the rear window molding, dome light, backglass, harness retainers, and interior side molding.


Finished repainting the rest of the interior parts for the Challenger T/A.



Finished the buffing on the Hemi 'Cuda and installed the hood, header panel, and Gull Wing. Drilling the holes for the wing is outlined earlier in this thread.

[dodj]

I like it. It's like viewing three restoration threads at the same time.

[Marty]

Pulled out the machined 440 block to start the assembly.

The valve covers for the HEMI and the 440 for media blasting.

Not one of the things I like doing is the wiring, but I figured I'd start in the trunk to get into the swing of things. American Auto Wire is the kit I used. I also used the wire crimpers they suggest. They worked great. I used zip ties to keep the wires organized in a bundle so I could run the harness from the inside of the car to the trunk. With the wiring diagram close by, I used masking tape to hold the connections together and get an idea where to cut. Once the harness was trimmed and connections made, the zip ties and masking tape were removed. I used friction tape every few inches to keep the wires together then covered the harness with braded sleeving then secured the harness.

Installed the gas tank vents, trunk mat, bumper jack assembly, trunk lock/rod shield, and the space saver spare.

1970 Challenger T/A.

Finished up the interior. The painted parts matched up nicely. Next, I had to replace the left fender stripe and engine callouts. They were scratched. Before anything I marked the positions with masking tape, then removed the vinyl decal. The areas were wiped down with a surface cleaner then tack ragged. I even tack rag the decals before the backing paper is removed. I laid down a piece of painters masking paper to keep everything clean. I applied the Phoenix Graphics Slide On gel to the back of the stripe and to the surface. I got the decal in place and used a spreader to remove the gel out from under the decal going from the center out using short overlapping strokes.

I let the decal dry over night before I pull the paper. That ensures the decal does not move when pulling the paper. I've used soapy water before when applying these decals, but I prefer the gel. Much easier to work with. It does not evaporate quickly like soapy water does and the gel stays in place unlike water, which is an advantage since you don't want to get the front of the protective paper wet. You have a much longer working time.

1971 'Cuda.

A bit more intimidating. I needed to apply HEMI billboards to the 1971 Cuda. It's the same procedure as the Challenger stripe except for an added step. I did a dry run on where I needed to put the stripe. Once it was taped in place, I marked the top with a length of masking tape, then made a small mark on the tape onto to the decal. This will help me line up the decal quickly. From there I continued to apply the stripe like the Challenger. The quarter stripes first. Once the paper was removed, I applied the door stripe, which was lined up to the quarter. I did make a relief cut on the quarter stripe at the lower corner of the marker light so that the vinyl would lay flat.

The marker lights were prepped and sprayed with low gloss black.

[Marty]

Continued...