70 440-six pack project

[Hotiron]

As a new member I am trying to get my project in front of people that know and care about how to proceed.  Thanks for the help

[Swamp Donkey]

Welcome.  I'm new to the site and also at the very beginning stages of building my car.  Like saving money and planning my next move like you are doing.  Good luck.

[Cuda Cody]

@Hotiron  looks like a nice project.     Tell us a bit more about what you have done and what your thoughts are for it.  I see you have it on a rotisserie...  will you be doing any rust repair?  Your rotisserie should have square tubes that connect the two ends so it doesn't put as much stress on the panels if you plan to do some small rust replacement.  I normally do all my metal work on a dolly.  The rotisserie is still the best for getting access to the bottom and works well for painting the underside.

[Hotiron]

Good insight.  I have it on a square tube attachment at both ends you just can't see it in the pic.  I am going to attack the undercoat first and then move to identifying the rust spots.  There is a company in the area with a good rep for media blasting and not hurting the metal.  I have a long way to go

[ToxicWolf]

Looks like a great project. 

And there is only one way to get to the bottom .... at least the easy way

My 70 Challenger is almost finished now, but it started pretty much like yours. 

[Hotiron]

Did you have trouble removing the undercoating?  Once you got the undercoating off did you media blast, dip or sand the paint? 

[Hotiron]

You are correct and have done great work. Did you use media blast, dipping, or sanding to get the paint off.  I have some rust to chase but the body is pretty sound.  This car has some great options so it will really take some searching for the parts. 

[Hotiron]

The car does not have a lot of rust.  I see some info that replacing the qtr panels with new is a good way to go.  It would keep the body work down on the surface.  I will make the decision when I get down to the rust or lack of.  I pulled the rear seat out hoping to find a build sheet.  I only found a metal tag wired to the seat. Very interesting not sure if it is of any value to my project.

[Hotiron]

Lines on the side are not bad for the option of a daily driver.  The top is coming apart as the bondo seems to be flaking off.  This may need a new splice of sheet metal if the rust is causing problems. I have the original front grille but have not decided if it would be worth restoring.  If some of you have been through the grille work and have an opinion let me know. 

[Cuda Cody]

That's a VERY nicely optioned Cuda!   

[E74cuda]

The car does not have a lot of rust.  I see some info that replacing the qtr panels with new is a good way to go.  It would keep the body work down on the surface.  I will make the decision when I get down to the rust or lack of.

If the sheet metal is original to the car and needing a small amount of rust repair (such as lower quarters) do not replace. Have the areas repaired to retain the original metal. There's plenty of cars with after market sheet metal out there and if just about anyone is given the choice between a car with replacement quarters or sheet metal vs original they would choose the original by far.

[ToxicWolf]

Rather than replace the whole quarter, we bought new metal, cut out the rust on the lower part of the original quarters and welded in some new metal. I was very happy with the results doing it this way. 

[RUNCHARGER]

That's why you'll have to carefully strip the paint off. This car had sections welded in before the full quarters were available and it always bugged me. Nothing worse than getting a bubble in your 1 or 2 year old paint. When I bought this car it had new paint, I started stripping it and it had brass in it and lots of dirty metal. Way more work than what I had planned on. Instead of driving it the year I bought it, I had to put in two years of grunt work repairing ills.

[Spikedog08]

That's an awesome car!   Very cool!  When I restored my 70, I had it media blasted.  Then you know exactly what you are working with! 

[Hotiron]

Sheldon, how for did you actually take it.  Did you do a full paint of or just address the places needed?  The body has just enough going for it that the body is straight and has places that are needed to be fixed.  If I take it to the metal I will be in that place where the body work will have to be done again.  This car deserves a bare metal restore for sure.  I would like to be driving it a lot sooner.  You have a great point.