Brad's second '70 'Cuda and first and last restoration project

[Challenger in NC]

Boy that looks nice.

[Brads70]

Wow,    look at that shine! Black SURE looks good when the body work is done right! 

[usraptor]

It look like the painter got good flow on the clear coat!!! do you know what brand of products they used?   

The receipt says Glamour Clear 9461.  It was $197 a gallon and they used two gallons.  They told me the brand but I forgot.  Hope that helps. 

[usraptor]

Thanks everybody for the kind words.  I'm very pleased with the results.  The cost, not so much.  Ron, my best friend, is the person who did the body work and did his usual outstanding job as seen by the lack of waves, etc. in the black.  The shop owner laid down the paint and clear coat.  Ron's going to come over in a week and cut it with 1500 and let it sit for a week to cure/shrink and then come back in another week to finish the cut and buff.  Based on his past "cut and buff' jobs for me, it will look like a mirror when done. 

[usraptor]

I know these are out of sequence, but Ron, my body man, just emailed me over 100 pics of the 'Cuda during body work and paint at the shop.  Here's some of the highlights.

[usraptor]

Some more pics

[Cuda Cody]

Looking good!!!!   

[usraptor]

Slowly but surely I've been getting back at the 'Cuda.  Installed the front header panel and valance.  With the help of Alan and Cody got the passenger door window installed. Re-installed my radiator after the small leak was fixed.  Installed a new bracket at the rear valley pan to hold the electronic ignition ECU.  Installed my new Lokar accelerator pedal cable and accelerator pedal linkage bracket.  Installed new door handles on both doors.  Installed new door molding on the driver's door.  Sanded and polished the passenger door frame channel modeling and glued a new gasket material to it.  Installed my new TTI 3" "X" pipe exhaust system and Dynomax Ultra flow mufflers back to the mufflers.  I'm waiting for new exhaust hanger trunk plates so I can install the over axle pipes. 

Issues:  Despite carefully tightening up the inlets to the carb, the front fitting still leaks.  I'm afraid to tighten it any further as I'm don't want to strip the threads in the carb.  I'll call Quick Fuel on Monday and see what suggestions they have as both the carb and inlet lines are Quick Fuel.

After firing and running the engine (break in was already done) and then lifting the car up on the lift, I discovered I have a significant oil leak coming from the rear of my oil pan gasket.  This is the re-useable, no gasket cement needed pan gasket that a member here  recommended.  The oil pan  is brand new so there should be no issues with it being true.  I really don't want to pull the engine again to fix this.  I already tightened the re-tightened the bolts once when I noticed a small leak after adding oil to the engine.  Cody, any suggestions? 

[usraptor]

Question, does E-Bodies not allow the posting of videos.  I tried to post a short video of the engine running but got a message that videos were not allowed.  If so, why not?  Just curious.

[Cuda Cody]

Post videos in the Gallery and then you can embed or link them in a post.  The Forum software does not let direct uploads of videos.

https://forum.e-bodies.org/gallery/

Question, does E-Bodies not allow the posting of videos.  I tried to post a short video of the engine running but got a message that videos were not allowed.  If so, why not?  Just curious.

[Cuda Cody]

That sucks about the oil leak.  Certainly does not look like the pan and gasket fit very well so pretty sure you are right on about the leak and what is causing it.  Most of my pans have been original, but I've used a few repops and they've all fit well.  So now we need to find out if it's the gasket or pan that is not matching up.  It's got to be one of these that doesn't fit right.

A couple thoughts that come to mind right away as a fix.  You can pull the pan and put a normal gasket with sealant or maybe you might be able to loosen the pan far enough out of the way to add sealant to the gasket you have now.  I've not ever seen that done, but it might work and save the hassle of having to swap pans or gaskets.     I'll give it some more thought too.

[usraptor]

After I discovered this morning what an idiot I am for not connecting the ground wire for my blower motor before installing the heater box and dash, I took a break and ran some errands before coming back to the 'Cuda.  Considering it was pushing 90 in the shop and almost 100 outside I decided to just do some things that didn't require a lot of physical exertion. First I  installed the passenger door weatherstripping.  The rear exhaust hanger trunk plates came in the mail so I applied a couple of coats of Rustoleum primer and then some Rustoleum paint.  Then in anticipation of the replacement driver's window parts I ordered arriving, I decided it would be a good idea to start tackling the driver's side rain gutter and weatherstrip channeling.  So I spent several hours sanding and re-sanding all the scratches out of the rain gutter witn increasingly finer grades of sandpaper.  The first picture is the "before" and the second picture is the "after" picture after the final sanding with 3000 grit.  They still haven't been bluffed yet.  That's for tomorrow and then I can start and repeat the whole process on the weatherstripping channeling.

[Spikedog08]

Well that is looking really good!  Gonna be beautiful!   

[usraptor]

Thanks Spikedog. Today I finished up the exhaust system after installing the new trunk plate exhaust hangers.  Got a call from the body shop that my rear valance and shaker hood ring have been painted.  Once I get the rear valance installed and the car running, I'll have to take it down to the muffler shop and have them modify the NOS exhaust tips the car came with so they can connect to the 3" exhaust.  Also, dropped the oil pan, cleaned the pan, block and gasket thoroughly and then resealed with RTV gasket maker.  Letting it set for the recommended 24 hours before re-filling the oil and testing for leaks.  In fact, I may wait even longer than the 24 hours.  There's no hurry at this point.

[Cuda Cody]

Little by little you are building a wonderful car!!!