Pro Touring 68 Dart convertible

[anlauto]

If you have all the pits out now, why not send them out to be chrome plated ? Should be cheaper if you've done all the prep work 

[Burdar]

The chrome job was going to cost $660 because of the pitting. How much if you supply the pieces with the pits taken care of by yourself?

They said probably half the cost.  They said each pit would have to be drilled out and filled.   That's why the high price.  I sanded out 1 piece.  There is a big pit on the other one that I'm not sure how deep it is.  That piece has the pitting on the inside.  Even if I send them back to be chromed, it would take 10 weeks to get them back.  I'm really waiting on those parts to be able to get the glass in the doors.  Once the glass is in, I can undercoat the wheel wells.  That's the major thing I need to get done before the real assembly can happen.

I wonder if clear powder coating can be applied to polished aluminum and turn out nice?  Maybe that's something to look into.  I'd love to have them chromed but I just don't want to wait the 10 weeks.

[anlauto]

  Once the glass is in, I can undercoat the wheel wells. 

 

[blown motor]

I've seen pieces with chrome powder coating and I was not impressed. I would stay away from that option.

[RUNCHARGER]

Try clearcoating them, and look for better ones for the future just in case it doesn't last.

[7212Mopar]

Clear coating after polish to shine like factory done to aluminum wheels last a long time. But the look will not be like chrome plating.

[dodj]

I'd love to have them chromed but I just don't want to wait the 10 weeks.

Wel then...polish them up, and apply a coating of what you think will work best. Worst case, after a cruizin' season, if you are not happy with the finish..ship them off for plating over the winter.

[Burdar]

The inner splash sheilds need to be in place before I can undercoat the wheel wells.  Access to the door hinge bolts are through the wheel well with the splash sheilds off.  Once the sheilds are on and undercoated, the attaching fasteners will be buried in undercoating and it will make adjusting the doors difficult.  If the doors need adjusting with the extra weight of the glass, I want to do that before the splash sheilds are installed.

[Burdar]

I've seen pieces with chrome powder coating and I was not impressed. I would stay away from that option.

I'm not considering chrome powder coat.  It doesn't look good.  I was thinking about semi-gloss black.  They would blend in to the rubber gasket around the vent windows.

[dodj]

I've seen pieces with chrome powder coating and I was not impressed. I would stay away from that option.

I'm not considering chrome powder coat.  It doesn't look good.  I was thinking about semi-gloss black.

The black would look good, but it depends on what you are doing with the rest of the '68's shiny bits

[Burdar]

The pieces are at the powder coater.  They looked good polished but the aluminum is such a poor grade that it wouldn't have lasted long.  Just wiping a finger print off of the surface put minute scratches in the finish.  It's getting coated semi-gloss black.  It will blend in to the rubber gasket.  I can always keep an eye out for replacements or get some chromed when I win the lottery. 

[YellowThumper]

  Looks like you did an amazing job there.
While I can't suggest a product, there must be something out there, even if you have to re-apply occasionally, that would protect the finish. That's the route I would take.
Curious though. The chrome job was going to cost $660 because of the pitting. How much if you supply the pieces with the pits taken care of by yourself?

I personally cannot really see differences in the pics.

Go get your glasses...lol 

Have glasses. Time for bigger phone.
My age seems to be out outpacing the improving technology.
Yes LOL...

[HP_Cuda]

Looking good!

Instead of clear coating which may leave a film result on top, maybe this is a good route:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2lAjoMMCK4

[anlauto]

@Burdar Darren, any updates on your Dart project ? Been reading your traffic light thread....saw it in the background...what's the latest scoop ?

[Burdar]

No progress.  I've been doing other things the entire summer.

It started when the wife wanted to have a garage sale and I had to push it into the corner.  I was going to send the wiper motor out to Stephen but he retired so I sent it to another person I've heard a lot of good things about.  That was in March and I still don't have it back.  It was supposed to take 8-10 weeks but he has made every excuse in the book.  He got covid so he was down for 2 weeks.  Then he assured me that my parts were all plated and waiting to be assembled.  Then "yours is the next in line to be assembled.  I'm assembling it tomorrow." Then he claims he wasn't happy with the plating and had to have them redone.  I seriously doubt I'm getting it back. No, I'm not posting who it is until I'm sure it's gone for good.


We've wanted to move for quite awhile, but with housing prices and lumber prices, we are going to have to stay put for the time being.  I've kind of neglected some things at the house so it was time to work on fixing up the place.  Starting in May, I tore the old deck off.  It was starting to rot and wouldn't accept stain.(it would start flaking off shortly after applying it)


The deck was two tiered and we rarely ever used the lower section.  With the cost of composite we decided to do away with the lower deck and just replace the upper.  I want to build a garage addition so this would give us more lawn space that we would be loosing with the garage.  After removing thousands of rusty deck screws, my back and knees will never be the same.  The new upper deck is slightly smaller then the old one but it looks way better.  We still spent over 6k on the upper section.  I'm sure it would have been close to 10k if we had kept the lower as well.  I also built some rustic looking shutters for the back windows.  They just looked bare without anything on them.  They look a lot nicer now.  Landscaping in the back will have to wait until next year.  I'm burned out.










The front got a mini makeover.  I powerwashed the siding and gutters.  The white shows alot of dirt and mold.  I also painted the front door a reddish orange.  I like how it pops against the blue shutters and blue shingles. 


I also built a little faux rustic fence out of old deck material and bought some old implement wheels to use as landscaping.  I think it turned out cool.  There was a bare spot between the front bushes and the driveway so this filled the space.  I'll probably plant some flowers in that area in the spring as well.


Finally, I just got done with a little shed makeover.


I power washed the siding on it as well.  Then I took the doors off and gave them a couple coats of white/blue paint.(I finished painting the upper gable trim blue this past weekend...the picture shows them unpainted still)  The side was bare looking so I made a fake window and shutters to make it look a little more interesting.  I think it needs a flower box below the fake window though.  That might be a project for next spring.  I had two solar post lights left over from the deck so I sunk two posts in the ground next to the shed and put those lights on top.