St. Louis Blues Cuda

[Filthy Filbert]

After asking around my local buddies to locate an enclosed trailer to borrow or even to rent, The thought of renting a truck did cross my mind.   

[dodj]

Hope the move went well.

[larry4406]

Any chance you have photo's showing how your dolly attaches at the rear?

[headejm]

I'm guessing he used the 4 bolt holes that mount the rear bumper brackets. That's what I would do.

[Filthy Filbert]

Well the car got there in one piece.   The drive however was not exactly enjoyable.  not knowing the area, I followed GPS which had me mostly on state routes through northern Georgia. 

Seemed legit. 

I left after work Thursday and expected to bed down in Helen GA around midnight. 

At 1:45am, behind schedule due to construction traffic,  I'm entering the national forest with a Native American name that I can't pronounce and there's a road with a sign that says 'warning. Steep grades and sharp turns. Trucks use alternate route'

Well.  In the middle of nowhere, there's no cell signal so there isn't an option to seek an alternate route and since I'm not a commercial truck with a 53' trailer, I should be ok... right?

Well the road went up hill steeply for probably 8 miles with turns so sharp I couldn't ever get more than 25 mph.   So, very little air flow over the radiator and the torque converter never got into lock up.   I had to stop twice on the climb and just sit there because the truck overheated.  Both engine AND transmission.

Peak the hill finally at around 2:45 am.  Then I had 8 miles of steep downhill.  Great!  The engine and trans can finally cool off!

But I don't have an engine brake.  So... next up it was the brakes opportunity to overheat!   Had to stop mid way down to let them cool off because I started to feel brake fade. 

The whole time I'm within 10 miles of the hotel.    Finally got in and got to bed by 3:30 am

Took a nap and got to the installation center around 10 am.  Got unloaded, created our work order, and away I went. Took an alternate route more to the east instead of going straight to I-75 directly.


To answer the question on dolly attachment points, yes front and rear are using the bumper mount holes.    I need to change the dolly wheels though.   Kinda thought that 300 lb capacity per wheel was enough for the empty shell but I blew 1 tire out while loading and 1 tire out while unloading.   —I'll be getting solid wheels instead of pneumatics. 

[Filthy Filbert]

Well, after waiting for my turn, I finally got a picture!

There was one or two cars ahead of me when I dropped mine off, so I had to wait a bit.   Yesterday I got a picture, my car is back from blast and primer after going through cut.   they remove all the panels that are known to be getting replaced and to allow access to the rest of the structure.  Then they media blast what's left.   ...which at this point, isn't much!

[anlauto]

AT this point, do they stick to their quote, or up the price because of hidden issues now revealed ?

[Cudajason]

WOW!

[Filthy Filbert]

AT this point, do they stick to their quote, or up the price because of hidden issues now revealed ?

They re-assess what's left as things that looked solid before blast, come back and suddenly look like swiss cheese.   I actually need to call them back as they left me a voice mail this afternoon.

That said, They're suggesting replacing a rocker panel due to a 'large dent'   Feels weird to me to replace an entire panel due to a dent, but seems like a stud welder and a couple of minutes would have it pulled out enough to skim coat with filler, but...I'm no body man (obviously)

What say you guys?  would you replace a rust free panel due to a dent?   (I need to look back at the estimate to see what the cost of the panel and labor is to replace the rocker)

[Filthy Filbert]

Here's the pic they provided...

[anlauto]

I think that's excessive, these guys are metal work guys, not body men....

[Filthy Filbert]

I spoke with them today.   They just wanted me to know about the dents, and were offering to replace the rocker so that I had minimal body work to do later, and to make sure I was not upset when I pick up the car after they say they are done.  I'm sure they have customers who expect everything to be as perfect and straight as possible with minimal body work required.   I however, don't mind a little bit of body work to save original panels that don't have any rust.   

After further discussion, they will repair some frame rails where previous work has been done; just to clean it up a bit in appearance; instead of full frame rail replacement.   Again, they suggested a full frame rail replacement to be sure I was happy with the quality of the finished product.    I'm A-OK with structurally sound patch work that may not look 100% factory original since this won't ever be a numbers matching factory perfect restoration.     I'm going Gen 3 Hemi, 5-spd manual, big ole' brembo brakes and I plan to drive the piss out of it when it's finished.

In the end, the after blast assessment--My total cost has come down from original work order, which was lower than original rough estimate.

[anlauto]

In the end, the after blast assessment--My total cost has come down from original work order, which was lower than original rough estimate.

Wow, that's great to hear...not too common

[YellowThumper]

Cool story.
Same life, kid, overworked, quit, multiple house moves, etc...
The project cars will wait as long as necessary.
You are solidly on your way now though.

Owned mine since 83. Still not done.
Sold and still miss my R/T....

[Filthy Filbert]

Edit: posting works now it seems.