Sean’s Mopar Blog

I was wondering what I was going to do about the rust inside the frame rails. Well, Eastwood had the answer. I got my can of Internal Frame Coating. It comes with a long tube with a difuser on the end to ensure the whole area inside the frame rails gets a good coat. It’s supposed to make the rust inert and then put a protective coating on it. Will let you all know how well it works in 20 years!!! I figure I’ll also put it in the rockers and in the hard to reach areas on top of the firewall and under the cowl. I’ll give it a try in the next couple days.

Got a little time today to abate some more rust. I worked on the inside of both the driver’s & passenger’s fender walls (engine bay facing sides) and upper & lower radiator support. Next I’ll tackle the outer facing side of the passenger’s fender wall and then the firewall.

I spent a little time cleaning up the rust on the outward facing side of the drivers front inner wheel well, Cowl hinge panel and the area around the driver’s side door opening. Used a scotchbrite drill disk and some sandpaper. Then followed it up with a little epoxy primer brushed on.

Got the Cuda back to the house and in the garage last night. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, it stayed out in the rain over the weekend while I was in Chicago. Not problem right, it was already covered in epoxy primer. Well, come to find out, I got it a little thin in a few spots and some of the rust came back. Should be easy to clean up with a scotchbrite pad and then cover it with a little more epoxy primer. Small set back but not a tremendous one.

Wow, two updates in one day! That’s record for this blog…sigh! Anyways, Jim called me as I was about to sit down for dinner to let me know he was getting ready to spray the car with the epoxy primer I had bought earlier in the day. So I woof down my BLT and head on over. He’s got the underside just about done. He finished up the underside just as his wife came up with his dinner. Great timing! He hands over the sprayer and then it’s my turn!!! I finished up what I could with the car on its passenger side and then flip it over to the driver’s side. I sprayed some more, mostly in the interior. Then we level it out and I sprayed all remaining areas.

Man, spraying the floor and other interior areas was so easy on the rotisserie!!! I couldn’t imagine painting a car without one.

That’s Jim spraying the bottom when I showed up. Hind sight being 20/20, I should have had him take a few pics of me paining…DOH!!!

Major milestone achieved!!! This morning I got up really early and Jim came over with his trailer. We loaded the Cuda up on his trailer and hauled it over to his place. Once there, we unloaded it and put it up on the rotisserie. We didn’t have any problems getting it up and she spins just fine.

Once up, the sandblaster came over and got to work. It took him 2 ¼ hours to blast the shell, a door (didn’t get the other one broken down in time), and the rear valence. He didn’t do the roof as the media he was using was very aggressive and he didn’t want to risk warping it. He did a really good job and it cost $300.

I knew I was going to have to replace the driver side, rear passenger foot well and the driver side floor pan was questionable. It looks like driver side floor pan is salvageable. However, the sandblasting revealed some rot that I wasn’t aware of – which I was expecting but hoping I wouldn’t have. The passenger side, rear passenger foot well is going to need to be replaced and found a bunch of rot on the firewall just below the cowl.

Today was a busy day. First thing I went to St. Louis to get more metal for the rotisserie. Picked up the piece that joins them in the middle and a few smaller pieces to fab up a special bracket for mounting the rear of my car to the rotisserie.

Then I went into the garage and finished stripping off anything that could possibly unscrew - transmission mount, fender bolts, roof seatbelt holders, door catches, fuel lines, brake lines, and a few other small things.

Then I took the metal over to Jim’s house and picked up the pieces of the rotissereie that will mount to the front frame rail. Brought it home to drill holes into. After I was done drilling the holes, I got a call from the sand blaster. We are confirmed for Thursday morning! Tomorrow we are going to take the Cuda over to Jim’s.

Today I finished the last of the prep work for the rotisserie. Drilled a couple more holes and cut out the areas for where the rotating sleeves go. Then gave my buddy Jim a call to see if he was busy. He wasn’t so I loaded up the metal and hauled it over to his house. With plans in hand, he tacked it all together. From there, he gave me a quick tutorial on how to MIG weld and I was laying beads in no time. Not pretty at first, but I caught on pretty quick. It’s defi9nately a finese kind of thing. It too about 3 hours to get it all welded up.

Tomorrow, I’m going to call a portable sandblaster guy and have him come out next week to sandblast the car. I’m going to take the car over to Jim’s and have the sandb;asting done there. That way, he can spray it with epoxy primer while the metal is fresh. Jim also has a car that he wants done - a ‘29 five window Chevy. In the meantiime, I’m going to do the rest of the prep work on the car which consists of taking a few more pieces off the care (instection covers, a fuel line and some other small bits).

My brother Brad came down from Chicago last night and today I put him to work! We laid out and marked all the pieces, cut the 45 degree cuts on the main support braces, and drilled the holes in the steel for the rotisserie. Now everything is ready to take over to Jim’s to get welded together!!!

Sean

Yesterday I got the metal from the supplier for the rotisserie. the total came to $441..ouch! But that’s better than the $1000+ you can plan to spend for a pre-fabbed one.

So today, I rigged up the table saw with a sanding disc and beveled all the edges of the stock I bought. This will give a greater surface for the weld to grab onto. Plus it cleans up the edges so the posibility of getting cut on an edge lessens. Next step is to layout and mark all the pieces before I bring it over to Jim’s to weld it all together.

About 3 weeks ago I won a set of front & rear swaybars off eBay. After the post office returned them because they didn’t think my address was valid, they arrived today! One of the mounting brackets for the rear sway bar is jacked up but can be replaced. A hundred bucks for a set of sway bars isn’t too bad!

Yesterday I dropped off the cut sheet at Shapiro Metals in St. Louis for them to cut and provide me the metal for the rotisserie I’m going to weld together. They should call in the next day or two when they are done.

Oh by the way, I’m Back from Iraq!!!!

For those that may be following the rebuild, you’re probably thinking WTF? No progress in months! Well, I’ve been in Iraq since October and will be home in a few months. Until then, take care!

Sean

Today, I worked on cleaning up a few loose ends needed attention before I can start media blasting. First thing to get some ‘love’ was removing the body sealer on the driver’s and passenger’s side rear internals walls. Second to get worked on was the driver’s side door sill. I cleaned up some of the Bondo that was out there when the quarter skin was placed and smoothed out the metal from where the skin was welded. Lastly, I cleaned up the remaining trunk metal off the trunk braces.

Over the Labor Day weekend, my Dad and step-mom came down for a visit. Amung spending time with the family, my Dad helped me put a tent around the back half of the car. The purpose of the tent to contain the dust as I blast the car and to keep media contained as well so it would be easier to collect for reuse.

Yes, today is my Birthday! I finished taking out the welded in bracket for the after market trailer hitch. I also cleaned up the remnants from where the trunkpan was spot welded to the framerails and crossrail. Coming out too was the trunk lid hinges and the cross rail extensions.

Yesterday I went to work cutting off what appear to be two flanges for an aftermarket bolt on trailer hitch. Using a 3” cutting wheel, I went to work. Got the passenger’s side one off with very little damage to the frame rail. I got most of the driver’s side one off before my neighbor came over needing help with a exterior faucet on his house.

Last weekend, I was at the 29th Annual Mopar Nationals in Columbus, OH. My son and I met up with some friends from the Central Kentucky Mopars car club from Elizabethtown, KY. We had a great time watching the drag races, looking at gorgeous Mopars, and walking through the swap meet. I picked up torque boxes, torsion bar strengthening plates, a remote driver’s side mirror, and a jack hold down bracket. I also picked up a 1/18 scale diecast Dodge Challenger T/A.

Yesterday, I got a call saying my quarters and trunk gutters were in so I went and picked them up.

Today I ordered the jack hold down loop and that should be arriving in a few days.

Back on the 22nd of Jun, I won an eBay auction for a used AAR rear valance. It took the guy a while to get it to me. Not the best seller in the world, but he did get it to me.

Also, on the 10th of July, I bought some more sheet metal. Here’s what I got: Left Quarter Panel, Right Quarter Panel, Rear Valance Brackets, Spare Tire Bracket, and Trunk Gutters. The total came to 1,214.94…OUCH! On Saturday, I finished up the shipping arrangements. Why so long to get the shipping sewn up? I was at Ft. Dix, NJ for some training. Now I’m back and should have the new metal soon!!!

Here’s a pic of the rear valance panel…Sean

Eventhough I’m a day late, I hope everyone have a great Independance Day! With everything going on over the weekend, I was able to squeeze in a few hours with the Cuda today. I got the rest of the passenger’s side quarter removed as well as the trunk driprail.

Cheers!
Sean

First off, Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there! Unfortunately, my family is out of town but I did receive a gift from them - a trunk lock support!!!

This weekend I was able to get the rest of the quarter panel out on the driver’s side with the help of the guys over at www.cuda-challenger.com. The trunk gutter was pretty eaten up so that came out too. Then it was on to the passenger’s side. I used the air chisel to remove the majority of the sheetmental and then started drilling out the spot welds on the trunk gutter and the dutchman panel. I got the remaining quarter panel along the trink gutter, dutchman panel and window opening cut out.

Lots of cutting done today. Most of the driver’s side quarter panel is cut out. Bad news is I may have to replace the outer wheel housing. I knew there was a good chance of this as it’s common to get water trapped between the wheel housing and the quarter panel in the area just above the wheel well opeining.

Yes! After a couple more hours heating and scraping, the undercoating is gone. Well, just about. Today, I was able to get the passenger’s side wheel well and the frame rails on both sides scraped. There’s still a trace left on there. I’m hoping to find some sort of ‘remover’ to spray or brush on it to get it gone. Until next time…

Whoo-hoo! Back on track. Spent some time removing the undercoating from the driver’s side wheel well. The undercoating is a devil in disguise - I’m glad it’s there to protect the metal underneath, but it’s a pain to remove. I’m using a propane torch to soften it and then using a wooden paint stir stick to scrape it off. So far, so good!

The area where the outter wheel well attaches to the trunk pan and trunk extensions is pretty chewed up. I’m gonna see if a new peice of metal can be put in there rather than replacing the outter well.

It’s not exciting news but I picked up both left and right trunk extensions made by Goodmark. Picked them up from Radical Rods Inc. in Columbia, IL.

Hello Everyone! Man, I feel like I’ve been running like a chicken with its head cut off. I took time off of work last week (Apr 6-10) to build a room in the basement for my son. I was hoping I was going to be able to knock the room out in a few days and have the remaining time to spend on my car. Well, I ended up putting the primer coat on the walls Sunday night at the end of the week off!!! Back to work on Monday… ARGH! I did happen to pick up a trunk pan during my time off, so I’m happy with that.

I’ve been working on the room a little bit during this week after work, touching up some spackle spots and what not. I should have the walls painted this weekend. Then ceiling and floors. May be a while before the car gets some attention.

Sean

No more trunk or trunk extensions. They are all gone. No more room for milk and paper towels!!! It took about four to four and a half hours total to remove the trunk pan and two trunk extensions.

Sean

Made a very important discovery today! The 1970 model year Cuda had a different trunk pan than the 1971-74 model year cars. The difference is in the two humps near the passenger compartment. The 1970 trunk pan has the hole on the top of the humps. The 1971-74 does not have the holes on top of the humps rather, they are on the rear facing sides of the humps.

Goodmark does not have a 1970 only trunk pan. They call their trunk pan a 1970-74 when it is in fact a 1971-74 piece. Luckily, the dealer I placed the order for my Goodmark replacement trunk had not called the order in to the manufacturer yet. I was able to cancel the order and placed a call to my local AMD dealer who has a correct 1970 trunk pan on hand. I’ll be going down there next week to pick it up.

You can see the differences in the pics below. AMD on the left and Good mark on the right. Clik the thumbnails below to see the pics full size.

Sean

Today I picked up a 1970 grille for my project! Woohoo! Found it for sale/for trade on a Cuda & Challenger forum. Traded my 1972 grille and a little cash for it. It’s in really good shape. Only a couple of the chrome trim attachment tabs are broken off.

Sean

EDIT: After posting the comment above, I was able to spend a little time in the garage. I was able to get half the trunk out.

The weather is crappy today, raining like cats and dogs. However, that didn’t keep me from picking up the tail panel!  I heard some rattling around when I put the box in the truck, didn’t think nothing of it at the time.  When I opened the box up, I found out what the rattling was.  To my surprise there was a pair of tail panel corner braces!!!  I’m not exactly sure if they come with the tail panel, but I’m pretty sure they don’t…!

Now to the good news (as if a new tail panel and corners wasn’t enough). Rich said that he has a yard with 200+ Mopars! Not only that, there’s a yard just around the corner which has another 200+ Mopars! Rich said there’s gotta be close to 500 cars between the two of them! I’m thinking ROAD TRIP to go check them out!!!

Sean

Added trunk corners from Goodmark to my order from Radical Rods. They also advised that the order will be placed with Goodmark by the end of the week. Also talked to Rich at Gateway Muscle Cars and he has a few AMD tail panels in stock. Rich is going to bring one with him on his trip to St Charles, MO on Saturday and I’m going to meet him to purchase the part.

After the parts come in, the only thing I’m missing for the rear of the car is the quarters and a trunk latch brace.

Sean

7 Mar 2009 – Removed the rear bumper and bumperettes, gas tank straps and started drilling out the spot welds holding the tail panel on.

8 Mar 2009 – Continued working on drilling spot welds on the tail panel.

17 Mar 2009 – Ordered a Goodmark trunk pan and trunk extensions from Radical Rods in Columbia, IL today. Will take a while for it to come in as they wait for multiple orders to stack up and place an order, splitting the shipping costs.

21 Mar 2009 – Found an AAR hood on Craigslist.org from Eric in Decatur for $550. Major Score!!! He included two each of interior passenger & drivers side rear side panels and a passenger and driver’s side door panels.

23 Mar 2009 – With a little help from Mr. Sawz-All and Mr. Air Chisel, the tail panel is out!!!

Sean

OK, last installment left us off on 17 Jun. Now lets jump ahead a few months to where I actually start DOING something with the car…

5 Nov 2008 – Finally started wrenching. Removed the piece in front of the hood, the hood latch base, hood latch vertical support and the driver’s side fender.

8 Nov 2008 – Removed just about everything under and including the hood. Removed the hood, hood hinges, fan, water pump, emissions canister, engine bay wiring harnesses, and A/C components.

9 Nov 2008 - Did a bit more today. Lifted the car up and disconnected the shift linkage and removed the transmission mount bolts. Then I loosened the engine mount bolts. Now the wait until next weekend when my brother will be in town to yank the engine & trans. I also removed all the guts (window tracks and door latch/lock system) and weather stripping from the driver’s side door.

10 Nov 2008 - Working on (and under) the dash plain ole, flat out SUCKS!!! I feel like a pretzel after today! I was actually sitting upside down in the seat (head where your feet usually are and kicking the roof with my feet) a few times to look for the dash pad bolts and get them off. Today I removed both doors and hinges, passenger side fender, gauge cluster, dash pad, center console, heater core and ducts.

11 Nov 2008 – Today I removed the wiring harness, dash subframe, shift linkage, front seats, e-brake, gas pedal, visors, rear view mirror, seat belts, and wiper arms.

16 Nov 2008 – With tremendous help from my brothers, Brad & Matt, tons was done over the course of the weekend. The following was removed from the car: front suspension (drums, shocks, A-arms, etc…), tranny, engine, K-member and torsion bars, back seat, seatbelts, interior trim pieces, headliner, package tray, front & rear glass (and cleaned all the adhesive from the window sills), rear side windows & mechanisms, exterior window trim, trunk lid, tail lights, rear valance panel, rear drive train components (tires, differential, leaf springs, etc…), steering column, and gas tank. Between the three of us, we probably put in about 48 hours (two days, 8 hours each day, three of us). Not all of it was easy going. All the ball joints required heat and persuasion from the 5 lb sledge. Windows were a pain and time consuming too. So, all that’s left to remove are the brake and gas lines, steering column braces, rear bumper, gas tank straps, and a few other odds & ends.

Until next time, keep the rubber on the road!

Sean

Although she was quite the thing of beauty, I still wanted to get her in the garage. To do so, I needed to get one of the tires replaced. So I took the drivers side front tire to the tire shop. Since I wasn’t looking to buy something that was going to last more than a 12-15 feet, I asked the guys there if they had something in ‘used’ condition. They sure did and told me to come back in an hour or so. Upon my return to the tire shop, they had a new tire on the rim. When I asked what they wanted at the front counter, they replied with “Nothing”! That was really cool of them! Now my new baby was where she belonged. At least until I get her running! Before she went in the garage, I snapped a few pics:

OK, so now I’m the owner of the car, we still had to get it home. Terry and I were with his brother Paul and Paul’s son in a minivan. No way were we going to get the thing home with that. So, we head up north of Springfield to Lincoln, IL to get Paul’s dually and a 48’ trailer. Rather than transfer all our stuff to the truck (we had brought enough guitar gear to pack the minivan) We drove the minivan on the trailer and headed back down to Dave’s. Back at the car lot, we got the dually’s rear tires stuck in a ditch leading into the yard. We used the ramps off the trailer to get over the ditch. Ended up bending the crap out of them in the process.

Now we have the truck and trailer in the yard, ready to load the car on it. The tractor Dave was using to move the car around couldn’t get traction so we used the minivan (of all things) to pull the car on the trailer. Paul drove the minivan up to the Cuda nose to nose. We chained the two together and Paul backed the van onto the trailer pulling my new set of wheels along with it. Needless to say that was my first ride in the car!!! Since the ramps were bowed pretty bad one way, we flipped them over and used them to get back across the ditch, pretty much straightening them out. Now we were on the road to my house.

Got the car to the house. Paul backed the trailer into the drive way with the trailer spanning the street with the dually in the neighbors driveway. After unloading the car, the starter went out in Paul’s dually. After taking the starter out of the dually, my neighbor took Paul to the auto parts store to get a new one. After arriving with the new starter, it took 3 ½ hours to put in. Finally we realized that it was hung up on the positive cable. Starter now in place, Paul and his son head back to spring field.

It was a long day. We arrived at Dave’s to look at the cars at about one in the afternoon. Paul drove off at about 11 that night! Although it was a trying day to say the least with all the mishaps and unplanned events, we all can look back and laugh!