Sonntag, 21. Dezember 2008

Two quarters make a half


Two quarters make a half and since both quarters are on the 'Cuda, half of the metalwork is done! According to Chris, who is donig all the work, the hard part is over with, all the rest is smooth sailing. There are a few patches to do on the firewall, the floors and around the windshield but nothing is nearly as complicated as the rear of the car, which was practically craftes all new. For a perfect fit of the rear bumper and all the seam surrounding it, the quarters and the valance panel had to be modified extensively, and it really shows.
I've seen many pictures of restored 'Cudas ans very seldomly do the seams under the bumper measure up so well!

The welds of the new body panels have been sanded down, the rest of the holes will be filled with lead before the epoxy primer is applied.
I can already imagine some fat rubber in those rear wheelwells :-)







Samstag, 20. Dezember 2008

Stuff before overhaulin'


Took some more stuff to the galvanic shop. Hoodhinges, the rings that go behind the headlights and the seatrails. I was a little worried about latter, as I could not take them apart completely and they are quite rusty as you can see. The guy at the shop said he thinks they can handle the problem and they should turn out pretty nice.

Montag, 15. Dezember 2008

By the seat of my pants


Opend another front on the project, sit back, relax and enjoy the show...





I started to prepare the seats today. As you can see the seatcovers are not only shot beyond repair, there is also a difference in color between the front buckets and the rear bench. Both will be recovered in bright red vinyl from legendary interiors. To remove the old covers I had to cut about a zillion of those tough little wire loops that the covers are attached to the seat frames with. The seatback of the drivers seat also held a surprise: Another build sheet of the 'Cuda was revealed as I took it apart...







Samstag, 6. Dezember 2008

Rear quarterpanel



The passengerside rear quarter is on the car. It took some time because before the the sheetmetal could be welded on, the window mechanism was revitalized and tested for proper fit - that's a lot easyier with no sidewall on.

Some of the window crank pieces had to be remade from scratch as there are no new parts available, the window goes up and down cleanly, with a lot less friction than before.
The top pic shows the way the rear will look with the rear valance attached, cool car!

All the area behind the rear quarter has been treated with epoxy primer to prevent future corrosion.








The rear window crank turned out really nice...

Dienstag, 2. Dezember 2008

New engine call out


Here is something that will really put the icing on the cake of the new engine bay. The new pie tin. It sits on top of the air filter and reads the correcht " SUPER COMMANDO" engine call out sign for the high performance 383 engine in a 1970 Plymouth.
It is secured by the wing nut on the air cleaner and is, inspite of being reproduction, a perfect fit.
As you can see the old pie tin is of a different type, reading "383 MAGNUM". According to my research, this engine call out was used on Dodge vehicles and not on Plymouth in 1970. I have no idea why it was on the 'Cuda, since the rest of the engine bay did not look as if anybody had changed any parts on it.