One more day of work then 2.5 weeks off for the holidays! I MUST get the main body sheet metal and epoxy primer FINISHED over the break.....
1963 Dodge Dart 270 Convertible for the Wife
- Thread starter Jim Kueneman
- Start date
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I just hope you get to feeling better.
First day of the 2 week holiday vacation was beautiful in Southern Arizona. The body and front fenders are blasted....
Time for some hammer and dolly work, floor board patches, cleaning, epoxy primer then time to weld in the rear quarter patches....
Time for some hammer and dolly work, floor board patches, cleaning, epoxy primer then time to weld in the rear quarter patches....
Looks like you are feeling better.
Yea, still a bit of a cough but I will make it.
Took time to convince myself it needed this but yea it needed it....
Making a template out of 6 mil plastic
Nobody make exact replicas so I wanted to line up as much as possible.
Template on the new panel.
Just some slot so you can get the magic marker in to mark it.
Time to connect the dots...
The flanger is about 1/2" deep so need to add 1/2" around the perimeter.
Marked and ready to cut... Measure measure measure to make sure.!!!!
Cut out, looks good..
Making a template out of 6 mil plastic
Nobody make exact replicas so I wanted to line up as much as possible.
Template on the new panel.
Just some slot so you can get the magic marker in to mark it.
Time to connect the dots...
The flanger is about 1/2" deep so need to add 1/2" around the perimeter.
Marked and ready to cut... Measure measure measure to make sure.!!!!
Cut out, looks good..
Flanged and spot weld holes punched with the $38 Harbor Freight tool.... works good....
Mark where the frame spot welds need to be...
Clean it up a bit. Need to blast it tomorrow and epoxy prime it.
All shaped and ready to go...
Now the rear floorboard. Pain in the a$$ place....
Well look here the left overs are PERFECT...
A little hammering and persuading and it fits.
Flanged and spot weld holes punched.
Finish welding in the other panel (butt not lap, almost ripped it out but it really is almost done) tomorrow and blast the patch areas. With luck I can spray epoxy tomorrow..... not holding me breath there still is a lot of work.
Mark where the frame spot welds need to be...
Clean it up a bit. Need to blast it tomorrow and epoxy prime it.
All shaped and ready to go...
Now the rear floorboard. Pain in the a$$ place....
Well look here the left overs are PERFECT...
A little hammering and persuading and it fits.
Flanged and spot weld holes punched.
Well I could not stand the hack job I did on the rear floor. Also the seatbelt anchor metal was pitted and weak. Safety first... I ordered the other front floor patch specifically for this so I just did it. I also spent most of the day welding and grinding the 1000 screw holes the last "restoration" put in the floor when they hammered in galvanized everywhere on the floor and screwed it down with self taping screws...
Any luck I will be painting the floor boards with SPI epoxy primer (i.e. weld through primer)
tomorrow so I can get the patches welded in.
Any luck I will be painting the floor boards with SPI epoxy primer (i.e. weld through primer)
Very nice indeed!
R4Sedan
Larry
Nice work
Hey @63DropTop I dug out the lower chin panel and looked at it..... It really sucks. You still have the extra one? What do you want for it shipped to 85637?
I'll be out that way today and get some pictures for you. Btw i purchased a wrecked 64 convertible for parts. Seemed like the cheaper way to acquire spare parts. I think that one is decent also.
Oh man a guy I know has told me to come over to do any metal work I wanted to for some time (he is an old car guy too) after seeing the Coronet and Duster.... I finally texted him to take him up on his offer.... WOW I now have a new best buddy!
What I saw when I walked in!
Showing me how to use the tools
Final Product...
His Toronado...
What I saw when I walked in!
Showing me how to use the tools
Final Product...
His Toronado...
What a crappy day in the desert..... About 2 inches this morning...
So I stayed indoors and get some of the parts ready for bead blasting and painting. The parts arrived from ASP in Florida (they have a "NO CHINA" gif and I have had great luck with their rebuild kits)
Pulling the pulley on the alternator.
Ah the old round back one wire and press it diodes! Love it!
Stripped and ready to blast. I will take it to my machine shop to press in the new diodes, change the front bearing and press the pulley back on. Use sockets to back up the diodes and bearings when you are taping them out of the housing. I needed some heat on the front bearing to get it to come out of the aluminum housing.
Next strip down the starter..
Good a newer style with the screw. My Coronet had the original that was a soldered here, what a pain..
Stripped down and the ASP parts matched for the rebuild. Bead blasting tomorrow.
Wiper motor. Boy that cloth insulation is just falling apart, this needs to come all apart and cleaned up...
So I stayed indoors and get some of the parts ready for bead blasting and painting. The parts arrived from ASP in Florida (they have a "NO CHINA" gif and I have had great luck with their rebuild kits)
Pulling the pulley on the alternator.
Ah the old round back one wire and press it diodes! Love it!
Stripped and ready to blast. I will take it to my machine shop to press in the new diodes, change the front bearing and press the pulley back on. Use sockets to back up the diodes and bearings when you are taping them out of the housing. I needed some heat on the front bearing to get it to come out of the aluminum housing.
Next strip down the starter..
Good a newer style with the screw. My Coronet had the original that was a soldered here, what a pain..
Stripped down and the ASP parts matched for the rebuild. Bead blasting tomorrow.
Wiper motor. Boy that cloth insulation is just falling apart, this needs to come all apart and cleaned up...
Pulled apart and a diagram drawn to help get it wired correctly later...
The temperatures are still too cold to risk having the epoxy primer failing on such a large area so the body stayed in the garage. We just scooped up everything left on the shelf to restore and I got a pile if parts ready that needed to be painted black SPI epoxy primer.
Never done just a heater box before.. man they are simpler than AC boxes!
A few things to repair on this box as the vent door was ripped off (it was still with the car though)
Little work to do here too...
Missing one standoff......
Nice of them to tape the partial pice of seal back on...
Rusty door!
Never done just a heater box before.. man they are simpler than AC boxes!
A few things to repair on this box as the vent door was ripped off (it was still with the car though)
Little work to do here too...
Missing one standoff......
Nice of them to tape the partial pice of seal back on...
Rusty door!
Texted Bob at GlenRay and this is an aftermarket core but he can restore it...
Random part, the parking brake, making sure I can remember how to put the palls and springs back in..
Blower motor restore... bead blasted the shaft before trying to remove the cage and it slipped right off.... nice to see a metal cage!
Pulled the end cap and lots of carbon but plenty of brush left. Restore it...
Getting the laminations out of the back half took 2 hours but the wife was bead blasting and got a lot done ...
I replace the wires in these as they are always rock hard and splitting due to the engine compartment heat....
Random part, the parking brake, making sure I can remember how to put the palls and springs back in..
Blower motor restore... bead blasted the shaft before trying to remove the cage and it slipped right off.... nice to see a metal cage!
Pulled the end cap and lots of carbon but plenty of brush left. Restore it...
Getting the laminations out of the back half took 2 hours but the wife was bead blasting and got a lot done ...
I replace the wires in these as they are always rock hard and splitting due to the engine compartment heat....
We got all the parts bead blasted and I got them shot with SPI black epoxy..... Need to keep them above 65F for 24 hours so they get to stay in the house tonight...
Blower motor housing...
Air cleaner...
Heater Box parts.
Wiper motor and starter frame with alternator pulley and wiper mechanism.
Heater box ready for repair as well as the doors..
Starter motor parts all clean..
Alternator parts all clean
Wiper Motor parts all clean...
Blower motor housing...
Air cleaner...
Heater Box parts.
Wiper motor and starter frame with alternator pulley and wiper mechanism.
Heater box ready for repair as well as the doors..
Starter motor parts all clean..
Alternator parts all clean
Wiper Motor parts all clean...
Epoxy is dry so lets pick something to reassemble.... Wiper motor sound good...
The cloth shields are falling apart. Put some modern heat shrink tubing on them to make sure they don't short out...
Cut the groves back in the slip ring with a razor saw...
Polished up ready to go...
Brushes are only 1/2 wore out more than a life time worth for a car that will never see the rain again
Install the end cap with the brushes..
Now install on the housing making sure that they will not contact the armature as they travel up past the magnets.
A little larger tubing to hold them together and out of the way of the armature..
Working them through the gear housing and alining the bolt before pulling it tighter..
Marking the color of the wires since they are all black now...
Wave washer on the outside and the brass washer on the in side. The gear washer only will fit one way in the gear, don't force it...
The cloth shields are falling apart. Put some modern heat shrink tubing on them to make sure they don't short out...
Cut the groves back in the slip ring with a razor saw...
Polished up ready to go...
Brushes are only 1/2 wore out more than a life time worth for a car that will never see the rain again
Install the end cap with the brushes..
Now install on the housing making sure that they will not contact the armature as they travel up past the magnets.
A little larger tubing to hold them together and out of the way of the armature..
Working them through the gear housing and alining the bolt before pulling it tighter..
Marking the color of the wires since they are all black now...
Wave washer on the outside and the brass washer on the in side. The gear washer only will fit one way in the gear, don't force it...
Ready for the gear...
Clean and lube (with plastic compatible lube) the park cams. When you rotate the middle cam it should open and close the contacts...
The gasket was shot so a thin coating of sealer to keep the grease in
All done...
I will solder the wires once I get the dash electrical tested out and see that it works!
On to the next...
Clean and lube (with plastic compatible lube) the park cams. When you rotate the middle cam it should open and close the contacts...
The gasket was shot so a thin coating of sealer to keep the grease in
All done...
I will solder the wires once I get the dash electrical tested out and see that it works!
On to the next...
Started on the..... starter.....
Razor saw to remove the mica between the pole pieces.
Polished up and ready to go.
Learned this on the Duster, MEASURE the old bushing and the new ones in the kit they are different. If it is larger than the original do a bit of sanding to get the diameter to within 0.0015 of the original or you will regret it. If they go in to tight they collapse the ID and then the shafts bind. Too loose and they may spin in the housing...
Perfect. I only replace the ones that are loose on the shaft...
In goes the fork for the drive..
AND I QUIT..... I have done 3 starters without a quality pair of snap ring pliers for that #$%J&%$%^&%#@%^ output shaft snap ring... I am done till I go to town and buy a quality set of pliers...
So I reassembled the parking brake...
Is this factory for early A-Bodies? Does any one reproduce these? @63DropTop is this correct and does your parts car have one in better shape?
Blower motor time. It is getting new wiring as under the hood it is hard as a rock and cracked ..
New ground close to the crimp to the coils.
Razor saw to remove the mica between the pole pieces.
Polished up and ready to go.
Learned this on the Duster, MEASURE the old bushing and the new ones in the kit they are different. If it is larger than the original do a bit of sanding to get the diameter to within 0.0015 of the original or you will regret it. If they go in to tight they collapse the ID and then the shafts bind. Too loose and they may spin in the housing...
Perfect. I only replace the ones that are loose on the shaft...
In goes the fork for the drive..
AND I QUIT..... I have done 3 starters without a quality pair of snap ring pliers for that #$%J&%$%^&%#@%^ output shaft snap ring... I am done till I go to town and buy a quality set of pliers...
So I reassembled the parking brake...
Is this factory for early A-Bodies? Does any one reproduce these? @63DropTop is this correct and does your parts car have one in better shape?
Blower motor time. It is getting new wiring as under the hood it is hard as a rock and cracked ..
New ground close to the crimp to the coils.
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Next the green wire and through the original rubber grommet, can't believe it is still pliable and not cracked...
File the stacked plates so that the motor slides into the housing easily, no hammering acceptable..
Lube the shaft and in goes the armature...
Brush older on next..
Now the clips that hold the holder get tapped into the side. If doing it again these should be tapped out before trying to get the laminated core out....
Getting close..
New gasket from the DMT heater box kit.
Frame installed..
New Packard 56 male...
File the stacked plates so that the motor slides into the housing easily, no hammering acceptable..
Lube the shaft and in goes the armature...
Brush older on next..
Now the clips that hold the holder get tapped into the side. If doing it again these should be tapped out before trying to get the laminated core out....
Getting close..
New gasket from the DMT heater box kit.
Frame installed..
New Packard 56 male...
And we are done. Ran it on the battery charger to get it broken in. Works great..
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL day in Southern Arizona today... but yesterday went to town and stopped by the machine shop to have the alternator parts pressed in... ready to assemble on the next nasty day where I don't want to go outside.
Today attacked the sheet metal... Here is the HACK of a fix for a fender bender.. These holes where PUNCHED with a PUNCH not even drilled!
Started to work it with a dolly but the metal was just too stretched so I used a straight edge to find where the bubble was... see it.... drew a line were it was..
I then cut the line with the cut off wheel and welded it back closed and it really pulled the metal back to the point where I struggled to get it stretched back out! Also welded the holes shut...
It looks ugly but trust me it only needs minimal filler.. When I stripped it the filler was 1/2" deep in places and the shape was total wrong... It should match the other side and the largest gap on the straight edge is now less than 1/8"..
Today attacked the sheet metal... Here is the HACK of a fix for a fender bender.. These holes where PUNCHED with a PUNCH not even drilled!
Started to work it with a dolly but the metal was just too stretched so I used a straight edge to find where the bubble was... see it.... drew a line were it was..
I then cut the line with the cut off wheel and welded it back closed and it really pulled the metal back to the point where I struggled to get it stretched back out! Also welded the holes shut...
It looks ugly but trust me it only needs minimal filler.. When I stripped it the filler was 1/2" deep in places and the shape was total wrong... It should match the other side and the largest gap on the straight edge is now less than 1/8"..
This body line should be as flat as a board from the door edge to the wheel wheel and now it is much closer...
Mama says the moulding had to go so they are gone... welded shut...
Time to fix a few dings with the puller...
Hammered out another nasty crease....
Mama says the moulding had to go so they are gone... welded shut...
Time to fix a few dings with the puller...
Hammered out another nasty crease....
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