67/68/69 cuda dilemma

[IMFURYS]

Well we tore into it a bit tonight. I was able to reshape the LH framerail flange. Got to patch it in a few spots. However considering it was crudely beaten flat against the framerail, I think it looks very good. Patrick started sanding on the nose. Once he strips it, we will squirt a little light grey epoxy primer on it. Tomorrow I will straighten the RH framerail flange, and will start to cut out transition pan. That actually goes in first on assembly, because the floorpan, and trunk floor overlap it.

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When Patrick finishes sanding his notch, tell him there is a fastback in VA that he should practice on too, lol. There is also a '72 Fury III that needs a little sanding around the bottom back window.
Seriously though, that's some awesome major metal manipulation going on there.

 

[mosleyme]

SS springs are shorter than stock leafs and requires a longer front hanger to center the axle in the wheel opening.

Only on B body; SS springs are stock length for A-body... have a set in the garage. Used my stock hanger.

 

[mosleyme]

Here is a picture of my SS springs. Part numbers end with “002” and “003”; you can see the “002” in this picture. Both sides are 5 leaf, but the right side is stiffer, which is why they have left and right specific part numbers. They are standard A body length. Mopar only made one length SS spring, so B & E cars had to accommodate with the special front hangers.

 

[DartOS]

mosleyme is correct. After going through some old pictures, it was a '68 FB I sold that had the SS springs and long(b body) front hangers. PO moved the axle back for tire clearance.
Pretty sure the springs on that '69 were stock units. Probably not the original ones for that car(since it was a tubbed drag car). I'm guessing someone pirated a good(8¾" or Dana) rear axle and replaced it with a 7¼" along with the springs.

 

[moparmat2000]

It's all good DartOS , we will clean up and reuse the springs that are there. Can always be changed later. Plus I have that 31 spline 8.8 disc brake rear going under it. I feel I am better off with that compared to the 8.75 anyways. Replacement parts will be easier and waaaay cheaper to get for it compared to an 8.75. I'm just glad those framerail flanges werent cut off. Only bent over and needing minor patch repairing. Today I will make more progress removing the old transition pan.

At this point I am weighing my options on the trunk floor as well. The one in the pic below is made in USA and $258 shipped to my doorstep. I figure since I am doing quarter panel replacement along with the wheel houses and everything else, I can cut the side off one of the quarters, and install it from the side as one piece. The reason I am shying away from the AMD one is it's not only double the price, but I already have a good gas tank / spare tire bracket, can drill the drain holes myself, and the biggie, is the AMD one the fuel filler hole is shaped for a 1970 up trunk. Would prefer it to be blank and I will cut the fuel filler hole how I need it to be for a 69.

 

[DartOS]

 

[mosleyme]

At this point I am weighing my options on the trunk floor as well. The one in the pic below is made in USA and $258 shipped to my doorstep. I figure since I am doing quarter panel replacement along with the wheel houses and everything else, I can cut the side off one of the quarters, and install it from the side as one piece. The reason I am shying away from the AMD one is it's not only double the price, but I already have a good gas tank / spare tire bracket, can drill the drain holes myself, and the biggie, is the AMD one the fuel filler hole is shaped for a 1970 up trunk. Would prefer it to be blank and I will cut the fuel filler hole how I need it to be for a 69.

Too bad you are so far away from Dallas. I have a few parts in the attic I should sell at some point.

 

[moparmat2000]

I'm in Abilene. Not too far from the metroplex, maybe a meet in the middle kind of thing could be arranged.

PM me on the trunk pan. I have both outer wheel houses but would be interested in the trunk pan possibly. I was going to patch what I had originally. Got a decent nice tire well, and fwd trunk floor sections from the plymouth scamp I parted and got the transition pan from.

The reason I was going to go with the blank floorpan was this rectangle hole in the pic below for the filler tube. I suppose for the right price, I could take a new AMD floor and mod it to the smaller hole.

 

[moparmat2000]

Got a bit more done today. I hate the demolition part of these jobs. Always soooo messy. It's got to be done though. Car has subframe connectors on it, so its sitting pretty solid without this floor installed. RH framerail is crudely pulled back out, but needs to be worked flat with a hammer and dolly.

Once I have the framerails prepped and repaired, I still have to scrape, sand, and primer the transition pan, and remove the inner wheel houses since this will not go in as one piece as much as I'd like it to.

Patrick worked on the nose piece today, got the rest of it sanded down. He was out here for a few hours today which is really good for a 7 year old as it held his interest. He has a head cold so he went in for a nap.

 

[moparmat2000]

It warmed up to 65° today, and todays demolition started at 11AM. I figure since it's got subframe connectors I would cut out the main floor, start grinding the spot welds and peeling rest up. Car doesnt seem hurt by this at all. The doors open and close just fine with the floor hacked out Must be the subframe connectors helping it. My little buddy wanted a break today, and that's ok he has put in a lot of time for a 7 year old kid. Heres a bit so far today by 2:30PM. Will continue on for awhile longer then call it quits for the day.

I located the floor shift pieces I restored a few years back that I got off FABO onto the tunnel, and took pix and measurements in case anybody is looking to add a console. The shifter rod bracket stays centered in the hole that's in the floorpan. If I had to guess. Everything was located off that part since the dimensions seem pretty simple.

Once I get everything repaired and straightened, I will temp install the rear axle under it, and push it out into the yard to sandblast the inboard sides of the rockers, and sandblast the inside and outside of framerails, then coat them with 2K epoxy primer.

 

[moparmat2000]

Heres the wrap up for today. Before and after, and one right before I disconnected my droplight, and shut the shop door for the night.

 

[IMFURYS]

Heres the wrap up for today. Before and after, and one right before I disconnected my droplight, and shut the shop door for the night.

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Helluva lot of work dude. You could go show Mark on GYC how to work and not BS all day, then walk over the the car and install one bolt and call it a show, lol.

 

[moparmat2000]

Not too much to report. I am thinking weekends in the shop is where I'm gonna get a lot done. Weekday evenings not so much, however we removed the rear window glass, and will be putting it in storage for the time being. Also took out the new repop dutchman panel I bought off a fellow fabo member a few years back in anticipation of eventually changing out the rotted one on the car in these coming days. Rear window lower opening in both corners has some minor rust holes. Easily repaired with some thin gage sheet metal patches and a mig welder. The rest of the window opening is remarkably decent.

 

[moparmat2000]

Did my WD40 trick today. Set our used transition pan upside down on saw horses outside and soaked the asphalt undercoating in WD40. Will soak it again a few more times before the weekend and just let it sit out in the sun. By saturday the undercoat will slide right off in chunks with only a small amount of prodding with a paint scraper

 

[moparmat2000]

We did a bunch of scraping after school and work today. Got about 80% of the undercoat off. Recoated it with a bit of WD40 again. It's really amazing how much lighter these parts are without this undercoating on them. Once its all cleaned up, I will be drilling off the inner wheel houses so I can temp install this pan and see how it fits.

 

[DartOS]

Looking good!

 

[moparmat2000]

Done scraping and stripping undercoat. Time to remove the wheel houses and go for a test fit.

 

[moparmat2000]

And heres the test fit. I got to do a little grinding and tweaking, prep and primer work. However very promising, this thing fell right into place. I also just set the seat bracing in place that i got from another fabo member from a duster he was back halfing to eyeball it too. Original bracing was cut out too. Anything I can fit in the sandblaster will get stripped clean before I primer it.

 

[moparmat2000]

A big thanks to mosleyme. He met Patrick and I halfway between Dallas and Abilene today. We bought this nice trunk floor and outer wheel house from him. Had a great visit with him. Just proves Fabo members are the best.

Also still plugging away on the demolition. Ground the spot welds and took the pieces off the rear seat brace pieces that we did not need. Tossed the scrap in my trailer. Will be taking these cleaned up parts to work to get them sandblasted to ready them for primer. Still have a lot of little stuff like that, and after that I will have framerail repairs to do.

How do you eat an elephant? Lots of little bites. I guess the same could be said for a rusty and butchered fish.

 

[mosleyme]

A big thanks to mosleyme. He met Patrick and I halfway between Dallas and Abilene today. We bought this nice trunk floor and outer wheel house from him. Had a great visit with him. Just proves Fabo members are the best.

Also still plugging away on the demolition. Ground the spot welds and took the pieces off the rear seat brace pieces that we did not need. Tossed the scrap in my trailer. Will be taking these cleaned up parts to work to get them sandblasted to ready them for primer. Still have a lot of little stuff like that, and after that I will have framerail repairs to do.

How do you eat an elephant? Lots of little bites. I guess the same could be said for a rusty and butchered fish.

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Matt, nice to get to meet you and your helper!

 

[moparmat2000]

Test fit lol.

 

[moparmat2000]

Sandblasted and 2K epoxy primered inside trunk bumper brackets, and rear seat braces. These are ready to reinstall. Now I can set these aside for later.

 

[moparmat2000]

Took the RH inner wheelhouse to work today. A bit of sandblasting, then shot some 2K epoxy primer when I got home. Will do the LH inner probably monday.

 

[moparmat2000]

I got these nice Summit mechanical oil pressure and water temp gages on sale. Figure anything mechanical is better than the stockers for accuracy. Anyhow, they came in a chrome steel bracket I wasnt happy with because I wasnt feelin it for the chrome gage mount, plus I just like to make stuff. I had also picked up Jegs oil pressure and water temp gages for my car, and needed a mount for these as well. I dug through the scrap bin at work and found some 2024 T3 .063" aluminum that would work, and some scrap .063" thick aircraft seat side frame pieces for the mounting angles. I used the steel gage mount as a template and made 2 of these from aluminum. They are painted with rustoleum textured black. I think the textured black and the rivets help give these a bit of an aircraft cockpit look.

 

[moparmat2000]

Still some more demolition today. I decided to peel out what was left of the trunk drops and outer wheel houses at the rear quarters, and peel out what was left of the inner and outer wheel houses at the inside quarter panel window regulator web as well as remove what was left of the torched rear seat bracing, and trim up straight the rough cut bracket that ties the package tray to the inner wheelhouses. I will make patch repair pieces templated off my 67 coupe for those spots and more.

I also removed enough of the valance to be able to sandblast the framerail tie bar, but theres just enough of it and the back of the trunk floor to keep the body and frame together for the moment. My thoughts on leaving the flanges on the old quarters is that I can use them as a jig to fit my inner and outer wheel houses, and trunk drops in the right spots. With the wheel openings clamped in place holding the car up, I can then remove and replace the trunk floor and rear valance. Once that is back together, I will tackle replacing the dutchman panel, and installing the better unbutchered set of trunk hinge supports. Once I do my framerail repairs, i will attach the leaf springs and rear axle and push her outside for a good sandblasting of everything that's exposed before I close it back up. I think I got a lot done today considering I went out there at noon and worked till about 6pm.