67/68/69 cuda dilemma

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Well ya gots ta have a plan. In aviation sheetmetal repair, you have to figure out the order of dissassembly and reassembly, have a plan, figure out how each piece affects the others, etc. On my morning 2 mile run at 5am is when I think best. I have come up with a plan. After sandblasting and primer.

1. Install C pillar supports
2. Repair rust holes in lower rear window corners
3. Install rear window C channel
4. (temp) install dutchman
5. Install trunk torsion springs
6. Cut bracing back out.
7. Temp install trunk lid ( square it up to dutchman)
8. Use trunklid to align panel gaps for tops of quarters before welding
9. Weld quarter panel tops in.
10. Weld dutchman in.
 
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I took some of this stuff to work. Got most of the scale off it. The think the LH water channel with the vin # will be fine with minor repairs to both ends. The good unpitted parts of it measured .035" thick. The rusted areas the lowest I got was .034". Most of the rust damage being on the quarter skin itself which was paper thin.

To get the really hard rust off that the sandblast wont seem to touch, I am employing white vinegar and a soak. Bought several bottles of it at walmart, and an inexpensive 36" long window box planter at lowes. Its soaking now through the next 8 days. It will remove the rust and leave clean pitted steel. Some of the areas on the car body are going to be just as stubborn. For that theres naval jelly.

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That's gonna be a cool car. I was looking at some earlier posts, I have a 73 factory floor shifter w/ linkages on here for sale, it would be less than aftermarket lol
 
Thanks for the kudos. I have everything for 69 auto on the floor with console. Linkage is also modded for the 42RH trans.

I really hate corrosion. I deal with it on aircraft structural repairs. When you deal with that on aluminum it requires 100% removal to clean metal. I have been dealing with that for 26 years. That may be why I am that nutty about it on this project. Rust is insidious. If you can remove it, and use a good grade of primer to stop things, it puts you ahead of the game

Only things I lack are the seat padding for front buckets. It's on order though.
 
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Ironracer said:
Sweet! I didn't read the middle of the thread! Moma gets funny at dinner time ! Lol
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Read through the rest of it. I think you will like the kickdown setup I made using the 42RH cable setup from the dakota. Near the bottom of page 26, is the start of the mockup for the 42RH. This is a real clean way to do this trans swap.
 
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11 hours into the soak this morning. Nice brown bubbles on top. A very good sign. And a lot of rust is gone. Back in the tank, will check this evening.

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Don't do like me, and get the bright idea to pour the nasty old vinegar on the weeds growing in the gravel driveway. It killed the weeds, but stunk to hell and back for a month or so! :realcrazy: :BangHead:
 
Yup Steve, just straight white vinegar right out of the bottle. Your rinse solution is trisodium phosphate and water to neutralize it, and prevent flash rust. Let air dry, and primer it.
 
Looks brand new! You use the the powder or liquid TSP for the rinse?
 
Heres another. The LH quarter panel top skin had some bondo in it that moisture got under. It had some really hard attached rust scale. I dipped it for 24 hours then scrubbed it with a fine wire brush and TSP water mixture to rinse it. Theres a closeup so you can see how completely it removed the rust down to clean pitted metal. Sandblasting is thorough, but it would never have removed this type of rust as thoroughly. I think different kinds of rust issues require different solutions. Sandblasting is good but not for all kinds of corrosion. This works well for smaller parts as long as they can be submerged. It's a waiting game, then scrub, inspect, and soak again if the rust is still hanging on in spots. My LH rain gutter is still in the soak, because theres a few rust deposits that do not want to dissolve, or come loose. They will though eventually, it's a waiting game.

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The vinegar bath worked great on the real tenacious stuff that the sandblast couldent remove. Took everything up to work over the weekend, and did a final sand blast on lunch break to clean it up a bit more. Will be epoxy priming this stuff probably tomorrow

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Finally got the sandblasted body pieces primered. Then I cleaned, primered and re installed trunk hinge springs. I also dissassembled the quarter window assemblies. The pix are in order of what piece is removed at a time on dissassembly.

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I think re-installing all that and adjusting it ,opened up like that would be a lot easier than with the panel in place. I could only fit one hand in at a time, looking down through the glass slot with one eye shut, standing on my head and one arm behind my back while I was doing the splits ! But I got it ! Sorta.:poke:
 
RAT ROD AL said:
I think re-installing all that and adjusting it ,opened up like that would be a lot easier than with the panel in place. I could only fit one hand in at a time, looking down through the glass slot with one eye shut, standing on my head and one arm behind my back while I was doing the splits ! But I got it ! Sorta.:poke:
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Well Al, that's the plan. Plus I did not disturb the adjustments circled in the pic. I also punch marked the pieces that were LH and RH specific that were not stamped L or R. A single punch is LH a double punch is RH. The aft end tracks that have the double adjuster nuts are not LH or RH specific so I marked those on removal since they are already adjusted for the side they are on.

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Did some sandblasting on sunday, a bit of paint today. Made new window upstop bumpers out of thick shrink tubing. There was only 1 original rubber bumper on one of these. It shattered when I took it off. I may put another layer of heat shrink over it to make it a little thicker. I know this stuff isnt seen, but I like fresh primer and paint for long term protection. And it's always nice to reassemble clean parts.

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Yep I broke a part trying to free up a really stuck roller in it. Rat Rod Al came to my rescue. I am pretty good at fixing broke stuff, but besides trying to figure out how to fix it, I'd hate for it to be fixed and fail later on, and have to pull everything apart through a small hole with quarter skin now welded on. Heres a pic of the carnage.

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Hey Matt, where would you separate the cowl from the A pillars at. Is it leaded in at the joint ?
 
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