The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster

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RustyRatRod said:
I like your new shop. How are you enjoying it so far? Is the blue car a Super Bee?
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My shop is amazing, I am very fortunate to have it. Greatest thing ever.

Blue car is a ‘68 Coronet 440, 1 of 934 big block cars made that year if you care about that sort of thing. Was a bench seat, column auto but its now a 4 speed with bucket seats and a console. EFI too!

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So... started making some progress toward getting this car back together. Of course it has to get taken apart first.

It really sucks that it sat for so long and I am upset with myself for not doing a better job of protecting it while it sat uncovered in a non-climate controlled garage for five years. Guess this is where the fable of the reconstruction begins.

Made a drive train dolly the other day to take everything out as one. I’ve been wanting to make one of these things for a while. It’s basically 2” square tubing welded together with my Hobart 190 mig.

In a way, fabricating this contraption was almost easier than fighting with the headers trying to get them out. And I will say even with a lift it’s still easier to get the engine out this way. I could take the trans out easily enough but then I’d have to have something in place to hold the back of the motor up until it’s hoisted out with a crane but that adds another step and another tool.

Obviously you wouldn’t do this with a car that just needed engine or trans work since the T-bars need to come out and the brakes, steering column, speedo cable, shifter and upper control arms get disconnected. That’s a lot of extra work to create just to pull a motor out.

Made a little time lapse video of the extraction. Yeah, forgot to unbolt the front k frame support and ended up bending the lower radiator support a little but not a big deal, will go right back into shape. Doh!


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In other news, some new trinkets are supposed to be arriving soon, will be sure to give an update on those things when the time comes. Mostly undercarriage-related parts for now.

Now that the drive train is out it’s really obvious how grubby the bottom of the car is. There is literally 50 years of road grime covering everything. I hadn’t really planned on doing any body restoration stuff but man, the underside of this car is pretty crusty. Not a big fan of working in that type of environment so it might be time for a freshen up while everything is out. We’ll see, don’t have a solid plan just yet.

Stay tuned, more to come in the coming weeks.
 
Moving along.

From having no solid plan in October to action in January, undercoating removal has commenced by way of torch and scraper. Wire wheel is up next once all hints of sticky goo have been excised. At this point in time it's past it's service life and is now basically dirt. Thank you for your service.
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When all is said and done should save a few pounds. Probably about 2-3 lbs. in this pile already.
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The electrical circuit interruption department has indicated that the battery disconnect switch has been installed and partially wired. This setup will need some finishing touches but this is it. It works.
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More to come.
 
More dirt removal. Nice and clean underneath the stupid tar. Goo Gone dissolves that **** with ease, it's a wonder product.
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rmchrgr said:
Moving along.

From having no solid plan in October to action in January, undercoating removal has commenced by way of torch and scraper. Wire wheel is up next once all hints of sticky goo have been excised. At this point in time it's past it's service life and is now basically dirt. Thank you for your service.
View attachment 1715856935

When all is said and done should save a few pounds. Probably about 2-3 lbs. in this pile already. View attachment 1715856936

The electrical circuit interruption department has indicated that the battery disconnect switch has been installed and partially wired. This setup will need some finishing touches but this is it. It works.
View attachment 1715856937

More to come.
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Get yourself a needle scaler harbor freight the bigger one or small they will clean that up in minutes capered to hours knocks that stuff right off. See Jim K's post he changed me over to it.
 
Eeehhh, I don’t need a needle scaler. IMO it’s better to soften the material with a torch, scrape it off in strips and let the Goo Gone take care of the residue. It’s a more gentle process. I feel like a needle scaler would be overkill. I can see where it would work in some spots or with rust but so far I’m doing OK without it. This is all just heat, scrape, Goo Gone and elbow grease.
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While underneath the car it dawned on me that I might be better off with an S-60 rear end. Yeah, I have a cool-guy aluminum center section but from what I understand, the 8 3/4” is less efficient than a Dana because of the hypoid arrangement which could theoretically offset the 11lb weight savings. Plus 35 spline axles vs. 30 in a car that makes 500 lb. ft. of torque...

Couple more reasons to switch would be that my brakes need to be re-done. Before it went into storage the right rear wheel cylinder was leaking because I used stainless fittings that would not seat. The backing plate is all corroded and will need to be re-done. The center section through bolts are completely rusted and the pinion seal leaks. The housing would also need to be repainted from the leaks, it’s rusted now too. It’s all from sitting for 4 years. Will be giving Dr. Diff a call.
 
Hey Greg. What is your beast weighing in at?
(A guesstimate is OK.)
 
rumblefish360 said:
Hey Greg. What is your beast weighing in at?
(A guesstimate is OK.)
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Hi Rob.

I'm not sure right now. I weighed it at a recycling place (certified scale) by my house in Huntington before I took it apart however many years ago now - 3,060 without me (185), full interior (front buckets and rear seat) and a half tank of gas so I guess 3,200 "race ready". Lot of stuff has changed since then though - 6 pt. CM roll bar, electric water pump, HHR electric fan, wipers gone, larger headers and exhaust which is heavy AF. Still has iron heads but from handling them they are a tad lighter than the old battleship W2s. Have considered switching to TF's if only for the weight savings.

Since then it's been treated to 10" drum brake spindle Wilwood front brakes, (that was a lot, like 35 lbs. total over the SSBC aluminum caliper/KH style brakes - not kidding!) aluminum strut rods, QA1 K frame, lower and upper control arms... QA1 claims an 18 lb. weight savings using their whole tubular front end but I'm not seeing it. Whatever the mount is it's mostly in the strut rods.

I have a pin-on fiberglass hood going on at some point which will shave a lot off the front for sure. Usually it's at least 50-60 lbs. between the hood itself and hinges.

Inside - I'm rewiring the car and have eliminated any and all extra wiring. Also looking at a Kirkey seat though configuring a mount for it may be more trouble than it's worth. Problem is while the existing '80's Jeep Scrambler bucket seats I have are cool looking and pretty light (22 lbs. each) I've concluded that they might not fare well if things get out of shape. Even though these are OE production parts, the actual seat frames are kinda thin, slightly rusty and are held to the brackets with 5/16" bolts. Does not inspire a whole lot of confidence!

Also on the fence about whether to re-install the back seat. It's currently out of the car to ease the wiring. Frankly, it's a huge pain wrestling that thing through the main hoop. It also needs to be recovered, the original material is all brittle and crumbles when you look at it. Besides, my kids are getting bigger, my 13 y.o. is bigger than his mother now so I don't see him or anyone else riding back there anymore, especially with the roll bar, fixed front seats. and now no undercoating to dull the sound and heat of 3" Ultra flow mufflers directly under their butts. If I leave it out that's another 40-50 lbs. though I would have to come up with some sort of trunk firewall.

Putting an S-60/Dana in this car would likely add some weight over the aluminum 8 3/4. It's also unsprung weight but at least it's in the rear. In the market for an aluminum driveshaft now as well.

I would like to know where it's at when it's all back together, I will definitely be weighing it. My goal is 3,000lbs or under but more importantly the weight bias needs to be better over the rear.
 
I seem to be on a bit of a roll with The Great Pumpkin here, been enjoying getting it back into shape.

Took out the rear end today to clean it all up and to give myself room to finish the undercoating removal. Bit of an adventure with the transmission jack but gladly there were no mishaps. While taking it out, I was surprised to find the right rear shock bolt basically finger tight. Somehow one of the pinion angle shims was crooked too. Doh! I did not do a very good job painting the housing either, looks beat. I’ll do a better job next time, promise. It will be so much more pleasant to put everything back in with no rough, dirty undercoating to scrape the crap out of the backs of my hands.
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After talking over the idea with a few of my brain-trust people, the idea of putting a Dana in this car has been shelved. Not to mention adding 50 lbs. of unsprung weight, it would be bonkers for me to spend $3K on something I really don't need. Not sure what the heck I was thinking. It made sense at that one moment but after sitting with it for a bit things became a little clearer. Glad I did not pull the trigger on that one. Moving on...

From the cleanup in aisle 3 dept., I knocked out the right rear wheel well during today’s snow storm. Guess the undercoating really did do its job preserving things and I am thankful for that. This is all factory original sheet metal here that has not seen the light of day in over 50 years. Still just heat, scraper, Goo Gone and elbow grease. Yeah, the scrapes are an unfortunate consequence of using a putty knife but it will get primed and re-coated again so hopefully no harm, no foul. Lot of odd contours to navigate.
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This wheel well and outside of the frame rail took a couple hours of work with about an hour and a half clearing the driveway. Still a few small stubborn spots left, I may just leave them, don’t want to spend my entire life removing every last bit of undercoat from this car. Besides, I still have to do the other side and the remainder of the floor. Almost a shame to put a coating over it again but that’s how the factory did it and it seemed to be the right thing to do.

Can’t see it in the pics but the outer edge of the well behind the wheel lip was “clearanced” with a hammer by the previous owner, hadn’t ever noticed it before. Kinda funny too because it wasn’t even necessary, the tires fit no problem. Oddly there are some tire rub marks on the other side too, guessing there must have been a different wheel/tire combo or they hadn’t moved the springs in yet. Who knows. Incidentally, the hammered area is the only place where there’s any rust. It’s just surface though.

Fore.
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Aft.
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This pile is getting bigger.
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I need a shower! More to come.
 
Undercoat removal continues, seems to be going OK and does not feel completely out of control. It's obviously very tedious work. The most time-consuming aspect of the job is trying to get all the little spots removed.

I tried the wire wheel again but it really is less efficient than doing it by hand and makes a huge mess with all the dust. Today I learned that once most of the top layer of material is taken off, Scotch Brite appears to be the right tool to get the remainder of it off. It also scuffs the factory primed surface for the new primer so it's all win.

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Went to the auto body supply store yesterday and got the materials to seal the underside, no spray bomb junk here. My friend loaned me his primer gun for the job, an HVLP type with a 1.7 tip. This material was not cheap but it's a one-time deal so better to do it right than to chintz out and have to re-do it.
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While at the paint store I priced out a quart of single-stage Tor-red/Hemi orange body paint. The color won't be cheap either but single stage is less expensive than a base-clear type. Besides, it's for the engine bay, trunk, wheel wells and over spray on the underside so no need for anything fancy. Most likely won't match the faded original paint that's on the body so it is what it is.

As I've mentioned previously, the engine bay definitely needs a fresh coat of paint. This picture illustrates the kind of situation that exists throughout the boiler room, lot's of oxidization and discoloration. No time like the present to make it look nice again.
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Started on the passenger size front wheel well. So far so good. I'm not going to remove all of the undercoating here so what's still left above the inner fender bend and behind the headlight bucket will remain. If the fenders come off at some point I'll tackle those areas then.

Next step is to get down into the area behind the shock where the control arm and brake hose mounts are and clean all that up but that's really all that's left here in front. No epoxy primer here, might get high-build primer to level out the low spots but mostly it will be scuff and shoot the color over the old. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this exercise so "good enough" will be good enough.
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Fore.
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Aft.
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Back to it. More to come, stay tuned.
 
Whew! I’m gettin tired just lookin at all the hard scrubbing involved.
 
Yeah, my arms feel like they're gonna fall off and my neck has a crick in it from bending over at awkward angles. Plus it's a really dirty job. I definitely want it to be over but I kinda need to push through it now, can't leave it half-done.

Sand blasting the bottom would have taken a pro shop about 30 minutes and likely yielded more thorough results. That was mostly a matter of logistics that I didn't have the wherewithal to deal with - getting the car on a dolly and onto a trailer, trucking to the blasting place about 45 minutes away, leaving it there then going back to pick it up... I just started scraping and that was it.

Here's the driver's side wheel well now cleaned up.
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The rear frame rails had some surface rust. The insides next to the spare tire well are kind of hard to get to with a wire wheel or grinder so I had to get creative. Yesterday I slimed some Evaporust on the area and while still wet I put body shop plastic over it to keep it from evaporating. It worked a little but though not nearly as well as when you submerge something in the liquid. Would probably be best to soak a rag in the liquid and then put the plastic over it. The plastic is very clingy which helps keep it in place. That old pesky gravity...

Passenger side rear frame rail getting the Evaporust treatment.
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Passenger side rear frame rail after treatment.
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Driver's side.
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Unfortunately am fairly convinced this car was in a fender bender at some point, possibly rear-ended. I've had my suspicions but never really investigated it too much. In front there's some non-factory looking seam sealer where the inner fender meets the radiator support. The rear driver's side quarter panel has a crease in it and the pointy part of the quarter panel that sticks out is crunched too. There's paint drips everywhere too. I doubt the whole car was done but more than one panel was for sure.

But now that the undercoating is gone it's pretty clear the rear spring shackle mounts look like they buckled during an impact. Not sure if those welds I circled are factory or not but you can see where the frame edges got pushed in. It went on a frame machine because the bottom holes are distorted from the chain hooks pulling it back into shape. I guess the body shop did an OK job, the car drives straight and the doors close nicely.

There's no other visible impact evidence forward of those spots, the trunk and quarters all look OK to me. Regardless, I'm contemplating welding a reinforcement plate over those junction points for a little extra rigidity.

Right rear.
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Left rear.
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There's also this repair on the lower passenger side rocker.
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Everything else is pretty much on hold with this car until I get this undercoating and painting part done.

More to come.
 
Underside work continues. There's no free lunch but this feels like it's never going to end. I hope to be done with the cleaning this weekend though that seems like a tall order.

Got me a $20 HF siphon feed spot blaster to get at the hard-to-reach surface rust. I'm impressed with it so far. Obviously not the best tool for the job but it's performing better than I expected. I owe it to my beast of a compressor. When blasting it pretty much stays on but it keeps up. The other thing that seems to be helping is the water filter attachment. It prevents the media form getting wet and clumping in the hopper and then clogging the gun. So far it's just been point, shoot for a few minutes then refill the hopper.
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To prevent glass bead material from getting everywhere and into everything I made a make-shift blasting booth with heavy plastic sheeting. I used heavy duty spring clips to attach the top of the plastic to the trunk gutter and drip rails and draped it over the sides. On the bottom I put some 2x6s over the bottom of the sheet to keep it in place and prevent the media from getting out. Hard to see it but there's also plastic stretched across between the lift arms.
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Yeah, there's still dust everywhere but without the plastic it would be 10x worse. This is really an outdoor job best done with the body on a rotisserie but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do to move things forward. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful to have the room and ability to do this even if it's not the ideal situation. I did save some money doing it this way though the next project definitely goes to the media blasting place.

Inside the blasting room. Note the pile of contained media. You can make out my Coronet beyond the plastic. It's covered with both a layer of body shop plastic and an outdoor type tarp to prevent any errant abrasive granules from leaving their marks in the QQ1.
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Looking rearward at the inside of the rear valance/bumper bracket bolt. This whole area was all heavy surface rust. Can still see a little left but obviously we're going in the right direction here.
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Rear frame rail kickup. There's no way to get these surfaces this clean with mere chemicals or even a wire wheel. I know this because I tried! Didn't work!
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Also getting the trunk cleaned up. Ran into sort of an odd situation with what seemed like rust in the panel ribs but turned out it was really oxidized paint with air bubbles in it. I spoke to a friend who just finished a high-end resto on his own car and he said he saw the same thing when he was taking his car down to bare metal. It's all cleaned up now though.
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There actually was some surface rust under the seam sealer around the spare tire hold down bracket (see above) so there is a little pitting but otherwise it's pretty clean in the spare tire well. The dark areas are primer, not rust. One thing's for sure, Ma Mopar was not stingy with the seam sealer.
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All in a day's work down in the coal mine.
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More to come.
 
You guys LMAO that's great I thought about starting underside today. I see you two and I think great...... hahaha!
 
4.7Light said:
You guys LMAO that's great I thought about starting underside today. I see you two and I think great...... hahaha!
Click to expand...

It's obviously a dirty job, you're going to get pretty well acquainted with the underside of your car. Seems like the more you remove the more stuff hiding underneath the undercoating is revealed. It's like a hall of mirrors.

Have to say doing this job with the car on the lift is hard enough, can't imagine having to do this job laying on my back.
 
by the fifth factor.....you either did a good job (no more chit), or quit early.
 
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