Car is finally out of body shop-Now time for the questions

[DODGE1933]

Hi all. Have not posted for a long time as I have been waiting for my TA's return. Now I have it back it and is time for reassembly. I have been scanning our site the last few months/years to get the information I need to correctly assemble my FM3 TA. It will never be an OE Gold car but a nicely restored  car that I will be able to drive. I have a pretty good idea on how it will go together but, there a few blanks in my plan and that is where I  will ask for and appreciate your help. First things first. I know this thread is no good without pictures. So the first couple of pics. is of us bringing it home this week. My body man is only about a mile away from the house so I wasn't worried about the blankets flaping around. We might have gotten up to thirty mph on the way home.

So my first questions are about the blackout/undercoating on the inside fender wells. I have the factory diagrams for the front of the car so I have no issues there. I know I have seen some information and pictures in the past somewhere about the rear fender wells. I have done a pretty good job of copying pictures and information but alas I have none showing the back. So first off does someone out there have any pictures of the location of the rear fender well blackout. Or if someone can give me a written description, I may be able to figure it out. Now the second item. Being as this is a TA there is a rear sway bar. My question is did the factory mount the sway bar before or after the blackout is applied. The last picture in this post shows my car at disassembly time and it makes me think the mounts were bolted in before blackout. It remember it was a pain to get the crud off the bolts at the time. I do realize there is a lot of dirt buildup after 45 years but in the picture it looks to me as under the first layer of dirt crud it looks black. So any help is again appreciated.

Mike

[anlauto]

The wheel wells were undercoated with a thick coating of undercoat, it's not referred to as "blackout" like the rad support that was only done with black paint.

The undercoat goes on top of everything like in your last picture

[67vertman]

 Check RestroRicks for the correct looking under coating.

[CUDA JAS]

great looking car...cant wait to see it finished!

[loco340cuda]

great looking car...cant wait to see it finished!

Ditto!

[TelisSE440]

Ditto!

x2

[DODGE1933]

Thanks for the help and comments. Alan thanks for the clarification on the coating.  And 67vertman for the tip about RestroRicks. I'm still up in the air about what all gets covered on the back fender wells. Are the frame rails undercoated all the way, are the trunk floor extensions undercoated? thanks again for the help I have already received.

Mike

[anlauto]

They had like a "mask" that they held in place while spraying....This photo belongs to a good friend of mine   showing before/after shots of a 70 Challenger.

[DODGE1933]

Thanks a bunch Alan, That's just what I needed for the front. Even more detail than the Chrysler service drawings I have.

Anything on the rear inner fender wells ?

[JH27N0B]

My T/A project is a bit further ahead of yours.  The shop that painted mine undercoated the wheelwells.  If anything, I think they went a little light compared to how I recall it before the car was stripped.  The fuel lines and brake lines are installed before the undercoating.  I even remember some undercoating on my original gas tank.
I think they went a little heavy on the red paint on the underneath of the trunk floor, I seem to recall there mainly being primer or dipping under the undercoating overspray and years of grime.
Note the pinch weld blackout, something often missed in restorations.  I think the shop went a little light compared to original on my car.

[JH27N0B]

Don't forget the deck lid gets painted black in the area between the spoiler and the deck lid molding.  Something missed on a lot of T/A restorations and that sticks out like a sore thumb especially on a non-dark color car like my red or your FM3.  The area under the spoiler on the top of the quarter panels gets black decals.

[JH27N0B]

Not blacking out the radiator support really is apparent through the grille too, so don't forget that.

[JH27N0B]

Something I never noticed before on the A pillars, but apparently the shop knew there is a little blacked out area so you don't see the body color in the area between the black interior A pillar plastic and the windshield.

[loco340cuda]

JH27N0B, nice ride!

[anlauto]

The front leaf spring hanger bolt is going in the wrong direction...the nut should be on the outside , otherwise ...beautiful work so far