The Dark Horse project

[rtgambit]

What a great thread.  I am just starting to do a driver-quality resto on my 70.  I am so relieved to see what an amateur (no offence) can accomplish.  It gives me hope that perhaps I am not in way over my head!     I hope I can do somewhere near the quality that you have done on yours. 

Keep the pictures coming.

Thanks! Definitely no offense taken. If I was anywhere near the pro level this would have been done about 8 or 9 years ago!   

Keep at it! My key was to visualize what the finished product will look like, which has kept me motivated all these years. It will be worth it in the end!

[rtgambit]

More updates! I've really got the ball rolling now...

Template sketched onto the sheet metal and ready to be cut out.




The poor man's sheet metal brake hard at work. I accidentally bent this one the wrong way, so I had to bend it flat again and then the proper direction. Oops!




New section being tested on the car. I'll start trimming this tomorrow and hopefully have it welded on the same day.





Dan, here's what's left of the parts car.



It wasn't until most of the car was gone that I found the infamous "Rock" signature on the passenger rear window area. You can still make it out through the surface rust.




Nice flat '70 hood. Shaker conversion, anyone?









Once I get things sorted out with my '71 I'll be adding these to the for sale section.

[rtgambit]

Just finishing up the other half of the trunk area.


New section tacked into place.




Drilled and spot welded.




I can actually get the rotisserie mounted back on the car! This has been a long time coming. 




It's almost scary, but I'm starting to see the light at the tunnel. My welding list has gotten smaller and smaller, and now it's just the trunk lip, dutchman panel, and drivers side windshield area that are left.

The plans for next week are to cut out the dutchman panel and prep the area for the replacement section (which still has to be bought).

[Mr. 440SixPack]

This is great

You will be soon on the street, looking for problems hehe 

Keep up the good work and don't forget to post photos here!

[dutch]

I`m impressed. speaking of dedication...        I`ve been working on the body of my car for a year and a half now and am I glad I have the cutting and welding behind me now...     My car wasn`t half as bad as yours either.  Other than that it`s pretty much the same story...   kid ,house ,work  and a mess on the workbench... gotta love it.      In a few years you`ll roam the streets in the coolest car you built yourself...  I`m sure it will make it all worth it.          

[rtgambit]

I`m impressed. speaking of dedication...        I`ve been working on the body of my car for a year and a half now and am I glad I have the cutting and welding behind me now...     My car wasn`t half as bad as yours either.  Other than that it`s pretty much the same story...   kid ,house ,work  and a mess on the workbench... gotta love it.      In a few years you`ll roam the streets in the coolest car you built yourself...  I`m sure it will make it all worth it.          

Thanks Dutch! I can't wait, either! It's been a looooooooooooong time coming!


Updates!

So I definitely need to order the dutchman panel, but I won't have the extra cash until after this weekend (shooting a wedding for a friend of my sister). While I'm waiting for that I figured this was a good time to tackle the undercoating.





More pics to come later on today.

[rtgambit]

Or maybe the pics will come tomorrow... 

More work on the underbody removing what's left of the undercoating.




Shiny! (yes I was playing with the sander).




On to the sandblaster! I want to make sure my pinhole days are over!




Wide angle shot of the work finished so far.




I went in and ordered the deck filler panel today. It should be here on Monday!  The list keeps getting smaller and smaller!

[rtgambit]

The panel is here! Time to bring out the cutting wheel again!


Shiny!




Cutting out the old filler panel to get at the spot welds.




Other side.

[Topcat]

Cool pics on the blasting. 

I'd like to ask...

What type of media are you using?
How much media do you feel is necessary?
Are you re using what falls and re sifting it?
Pressure Pot type blaster?
Time into it and estimated total you think to finish it underneath?

I plan to do mine later this summer once cool down begins since I work outside.

[rtgambit]

Cool pics on the blasting. 

I'd like to ask...

What type of media are you using?
How much media do you feel is necessary?
Are you re using what falls and re sifting it?
Pressure Pot type blaster?
Time into it and estimated total you think to finish it underneath?

I plan to do mine later this summer once cool down begins since I work outside.

I believe the stuff I'm using is called Sorel, it's 30-60 grit (bought the heavy duty stuff since I'm tackling the underbody and frame rails).
If you aren't planning on sifting the stuff already used I've heard of people going through 30-40 bags to get the job done. My pockets aren't that deep, so I bought 10 bags and I'll be sifting it once I go through them all.
I'm using a 10 gallon pressurized pot. The only problem I've found is that I have moisture issues, so it's causing some clogging at the bottom.
I haven't really been keeping track of time so far, but a rough guess would be 2 to 3 hours. I'm guessing another 5 at least to blast everything else.

[rtgambit]

More updates on the dutchman panel.

Old section removed. I still have to tidy up the side, front and corner areas before I can start fitting the new panel in place.




I'll have to cut this small section out and fab a new piece to put into place before the new panel goes in.

[67vertman]

Great pics of the Dutch man panel replacement.  Keep them coming as I have to tackle the same thing very soon. 

[rtgambit]

Great pics of the Dutch man panel replacement.  Keep them coming as I have to tackle the same thing very soon. 

Ask and ye shall receive.

Here's the back edge of the package tray. I still have to remove what's left of the panel overlap here, but you can see that they're just spot welded together in this area.




More of a close-up of the drivers side.




Passengers side. Notice the grey body filler in the corner, and the drooping section under the package tray. That's what I call quality work!

[rtgambit]

I've come to the conclusion that most things are never easy. 

Once I got the old dutchman panel out of there I got a closer look at both sides of the trunk gutter. It turns out that the passenger side is riddled with holes, and the drivers side needs a patch in one section. That'll be another $100 to save up for...

Anyways, on with the updates.


Nice overhead view of dutchman panel area.




Here's the passengers side of the gutter. I'll also need to get creative with the sheet metal and re-do the top part of the quarter panel there.




These have to be the smallest spot welds I've seen on the car yet. They're tiny!




Drivers side needs a bit of work in the gutter area, too.




Test fitting the new panel.  Gotta love that shine!

[rtgambit]

I took a couple of weeks off work on the Challenger to do some tidying in the garage. That's a project in itself!

I've been putting this part off, and decided that today was the day to tackle the rear window area on the drivers side. Here's the work.

The before picture.



New template and old section cut out.



New section in place. Still needs trimming.



Trimmed out and ready for tacking down.



Tacked into place.



Very carefully working my way around the welding area.



Final shot after grinding and sanding down smooth. I'm pretty happy with the results on this one.



It was just before this picture that my camera fell off the shelf where I had left it. I snapped a few pieces off the bayonet mount, but the camera itself is still okay. I had to hold the lens in place to get this shot. Looks like I'll be calling the Parts Dept at Nikon Canada to get a replacement mount for the lens. Hopefully it won't take more than a few days.

The next spot to be addressed is the passengers side in the same location.