72 Cuda g-machine - 2016 update

[IMNCARN82]

Hey Travis    Looks like fun.  Awsome build!  I like the RMS 4 link set-up. Keep at it Man!!  

[Topcat]

Same type of work that happened with my quarter panel from the past. It was brazed in, pick hammered and warped.
Nice progress coming along. 

[Travis72]

Thanks for the comments all.

So then in late September I continued stripping the rest of the paint off the body.  The one thing I wish I had done different was I wish I had stripped it in the driveway instead of in the garage, because it made a HUGE mess.  It's not snowing in the pictures, that's just paint and body filler dust.     I took me a while to clean everything up.






The other exciting thing in September is I bought and received one of the 6.1L Hemi crate engines (it's the replacement engine for the SRT-8 cars).  I didn't need the engine at that time, but I had been reading that the engines were going to be much harder to find and that the price might be going up, so I went ahead and purchased it now.  I didn't want to miss out.



Travis
72 Cuda

[hemiken]

Hi Travis,
Are you going to use the Hemi in the 'Cuda or have you got another engine for it.

[IMNCARN82]

SWEEEEET Travis!!       Now make that buldge hood functional like that Chally on the cover of MM.  You goin' to Mopars at the strip?  Your car is going GREAT!  :clapping:Robert.

[Travis72]

Yes I'm planning on using the 6.1 in the Cuda.  Originally I was going to do a stroked small block, but then decided on the new Hemi.

I'm not sure if I'm going to Mopars at the Strip this year or not.  My wife and I have talked about it briefly but no plans yet.

Travis

[Travis72]

To keep my update going.... in early October I finished taking all the old paint off the body.  I also did some preliminary body work on the factory quarter panel to roof seam and on the trunk lid that had lots of little dents due to being slammed shut too many times.  I then epoxy primered the rest of the body.  With the primer on you can really see all the little dents and dings.  Lots of holes drilled in the body too where slide hammers were used to pull out dents sometime in the cars life time.   


















The fenders and hood are in the shed.  I'm waiting for a local chassis guy to free up to install a 4 point roll bar and subframe connectors, etc.  So once he finally takes the car, then I'll start the body work on the front fenders (I know they are a mess)

Travis
72 Cuda

[Travis72]

The other thing that happened in October is the XV Motorsports engine brace showed up finally (14 months after I ordered it).  So I just placed it in the engine compartment to see what it will look like.  I'm going to wait until I have the engine in the car before I drill the holes.







Travis
72 Cuda

[Travis72]

Well to finish my yearly update     I didn't really accomplish my in November but I had 4 straight weeks off from December 10th until today.  So I used a patch panel to replace the lower quarter panel on the drivers side.  It had some body damage (2 major creases) and I was worried about it rusting out from the inside.  A good body man probably could have repaired it pretty easily, but I was worried about all the crap trapped behind the panel.  The patch panel didn't have the correct attachment for the rear valance, so I left that part of the stock quarter panel.

In these series of pictures.  First the way it was.  Then the trunk extension (about 2 lbs of dirt and rust fell out when I cut the old quarter off).  You can see the back side of the quarter with the body filler squeezed through the drilled holes.  I sanded/ground/wire brushed the trunk extension.  Then treated it with Picklex before painting it with Rust Bullet.
















Travis
72 Cuda

[Travis72]

Then I put the patch panel in place and started doing a series of small tacks all around the panel.  I would do a series of tacks then grind them down a little, then go back in and start filling in with more tacks.  I took my time, but still seemed to end up with some warpage.  In picture 2987 you can see there's a dent in the body line right above the wheel well arch.  It seems all my dents are right on the body line requiring lots of delicate sanding to try and get the line right.














Overall I don't think it turned out too bad considering it's only my 2nd significant patch and with my limited welding skills.  It gave me enough confidence that I'm going to tackle replacing the entire passenger side quarter.  Which in some respects should be easier since I'm not having to weld on a large flat panel that will be seen.

Travis
72 Cuda

[Travis72]

Since then I've turned my attention to the doors repairing all the little door dings and some larger ones as well.  There were a lot of holes drilled in the door for dent pullers, so I welded up all the holes.  On the long crease on the lower part of the door, I used a stud welder and a slide hammer plus a body hammer to try and pull it out to shape a little better.  I think (I hope) I made it better and not worse!     I also welded up the holes for the door top trim since I'm not planning on re-installing it.  On the drivers side, there was only a hole at the very end of the door versus the passenger side had like 6 holes.  Interesting.   













I then shot epoxy primer over the quarter panel patch and the other areas that I had worked on.  So a picture of my little painting setup on the workbench and one shot of the quarter panel patch after epoxy primer.







After that I've spent most of my time doing body filler work.  It sucks.  Now I know why body shops get paid so much.  It doesn't help that all I seem to do is apply filler, sand 99% of it off, reapply filler, sand, etc.  Someone with experience could probably get it right on the first application.  I think I was over-sanding which is why I kept having to reapply filler.  Every time my wife would come out in the garage and see me putting more filler on she'd say "why are you doing that, you're just going to sand it all off".   

So with Dave's (farmboy70) advice in my head to not over sand, I think I've done a lot better the last couple of days.  Still a long way to go though and now that I have to go back to work progress will slow way down.  I'm going to try and spend at least two hours on the car every other night.  We'll see.



Travis
72 Cuda

[71340RT]

Looks like your making progress. The patch panel looks pretty good and you will always get some warpage from the heat and cool process. Keep us posted on your progress and the Cuda looks great.

[farmboy70]

So with Dave's (farmboy70) advice in my head to not over sand, I think I've done a lot better the last couple of days.  Still a long way to go though and now that I have to go back to work progress will slow way down.  I'm going to try and spend at least two hours on the car every other night.  We'll see.

Travis
72 Cuda

Glad it's helping, another tip is when you apply the filler be sure to use the gloss while it's still wet to see if you have enough build up to be higher than what you need.
Also feather the outside edges when appying ,this helps create an edge that will make it easier to know when it is getting close to level. This is so when you sand you can "read" the panel. A lot of times filler is applied with not enough material so when you sand by the time it's sanded smooth it's too low and have to start over.
Dave

[IMNCARN82]

Dude, Your rollin'!!   Keep it up!!  lookin' GREAT!!!

[Chlngrcrzy]

Nice job on the patch panel, Travis. Thats what i will be doing soon, after i finish the roof. Replacing the whole quarter on my passenger side was not too bad. If i hadn't already bought my front and rear patch panels for the drivers rear quarter, i would definently replace the whole quarter, instead of patch. Great prrogress, keep at it, i like to see others making progress. It helps to keep me going.