SURVIVOR vs. GROUND-UP RESTORATION!

[anlauto]

How was the rust under the headliner ? Any before pictures ? After pictures ?

[resq302]

Alan, I would imagine that there would have been minimal rust such as possibly minimal surface rust as the door would have been subjected to more moisture exposure than what the underside of a roof would have been.  Again, I did not work on the car but just going by common sense, with such a low mileage car and going by other areas that would have been subjected to more weather exposure, this car had practically zero rust compared to typical cars.  The car only had around 9,000 miles and had primarily original parts (with exception of typical tune up and maintenance stuff) and was one heck of an original car to go off of.  Certainly a lot better than what our GTX vert that we are working on right now is.  For all of the original parts it retains, it has had some stuff replaced quite possibly just from sitting and the fuel varnishing which might have caused the need for replacement of some parts.  If these cars would be able to talk, it would make the resto sooooooooo much easier!   

Anyway, here are some more progress pics of our GTX "clean up".   Original drive shaft was removed and soaked in a tube of evapo-rust to dissolve any rust.  VERY TINY pits were left but the over all appearance and feel of the shaft was very smooth.  The pitting so small, it is hard to even show up in the pics.

Last pic is of the part number that is very hard to read on the shaft.  It seems like the part number is 2996 with a larger 161 to the right of it.  There also appears to be just to the right of the larger 61 another set of numbers.  Those numbers are 131 which could possibly be the date code of May 10th.  If so, this would put this part date before any of the other date coding on our car as it has a SPO date of 10/3/68.

[anlauto]

Nope!  Tell your "buddies" I said hello. 

What? Dave you certainly have the un-canning ability to confuse the heck out of me.

I'll admit that this thread started long before I was even a member here and even before I started reading here, so maybe I missed the explanation pointed out earlier in this thread about cleaning the stains and odors out of the headliner, but I did look through all the pictures and don't recall seeing one of the inside of the roof ?

You just asked if there were any areas of the car we'd like to see pictures of because you have over 7500 on file. ? So I asked.

If there are any original features you want to see for the Valiant project Alan, we have over 7500 "before" pictures that document the restoration procedures of the vehicle

You had the headliner out of the car to clean it, I would assume you took pictures of the interior roof panel...before and after ?
The only reason I asked is out of curiosity because all of the cars I've had completely apart always have rust up there, some worse then others. Your Valiant is probably one of the best original samples I've ever seen torn apart, just wondered how much rust was up there ?

Again you reference "buddies" ....I work alone out of my 19 X 23 garage up here in Canada, not too many buddies stopping by...

[resq302]

pic of the axle u joint straps.  hard to read in the pic but date code of 6 28 68.  bolt head markings with the weird H symbol.

[resq302]

Good grief Dave!  You went through all that trouble for a couple dots of undercoating on the bumper?  My hats off to you (and your team) once more!

[resq302]

Dave,

Regarding the pics of the driveshaft from our 69 GTX vert, how does that compare to the Valiant?  Granted, they are two different body styles but was wondering if the finish looked the same?

[anlauto]

Dave..You've seriously lost your mind.....

Three or four posts above my question you posted pictures of the parcel shelf area before and after....before that it was a picture of the inside of a door also showing surface rust....I simply asked if you found surface rust under the headliner too....Is that so hard for you to answer? 

I referenced a 69 Charger that I just worked on only because I was amazed I was able to reuse the original insulation...That was a first for me after 30+ restorations....I was interested in seeing what your roof and insulation was like because your Valiant started out a lot cleaner then anything I've ever worked on....


And who the heck am I defending by asking about your headliner ?

I have no freaking clue as to what "clique" I belong too either....If you're referring to Mike Mancini, or Tony D...I've never met these guys, I've never spoken to them on the phone, nor have I ever used their services....I've bought the odd reproduction part from Tony's company, but never dealt with him directly....I've also never seen any of their OE Gold cars....In fact the only OE Gold car I've ever seen in person was your black Cuda the year you had it at Carlisle in Building "T". I have not attended the Mopar Nationals since 1999.
I think you need to  stop thinking that my questions have anything to do with your personal agenda with these guys.

[resq302]

Some pics of the undercoating clean up.

[resq302]

undercoating cleaning up in progress.

[resq302]

lower ball joints and upper ball joints.

[resq302]

pass side frame rail pic.  definitely painted first, fuel line installed, then undercoated! 

lower pass side part of firewall.  undercoating line.

lower driver side part of firewall.  pay no attention to the scratched paint on the firewall, we did that removing the H pipe.  lol.  also, notice the drips on the torsion bar on the driver side.  torision bars were dipped horizontally and not sprayed.

gas tank that got crushed by the broker in transit to their place.  supposedly a bumper they were transporting also slid under the car and did this.  shame too as the tank is in great shape otherwise.  We did find a local place who can repair the tank by splitting it at the same and then fixing the dent and then rewelding it at the seam.

[resq302]

more pics of the undercoating (we still have to go back and touch up some areas)  after a while, everything starts to look black!   

second pic is where you can see the difference of where we freshened it up vs. the untouched original faded/dirty undercoating.

[resq302]

It's a very enjoyable process isn't it?        What a neat Survivor Brian.  I will say again that your car has 9,000 original miles and NOT 109,000 miles.  Keep us posted on the prior Owners as you continue the investigation.

Dave,

As crazy as it seems now, I highly doubt we would ever be able to replicate the exact lines and such that the factory had done.  Hence, why we are doing this insanity and our quest for trying to find original parts vs. installing generic repro parts that most likely not fit right or function correctly.  In the end, the finished result will certainly be worth the wait and patience!

[resq302]

Wow, wonder how many people put back that closed cell foam washer when they restore cars?  I know I went through hell trying to find that material for the dust seal on the dust shield for my disc brake set up on my charger.

[resq302]

Dave,

You had mentioned a while back about taking measurements.  Why did you go to such extremes with such minute details when no one would realize (or probably even care) that you did stuff like that?  I'd love to see this documentation!