And So It Begins.... 1970 340 Cuda Restoration

[loco340cuda]

That's going to leave a mark! 

[loco340cuda]

Another pict of the door during paint removal.

[loco340cuda]

After a couple of hours I pretty much had the rest of the orange paint removed.  Here are some pictures of what it looks like currently.  Next up will be to start scrapping the brown primer off and then remove the chrome trim and start wire wheeling down to the bare metal, but that can wait until next week!

[loco340cuda]

After looking at those last pictures I think I will nick name the car the "Calico Cuda'". 

[loco340cuda]

It has been a while since I have posted an update......

I have stripped two of the three coats of paint off the car.  Whatever paint and primer you see in the pictures will be removed by the body shop.  I removed the top two coats to see if there are any big areas of bondo and fortunately there is not, just the typical rust areas and small dent filler stuff.  What is left is the primer layer and small bond areas over the original paint which was sanded down before the second coat of paint was put on.  I gently sanded the driver quarter and you can see the original yellow paint. 

The plan is to first do the front clip of the car, then the doors, and then the backend (all body work and put in primer).  Once that is done then I will drive the car for a little while and save some more pennies and then take the car apart and bring it to the body shop to get the rest of the body work done (engine compartment, jams, truck, etc) and then have it all painted.  Since I am on a budget I am doing it in stages.  I'm fortunate to have a good body shop that will work with me (it helps he is my neighbor  ).

Here are some picture showing is current condition.  I will have to buy a new front valence as the old one was beyond repair.  It is also looking like i might have to buy bumper brackets as one of mine is bent pretty good and I don't want to have alignment issues when I go to put the car back together.

[sadil340]

Looks really solid under the panels! It'll be a great starting point...

[loco340cuda]

A little more progress this weekend..... 

-I drilled the holes for the hood pins and test fit the chrome trim pieces on the hood.  Once that was done I sent the hood off to the body shop where it will be stripped, rust repair, body work, and then put in primer. 
-I received the new AMD front valance I ordered. 
-I found out the vertical hood latch support was pretty bent up after I took the front clip off the car.  By chance I checked Craigslist and would you believe it there was one for sale locally for $25, so I went and picked it up. 

The body shop said the header panel is done and in primer and they are working on finishing the front fenders.  Once the fenders were stripped of the final paint they found both had been dented on the very front as if someone had tried to drive the car into an opening that the car would not fit thru.  They said the fenders should be done and in primer in a couple of weeks.  Hopefully I can put the front clip back on the car in a couple of weeks.  They said that they will send some pictures over on the progress of the fenders so I will post those once I get them.

Cheers

[loco340cuda]

The picture of the old latch support piece makes it look way better then it is.  The support latch is much more twisted and bent then that picture shows.  You can see from the last picture which is the latch support I bought off craigslist it is in very good condition.

[loco340cuda]

The body shop sent over some progress pictures of the fenders and the hood.  The hood has some rust thru areas that will need to be patched.  The drivers side fender was hit directly above the wheel well, they have done a good job on pulling and straightening out the dent, it was buckled pretty good.  I know they still have some more to do with it but it looks a whole lot better then it did!  Another thing the body shop found was that both fenders were dented near the front as if someone tried to drive the car into an opening that was not wide enough.  From the pictures it looks like they have started to fix the drivers side fender front dent but the passenger side fender still needs to be addressed.

[anlauto]

Isn't it great what hides under bondo...  ...At least by stripping it completely you'll know what you have when you're done

[loco340cuda]

Isn't it great what hides under bondo...  ...At least by stripping it completely you'll know what you have when you're done

Amen, brother!

[hemiken]

Hey Loco very good star. Do you have a colour in mind you are going to go with ?

[loco340cuda]

I'm going with Lemon Twist yellow which is its original color.   

[AU6pack]

Great thread. Lucky the body is such good shape.

[usraptr]

Looks like your body man is doing a good job!    Be glad he isn't just covering stuff up!