my first restoration!

[black69]

the updates are here. The car came out of walnut shell and glass beading fine (10hrs for $1400, I watched most of it)! So far at $50/hr, I am only a day and a 1/2 of shop labor (they had to take the rear end out and the K frame, etc, front suspension, brake lines, etc). All the floors are mint! firewall is mint. Frame rails are mint, all the numbers on the body show up nicely. Media blaster said mopar underbodys are way more complicated than a GM.

I had them take all the sound deadener out of the quarters and wheel wells. Walnut shells rock for that. That car had NO real B5 blue paint under it, it was all the dipping primer. It had only a hazing of rust underneath that turned out to be nothing.

They will now hand sand it and etch/primer it today. We have an agreement to just replace what is needed on the quarters without a full replacement. That is where the labor charges will start to roll in. Doing it with a TIG welder.

Excited and very nervous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the job they did on a 67 chevelle convert sitting next to my car was to die for, it was perfect perfect perfect for body fit and no defects when I looked down the sides, so I think things will turn out ok).

http://artiesrestorations.com/70plymouthcuda.html

[black69]

My stress level is going down. Just paid my first $5K check (100hrs), included removal of all stuff in engine bay less engine, front and back suspension, everything under car,remove remaining caulk in wheel well and wire brush, hand sand every square inch of car (inside fenders too) post media blasting, spray with epoxy primer, completed basic rear quarter metal work and replacement of one extention (my NOS stash).

Eventually the car goes on a rotisserie to allow for comfortable hammering out of the welds for minimal filler. They straightened out some old body work (grinding areas).

Trunk floor is so nice in this car.

All repairs below the belt line.

No doubt it has a ways to go!

[black69]

Getting there! Took forever to get that little rubber bumper!

[black69]

Finally off to the paint shop. The stress is finally over. I now I know why I waited so long to restore a car. Its STRESSFUL!!!!
Plus my wallet is now missing [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/smile.gif[/img]

[black69]

I'll add in something I found in surveying some owners of some 71 hemi cuda coupes, superbirds, daytona's and some folks that have sold their convertible mopars for huge money. They all, for the most part said paint the car full body color underneath. They said most of the buyers care about the original drivetrain, and how much of the car is original. They care about documentation. They dont care as much about accurately the sound deadner reapplication was done in the quarters, or how sloppy the seam sealer was reapplied in the trunk. They said dont waste your time trying to replicate the factory dipping primer on the underbody, etc. Plus, one could go back later and shoot the drive shaft tunnel gray if they had to have the look (a new owners option). Long short, I now believe the big dollar mopars dont have to be OEM correct painted underneath, so its ok to do what you like in that area. Chevy's may not follow this option when it comes to having an impact on value. Everything else under my car will be OEM finish and stock parts. The last guy that told me to do the above, got stupid money for a 6 pack 4 spd superbird. Stupid money. He convinced me to leave my rear quarters to not have the sound deadner reapplied. You can always add it later (his superbird was without the deadner).

To prove my point a bit on this, a sassy grass green 1970 340 automatic cuda convertible sold for $150K at a recent Mecum auction. It had clear applied over its yellow strobe stripes, far from OEM correct.