The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[njsteve]

I think the conversation went like this:

Me: "Hey Dave I got the perfect place for you to store all that door crap for shipping when the truck comes to pick up he Cuda."

Dave: "Great, Where is that?"

Me: "Inside the doors, with the glass attached"

Dave: (crickets chirping sound)

;-)

[A12pilot]

Hahahaha! Yes... I'm remembering that conversation well now!

Genie Stevie...makem show up, u- bolts!

Cheers
Dave

[njsteve]

Once again USPS has lost a package from their Fort Worth depot.

The U-bolts were supposed to arrive Monday but every day since, the tracking just says:

"Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility."

So I ordered a set from Summit Racing which has a warehouse in Texas. That will hopefully jinx USPS into finding the package.

[A12pilot]

Moving forward, the infamous U-Bolt debacle of 2020 has passed! They finally arrived and the rear is back where the rear belongs... in the rear!

Since the part of the trunk floor that I replaced was the area where the exhaust mounted, I had to assemble the exhaust, install the valance, align, mark the holes for the mounting brackets, remove the valance, exhaust, drill the holes, reinstall the exhaust, valance, align everything, then tighten. Easy... freakin' peasy!

It's coming together nicely! Is it perfect? Nope. Will it win best of show? Pfflppp... Will it make Steve's Dad finally lay to rest his purple car fix? Definitely!

Not much left. I'll start in on painting the bumpers tomorrow!

Cheers
Dave

[mockingbird812]

Dang that’s purdy Dave!!!

[A12pilot]

Thanks Sam! The rotisserie doubled as a bumper scaffold for painting. Up next... purple part troix!

Cheers
Dave

[A12pilot]

Bumpers were sanded back down and adhesion promoter sprayed on first followed by DP Epoxy using 401LF catalyst instead of three standard 402LF. After that, 2K primer with no additive. Once the paint in complete, the clear gets the flex agent. I'll fill in the pinholes then it'll be ready for paint!

Engine bay is buttoned I up with all brake lines hooked up for Steve-O to start the bleeding process. Wheel lip moldings installed, and up next will be the undercoating in the wells. Once the bumpers are done, the da ssd's h will be loosely placed in along with the steering column, seats, aged the remaining parts awaiting pickup!

Woohoo! Almost done!

Cheers
Dave

[R68GTO]

Gonna be stunning!

[realzed]

Stupid question I bet - but after going to all of the pains to get this entire car so nice and perfect, WHY would you put the rad back in looking all grungy?
I realize that they all after some point probably looked like that with the paint chipping off and all - but after all of the other bits being so detailed and conforming to a somewhat 'as delivered' level, would you seek to make the rad stand out by it's obvious day 365 or more day appearance - just ask'n?

[njsteve]

Originally Posted by realzed

Stupid question I bet - but after going to all of the pains to get this entire car so nice and perfect, WHY would you put the rad back in looking all grungy?
I realize that they all after some point probably looked like that with the paint chipping off and all - but after all of the other bits being so detailed and conforming to a somewhat 'as delivered' level, would you seek to make the rad stand out by it's obvious day 365 or more day appearance - just ask'n?

Good observational question, but the actual answer is that this is a tag team effort and I am doing the second half of the 1/8 of the job that is remaining after Dave went waaaaaaay beyond the call of duty in doing the bodywork and painting the car down in Texas. And it's easier and safer for that radiator to be mounted up in the engine compartment than be sitting in some cardboard in the back of a trailer along with a lot of other parts that are coming north to NJ for the assemblification of the remaining tasks. And I have a good local radiator recorer nearby that can do the job in the event it needs it.