1971 Dart 340 Six Pack

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Once the rearend and front suspension and K-frame came off, visual inspection shows how solid the bottom side of the dart is. Trunk extensions are perfect! Plans are to remove all rubberized undercoating.

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Removal of rubberized undercoating...a breeze when standing up! I've done my time on my back, cold concrete floor and face full of dirt and hot rubber...never again!

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I broke down and took a chance on the illustrious "China Freight" Sand Blaster unit...150 bucks I think....and aluminum oxide media. My old air compressor was long overdue being replaced, so fortunately, a friend of mine was selling his 2-stage 5 horse, 80 gallon tank...$400!

The blaster did the job BUT, it was a bit of a chore keeping it dialed in for proper flow.

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Ok, now do what all the other body guys do. Put your tools down and walk away for 4-5 years. J/K

Looks like you do some nice and fast work. Wish I could get off my butt and work like you
 
tuned in, enjoying, and hoping it turns out perfect for you.
 
Looks great. I wish I had a rotisserie... I'll have to get one for my next project.

For what its worth... It's too late to worry about now, but I'm told that factory undercoating contained asbestos. Ah well... I heard that after mine was all done too. Yet another thing trying to kill me...
 
Again, thanks for the kind words. And Racingduster, I am guilty of burning out around Christmas '09 until about 2 months ago! I just didn't enjoy working during the cold months with my garage door closed...my shop area is ONLY 10 by 22!

Fourspeed, I'm sure your right about the bad stuff...I was holding my breath in those pix.:pale:

After several days of blasting, The POR-15 was generously applied to the entire underside....

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....and while the POR-15 was still tacky, I began "jambing" all of the hard to reach areas prior to full on spray with PPG DP-40 Primer. The PPG is expensive BUT it sure is tough stuff and lays on like butter. The '66 Belvedere you see in some of the pix has DP-40 on the roof and in the trunk...from 10 years ago...and is still soild!!!

As you can see, the painting lasted into the dark of the evening!

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No sooner than the paint was dry on the bottom, I started prepping the inside surfaces for paint. This was last October, the weather was wonderful and I had taken the week off to get a big jump on the restoration.

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Again, POR-15 was applied to the "low areas" inside the body. Also, the POR-15 needs to be tacky in order for paint to adhere, so I went ahead and shot primer on the painted areas. Instead of DP, I used K36 high build primer. The idea is that K36 will be a lot easier to prep for paint at a much later date. After a week, the DP is so hard that paint will not adhere well, and needs to be scuff sanded...not fun with all of the unevenness of the interior. I feel that the K36's slight bit of surface tack will hold the color coats well enough when I get to that stage. Yeah, I know I'm going overkill here, especially for something that's not even gonna be seen, but it does my head good knowing all bases are covered.

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Doing a great job. I just love those 71's. I will follow your build close as I work on mine.
 
It on to the engine bay! Down to the metal and then a few coats of DP-40. No rust damage at the battery tray area...nice!...a little POR-15 wont hurt.

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Ahhh....straightening quarter panels! The upper body molding holes were previously welded shut...the rocker molding holes were just bondoed. Also, note the few small low spots where the green paint remains. Not bad BUT the area above the wheel opening has been slightly dented, of which will require a little attention.

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Going, going,....GONE! Very solid top with only a couple of minor dents.

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Great work going on there!! Dead cat count at 2 from what I see in update #13 and 16. I think the asbestos in the under coating must have got to them LOL.
 
Now it's on to the filler panel.

I hate to see a '70 dart chopped up BUT this donor hailed from Boston until about 10 years ago. It made the move to south Memphis from which I found it on Craigslist. The entire bottom was rusted beyond belief! Even the torsion bar cross frame had rusted out so bad that patch panels had been crudely welded in. Rear spring perch frames were also severely rusted.

You can see the original Dark Green Poly lying under the faded, single-stage Sublime.

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