Gerahead's 71 Dart

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replace the bushings and while you have them off you can paint it all, then put it all back together.the weld you see is most likely from the last time the bushings were replaced. cut the old weld and spread the bushing housing and remove it, then pull the old rubber. reverse for reinstall. postcar.
 
a68postcar said:
replace the bushings and while you have them off you can paint it all, then put it all back together.the weld you see is most likely from the last time the bushings were replaced. cut the old weld and spread the bushing housing and remove it, then pull the old rubber. reverse for reinstall. postcar.
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That explains it!! I was trying to figure out how to get them off to replace the isolator. Figured I was missing somethin'. Guess I shouldn't have overlooked the "just whack them apart and weld 'em back together" option. Thanks. L8r

Jim
 
gerahead said:
The good news is that the passenger's side quarter is tacked on :blob: It actually went pretty smoothly. After I had everything fitted pretty well, I hung it for the last time and ran some self tapping sheet metal screws through the new skin in into the underlapping original quarter, just above where I am going to make the splice (1st pic). The top edge of the tape line is where I intended to make the splice. What I did then was cut through both panels using the tape edge as a guide with an offset grinder and a 0.040" cutting wheel for about a foot. It took several passes to get through both panels and I cooled it with compressed air after each pass to help keep the risk of warping down. Then I removed the first screw and peeled back the overlapping new steel and tacked the two pieces together on the cut edge using compressed air to cool each tack as I went. When I got near the end of the cut, just repeated the process until I had worked my way all the way around the cut edge. You can see the process in the second picture probably better than I can describe it.

Anyone see in the first pic what I could have done to make my job easier???? I need to make the final trim of the new skin below the top body line. That crease made it impossible to peel back the cut portion of the top layer without either cutting the steel below it or running the risk of deforming the cut edge trying to roll it over. Not bad for an engineer huh? :eek:ops:

I thought that I would have trouble with the tack welds, but that went pretty smoothly. I have been fighing the plug welds along the lower lips. I tried some test coupons using scraps from what I cut off and it seemed to work pretty well. What I didn't have figured into the mix was the weld thru primer. That really makes the welder spatter!! Burnt the piss out of my arm on the first one I tried. I have done this before and for some reason it just isn't workin'. Time to walk away. I built up some more pieces to use for tuninhg the welder, this time with the primer applied as well. This really shouldn't be this tough. :banghead::banghead::banghead:

Once again, I have GROSSLY underestimated the time it would take to complete this job. Live and learn. L8r

Jim
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I like your method here. Im getting close to starting the same project. Any tips you discovered as an after thought? Looks like you didnt run your new one all the way to wrapped around the back side of the door. What did you cut it with up top to get it so clean?
 
72ScampTramp said:
I like your method here. Im getting close to starting the same project. Any tips you discovered as an after thought? Looks like you didnt run your new one all the way to wrapped around the back side of the door. What did you cut it with up top to get it so clean?
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'Tramp,
The skin that I got (Sherman and Associates) did not have a finished flange for the door jamb. The creased edge that forms the outside edge of the jamb was there, but the excess steel that would form the spot weld flange on the inside of the jamb looked to be intended to be trimmed away. A guy could probably make it work if you wanted to wrap it around the jamb, but it would take some effort.

Lessons........ Since I had never done this before, I was very deliberate in what I did and triple checked everything before I made an irreversible move (like cutting steel). In order to maybe avoid what I ran into with the fit around the back rear of the wheel well, I should have paid more attention to exactly how everything fit before I started welding. I thought that I had, but in retrospect, I did most of the checking before I had drilled the holes for the plug welds so the misfit that I ran into was not visible when I did all of that fitting. The welding flange around the taillight panel is much wider than the factory panel was. Not a big deal since it will be covered by the quarter panel extension. I want the panel replacement to be as invisible as possible so I will likely trim it back before I call it done. Really don't need to, but sometimes I get really (unnecessarily) wound up about stuff like that. :banghead: I also spent a lot of time once the old panel was cut away making sure that the outer wheel house and trunk floor extension surfaces were flat and straight. All in all, I think that it went pretty smoothly for not having done something like this before.

On the top edge.........once I had the new panel screwed into place to hold it (screws about every foot to 18"), I stretched a piece of masking tape the length of the panel to define the edge where I wanted to cut and make the butt welded seam. This tape edge was over a spot where both layers of metal were under the cut line. Then I used a .060" thick metal cutting disc on a 4-1/2" offset grinder to cut through both layers of steel at the same time. This creates a uniform space between both panels for the butt weld. I only cut the distance between 2 screws at one time so that the panels were still held securely and to help to minimize the heat created by the cutting. I didn't try to cut through both layers all at once, I thought that might create too much heat, so I had to be real careful that after I made the first cut that I didn't wander with the cutter on the successive passes. Then I made a spot weld about every inch, cooled it right away with compressed air (thanks for 60 gal compressor tanks 'cuz I only have one 220V outlet in the garage) before proceeding. I used a thin screwdriver blade in the gap between panels to pry up or down on the edges to make sure I had a flush edge between the two panels when I made the tack welds. As I got close to one of the screws, I removed it and peeled back the top and bottom layers and kept working my way toward the end of the cut and then start the process all over again. The top edge turned out very straight so I am encouraged that following this process will give me a nice seam to work with when it is all done. I probably told you more than you really wanted to know, but I'd be happy to fill in any gaps if something wasn't clear. L8r

Jim
 
Finally got back out to the garage today to tackle the wheel well issue. I ended up tacking it along the edge where the two pieces come together and then filled the holes in. The pic is after I had done the rough grinding so I need to touch it up a little nicer before I will call it done. I also picked up a present for myself earlier in the week. I have been watching CL for about a year for one and found this just a few minutes down the freeway. Nice rugged American made unit for less than what the Harbor Fright-like units have been selling for. Since parts are still available at Grainger, I might price out the missing parts from the cooling system, but they'll probably cost more than the saw did! LOL L8r

Jim
 

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Seems like forever since I spent any real time out in the garage, except for short, scattered bursts. I got out for a couple of hours last night and was able to make some progress.
I was able to track down some #24 grit sandpaper that fit on my air sander. This turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. I ground down all of the spot welds around the periphery of the quarter panel to leave just a small ridge on them (photo 2). Then I went around the edge filling in the gap between them using the number of spots that it would take to fill the gap. I started off by filling in every 5th gap to keep the heat down and then kept progressively filling in the open gaps until I had them all filled in (photo 3). Now I need to go back and grind them all down and then finish them so I can cover it up until I get to the "final" body work. Looks like I'll be running out of nice weather soon :protest:. L8r

Jim
 

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looking good Jim. I know what you mean by the weather MN should be getting snow soon, haha.
 
Progress has been slow, but progress is progress!! I got all of the welding done along the top edge and the front edge of the quarter and I got the grinding done on the top edge pretty close to being done. I will probably light the seam from the back side to make sure that I didn't leave any little holes. I think the seam turned out looking pretty nice. I shot some rattle can primer on it just to protect it until I can get back at it in earnest. L8r

Jim
 
........forgot to add the pic before I hit the old send button..
 

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Looking great Jim. You're doing a nice job and are obviously patient with the process. I have had to take a break because of the weather here too. 110 + but into the 90's this weekend so I finally made some progress of my own. Keep up the great work and I am enjoying following your progress :).
 
132068Dodge said:
Looking great Jim. You're doing a nice job and are obviously patient with the process. I have had to take a break because of the weather here too. 110 + but into the 90's this weekend so I finally made some progress of my own. Keep up the great work and I am enjoying following your progress :).
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Chris,
I'm thinkin' I should be envious. LOL We are bouncing between 70's and 50's, so any paint work is pretty much over for the season. I have a little more welding to do and I'll call it done. Thanks. L8r

Jim
 
Happy New Year to you all!!!!
I guess that I have clearly been on a hiatus. I was forced to take vacation this past week due to a company shut-down so I took the time to put the project away for the winter and to make room for my wife to get her car into the garage for the winter. I lost some of the urgency 'cuz the weather has been pretty mild by any standards of normalcy. I thought that I was going to have to take the car off the rotisserie to get it to the side of the stall, but it turns out that it fit without having to take it off. That was obviously a bonus.
During the closing days of my work in the fall, it became pretty clear to me that my compressor had a pretty hard time keeping up with jobs like grinding and sanding. I had actually been on the prowl on Craigslist for about a year for an 80-gallon compressor. I finally found one, so my patience paid off. Got a smoking deal on it too so it was worth the wait. I picked it up two weeks ago and dragged it home. I will have to figure out how to rewire it because when it was removed from its previous home, all the wiring was cut instead of just disconnected. It has a commercial grade motor that has a mag starter that I will need to sort through. I have all winter to sort it out, plus I won't need it right away when the weather gets nice in the Spring anyway. L8r
 
I have put mine on hold too Jim. At least I don't have to deal with the snow though :). I hope the company shutdown doesn't last long brother!! I am close to buttoning up the fuel system on my Dart as the fuel tank, sender, fuel filler neck to trunk floor seal, and j hooks are on the UPS truck as we speak. Looking forward to starting the interior soon and then the motor and tranny. I look forward to your continuing progress in future months. Good luck with everything.
 
Chris,
no, the shut down was a planned 1-week deal between Christmas and New Year. I am back at the grindstone. Thanks.
 
Jim - Awesome project and very nice work, you are much ahead of me. Looks like yo have managed to clean inside floor pans and trunk pans very nicely, did you discover any helpful tricks or is it all brute force labor? I am at the stage where I am ready to weld in patches (we are fabricating our own to this point) and then will be faced with how to clean up the remaining metal. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
Marksmopars,
Thanks for the compliments. The passenger compartment floor was generally in pretty good shape except for the foot well behind the driver seat. Here there were a couple of pin holes and I welded these back closed. Otherwise is was brute force. Twisted wire wheel on an offset 4-1/2 inch grinder. The trunk floor was pretty solid as well, but the winter before I got the car, it had been sitting outside under a tarp with no deck lid. The tarp blew off and the trunk filled with snow, so there was plenty of surface rust. I initially used some POR putty ot fill in the pin holes in the bottom of the spare tire well, but I have since acquired a brand new (replacement) base for the well that I will patch in instead and then it will be rock solid.
What I found during the wheeling process is that when it looks like you really aren't making much progress removing material, its because the individual wires in the wheel take on a curve from the pressure and rotation. Take the wheel off and turn it upside down and it works like a champ again. It is really dirty work, but the metal comes out pretty clean. L8r
 
.........finally. It has taken a long time to get back to work this summer! Got Momma's car kicked out of the garage and the Dart moved back into a position where I can work on it. Feels good to be back in the saddle! L8r
 
Started to tackle the body line misalignment between the quarter panel and the door jamb last night. I am still mystified how this can happen, but it did. I will post some pix as soon as I get a chance. When I noticed the misalignment, I did not fully weld the seam in that area, knowing that I would want to correct it. I used my air saw to slice through the tack welds in the vicinity of the section I wanted to fix. After making sure that I included all of the factory bends in the removed section, I marked it and stripped the paint in the jamb area to reveal the spot welds. Cut out the spot welds and used a combination of cutting wheel and air saw to remove the body line section. The jamb behind this piece had been bent, so I hammered out the dent so I got a good fit on the piece I just cut out. I set the removed piece back in place to align the body line vertically and marked along the bottom edge to remove that section. Now I can line up the body line between the door, jamb and quarterpanel. It was offset about a 1/2 inch! I intend to re-purpose a piece of the original quarter that I cut out to make an L-shaped patch and weld that sucker in. Then I will be able to finish welding the quarter in and call one side done. L8r
 
I was able to start welding the edge of the quarterpanel and the patch back in tonight. Goes really slow with such a small area when you have to keep waiting to make sure it is cooled off. The first pic is with the part of the edge marked that I need to cut out. The second one shows the piece cut out and lined up with the crease in the quarter and the edge of the door. I had to move it quite a bit. The last one is with everything tacked in. Now it is just weld, grind, weld, grind............ L8r.
 

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I guess that I really hadn't been paying attention, +10,000 hits since I started this thread! I certainly hope that I can help others over the course of this (long) project as much as I have learned here myself. Thanks for all your support. L8r
 
I posted this question in the Body forum and had no luck so I figured I'd give it a shot here too...........

My 71 Dart originally had a vinyl roof that has been removed, but that I intend to replace. In the top of the front and rear window openings, there are staples that were used to hold the edges down. Questions are..........
- how do you remove the old staples without boogering up the channel?
- do you leave the existing holes from the old staples for use with the new ones (I'm thinkin' not) or weld em up and punch new ones when the new top is installed?
- are they even needed for a replacement roof?

Thanks for your help. L8r
 
I welded mine up cause at the time I was not going vinyl top. After I painted the car I decided to put the top on. I took it to a shop and they installed the top. They did not have to use staples, so I don't really think it is nessary.
 
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