ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Whe I was grinding the paint to weld in the passenger’s side a-pillar, I found more rust that I had to cut out and fix...
Project Crusty Biscuit (65 Plymouth Valiant)
- Thread starter ChrisRomello
- Start date
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Just going full bore on this one. Such Enthusiasm. I like it.
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
I started to fit my “new” outer cowl to begin doing some repairs but I’ve grown tired of looking at the front of the car so I moved on to start the work on the sail panels.
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
This is all that’s left after removing all the rusty pieces...
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
I’ve made some progress on the sail panels. Not complete but I have one almost done now
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
I just got back from picking up this 360 that I found on CL. Fully rebuilt with less than 15,000 miles on it! I originally wanted to go with a later style Magnum from a late 90s Ram and I thought that was what this was but I’m happy with this since it will be a more simple install and I have more options for proformance upgrades. And he threw in a set of rebuilt heads from a 318 and some headers! This engine came from a truck and the headers are not block huggers so I’m not sure if they will fit... but anyway, awesome deal!
Moving right along. Engine will move it along nicely. After all your metalwork on the car, cutting up the headers to make them work will be a piece of cake!
73duster318auto
Well-Known Member
Hey bud nice project you weren't kidding you have been busy welding on this car . I'm happy to help with the eng like I stated I would have it sit in a corner for years before I would ever use it again ! You keep up the good work and if you need help I'm not far away !
73duster318auto
Well-Known Member
By the way to you guys saying he's quick there's a very good reason he's a youngin ! I can't believe what he can do at his age ! Wish I still had that spunk !
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Progress has been kinda slow the past week; been super busy with other things. I’ve been doing a lot of planning though! I managed to get some work done on the driver’s sail panel before I killed my grinder. This is the second one I’ve killed working on this car. They were only $15 Harbor Freight ones so I’m not really complaining. It broke just in time to take advantage of a sweet Black Friday deal!
73duster318auto
Well-Known Member
73duster318auto
Well-Known Member
Might want to check this out I can't find the ones I thought I had but this is a good start.
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Wow! I was finally able to get some work done on the car this weekend. I had to spend my last couple weekends building a fence.
I started some repairs on the outer cowl patching some rust and doing a few custom things:
In the future I plan on going with a aftermarket ac system without a fresh air intake so I decided to close off the entire outside of the cowl by deleting the vent and welding up the spray nozzle holes. I might replace them with the flush mount kind at a later time.
A slight amount of warpage occurred when I was welding everything together so I will definitely have to spend some time on it with my hammer and dolly. I will fine grind all of the welds once the piece is welded in place on the car. I am almost ready to do that but fist I’m going to POR15 the inside of the inner and outer cowl and seam seal the two pieces together.
I started some repairs on the outer cowl patching some rust and doing a few custom things:
In the future I plan on going with a aftermarket ac system without a fresh air intake so I decided to close off the entire outside of the cowl by deleting the vent and welding up the spray nozzle holes. I might replace them with the flush mount kind at a later time.
A slight amount of warpage occurred when I was welding everything together so I will definitely have to spend some time on it with my hammer and dolly. I will fine grind all of the welds once the piece is welded in place on the car. I am almost ready to do that but fist I’m going to POR15 the inside of the inner and outer cowl and seam seal the two pieces together.
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Well, the seam sealer didn’t work for the outer cowl so I ended up peeling it off to re-do it later. I’m sick of it for now so I’m going to do some work on the rear valance...
Here’s the piece with the rusted out license plate area:
All cut out:
I thought I took more pics of when I was fabricating the new piece but here is all I got:
Test fitting to make sure it will clear the inner support behind the valance:
Off the car and all welded up!
By the way, excuse my messy shop!
Here’s the piece with the rusted out license plate area:
All cut out:
I thought I took more pics of when I was fabricating the new piece but here is all I got:
Test fitting to make sure it will clear the inner support behind the valance:
Off the car and all welded up!
By the way, excuse my messy shop!
73duster318auto
Well-Known Member
You are a welding beast! My eyes are hurting just looking at your pictures!
It was good to see you again at my clubs super swap meet ,even though you showed up late!! (I'm blaming it on that little pickup truck with that oval on the front!) Anyway s not sure if you found anything to help your project along ,sorry I couldn't talk much as the vice president of the club it's my job to take care of everyone & everything's problem s. Did you ever find a K frame or are you good that friend of mine (owner of driveline works) has an a body K frame on the shelf I think with the disc setup on it I can ask about it if you are interested. He doesn't need it ,not sure why he has it unless it was a spare for the duster we just finished awhile back!
Anyways keep up the good work .I might see mine in the sun light after 2 years if sitting in the shed/garage!
It was good to see you again at my clubs super swap meet ,even though you showed up late!! (I'm blaming it on that little pickup truck with that oval on the front!) Anyway s not sure if you found anything to help your project along ,sorry I couldn't talk much as the vice president of the club it's my job to take care of everyone & everything's problem s. Did you ever find a K frame or are you good that friend of mine (owner of driveline works) has an a body K frame on the shelf I think with the disc setup on it I can ask about it if you are interested. He doesn't need it ,not sure why he has it unless it was a spare for the duster we just finished awhile back!
Anyways keep up the good work .I might see mine in the sun light after 2 years if sitting in the shed/garage!
JDMopar
Well-Known Member
When you say the seam sealer didn't work on the cowl, are you talking panel bond adhesive like Fusor or 3M, or just regular old seam sealer? The panel bond adhesive has to have clean, bare metal to bite. You are doing some nice work on that car, so keep it up! 
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
You are a welding beast! My eyes are hurting just looking at
I tried to use seam sealer but it does not have a long enough open time to get the cowl clamped down (literally 5mins) the 3M panel bond adhesive has an open time of about 2 hours so that will give me plenty of time to get the cowl in place, clamped down and clean off the access adhesive.When you say the seam sealer didn't work on the cowl, are you talking panel bond adhesive like Fusor or 3M, or just regular old seam sealer? The panel bond adhesive has to have clean, bare metal to bite. You are doing some nice work on that car, so keep it up!
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Spent a few late nights this week, the weekend, and all day today trying to get some work done. Getting closer bit-by-bit!
Finally finished the front cowl. I ended up clamping it down with some panel bond between the layers and spot welding it where it attaches to the a-pillars and the fender aprons. I’ll add the lead before I epoxy primer.
Rear valance is done too!
And today I started on the rain gutters!
It took me five hours just to make the patch to do this. I have to do the same exact thing on the other side tomorrow so I’ll table more pictures of the whole process of how I made all of the pieces. I pretty much replaced the whole inner piece that goes above the doors and about an inch and a half on the side of the roof. I used panel bond and clamps to attach the roof section and I’ll weld it tomorrow after the epoxy cures. I love using that stuff! Like I said, I’ll post a more detailed version when I do the other side tomorrow.
Finally finished the front cowl. I ended up clamping it down with some panel bond between the layers and spot welding it where it attaches to the a-pillars and the fender aprons. I’ll add the lead before I epoxy primer.
Rear valance is done too!
And today I started on the rain gutters!
It took me five hours just to make the patch to do this. I have to do the same exact thing on the other side tomorrow so I’ll table more pictures of the whole process of how I made all of the pieces. I pretty much replaced the whole inner piece that goes above the doors and about an inch and a half on the side of the roof. I used panel bond and clamps to attach the roof section and I’ll weld it tomorrow after the epoxy cures. I love using that stuff! Like I said, I’ll post a more detailed version when I do the other side tomorrow.
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moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Wow, i am impressed. People with lesser skillz woulda scrapped it. I cant wait to see the finished product. Are you going w body colored steelies and poverty caps AKA dog dishes? Stock color? With a 360 thats a great sleeper.
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moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Once you get all the rust cut out and repaired, are you going to media blast it then use an epoxy primer on it?
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Yes, I plan on blasting it and epoxy primering it after the metal work. I will probably use paint stripper and 80 grit on a da mostly but just blast it in the right spaces. I hate it!
As for the look, it probably won’t so much a sleeper when I’m done...XP
Impressive. Even moreso today.
This is a scratch-built car. I see you upgraded to a makita
Will give you good service.
My best cutoff discs are made by walter. Outlast anything else.
With grinding discs i use a wheel dresser to shape the disc for getting in to corners or if i need a radius i reshape it. Flap discs are a must for cleaning up welds. Yup.
Keep it up, you are putting a few of us to shame...
This is a scratch-built car. I see you upgraded to a makita
Will give you good service.
My best cutoff discs are made by walter. Outlast anything else.
With grinding discs i use a wheel dresser to shape the disc for getting in to corners or if i need a radius i reshape it. Flap discs are a must for cleaning up welds. Yup.
Keep it up, you are putting a few of us to shame...
ddartdude
Well-Known Member
You're doing a great job on the car. You have more ambition then I have.
Great skills on your restoration.
ChrisRomello
Well-Known Member
Well, after an almost 3 year break I’m back at it again; I had a lot of changes that I had to deal with (positive ones) and now im ready to get back on my project!
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