67/68/69 cuda dilemma

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Well I broke one of the roller trolleys last week trying to clean it and free up the rollers. My heart sank, and I panicked. Rat Rod Al had one and sent it to me. Thanks Al !! Cooler minds prevailed after I had a couple days to think about how to fix this thing. So I also repaired this broken one with JB weld and some #55 cobalt drill bits. It's probably just as strong as if it was never broken, however I will use the undamaged one and keep this repaired one as a spare. I cleaned the break with MEK, and applied a thin coat of JB Weld and clamped it till dry. Once dry, I drilled it in 3 spots with these tiny #55 drill bits and then JB weld glued them in place till dry. Cut off the ends and filed smooth. They were drilled in crooked by design to help pin the pieces together. Heres pix.

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Nice job! You always seem to develop clever, clean solutions to things.
 
The patience and diligence you display during these several years, not only in the effort you put into this car but in keeping everyone here updated for all these years is beyond impressive. I know guys who have a similar skill level to yours but I don’t know anyone who would go to the lengths you do. I put quite a bit of time into my ‘67 cuda and my crew cab W350 but nothing like, not even close to, your commitment. My wife tells me I “have to make it perfect”, she has no concept. I wish I could sit her down to read all 35 pages of this.
 
Went to work early today. Started cleaning the rear window regulators. One of em at least. Kept scrubbing and hitting with the air blower. Cleaned out the dirt and junk from the gear box with MEK, a small acid brush and repeatedly air blowing until I got clean liquid out of it and I could turn the window crank without any dirt crunching noises. I will lubricate everything with Aeroshell 7 synthetic low temp grease. Sandblasted the mounting nuts. I still have to clean the other one later today. Time to clock in for todays work.

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The patience and diligence you display during these several years, not only in the effort you put into this car but in keeping everyone here updated for all these years is beyond impressive. I know guys who have a similar skill level to yours but I don’t know anyone who would go to the lengths you do. I put quite a bit of time into my ‘67 cuda and my crew cab W350 but nothing like, not even close to, your commitment. My wife tells me I “have to make it perfect”, she has no concept. I wish I could sit her down to read all 35 pages of this.
JD Erisman thanks for the kudos. I work as an aircraft sheetmetal mechanic for a living, and am wired up with Aspergers. It kind of makes me a perfectionist with everything.
 
Not a whole lot to report on this long weekend. I had other A body related **** to do, but nothing related to this. Honestly I had to stew on how I was going to repair this part. I will have to repair and reuse the LH rain gutter since it's got the vin on it. The back end is blown out with rust. However I have another LH rain gutter from the donor that I sandblasted and primered so I could use sections from it to repair mine. This should work just fine

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Well the cold set in, and no time to sandblast with it. What I am doing is removing the rust in the areas where I have to attach the rear quarter tops. And other parts using naval jelly. It's slow going, but getting there. I will soon get started on that part of the reassembly. Yesterday my son wanted to do some assembly and dissassembly. So we removed the weatherstripping rails, and bagged n tagged them and their hardware. Then we dug through my 5/16 Sems bolts , nuts, and clip nuts container for the right length hardware, and temp installed the battery box.

When it comes back out for paint, all the right hardware will at least be with it. I am still mentally working on how I want to cut and splice solid metal in where the drip rails meet and overlap at the taillight area. The RH drip rail from the donor is rust free, but where it attaches at the taillight is pretty rough. Rough enough to splice a small piece in. The LH drip rail attach point at the taillight is so bad I will have to cut the end off and use the end from the donor. I am probably going to do all that today, or at least get the pieces fitted to get em ready to weld.

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Well the cold set in, and no time to sandblast with it. What I am doing is removing the rust in the areas where I have to attach the rear quarter tops. And other parts using naval jelly. It's slow going, but getting there. I will soon get started on that part of the reassembly. Yesterday my son wanted to do some assembly and dissassembly. So we removed the weatherstripping rails, and bagged n tagged them and their hardware. Then we dug through my 5/16 Sems bolts , nuts, and clip nuts container for the right length hardware, and temp installed the battery box.

When it comes back out for paint, all the right hardware will at least be with it. I am still mentally working on how I want to cut and splice solid metal in where the drip rails meet and overlap at the taillight area. The RH drip rail from the donor is rust free, but where it attaches at the taillight is pretty rough. Rough enough to splice a small piece in. The LH drip rail attach point at the taillight is so bad I will have to cut the end off and use the end from the donor. I am probably going to do all that today, or at least get the pieces fitted to get em ready to weld.

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The little man is doing a great job. Keep up the good work.
 
RH side, and the FWD end of the LH rain gutter. Almost done cutting off rusty **** !!!!
Yaaaay for me !!!!!

Next up will probably be reworking both of the lower corners of the rear window opening. Both are pretty holey.

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Hi Al, that woulda been great, but by the time we got back from Abuelos he was already sleeping. The fab stuff, I have to stew on it and work it over and over in my mind for awhile until I come up with the best plan of attack. I will likely never redo another one that's in this awful shape ever again. But if i did, i would be able to do it faster because i would already have a plan. I think I have just enough energy in me to finish this one, and my 67 coupe.
 
Hi Al, that woulda been great, but by the time we got back from Abuelos he was already sleeping. The fab stuff, I have to stew on it and work it over and over in my mind for awhile until I come up with the best plan of attack. I will likely never redo another one that's in this awful shape ever again. But if i did, i would be able to do it faster because i would already have a plan. I think I have just enough energy in me to finish this one, and my 67 coupe.

Morpar mat2000 ,

You have got some mad skills! Love your repairs and the detail you put into them. Looks like you also have a new MOPAR fan in training! Cheers to you both!!
 
I got a little more done today. I fly out tomorrow for pops funeral. I needed some alone time today. When I get back, I will weld up the other side.

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Been busy with a bunch o other things, but took a couple hours today to get a bit farther. The water channel with the original vin is now welded back to the car after repairs. Trunklid is fitted, and rear quarter top on LH side will get welded in later tonight or sometime tomorrow. All the temp bracing has been removed except the 2 pieces supporting the LH taillight bucket. Everything fits really good. I am very pleased with this.

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LH side was only clamped in place yesterday. It's all finally welded in now. The repaired LH trunk drip rail channel with correct vin # stamping that the car was built with is back in place where it belongs. All the temp bracing is now cut back out. Once everything is seam sealed, primered etc. you wont ever be able to tell this thing was ever apart. It was a lot of slow going, planning, and head scratching to figure out how I was going to do this. I had only one shot to get it right. Honestly, I think I nailed it. I also think i must be turning the corner to making serious progress. No fun pix of cut off scrap metal to show today, I only swept up grinding filings.

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Not too much to report. Subframe connectors are welded in, and I spent some time fabricating front and rear torque box reinforcing plates. Now working on making the LCA reinforcing straps.

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Do you maybe have the measurements of the torque boxes templates? I would like to make some for myself too, thanks very much in advance!
 
Bad weather setting in. Ice storms, and 20 degree weather. I am more prepared than last winter. Wired this gem last summer 110V 3800 watt generator. It will backfeed from my shop to to my main panel, will run 10 hours on one bottle of grill gas. I have 4 bottles. I have a master shutoff on the main house panel so to not backfeed the grid. Will run my gas heat, a microwave, and my lights in 4 rooms (all led bulbs) the living room TV. Thats about all I need. Old man winter can go suck a dick from now on

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Well old man winter backed down. We had no loss of power, I put everything back in storage. Maybe next winter he and I will spar again.
 
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