I'm a fan of trucks, but that GTO needs to be driven, just as you say
1970 Duster project in Sweden
- Thread starter trebor75
- Start date
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moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
No problem.you may want to concider buying a "long board" this allows you to shape the filler better over longer spots, and helps eliminate waviness. I use this, and it works great.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Txstang84,
If you can buy full quarters for the scamp, id advise you to do so. Having to do a non stock seam is a b##tch. I have no choice on the cuda since they dont make full quarters for the coupes.
My OCD will make me end up climbing inside the trunk and bodyfilling the non stock seams on my cudas quarters with bodyfiller on the backside.
I can prob help you in some capacity. Are you planning on moving back to Abilene?
If you can buy full quarters for the scamp, id advise you to do so. Having to do a non stock seam is a b##tch. I have no choice on the cuda since they dont make full quarters for the coupes.
My OCD will make me end up climbing inside the trunk and bodyfilling the non stock seams on my cudas quarters with bodyfiller on the backside.
I can prob help you in some capacity. Are you planning on moving back to Abilene?
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moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Trebor75,
You might want to check with eastwood automotive supply co online. They sell everything for doing autobody repair for the enthusiast, and have some really neat products
You might want to check with eastwood automotive supply co online. They sell everything for doing autobody repair for the enthusiast, and have some really neat products
txstang84
Well-Known Member
I'm already back in Abilene-on the north side off of E Lake Rd. As I mentioned though--currently renting so I can't really bring my toys back yet. I'm optimistically looking at moving to Potosi because I anticipate being here for another couple decades and want some land to build a shop and maybe bring a couple family members to live with my wife and I, so not toys until then.
I definitely want to buy the full quarters-both sides. I've found them online for about $1200/pr; seems like a decent price for new galvanized metal that won't rot through at the first threat of retained road water.
My minor idiosyncrasies won't be quite to that amplitude. As long as it's covered in primer and some form of top coat on the inside, I don't need beyond factory line perfection or concourse resto correct markings. To be perfectly honest, I might POR the inside of the trunk and cover over it with either hammer coat finish or some sort of sound/vibration absorbing coating.
You need to check out bad obsession motorsports on YouTube-they have a series called "Project Binky" (in colour) where the proprietors (a couple of cheeky limeys) take the full drivetrain and suspension out of a turbo awd drive celica and shoehorn it into a 1981 Mini--Oh, and they don't alter the OAL or wheelbase...it's about 7 hours of my life I'll never get back, but the fab work and parts big engineering going into it is awesome...pretty sure you'll dig it.
I subscribe to their youtube channel. They have some nice videos on body work. The first thing I did was buying a book on body work, but it's also cool to see some videos.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Txstang84,
Yikes $586 a side online. If you use a good epoxy etch primer, and weld thru primer in the spotweld areas that would work as well as galvanized steel. If you plan on living in abilene/potosi area it wont rust out here. I know i can get you half quarters like my goodmark cuda ones pretty inexpensively, about half the cost of full quarters if your interested.
I plan on using that spray sound deadener on the insides of the quarters too. I can hide the nonstock seams that way.
Yikes $586 a side online. If you use a good epoxy etch primer, and weld thru primer in the spotweld areas that would work as well as galvanized steel. If you plan on living in abilene/potosi area it wont rust out here. I know i can get you half quarters like my goodmark cuda ones pretty inexpensively, about half the cost of full quarters if your interested.
I plan on using that spray sound deadener on the insides of the quarters too. I can hide the nonstock seams that way.
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txstang84
Well-Known Member
The thing is the right side is half gone behind the wheel, and almost swiss cheese at the top by the dutchman panel. The left side is all there, but has a shallow dent that won't stay popped out. When I get it back down here, you can take another look at it and decide from there. I'm betting the halves or patch panels would work just fine, but it'll still need a good bit of cancer repair. I'll see if I can dig up some pics so you can see the rot again.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I think i remember. Its was a bit rough in the back
txstang84
Well-Known Member
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I'd go w full quarters then, and maybe new dutchman
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txstang84
Well-Known Member
I figure if I'm dropping $1200 on new quarters, a new dutchman is a drop in the bucket...I think they're only about $159
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
From the pix it looks like trunk extensions and inner and outer fenderwells will be needed too. Dutchmans good on both cudas.
txstang84
Well-Known Member
The right side trunk drop panel does need replaced but the left one I think was ok. The trunk floor and shock mount panel need replaced too.
Truthfully, what I need to do is slap it on a rotisserie and blast it, then fix all the rot.
Truthfully, what I need to do is slap it on a rotisserie and blast it, then fix all the rot.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Make your own rotisserie like i did out of scrap tubing. I used trampoline frame tubing and some scrap square tubing leftover from other projects.
txstang84
Well-Known Member
I'm a fan of trucks, but that GTO needs to be driven, just as you say
Ab-so-friggin-lutely
But, just like in the medical field, automotive (and in my experience aircraft) maintenance is often about triage when it comes to which one to fix first. As much as I'd like to take on the tough job, prioritization of processes typically results in getting a healthier "fleet" in a lesser and more controlled amount of time. The broke one will be down longer, especially with low manpower, but you'll be able to enjoy the others. The guy I'm talking about currently has three non-drivable or semi-drivable vehicles. The 70 pickup, a 92 pickup, and the 69 GTO. The 70 has a running small block, but it needs a few wiring fixes, speedo cable, all weatherstripping, bench seat installed, collector gaskets, and some shift linkage/TV cable work. The 92 pickup has a mild 350 stroked out to 383, but it needs a new fuel system. He's tried to run a carb in it before, but couldn't get it to play nice so he wants to buy an EFI system. Apart from a properly set up fuel system, that one's ready to go. Then we come to the GTO.
longblock finished to include oil pan, valley pan, intake manifold, carb, distributor, accessories, valve covers, fuel pump, probably hardware, etc...
TH400 rebuilt w/converter
check electrical
depopulate junk/unused parts
needs complete exhaust
check rear end
rebuild driveshaft
...probably a good bit more. He has most of the parts there, but they all need to be at least checked for serviceability.
Since the photos in my early posts in this project thread won't show anymore (since the change to the new forum) I thought I do a little recap here.
The day I picked it up
Engine bay was a mess
A little better at least
I liked the idea of having 225 on there. Sometimes I miss that /6. It was such a great driver.
But out it came!
Time to clean!
I honestly cant remeber what that white stuff is. Maybe rust stop!?
I wish I did this better, and in the right color haha!
The little 273 commando came out of my friends Dart
And went into the Duster
I never liked the color I sprayed it in, I also did a poor job... Well, we sometimes have to learn the hard way.
Swapping out the 7.25 for a 8.75
Moving the shifter from the tree to the floor
Outdoor cam swap!
I really like mags. Working on polishing the front one's. Someone sprayed clear coat on them.
These bad boys looked so great on the car
With my friends at the drag strip. My first time there. Nothing impressive, I still had 2.76 gears.
This time around I had the solid cam, 3500 stall converter and 3.55 gearing. After the first run I had no third gear and no reverse. So that summer the was expensive...
This summer I did some detailing on the engine.
Just a recap of some of the stuff. I've had it for 10 years now. I now have a 10", 3000 stall converter and 3.73 gearing and a Street Demon Carb. This winter I have turned the attention to some rust issues and also fixing up the interior.
The day I picked it up
Engine bay was a mess
A little better at least
I liked the idea of having 225 on there. Sometimes I miss that /6. It was such a great driver.
But out it came!
Time to clean!
I honestly cant remeber what that white stuff is. Maybe rust stop!?
I wish I did this better, and in the right color haha!
The little 273 commando came out of my friends Dart
And went into the Duster
I never liked the color I sprayed it in, I also did a poor job... Well, we sometimes have to learn the hard way.
Swapping out the 7.25 for a 8.75
Moving the shifter from the tree to the floor
Outdoor cam swap!
I really like mags. Working on polishing the front one's. Someone sprayed clear coat on them.
These bad boys looked so great on the car
With my friends at the drag strip. My first time there. Nothing impressive, I still had 2.76 gears.
This time around I had the solid cam, 3500 stall converter and 3.55 gearing. After the first run I had no third gear and no reverse. So that summer the was expensive...
This summer I did some detailing on the engine.
Just a recap of some of the stuff. I've had it for 10 years now. I now have a 10", 3000 stall converter and 3.73 gearing and a Street Demon Carb. This winter I have turned the attention to some rust issues and also fixing up the interior.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Dude, you did a lot of work. Looks great. I bet it runs as good as it looks. I love the look of the slotted mags on it.
txstang84
Well-Known Member
I remember reading all those posts--I love the progress you've made. Is that demon carb still doing alright by you?
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
I noticed you still have the column shifter indicator. I have actually taken those die cast column collar pieces off the columns, and cut the indicators off, then ground them smooth, as well as cutting the nub for the column shifter off the lower collar, then i used a structural metal epoxy paste "JB weld" to fill in the indicator hole and shifter hole and body worked them so they look like floor shift pieces. This way you can make a smooth floor shift column out of it.
Thanks guys. Yes, after tuning and fixing the acc pump it runs great. I'm gonna get to that column shift indicator eventually, i think. I will probably be painting the dash frame this winter, If I can get the right color.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
The 70 up columns require more cutting and grinding to smooth them than the 67 to 69 ones, however there is enough metal there to grind off and shape.
Pix below are of a 67 - 69 column shift one i cut and reshaped. I ended up finding factory floor shift ones to use, so i planned on putting these up for sale. In the upper right picture, you can see the metalized epoxy putty filling the indicator hole from the inside. The key to it really bonding is to super clean the metal of the part where your putting the metal epoxy, then rough sand or grind where the putty will fill the hole so it bonds well. i also grind and file the diecast slightly concave where the filler goes, and let the filler overlap the diecast, so there isnt a hard parting line between the 2 materials.
Got this idea from an old hot rodder who had a 57 chevy bel air with a mid 70s GM tilt column. He kept the tilt column, but removed the ignition key from the column, shaved the metal down and filled it the same way, and kept the key on the dashboard.
Pix below are of a 67 - 69 column shift one i cut and reshaped. I ended up finding factory floor shift ones to use, so i planned on putting these up for sale. In the upper right picture, you can see the metalized epoxy putty filling the indicator hole from the inside. The key to it really bonding is to super clean the metal of the part where your putting the metal epoxy, then rough sand or grind where the putty will fill the hole so it bonds well. i also grind and file the diecast slightly concave where the filler goes, and let the filler overlap the diecast, so there isnt a hard parting line between the 2 materials.
Got this idea from an old hot rodder who had a 57 chevy bel air with a mid 70s GM tilt column. He kept the tilt column, but removed the ignition key from the column, shaved the metal down and filled it the same way, and kept the key on the dashboard.
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txstang84
Well-Known Member
I keep seeing this mod--pretty sure when I get my toy back here, I'll bring the donor car's column with it. I also kinda want to shorten it and install an aftermarket u joint shaft.
moparmat2000
Well-Known Member
Yep, its a fair bit of work, but perfect little job to mess with during the winter. Plus a thin skim coat of polyester body filler can be used over the epoxied areas to smooth it better before priming. Not sure if you can buy JB weld epoxy in Sweden or not, or if there is a different suitable metalized epoxy available to you that you can use. I have an epoxy i use that is aluminum based called Araldite AVHV 1258. This stuff is used at my job. I take home the out of date tubes of this stuff and use it on my projects.
Funny thing is the Araldite 1258 was primarily used on wing flap attach fittings on the old SAAB 340B airliners we used to work on at my job. I still believe that those were the best aircraft i ever worked on. I actually miss them a lot. Also the SAAB JAS Gripen is a bad *** fighter plane. We used to do a lot of stuff back and forth with SAAB aerospace division in Linkoping. How close are you to there?
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