Dodge Demon refurb questions.....

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C

craigibc

wishin' my Demon was done
Joined
Apr 17, 2007
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Location
Escondido, California
I am working on two items this week and want to get some insight. Sorry for so many questions but this is the first time I have ever done anything like this on a car.

First, I am in the process of re-doing the tail lights on this car and wanted to get some advice on what you have done with photos on your Duster or Demon tail lights.

Second, I am looking to clean up and re-do the radiator. It is a good working radiator. I am thinking of cleaning up as good as possible and then painting it.
Any advice based on your experiences w/ tail lights or radiators? I will take any advice you have to offer.

My kid loves old car and I had this great idea to buy a car in a box minus the box.
We have purchased two parts cars to get the parts we need to finish this one.
This car is a 1972 Dodge Demon 340 car. Nice solid body almost. Had to replace the tail panel over the winter months and now it is almost ready for paint. We are 12 months into this project. A little longer than i wanted but what do I know.
I have been a jack of all trades so I figured I could wing it and do a full restoration. Never done a car restoration or even owned a car older then a 1979 Plymouth Horizon TC3. I like driving a car that does not need work and when they start needing work 140,000 + miles I replace them.
So buying a car in a box minus the box has been a significant change for me. Never owned or used a welder. Never did any bodywork.
I have been reading this forum, mopar muscle, hot rod and car craft. I just keep reading and then experiment.
A whole lot of winging it has actually worked pretty well.
I will give me details some day in the future.

Craig
 
Well, not sure what you want to do with the tail lights, but I took the buckets for mine and bead blasted them inside and out. I'll probably spray the outside of them silver, and the inside of them with a reflective chrome paint. Although the outsides of them look like new and probably don't need anything done to them after the media blasting.

As for the lenses, I purchased some NOS ones and will replace them. If they're not cracking you can restore them by masking off and painting the black portions. If you have chipped fins on them, they can also be repaired then painted. If you need scrap lenses to use repair yours let me know and I'll send you one you can use.

For my radiator, since I'm going with a 408 stroker with about 500 hp I was concerned that the original 2-core would not cool properly. So I had it re-cored with a high efficiency 3-core. For painting I stripped the tanks and primed and repainted them. It looks brand new.
 
The parts store has some stuff for buffing out polycarbonate headlamps that I plan to use on the tail lights (when I get to them).

The radiator won't take a lot of rough handling, so careful. Recommend boiling it out and checking for leaks before doing any cosmetic work, assuming it will have adequate capacity for your finished project.

Old Demon is right, the more HP you make, the more cooling you will need. Other things to consider are air conditioning and automatic transmission. If you have either, that will increase your cooling requirements.
 
I would take it to a good radiator shop. Shouldn't be very expensive. Have it pressure tested also to ensure no leaks.
 
I am in the proess of converting each of my tail lamps, marker lamps, and parking lamps to superbright LEDS.
 
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