Bueno-Riffic, Steve-o!!:cool2:

This was the part thst I was thinking I'd be curled up in a ball in the fetal positon after envisioning this train wreck starting to unfold! Aftermarket grille... factory fenders and hood...uh-boy:frown:

Glad it all came together!! Fantasmatic!!:grin:

Nice work! I know'd she was in good hands!

Cheers
Dave

Been out in the garage all weekend.

Well, most of it except for the 4 hours spend replacing the PTO clutch on my 1989 John Deere 185 riding mower. I had to replace the PTO because it was 31 years old and when you would engage the blades, it would trip the 25 amp circuit breaker and kill the engine. When I checked the ohm reading on the clutch, it read 8.7 ohms. Anything over 3 ohms is bad. It was pulling so much amperage, that the wires were getting red hot.

And the biggest fun part is that it seems that the aftermarket PTO manufacturers decided to make all of their units with a built-in wooddruff key inside the bearing sleeve. That means you have to pull the main drive pulley above the clutch unit out, and then try to hammer/pry/visegrip/chisel out the two-inch long woodruff key that both the drive pulley and PTO are supposed to align onto. You then have to cut the woodruff key in half and reinsert it into to crank so only the upper pulley engages it and the lower portion of the channel is clear for the aftermarket PTO to slide on the shaft. YAY FUN! Once I got that done I mowed the yard to make sure everything was working again.

After all that I was able to assemble and install all four side marker assemblies (in their correct positions). After that I disassembled the rear tail lights and put all the parts into giant bucket of soapy water to soak for a day. They were packed full of a ton of grey silt, like the car spent years driving down dirt roads. So that was Saturday.

Sunday I spent all day trying to get the road lamps installed in a straight forward configuration and not looking like Marty Feldman appreciation day. The original road lamp brackets are slightly tweeked after years of use and after spending five hours installing/checking/removing/bending/hammering/prying I finally gave up and ordered a nice new repro set for $50.

So I spent the rest of my time installing the front valance. I taped all the edges up and fed one side in (it has to slip under the lower portion of the elastomeric bumper) and then gently persuaded the other side in as well. It worked out OK. No scratches!

A12 Dave would have had this thing all put together and half-wore out by now Steve....why are you dragging your feet so much?:dunno: It's looking great, can't wait to see the finished product!

Hahaha! I don’t know about that!:biggthumpup:

Looking good Steve-O! So glad no collateral damage done!!

Cheers
Dave

Those original brackets seem to all be that way. I remember going through the same kind of insanity back in the day my other 'cudas. I think people believed the way to adjust the aim was to grab the bulb pod with both hands and bend it around, instead of simply loosening the retaining nut and moving the ball and socket mount on the back of the light.

Spent a few days filing, and sanding some of the stainless pieces - the tail panel trim (4 pieces), the passenger side drip rail molding (3 pieces) and the two hood pin bezels. I had to use my trim hammer and little anvil to get the dings out of the drip rails and tail panel trim. That was rather time-consuming. Then you use a file to get it flat again followed by 220, then 320, then 400, then 600, the 800, then 1000, then 1500 wet sanding. Then the buffing wheel - sisal with stainless compound first, then a sewn pad with stainless compound, then loose pad with the white rouge.

Trying not to get the very thin and long tail panel pieces caught and either wrapped around the wheel or flung across the room was rather nerve wracking, but in the end it all worked out.

Here's the results on the original stainless hood pin bezel with the original hair pin clip all polished up.

I didn't polish the driver's side drip rail as I am looking for a replacement piece for the front A-pillar section which is too bent up to repair.

Nice. I've got a scar about 1 1/4 inches long on the right side of my face from trying to polish a headlight ring.

Looking good! Nice polish job.

Just got the original 2998874 radiator back from Finger's Radiator in North Brunswick NJ. They did a great job and even got the dent out of the top tank. It was recored as a three-core instead of the original two-core style. Took about a week and cost $450. They also did the radiator on my Grampa's Lincoln a couple years ago for the same price. It's a good, old fashioned shop that has been in business for 92 years. https://www.fingersradiator.com/

Steve, what paint did you use on the radiator? Car looks great.

Fingers had painted it a flat-ish black radiator paint but I recoated the top in a light dusting of Rustoleum semi-gloss black.

Thanks!

Excellent!!!! Looks awesome Steve!!!! Nice progress. Seems like the cruise is set to 55mph and you’re just humming along.

Cheers
Dave

I tried installing the "best quality reproduction" antenna yesterday...yeah right. It jiggles all over the place when fully tightened. The mast stud jiggles in the mast and the threads in the base have way too much play. When fully installed you get a 1" wobble at the top of the antenna. It would rattle like hell if you drove this way. Of course the seller gives the usual "I've sold thousands of them and never got a complaint".

Well, I'd be happy to give you thousands of complaints now to make up for it.

Top notch Steve. Love the hand-off between you two gurus.......seamless!!!!

:biggthumpup:

Team Cuda strives to maintain the same level of sarcastic professionalism (or is that professional sarcasticalism?) regardless of geographic location.

Yes, we are a one stop shop! The next A12Pilot Project will more than likely be a Pontiac, which my team mate has extensive esperience in doing junk to.:scholar:

The plan will be to buy it, paint it, ship it to the North East division of Southern Classic Restoration, Engineering, and Wrecksurrection, or “S.C.R.E.W.”:hmmm:, then have Steve finish it, then ship it back to me to enjoy and then sell. All in all, we should be in at about six time what the car would be worth and be so far upside down that walking into a mini skirt Party at a roller rink would leave nothing to the imagination.:bs:

Remember our bumper stick that comes free with each restoration; “This car is SCREWED.”:biggthumpup:

Cheers:beers:
Dave

I think rather than....

“... we are a one stop shop!”

It is really...

We are a two stop two shop!!!!!!!!!!! :wink:

More reproduction blues: 1) not enough mounting clips came with the new door top "belt" moldings. You need 18, they send 14. 2) the matching belt moldings that go on the quarter windows should have a hole for a Phillips screw to attach the end to the top of the quarter. No holes. Nothing like drilling a hole in a brand new anodized aluminum molding. 3) One of the long door belt moldings had a crack in it.

So I installed the dampener springs on the front 11" drums. That was exciting. The new springs are about 4 inches shorter than the stretched out, rusted originals, which no longer have any tension. The directions said to cut up a coat hanger into "S" hooks and use them to hold the opposite sides of the springs while you roll them onto the drums. That takes a whole lot of patience, agility, and skill. Those three items are currently on backorder here in Joysey. It took five tries per wheel, with that high tension spring flinging around the garage at crotch level at Mach 2. I have agility now!

Here's a shot of the S hooks for the half second the stretched spring stayed in place when I took the picture. It the rolled off and snapped back to its original size. Smarter idea was to take the next photo after it was fully seated. And the original, rusted "formerly known as a spring" on the floor below it. The 50 year old originals were so tired they fell off the drums and when I tried to straighten them, you could hear them cracking apart.

And look what I found in my boxes of crap in the basement: the original grounding straps for a shaker hood! They came off the 71 hemicuda ragtop 35 years ago. I really have no idea why there was a need to ground the shaker doors? There is nothing electrical happening with the shaker. Any ideas?

And also found an original set of "thick" chrome plated hood pins. All the repros seem to be made of stainless steel cut on a lathe. These were the original chrome plated, mild steel pins that are noticeably thicker than the reproductions.

Here's the quarter trim that I had to add the screw to, to match the original. And the right side, where I managed to install the drip rail, the weathers trip channel, and the weatherstripping today.

Looking awesome Steve. I always enjoy your projects!

Tim

I spent today getting the fuel lines straight. A 1970 340 is very simple. Only one 3/8 fuel line from the tank to the fuel pump and one vent line to the "whoop-de-doo" vent that goes up into the trunk. (The vent line actually looks like a vintage "Whee-Lo" toy from the 1950's). I had to pull the passenger side muffler shield to access the vent nipple on the tank (when Dave got the car, there was no tank so he didn't route the vent line before installing the exhaust.) Dave almost had a bird this morning when I told him I might have to remove the valance to get to the muffler shield. In the end, I was able to wrap the exhaust tip in bubble wrap and then loosen the aft trunk hanger mount and lower the muffler an inch or so which enabled me to get the shield out so I could get to the vent nipple on the side of the tank.

After getting the fuel lines done I moved to the exhaust and tightened it from one end to the other, readjusting as needed to get the tips to come out straight. Of course once the tips were straight, the passenger side, rear, over-the-axle pipe was leaning up against the shock absorber. I couldn't get it to rotate at all since there is nowhere to pry and nothing to pry against that wont get damaged. Bright idea: I used two radiator worm-style hose clamps and an 18" prybar. I hose-clamped the end and middle of the pry bar to the vertical portion of the over-the-axle pipe and voila, it now had a handle to manually adjust it to the right spot, without moving the muffler or resonator, or scratching anything.

Here's the rear view with the tips all done (and the vintage 1970 Cuda only "VENTED ANTI SURGE" gas cap I got off a guy here in NJ who restores them. He had the exact one for $35.)

And you can see more missing tail trim clips from another vendor who didn't send enough in their kit. The extra clips should get here tomorrow...

And a photo of the "Whee-Lo" whoop-do-doo vent line

And I took some photos (and reversed them for viewing) of the quarter window and rear window (with a piece of paper behind it) date codes. Anyone good at decyphering?

26.99

GLASS: Date code 26 = type, 9th month of 1969 - Rear left quarter 1970 Cuda

The extra couple tail panel molding clips arrived today so I installed the moldings and then the tail lights. Now it looks like a Cuda again. It was rather nerve wracking since the clips are the snap-on variety that you have to whap the molding with a rubber mallet to get it to grab over them. Of course they make these clips out of a much harder plastic than the original soft clips used back in the day so it is a very risky proposition to not damage the stainless trim while installing it.

Bueno!

Nice job a Stevinator! Yes, it was a tense text that went something like this...”You remove-a dat valance, I break-a u face!:eek2:”

Looking great Steve!!! You da man!

Cheers
Dave

I finally received the pair of original stainless headlight bucket moldings from Vancouver. I had to un-dent and sand & polish them. I also received the front driprail molding section I needed from a guy on one of the facebook E-body groups on line. That got the same treatment as well.

The repro road lamp brackets finally arrived and they fit a whole lot better than the beat up originals. Now both road lamps actually point forward. What a concept!

Here's how she looks with the grill and nose completed as well as the driver's side drip rails, weatherstripping and glass all adjusted.

And I finally got to use the NOS 'cuda tail emblem I've had sitting in a box of old emblems in my closet since 1982. I had to find the factory installation diagram to get the measurement right. The factory two-sided tape had to be replaced since it became one with the backing material and solidified into something resembling teflon that would not stick to anything. So I used new, emblem two-sided tape and a razor blade to get it trimmed properly.

That front shot with Plum crazy, argent grill, road lamps, and shaker is just damn cool:headbang:

Looking really good! I'm always glad when you post an update on this car. Wish it were mine.

Yowza, that is SMOKIN’ Steve! She is looking real GOOD! Thanks for the update and keep ‘em coming!!! :headbang:

That’s the way she’s supposed to look! Excellent Steve!!!

Cheers
Dave

Spent the day under the car. Adjusting the parking brake so it works now.

Then I pulled the driveshaft and removed both u-joints in preparation for cleaning. I also ordered a couple more gallons of Evaporust and dug out the giant PVC pipe that is just larger than the diameter of the driveshaft. This way I can slide the driveshaft in and then fill it with evaporust and let it do its magic. Here's the driveshaft sitting next to the patent-pending Deluxe Driveshaft Derusting Device, along with my trusty 1989 John Deere 185, that I bought used as a dealer demonstrator in 1990.

I also installed the shaker baseplate seal which is quite an entertaining fete. it comes as a straight (but rolled up) section of extruded rubber that you have to glue the ends together and then tape them, like the factory did. Got that on and then installed the 50 year old original shaker drain hoses I had off my of hemi ragtop. The factory used the ribbed heater hoses for this application. They were just slightly more pliable than volcanic rock, but installed fine. They still had their original bends petrified into them, that were there in order to clear the alternator bracket and to steer away from the battery tray.

And look what I found in the garage...some vintage Day 2 parts. Kraco 6-9 speakers and an FM converter. I checked the speakers against the screw holes that are already in the rear deck and they matched up perfectly. I can hang the speakers under the deck with some small screws and nuts and it won't affect the package tray at all.

After soaking overnight in the magic derusting cylinder, here are the results at the moment. Just an interesting note: the small pool heater I had hanging in the fluid at the top of the cylinder resulted in better derusting results on the end of the driveshaft that was closest to the heat source. So that is today's lesson: the warmer it is, the faster it works. This is an old gallon I have been using - and it more than filled the space needed to fully submerge the driveshaft...oh an BTW, driveshafts float, so I used the yoke to weigh it down enough to keep it fully submerged.

The mud colored water in the blue bucket is the runoff resulting after I scrubbed the driveshaft with a brush. That's another tip: frequently remove the object from the liquid and scrub it down to get the derusted residue off the surface and allow the liquid easier access to the metal.

P.S. don't dip certain plated items in the liquid - it will dissolve the plating. Not so much with chrome, but it removes blueing, black oxide, cad plating, zinc, galvanizing,. It will also attack pot-metal pieces. If it is plain old iron/steel (and grease-free), it works like magic.

I will pick up some more (fresher) evaporust tomorrow. After a while, the solution absorbs so much iron that it reduces its effectiveness drastically. It should be amber colored. If it is dark or black, it is no longer going to do much good.