The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[njsteve]

I also decided to reuse the original dashpad since there were only two minor cracks by the front speaker grill screw holes - a common occurrence. Since it is around $800 plus $200 core charge to get a reproduction dash... and none are available now, I decided there are better things to spend my money on...like vintage mag wheels.

I wound up using some JB-Weld epoxy and gently pushed it in to the cracks with a tiny screw driver. Once it was filled, I waited for it to cure and then sanded. I then sprayed the entire dash with SEM Landau Black interior dye (I LOVE that paint - I put that s@$& on everything!). Here's the results.

Not bad from a foot away or so and now I don't have to mess with transferring the vin tag to a new dash pad (Stupid Chrysler design - lets rivet the vin to a removable part!!!)

[njsteve]

I also got the dash carrier assembly disassembled. There was a lot of crustiness on the underside so I rigged up the pool cover siphon pump and a short hose and have it circulating the Evaporust solution via a spray tip, onto the dash frame. It all drains in to a sheet of plastic that ends at the bottom of a 7-gallon bucket. The siphon pump has to be fully submerged to work, so you want that at the bottom of the bucket inside the plastic sheet which acts as a funnel to direct all the runoff back to the bottom. I got the aquarium heater in there too. The kiddie pool is there as an emergency backup in case it all springs a leak.

[Canuck]

Originally Posted by njsteve

I also decided to reuse the original dashpad since there were only two minor cracks by the front speaker grill screw holes - a common occurrence. Since it is around $800 plus $200 core charge to get a reproduction dash... and none are available now, I decided there are better things to spend my money on...like vintage mag wheels.

I wound up using some JB-Weld epoxy and gently pushed it in to the cracks with a tiny screw driver. Once it was filled, I waited for it to cure and then sanded. I then sprayed the entire dash with SEM Landau Black interior dye (I LOVE that paint - I put that s@$& on everything!). Here's the results.

Not bad from a foot away or so and now I don't have to mess with transferring the vin tag to a new dash pad (Stupid Chrysler design - lets rivet the vin to a removable part!!!)

Nice repair job. Weird that Mopar riveted the vin to the dash,although rivited to the metal carrier on my 68 Dodge Charger it too is a removable part.

[njsteve]

Well I took a couple days off the tinker with the new wheels.

First I had to wait for the Aluma-Brite to arrive. http://www.k-chem.com/msds/AlumaBrite.pdf
Its a hydroflouric acid detergent solution used in the detailing trade to brighten up raw aluminum - like boat pontoons and big rig fuel tanks. After carefully donning all my PPE, I sprayed it on the wheels full strength and let it sit on there and foam for about a minute. I then hosed it off with cold water. It repeated it a couple times and then really washed them off with soap and water for around ten minutes.

I then moved on to the shiny parts of the wheels. It took eight hours or so of hand-sanding to get the polished finish back on the spokes. The five holes are supposed to be in an as-cast finish.

Starting with 800, then 1000, then 1500, then 2000 wet paper. I hand sanded the hub area spokes and the outer small hub spoke sections that touch the chrome rim. VERY CARFEULLY, trying not to touch the chrome with the sand paper.

I have no finger tips left at this point but the rims came out great. I then masked off the outer area and painted the black out section with Rustoleum Matte Black paint.

Here's the finished set with the Polyglas F70x14s mounted. Sorry I couldn't pull it out of the garage but there's no steering wheel or dash in it at the moment.

[Xplantdad]

Looks great Steve!!