72 Challenger R/T/A

[wally426ci]

Paul, did you get the new seats yet? :toot:

and, does one of your cars happen to have an extra dash assembly? im looking for heater vents, might be a/c vents?? :huh:

 

[gomopar440]

Paul, did you get the new seats yet? :toot:

They just came in today. I put them together and snapped a few pics for ya.

and, does one of your cars happen to have an extra dash assembly? im looking for heater vents, might be a/c vents?? :huh:

Sorry, that's one of the things missing from the parts car I got. That A/C dash piece I painted grey was one I picked up from the Mopar Nats last year. I don't have an A/C dash to go with it yet.

I did get the driver seat pulled out though. I noticed that there was a broken pull wire (big hand pic) that goes from one side to the other on the tracks. It could be easily replaced with a piece of strong wire. The part that the wire pulled on is stuck solid right now. I've got some WD-40 soaking on it trying to free it up.

Wally,
I didn't want to bead blast the tracks as the grit would get in the tracks and make a mess of it. I can blast it if you want me to, but it will take a while to get all the crud out. Let me know what you want me to do, K?

BTW: The new seats came disassembled in halves. If I'm going to use these boxes to ship the seats I'll have to remove the backs from the bases.

 

[a12bee]

What seats have the broken wire? They aren't the ones you just got are they?

 

[wally426ci]

Seats

Damn, they look comfy! Paul, I think your back will be quite pleased!

You can just forward the new seats straight to my address :shifty:, :bwuhaha:

 

[gomopar440]

What seats have the broken wire? They aren't the ones you just got are they?

Nope, the broken wire/rod is on the six-way seat. The forward side lever pulls this rod which pulls an arm on the other track. I can probably replace it with a piece of a metal coat hanger wire. No biggie.

That arm opposite the lever side is what is bugging me most though. I'm just going to keep soaking it with WD-40 until it comes loose. I don't want to pound on it to force it to move and chance bending it.:naughty:

Hey Wally, You can have the boxes the new seats came in...[smilie=i:

BTW: I did try one of the new seats out for a test sit after I put it together. They do feel nice and comfy and fit me well. I'm going to have to clean my fingerprints off them from assembly and coat them with some kind of fabric sealer/protectant. They seem to pick up any kind of dirt real easy.

 

[gomopar440]

Well the gas tank and the dash cap (forgot to mention that one) came in yesterday.

The dash caps not too bad except the auction didn't mention that there is no provision for the dash name plate above glove box. Oh well, I'll just waterjet something custom to go in that spot like an R/T/A emblem. I painted the dash cap the same charcoal grey as the other pieces this afternoon. Pics are below.

I want to get the outside of the tank at least coated with something while it's still brand new. So, I drove over to the local 4x4 hop up place to see how much it would cost to get the tank Rhino-lined. They weren't sure it would stick if it got gas on it. So they referred me to a local powder coater 10 minutes away in the next town. When I got there he had already left for the day. I'll let you know what I find out when I get in touch with him. After that's done, I'm going to get two quarts of this ---> http://www.4secondsflat.com/Fuel_Tank_Sealer.html and coat the inside.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to weld a small bolt (threads up) to the outside of the tank first. That way I'll have a perfect place to tie in a ground strap using round electrical eye connectors. I will have a hard time getting it grounded through the powder coat or rhino junk otherwise.

 

[a12bee]

The gray should look pretty nice and powder coat is always nice.

 

[wally426ci]

the whoseabouts of what

Sweet, good idea with the ground strap.

BTW- let me know when you get shipping totals and all, ready when you are :toot:

 

[gomopar440]

Sweet, good idea with the ground strap.

Thanks:bravo: I thunk it up after reading some threads about wiring problems in the gauge circuits. It was the best way I could think of to improve on the factory spring clip system.

BTW- let me know when you get shipping totals and all, ready when you are :toot:

Will do. I need to find the bits for my impact driver to get the screws out that pass through the back plastic part. They're a bit stubborn and I don't want to damage the plastic by trying to beat the screws out.

I've been spending most of my free time lately finishing up the re-roof job on my RV. Now that that is 99% done, I can get back to working on the Chally a bit more.:giggedy: I should have those seats ready to ship by this weekend.

 

[wally426ci]

:giggedy: glad you get to wrench some more this weekend. I just wanted to let you know I was still down :bravo: No rush. Just let me know :xl:

 

[gomopar440]

It's days like this I love my job... Check out what I made for the dash on the waterjet at work this morning.:2thumbs: It's 1/8" stainless steel and I'm going to heat it up a little and push it into the dash cap to recess it about 1/16". It should look like it was made for it originally.

When I got in to work this morning my friend TIG welded up the bolt to the tank. If that thing ever comes off of there, it's cause the car is probably in the process of blowing up...:shifty:

After the work lunch picnic (early day off too:giggedy I ran over to the power coating place here in town. The guy still wasn't there and he still wouldn't answer his posted phone number. I didn't feel like waiting till the tank started to rust before finally doing something about it so I decided to just paint it. I went out and got some acetone, some self etching primer and some semi-gloss black paint. I wiped the tank completely down with the acetone and let it air dry. Then I gave the entire tank a coat of the self etching primer and let it dry for a little bit. It gave it somewhat of a gritty texture for some reason. The semi-gloss that went over it carried the texture through it as well. It could have been the heat drying the paint out as it was spraying as it was pretty hot over here today. It's fine with me as the entire underside is going to be semi gloss black and won't be seen very much. As long as it keeps the rust away, I'll be happy.

I couldn't help but take a pic of the inside of the tank since it will be covered up with the tank cream coating soon. I wish my old tank had looked like this when I pulled it out.:doubt:

Last pic is to show that this project is helping to support our friends north of the border too...:bravo:

 

[BB71Challenger]

Lots of progress Paul :bravo: The dash logo looks good, the tank also. Why are you coating the inside with what sounded like a rust/hole repair coating? If it is brand new and you paint the outside wouldn't that be enough? Looks like it is starting to come together for you and that is always a good thing.

 

[gomopar440]

The paint keeps the outside minty fresh but the coating prevents rust from being able to form inside the tank. If the tank isn't full, the exposed metal above the level of the fuel is susceptable to condensation and rusting over time. I'm trying to keep rust from ever getting the chance to happen by coating it inside (cream) and out (paint) while it is still new and clean.

 

[71ChargerRT]

Cool emblem!!! You gonna make some for the outside too? Good idea coating the inside of the gas tank.

 

[wally426ci]

I love the emblem. thats quite the nice little tool you guys have. :giggedy:

Everything is looking great!!

 

[a12bee]

Yep, the waterjet handi work is sweet.
I've noticed the power guys have weird, _short_ hours. Must be a good profit margin in it.
:cash::cash::cash::cash::cash:

 

[gomopar440]

I've noticed the power guys have weird, _short_ hours. Must be a good profit margin in it.
:cash::cash::cash::cash::cash:

I'm not seeing a dime out of it. It might be that way in the civilian market...:huh:

The fact that I work in a machine shop with a waterjet alows me to produce some custom stuff from time to time (when the machines not tied up with real work).:shifty:

As far as the hours go? Well after 18 years in this big canoe club, I guess I've earned a few early days off from time to time. The picnic was for the entire command though. Everyone, from top to bottom, was there.

 

[a12bee]

Oppps misspelled POWDER:doh:
the powder coating companies keep short hours and seem to make:cash:

I know your playing with cool work toys. Looks good too.
sorry. heh

 

[gomopar440]

Oppps misspelled POWDER

sorry. heh

Ahh, now I see... No worries.:bravo:

Today I wanted to work on the car but I had too much crap in the way. So, I spent a couple hours cleaning up and reorganizing all the parts, tools, trash and other assorted junk.

After that I pulled the seats down and started to take them apart so I could fit them into the boxes the new seats came in. My sandblaster is acting up again so I wasn't able to clean the tracks up like I wanted too. I was able to get the seats apart without too much trouble except for one damn little screw. I found a bit for my impact driver and was working on the lower screw holding the seat back cover on. It bounced out one time and split the plastic around the screw hole. It ended up staying in the upper seat hinge arm with a little bit of the plastic still around it. However I was at least to finally get the seats apart and both of them fit into the boxes.

I was still pissed about the screw so I just called it a day and went home to change clothes and then go check out a small local cruise-in show in Corpus Christi.

The Challys just seem to be coming out of the woodwork around here lately. There's an orange 70 Hemi (stroker[smilie=i Chally a buddy drives over to all the local shows. His kid's got a black 70 383 Chally as well. And just this week, in the next town over, I ran into a really good lookin girl :tats::xl: in a corporate blue 70 Chally with a rally hood. I thought it was the same car I saw at the car show in Portland last month. However, it turns out that was ANOTHER corporate blue 70 with a rally hood.

 

[wally426ci]

:naughty: Dont sweat the damages Paul. your sanity is much more important to us! Now, go get that girl!!

Its funny, (while i was single) I once pulled up next to a cute chick that was driving a 73 Dart while i was in my old '67 Coronet (r.i.p.) I had seen my dream mopar girl! but, after running into her a couple more times she really wasnt receptive to my "wanting to help her with her car problems" ,then i met my current lady friend and finally a few months ago I aquired the girls car and cut the front end off so i could use it in my '69 mangled Dart project. dont worry guys, the frame rails were toast, as for the girl she didnt get back to me on wanting another mopar driver. :huh: