Rusty's not very quiet cuda progress

[RUSTY Cuda]

I think the 74 rear bumper actually mounts thru those bumper guards, I tried to use it (the bumper was decent) on the 73, the mounting was completely different.
I don't mind the bumper guards, but finding a new front filler panel will be a chore!

Short session today, did a little more on the interior panels & got the glove box door back down to metal.
Now that I'm looking at all the low spots on it, this thing may need some putty?

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

OK, finished off getting most of the "dead plastic" that's what I'm calling that green stuff, from the interior panels, problem is I don't dare shoot any high build in the garage with all my painted parts strewn around.
Not sure what I can dig out to work on till spring arrives, 2 more months.

Maybe I'll start on the dash, I already know I'm in trouble with a lot of the plastic on there, mostly the trim!

panels ready for a makeover!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Playing rube goldberg again, could not locate the rubber bushings that go in the door jamb strikers, while I was flex sealing some walls in my basement I noticed that stuff was like a sheet of rubber, so I dipped 2 spares I had in to see what I would get (I first thought about using it on some of the wire brackets) anyway, first coat not terible............
I flipped them over & dipped again, then I'll try & razor knife off the outside???

Got the 4th rim in the new paint!
& shot the rear bumper filler parts................
Tried that adhesion promoter on the long piece it had no paint on it, the corners were painted a while back in sem bumper coat.

got 4 coats of prime on that pesky door, see if that's enough to take out those lows?

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

My oh my another decent day, how long can the streak continue?
got out a lot of the lows before I started hitting a lot of metal, couple more coats should get it fairly flat.
Black is the remaining lows............
At the paint & body shop I asked about plastic repair, picked up a 2 part (epoxy?) glue & tested it on a couple of spots on the rear panels, so far it's holding, will do a few more spots tomorrow, I may be able to save these?
& finally I shot the paint on the lower dash trim, too bad there is a long skinny piece that's supposed to come off the right side (actually upside down, that missing piece (that's always missing on these) goes towards the drivers side, even has a little texture left............

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

These things may actually work!So far this glue is holding on all those seams
Then Rube came over & said how bout that reinforcing mesh from por 15?
Never used any on the other car, but I figured I can't make that panel any worse, so I glued in 2 layers in the back
Thinking of trying JB weld in the front, that at least I know I can sand.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Another rube idea that may work, put another coat of the glue on the back & I pressed on the middle of the hole & it seemed to be pretty stable, soooooo I mixed up a big blob of JB weld & smathered it on there.
I may have gone a touch wild, sanding with 40 grit was going nowhere.
I got out the dremmel with a small sanding wheel & it made pretty quick work of it.

The mess I made............
Starting to shape up a bit..............
Even got off some of the glue lumps, I think one more thin coat & lighter sand paper & I can start the priming.
Kinda pressed on it here & there & flexed it a bit, seems pretty strong, how long it will last, I have no idea!

 

[b-body-bob]

how long it will last

I'd say if you can keep from breaking it before it's installed it might last forever.

Seems like someone recommended a piece of sheetmetal and JB Weld for a repair earlier in this thread

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I'm also wondering how tight that goes over the edges, I did make it a little thicker in that u channel?
If I'm around friday I may set up outside for the high build on the panels, I can test fit the rears before I shoot.

 

[b-body-bob]

I can tell you that it doesn't fit tight enough to snap over the pinch weld but it's not flopping around on it either. IIRC that's Just a double thickness of sheet metal there. It might be triple at the bottom where the side panels meet the inner/outer rockers.

I think you're more likely to crack it again when you have to flex it some just to get it in place under the dash.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Looks like I'll find out tomorrow, I'm a grandpa again, #2 son just had a baby girl, but we can't visit tomorrow, Today at least my wife got to see the baby, I only saw my son, Wife ,son & baby were in three different areas & all different visiting rules.
Big baby & a tough delivery!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Been chompin at the bit to put something on, so I pulled down the scoops & inserts & put them together & then on the hood.
Yea, only 9,862 parts to go!
& my try to make them look like actual slots inserts look pretty good......................
& finally got that pesky door to 1 color, now I must not screw up the paint this time?

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

So with the temp close to 60 & no visits today I took a chance & set up outside to shoot some hi-build on those panels, brought them in & left anything I had that made heat on for an hour or so.
these will take a ton of work to get them anywhere near flat!
Will try & run the heat each day for a few hours to hopefully make that paint cure before I attempt the guide coat & sanding, time will tell if I wasted another quart of paint??

Got 3 good wet coats on, will 3 more do the trick?

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Think I finally have that pesky door livable, only picking up a couple of tiny dirt spots.
As usual I think the back is better than the front!
Now these babies are gonna take some serious hours...........
gave one full panel a light sanding to start to highlight the nastiness, & boy did it!
Spent the last hour on one area to see how much would come out before I hit blue, started to in a couple of places

These will try my patience, I love my hobby!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

The serious sanding has begun, actually went down to 100 grit for this round, Pass door is ready for the next coats, the gouges were pretty deep! started hitting blue here & there.
After bout 2 1/2 hours in the arm & the back said no mos no mos!
Got a good start on the drivers door the damage seems to be a little lighter on this side.
I'll be sanding on these babies the rest of the winter, at least I got outside for this round, save the garage from some of the dust!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Almost made it, was on the last coat, needed about a half hour to finish up when it started dripping a little, got lucky & all were dry enough to repel the water except the last one I shot!
So I have this pine tree on the neighbors property that keeps a corner near the garage pretty dry in light rain, so I set that piece up there, dug in a little drying the water off & then gave it the last coat, not sure what that will produce but at least I only dumped a little paint.
Still some gouges showing & I need more work around my repairs & a few more I glued this AM, but I shouldn't have to shoot the whole panels again, pretty sure there will be touch up areas!

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

Taking a few days off, weather turned cold but I did get an email from year one, my inner& outer side glass seals are being shipped, I think about 3 months late!

Now I have to decide when to pull the old ones off the interior panels, didn't want a lot of paint up there (they slide on those) maybe after all the priming & patching are done.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

getting close on some of the panels, door got the main areas done, still have to work the nooks & cranies in the middle area.
So the plan is when all are done to shoot one last seal coat of thinned prime on & then paint, hopefully they will be ready for spring time.

Ready for seal coat.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

The wiskers have arrived, open the box & there's a box on top of a lot of padding, remove the box & dig for the rest of the order, well that was it, all in the box laid on top, you think at least sandwich it!
parts look & feel like good quality we will see when I put them on?

 

[b-body-bob]

getting close on some of the panels, door got the main areas done, still have to work the nooks & cranies in the middle area. View attachment 25051
So the plan is when all are done to shoot one last seal coat of thinned prime on & then paint, hopefully they will be ready for spring time.

Ready for seal coat. View attachment 25052

You're going to apply a plastic prep before any paint, right?

If not I've got a can of stuff I used a long time ago and can look at the label (seems like it was an SEM product), and there's Restoman too, who would definitely know what works best.

 

[RUSTY Cuda]

I shot adhesion promoter before the prime, now just tiny spots here & there are showing plastic I'm hoping the seal coat will stick to those?