My '40

[Windsor]

These two show the repairs made. I cut out the filler that was still there and sanded it down to bare metal. When the time comes, I will re-strip it and run it with an English Wheel, there were a couple high and low spots in comparison to the rest of the area, but most of it was recessed from the shape of the fender. Until then, I prepped the area and used body filler to get the shape back. I didn't do the best job I have ever done, but more than 2 ft away and as long as you don't run your hand across it to feel a couple high spots, it looks a hell of a lot better than it did before and is smooth.
I used a hammer and dolly to take the dent out of the side, probably took about 45 seconds to get it back to the general shape, and another minute tapping to get it smooth. If it wasn't for the paint being damaged, you wouldn't be able to tell there was a dent.

[Windsor]

I ground out a crack that was in the filler on the LR fender and re-filled the area. Again, once stripped, the metal was in great shape with only one small line of surface rust that was gone after 5 seconds with a sander. Unfortunately a combination of a light sprinkle and getting cold/dark before I was able to finish, I just did a very basic shaping on this side. I had to put a heater up to the bondo to get it to set. Because of that, I decided not to do a final coat to fill in a couple low spots and just primed and sealed it. So, I would say it is a 10ft job since there is one spot that is obvious. Not show quality but good enough until I strip the entire fender down.
I sanded down some of the trunk to get rid of some chipped paint and surface rust. When I strip it down later on, I will do some lead work on a couple spots.

[Windsor]

There was a crack behind the window that I didn't have too much concern about. One of the guys who stopped by to look at it tried to tell me there was a big dent and it was filler that was cracking. I told him that it was where the body panels joined and it was lead that was used to smooth the seam. He pissed me off enough saying I was wrong that I took out my knife and cut the lead that had cracked out down to bare and told him that bondo doesn't shine. I then politely told him that he could leave.
I sanded it down to the underlying metal in a line and exposed some of the surrounding lead to give a good surface to prime and seal the spot.
When I strip the body down, I will re-lead this spot.

[Windsor]

Called the shop today to find out if my radiator was in since they said it would be 7-10 days and tomorrow is 10. They said they would check and call me back. 5 minutes later, they call and tell me that they just got off the phone with the manufacturer. The top tank was on back order and just got in today. So they will build it tomorrow and ship it out. Said I will have to wait another week for it to get here. Over a week of no communication between the manufacturer and the shop, not to mention they told me the tanks were in stock when I paid $400.
Just a little irritated from being told one thing, then finding out its not actually what's going on. I had high hopes of getting the car back together this weekend. Even got everything moved around to put the car in the garage to work on it out of the rain.

[b5blue]

Hope for the best but expect delays here and there, it's part of "The Game". 

[Windsor]

Very true. Shop that was going to do my driveshaft was "at a stand still trying to find the right yokes". Took my slip yoke to another shop and they built/balanced one while I waited. Plus it was $100 less than the first place quoted. Score. 

[Windsor]

Been trying to get out and work on the car, but the weather isn't working with me. Got the mid plate trimmed down to how I wanted it, but as soon as I started to prep it for paint, it started raining. Hasn't stopped since. Hoping to sell my Thompson this weekend in Portland. I'll clean my wheels up next week to try to get them traded for some steel wheels. Maybe some 15" police wheels.

[b5blue]

  I battled with the "Weather Witch" for 18 months!  I'd get up at 4AM just to beat the heat for body filler, take days off when weather was good, ordered special fillers to speed up repairs only to receive old stale stock that would not harden. On and on it dragged out! 

[Windsor]

Got a break in the rain today. I was able to take the cover off the motor to let the water evaporate off the tarp I had over it (2 layers of plastic over the motor which has a layer of oil soaked paper towels on the bare surfaces, then tarp over than, and finally the car cover.). These two pictures are of the final cut/shape of the mid-plate. I will spray it down with rustoleum until I pull the motor and then do the final welds on the mounts then get it powder coated.

[Windsor]

Hope for the best but expect delays here and there, it's part of "The Game". 

So, on the 6th, I called and they said it was being built and would be here in a week. Fast forward to today, I called and it still isn't there. They said to call back in 10 minutes so they could check the tracking number. Called half an hour later and he was just about to look at it. He said they had to build another one and it would be another week. I am going in on Friday to tell them that they need to make this right by Monday. I have had parts shipped from Australia get here faster than this.
It's pissing me off a lot because without the radiator and shroud, I can't put the front clip back on the car or finish up my wiring and trans cooler.

[Windsor]

Built my side pipes today. 4' long 3" diameter pipes with 12" long auger style mufflers, and turn downs. One of the mufflers decided it didn't want to play nice and the end bent when installing it. Used a pry bar and hammer to straighten it out before I welded it to the pipe. The turn downs are the clamp on style, but I wanted a cleaner look, so I welded them on instead. I set them to a 45* angle, so the exhaust will exit down and out from under my running boards.
I dropped the heads off to get hardened valve seats put in, once they get back I can get the headers on and weld the side pipes to the collectors. I will even the pipes up once the headers are on, so one side isn't longer than the other.

[Windsor]

I also got the battery mount put in today. Had to flatten the trunk floor out a little bit to get it to sit all the way down. Just used the mounting bolts to pull the metal flush to the cradle. Worked out great.

[Windsor]

Built some exhaust hangers today. NAPA wanted $4 each for the hangers, instead I got 4 feet of 3/8 round stock for the $4. Cut it into 6" sections and bent using my bench vice and a pipe. 8 for the price of 1, not bad. I have to get everything put back onto the engine so I can get the side pipes set up, the I will make the final bends on the ones that I will weld onto the pipes, and weld on tabs for bolting the uppers to the car. 
Shop told me the radiator would be there by 4pm today, so I showed up at 4:30 and it was a no go. Apparently "UPS wasn't delivering today"? Got me past annoyed and into the pissed off range.

[Windsor]

Started working on an alternator mount. It will have to wait for the heads to get put on so I can figure out exactly where it will go. But this is the start of it.

[Windsor]

Mounted to the alternator. After I took this pic, I decided to narrow the mount a bit to open up for air flow. So, now the inside edge matches the curve of the holes for the fan, and the outside curve matches the curve of the alt better. Second pic is my new set of rockers and shafts. Once the heads get done, the only thing on them that isn't new will be the intake valves (first valve job on those).

[Mopar Nut]

Looking good!

[Windsor]

The radiator came in today. I will not be doing business with the shop I got it through again. It was suppose to be built to the same size as the original, as you can see in the pics, it wasn't...  The only thing they got correct was the curve of the top tank. The dimensions of the tank is wrong, it was suppose to be 2" deeper than it is so that I could put my 12AN fittings on the bottom of the tank extension, the cap was suppose to be on the top of the tank on the driver side instead of the side of the tank, and they were suppose to leave it without an inlet cut/welded on. Outlet was suppose to be at 45* instead of straight out. Lastly, they were suppose to not install a trans cooler in the radiator.

I didn't want to deal with them anymore, since it is already a month behind. I talked with the guy who is building my oil pump cover, he said he will help me rebuild the radiator to allow me to use it. He will TIG everything, I just have to prep it. So, I put the holes in the top tank for my 12AN fittings, cut off the extra tabs they had put on, and am in the process of cutting the inlet/outlet flush with the tanks. He has scrap aluminum pipe that he said I can grab to cut to fit to the angle I need and he will weld it up.
I am going to utilize the spaces around the radiator to run my trans cooler lines under the radiator instead of beside the mount. I will get some thick rubber, and build a surround on the front of it to help channel the airflow through the radiator. All in all, not pleased with the radiator, but I can make it work.
Core specs are 18.5"x18"x3". 3 row. So, it should be enough to cool my 383.

[Windsor]

Today was a very nice day, so I was able to do a little work on the car. Still waiting for my heads and oil pump cover from the shop, but I did get all my new coolant fittings in (I will post pictures later tonight).
I decided to go ahead and chase the threads in the block for my head studs. Man, what a PITA that was. I managed to snap my tap handle in half, cheap POS. I ended up using my 6" crescent wrench to get it about half way, then my 12" breaker wrench to get it all the way down. The crud that came out was surprising. After I chased all the threads, I filled each hole with wd40 and used a .45cal fine bristle bore brush on a drill to clean it well. Stuffed in some rolled paper towel pieces to soak up the extra wd40 and as much crap as they would. Then filled the holes with rubbing alcohol and chased the threads with the bore brush on a t-handle. After that, the threads look great. Shiny and clean all the way down to the bottom. Tomorrow, I will use my compressor to blow out any residual dust and debris in the holes, and they will be ready for the studs (once I get the heads).
I got the exhaust valves and springs that got replaced. Figure I will make them into something. Maybe a clock or who knows. I think I am going to start trying to get scrap engine parts to build stuff (art,clocks, stuff like that) to try to make a little money while I wait for my back surgery and my disability to start paying. I have to take a good half hour break every 20 minutes or so, or I can barely walk.
Anyways, I will toss a picture or two on later.

[Windsor]

This is the radiator now. 12AN bungs welded on to the top tank, filler moved to the front, holes in the top tank closed up. I made up the hoses and got everything tightened up.

[JB400]

Glad to see you got your radiator situation worked out

[Windsor]

Picked up my heads today. Started prepping them to go on (cleaning paint off of intake/exhaust face, chasing the threads), and found that one of the keepers hadn't seated correctly. I'm gonna run to one of the shops here in this rinky dink town to see if they have a valve spring compressor I can borrow for 30 seconds. If not, I'll have to run it back to the shop that did the work which is 20 minutes away.
Not bad though, heads now have hardened valve seats, new exhaust valves, new valve springs, new expansion plugs and the 3 busted studs are out. I just wish I had time and money to strip the paint off the heads and block. I'd like to get them clean and repainted black. Not a fan of multiple layers of paint on a motor.

[Windsor]

Got the engine re-assembled minus the oil pump cover.  Had a couple hiccups that I got past. Snapped a valve cover, damned things are bowed. Had to trim my header flanges to clear the head studs. After chasing all the threads, the studs went in about 3/4 turn more than before, so the edges of the studs that I had trimmed no longer lined up. And if I trimmed them again to clear, it would have completely taken out the hex to install them, so trimming the header flanges worked. I will probably epoxy the valve cover tomorrow, and the other one when it cracks too. Anyways, here are the pics.

[Windsor]

Another

[Windsor]

I got my exhaust mostly done today. I just have to weld about 1/3 of each joint, which I couldn't reach from the outside, so I will crawl under it tomorrow to weld up. I finished fabricating the exhaust hangers and bolt on bracket to mount the upper hanger to the body, I will get those welded on tomorrow. I had to take out the front running board supports to get the exhaust run, I will be fabricating new ones that will clear the pipes.

Pics: Don't mind the finger, it wasn't an accident. It was the only thing I could do to keep the sun glare from streaking the picture. The 3.5"-3" step down fit perfect and allowed me to angle the pipe a bit. I used one of the pipe expanders you can rent from auto zone to expand the side pipe to be able to slip it over the step down, man that thing was a pain in the ***. I ended up pouring gear lube on the threads and using my 18v Snap-On impact to get it to work. Tried my air impact, barely made it budge, but the 18v impact got it done.
The pipe exits at an angle a little ways behind the back edge of the door.

[b5blue]

Coming together nicely and looking good, thanks for sharing! I'm liking how this is all working out.