Re: Restoration of my B5 Blue 4Spd Charger 500... Blue Thunder debuts...Finally!

[UFO]

You only have to insert PENNIES to fund the resto??
It's getting there.

[hemi68charger]

Looking good Allen..   

[tan top]

  looks  good     , good close up of the original also   

[xs29j8Bullitt]

You only have to insert PENNIES to fund the resto??
It's getting there.

Yep... but they gotta be ultra rare collector grade pennies! 

Below are new photos showing the block sanding of the C500.  Here are quotes from Greg's emails explaining details of last week's priming pictures...

Attached are the photos of the block sanding process on your car. 

The previous photos sent showed your car as it was sprayed with PPG DP 50 Epoxy Primer prior to the PPG DPS 3055 primer surfacer.  One wet coat of the DP was followed by 3 wet coats of the DPS.  The primer was allowed to cure for 4 days prior to the block sanding  process.  3M 240 grit sand paper was used to sand the primer.  Immediately following the block sanding process.

Once the final primer coat is applied I will switch gears and focus on interior and underbody finishing- mimicking the factory over sprayed paint look.

I forgot to mention that the guide coat that I am using is UPOL aerosol black- same composition as 3M dry guide coat- but much easier to apply and it won't spill if kicked by accident.

[hemi68charger]

Schwing !!!!!

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Three more pictures...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Schwing !!!!!

   

[charger_cody]

Lookin good man. I'm loving the progress.

Cody

[tan top]

looking good , sure makes blocking primer easier when you can  alter the car to the best  position   

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Yes... Its Baaaack!!!... Again... 
After a 3+ month hiatus, work has started on Blue Thunder again... hopefully this will be the "final push" as far as bodywork and paint.  But then the assembly process will begin... so the restoration still has a long way to go.  Due to my continuing health issues, the assembly of the car will have to be farmed out.

Robin (MagnumCharger) tracked me down on one of the new Challenger forums and made it clear he wanted to see the car finished in his lifetime... so we'll try!    Even the server hosting the Charger Forum is giving me a hard time, suggesting that I might consider starting over:



Last week I received a new batch of pictures showing the C500 undergoing final prep prior to painting.  First the engine bay, trunk interior, floorboards, and bottom of the car will be painted... painting of the body will be done last of course.  Here are some of the pictures from last week's batch showing final spot repairs...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Four more pictures showing the final touch-up prior to final priming & painting...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Priming again... 

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Goin' B5 Blue!!!
Here are the first pictures of paint progress on the C500... thanks to Ken (HemiTyme) for providing these in his      recent thread.  Blue Thunder was granted the honor of being a guest in HemiTyme's Bird's Nest, a rare privilege for a non-winged thing...    Thanks again for all your help Ken!!!

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Final three pictures for now...

Note the correctly restored "sloppy" over-spray of the "primed" bottom side of the car... although the correct look was achieved, steps were taken to prevent the surface rust spotting "bleed through" that quickly occurred on the newly built cars "back-in-the-day".

[tan top]

  looking real good   

[b5blue]

Super! 

[C500]

Good to see another 500 getting a nudge along. I had the same server warning updating my thread yesterday too. Your 500 is looking nice 

[Magnumcharger]

Lookin' real purty there Allen!

But this doesn't mean I'm going to stop stalking you....





Actually: I've posted there ever since I became a card carrying 2010 Challenger owner. Gotta spread the wealth....you know what I mean!

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Lookin' real purty there Allen!

But this doesn't mean I'm going to stop stalking you....

Thanks Robin... It sure is nice seeing the C500 starting the long road back to being a "real" car as opposed to a loose conglomeration of parts spread out over two states...

Actually: I've posted there ever since I became a card carrying 2010 Challenger owner. Gotta spread the wealth....you know what I mean!

I have seen you post there before as well as on Moparts...  I am registered on over two dozen forums (as "xs29j8" on most), but mostly hang out here and on Moparts.  Recently I even joined a new Camaro forum to participate in some of the Challenger vs Camaro vs Mustang threads...     One of the 5th Gen Camaro owners has a thread going about buying his wife either a Challenger or Mustang, so I posted a promo picture of a Plum Crazy 2010 Challenger R/T and simply said "Challenger! Of Course!".

Congrats on getting your PCP Challenger... I know you waited a loooong time for them to make that color available!    I hope that you like your new jewel as much as I like "Scarlett".  I plan to take the Challenger in to a Dealer tomorrow for a couple of minor warranty fixes... mostly software updates and a new heavier duty battery and heavier guage grounding cables.  Apparently some owners have been having "hot starting problems" so mo' battery & mo' grounding cable diameter are the solution.  The only actual problem that I have had so far was the "key fob not detected" one that occurred when I tried to leave a cruise at the local Chrysler Parts Depot in Carrollton...  had to pop out the "Start/Stop" button in the dash and use the key fob as a key.  Apparently there is a software fix for this known problem, but there have been a couple people saying their Dealer also replaced a passive emitter in the dash...?  

Here is "Scarlett" at the parts depot cruise-in...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

looking real good   

Super! 

Good to see another 500 getting a nudge along. I had the same server warning updating my thread yesterday too. Your 500 is looking nice 

Thanks guys... Gonna go check out Kiwi's restoration thread now.  I need to see how his C500 project is coming along... probably easily beating Blue Thunder's progress like everyone else on the forum doing a restoration! 

Allen

[69_500]

If it makes you feel any better Allen your restoration is way further along than my restoration of my C500 is.  I mean heck I haven't even started to think about it yet.  Ok so I have thought about it but not done anything towards it.

Car looks good now that it has some B5 blue on it.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

If it makes you feel any better Allen your restoration is way further along than my restoration of my C500 is.  I mean heck I haven't even started to think about it yet.  Ok so I have thought about it but not done anything towards it.

Car looks good now that it has some B5 blue on it.

Even by not having started, you are still ahead of me in some ways... there have been several running/driving C500s that have sold for the amount that I have already spent on Blue Thunder.  I am including the about $15,000 or so wasted in the $19,000+ fiasco at the first "bodyshop"...

The pictures that Ken posted showing the first significant B5 Blue application lifted my spirits...

I need to start gathering up some of the C500 parts to take them wherever the car will be assembled... and gather other parts up to sell to finance the final push to finish the C500.

Allen

[69_500]

Nah I'm not ahead of you at all Allen. Remember  that in your Dodge Mahal you have what I want already a Daytona. So until I get one of those in the garage next to the C500 there is not a chance in the world that I'll be tearing this one down to restore it. Gotta save all my pennies to get a Daytona.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Yes... Its Baaaack!!!... Again... 
After a 3+ month hiatus, work has started on Blue Thunder again... hopefully this will be the "final push" as far as bodywork and paint.  But then the assembly process will begin... so the restoration still has a long way to go.  Due to my continuing health issues, the assembly of the car will have to be farmed out.

Goin' B5 Blue!!!

Well, here we are another two months down the road, and I'm saying it again...   

But I expect that this time it will really happen... the exterior paint will be applied in the next few weeks!      

Earlier this week I purchased the final batch of materials for the C500, including the clear coat for the exterior paint.  I received the pictures attached in this post and the next two posts earlier in the week also, showing the final prep & painting of the remaining non-exterior areas like the insides of the fenders and underside of the hood.

Here are the pictures showing the final prep & priming of the insides of the fenders...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Pictures showing the final prep , priming, and painting of the underside of the hood...  As I have said all along, the restoration is not a perfectly true to "as factory finished" build.  I am having all exposed bare metal covered with a protective finish, usually primed and painted.  In some more visible areas (like the underside of the uni-body), a fake "primer" coat will be applied over the B5 Blue paint, and in other less visible areas the paint will be left as is.  In five years, the B5 paint will look a lot better than the surface rust would...