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

[69_500]

Which would be less work?
Removing the complete tailight panel, or one of the roof & backlight supports?
Count the spot welds!! 

I'm not sure that you really wanted someone to sit down and count the amount of spot welds that actually hold each section into place. But I see what your getting at after doing just that. The ratio of spot welds that hold the tail light panel in outnumber the number of spot welds that hold the roof & backlight supports almost 2 to 1. However I can see that since Allen is already having to remove the rear valance area to do some repair, that makes the amount of spot welds almost even. That is if you consider that the ones to remove the rear valance aren't taken into account as extra any more.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

A few pictures from yesterday... also, I believe that I have located a clean driver's side fender in the Charger parts hoard of a friend.  I hope to pick it up this coming weekend.

I wiil try to call AMD tomorrow for an update on the repro parts that I still need for the C500...

Allen

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Not much new this week... the doors & passenger side fender are being worked, but other shop projects have priority this week.

The trip to get another driver's side fender was postponed a week due to personal business... maybe this weekend. 

A few pictures from Monday...

Allen

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Continuing to find markings that were apparently made before priming or painting... they are untouched by the plastic media blasting.

Several are hard to see & even harder to photograph... some can only be see in bright sunlight.

Pictured below are "P" (shown before), "A1", & "6"... not sure of their significance... maybe "P" means ready to prime    "A1" might mean the shift during which the car was built  and "6" might be the line it went down 

Pure speculation on my part... anyone really know? 

Below are a few pictures of the markings that I managed to photograph.

Allen

[FJMG]

   WOW Allen, I was wondering if anybody else had that A1 marking, I haven't found the P or 6 yet but here is a pic of my Daytona marking:
Robert.

[LeeBoy]

  If something doesn't start to pan out in the next 3-6 months, I will post the C500's VIN & other information and see if the Missouri members (or anyone else) can help locate it.

Make a post over on the Missouri Mopar board (see sig).

Thanks for the link!  I will post over there when I go public with the VIN number & other car information.  Still trying to locate it quietly to prevent someone from buying it to offer it to me for mega $$$$$...  I may have a new lead by looking at some old owner's information in a different way.  I will call a friend who has an old wing car contact in Missouri and see if that approach turns up anything.

In the mean time I will go check out the Missouri Mopar Board!  Thanks again! 

Allen

Any leads on the motor yet?  The car is moving along nicely.

[evil1]

this is one of my favorite treads, but when i save pics to my hard drive, i cant open them. i've installed a couple differant photo programs but it still didn't help, any ideas?

[Hemidog]

they are copyrighted!
j/k, think you're maybe having problems with your system. nothing wrong with the pictures.

[69_500]

I'd agree that it is something wrong with your operating system. I haven't tried to save any of Allen's photo's to my hard drive yet. As I'm getting ready to purchase a new computer, and don't want the hassle of doing all the copying again on the new computer.

[evil1]

I save alot of pics off the net (hundreds and hundreds ) and usually about 5% i cant open after i save them but i noticed i cant open any of his .

[Troy]

this is one of my favorite treads, but when i save pics to my hard drive, i cant open them. i've installed a couple differant photo programs but it still didn't help, any ideas?

they are copyrighted!
j/k, think you're maybe having problems with your system. nothing wrong with the pictures.

I save alot of pics off the net (hundreds and hundreds ) and usually about 5% i cant open after i save them but i noticed i cant open any of his .

It's actually a side effect of how the server stores image attachments. If you click or right click on the link under the picture (the one with the little green paper clip) you'll get the actual image. Right clicking the image itself will get you the server generated image - which most of the time shows up as a php file and your computer doesn't know what to do with it. This is only necessary for attachments so look for the paper clip and link underneath.

Troy

[evil1]

Thanks Troy, i tried saving like that, and it worked . sorry for the hi-jack.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Any leads on the motor yet?  The car is moving along nicely.

None so far, but I have been tied up chasing parts for the C500 as well as work & personal business...

I just returned from a friend's place with a driver's side fender that I believe is a lot better than the original, but I might not know for sure until its media blasted... then I might be back to square one again. 

Overall the fender looks very nice, but it does have filler at the front like many original fenders... I will have the body man take a look at it before stripping.  I really appreciate my friend's offer to help me with a fender from his private stock... fortunately most of his 1969 Chargers don't use this type of fender... 

Another long time acquaintance with an ideal replacement fender declined to offer it to me at a fair price (or even very high price), preferring to "see what it'll do on eBay".  Apparently it's just about the $$$ and fear that another $50 could be left on the table...  I am getting just a bit up in years, but my long term memory is just fine! 

Allen

[69_500]

  So someone has one of those weird 69 Chargers that doesn't use a 69 fender? Would that be a DAYTONA. 

Hey Allen, your search for a good fender would probably be easier solved if you took into consideration fenders that are of another color than B5 blue. Only kidding of course.

I've been keepin my eyes and ears out for any leads on a charger 500 block. I have only ran accross a handful of them over the years, tried to buy most of them, and have been outbid on all of them so far. None of those were for your car though. Haven't ever heard of it coming up for sale anywhere.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

It's actually a side effect of how the server stores image attachments. If you click or right click on the link under the picture (the one with the little green paper clip) you'll get the actual image. Right clicking the image itself will get you the server generated image - which most of the time shows up as a php file and your computer doesn't know what to do with it. This is only necessary for attachments so look for the paper clip and link underneath.

Troy

Thanks Troy...   

[xs29j8Bullitt]

So someone has one of those weird 69 Chargers that doesn't use a 69 fender? Would that be a DAYTONA. 

Your guess is not exactly right... but you are getting warm... 

Hey Allen, your search for a good fender would probably be easier solved if you took into consideration fenders that are of another color than B5 blue. Only kidding of course.

The fenders are interchangeable    ...who knew?!?    BTW, notice the wheelhousing came from a B5 colored car as well! 

Allen

[69_500]

Yeah I noticed that. What are you doing hoarding all of the B5 blue cars so that a person like me can't find one? JK

Tell your friend that he doesn't need all of those funky looking 69 Chargers, and send one my way woud ya? 

Everytime I open this thread when my wife is standing here, she asks why we couldn't have a B5 blue Charger 500 instead of an R4 red one. I keep telling her its because you won't trade us. 

[RAC95054]

Another long time acquaintance with an ideal replacement fender declined to offer it to me at a fair price (or even very high price), preferring to "see what it'll do on eBay".  Apparently it's just about the $$$ and fear that another $50 could be left on the table...  I am getting just a bit up in years, but my long term memory is just fine! 

Allen

Amen, brother! 

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Pictures from last Monday... work on the doors & passenger side fender continued and the replacement for the driver's side was at the shop waiting to be sent for plastic media blasting (should go next week).

Allen

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Pictures from Friday... the Goodmark POS wheelhousing has been removed and the used original replacement wheelhousing & CBD reproduction quarter panel are being test fitted for the first time.  So far everything looks good...

Allen

[xs29j8Bullitt]

A few more pictures from Friday...

[Magnumcharger]

That's a lot of flash rust going on there Allen.
Are you concerned at all?
And they primed the quarters before welding them on....? Interesting methods.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

That's a lot of flash rust going on there Allen.
Are you concerned at all?
And they primed the quarters before welding them on....? Interesting methods.

What appears to be "flash" rust is not new rust formed since plastic media blasting, but existing surface rust from the C500's 39 years of life.  I have been told by the media blaster and several bodymen that the factory phosphate coating remains intact during plastic media blasting, and will protect the metal for a year or longer when the car is stored inside.

At this point I am concerned about EVERYTHING, and have been watching for new signs of rust.  When I believe there are signs of new surface rust, I check the hundreds of pictures I have taken since media blasting... so far it has always been there previously.

Below are pictures taken by the media blaster immediately after blasting showing the surface rust not removed by the plastic media.  In the near future the surface rust will be removed by careful sand blasting of the affected areas, followed by priming immediately because sand and other highly abrasive media DOES remove the phosphate coating and leave only bare metal.

The reproduction quarter panels are a different story, having arrived as bare metal with no phosphate coating... only a heavy coating of something similar to cosmolene.  The coating had an oily, gummy feel to it and was removed with some difficulty... leaving bare metal.  The intial priming was necessary to protect the metal, but will be redone in stages.  For example, just prior to final installation, a 2-3 inch border around the edges to be welded will be stripped by hand and a weldable primer applied.

There are a lot of methods used by bodymen, some of them obviously better than others.  With every body shop I have ever used there were things that I thought should have been done differently... then again I am not an expert.  What is important to me is the end result, not only appearance but longevity.

Time will tell... 

Allen

[Rob1426]

Allen, why was the muffler hanger bracket in the left rear seat area not removed?  I am sure there is rust behind it.   

Bob

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Allen, why was the muffler hanger bracket in the left rear seat area not removed?  I am sure there is rust behind it.   

Bob

Hi Bob... sorry for the delay in replying, but the last several weeks have not been too good on several fronts... 

The "month from hell"... (or heck at least) included the passing of a good friend from heart failure... sure gonna miss talking to him!

Back on topic, the bracket and a few other small items were inadvertantly left on during media blasting, but are being removed (see first picture) now prior to selective spot sand blasting which should occur soon... so, just a mistake! 

The other pictures show the doors and passenger fender work nearing completion... the inside of the door structures has been coated with Rust Bullet.  The replacement driver's fender is over at the plastic media blaster for stripping... I hope that there are not any bad surprises like the original fender had (the new fender does have some body filler at the front).

Allen