Rob's ongoing slow restoration process of his 69 charger R/T SE

[Neal_J]

Nice work, Rob.  Well-done!

Way to pee in the pool, Tufcat.   See other thread.

Neal

[1969chargerrtse]

Thanks guys.    I still can't believe I did it.  It looks so cool compared to the painted gloss straight emblem ed rear..  TUFCAT started the whole thing with PMing me over suggesting to redo the rear panel as I spent so much time doing the grille, and Chris always suggested " get those emblems off the car "  I really can't believe I pulled it off?   

[1969chargerrtse]

I'm pulling the deck lid stripe off because as shown before ( #478 ) I need to touch up on the lower section of the old painted stripe.  I was off by only an 1/8th of an inch.  I have to reshoot that section with the base coat orange, then clear over that and sand down the seam line between old clear and new clear under the wide stripe.  Sure beats trying to sand down a paint seam under an 1/8th inch pin stripe.  Pictures when the whole thing is done.

On the pin stripe I just slowly peeled it off cold.  On the wide stripe you need to warm it up ( hair drier ) or that sucker ain't coming off.

[1969chargerrtse]

So tonight I sanded down the area needing to be covered with 600 grit and then the remaining area to be blended.  I then cleaned it with my prep-All and wiped that down.  I then sprayed my can primer on to make sure I had good cover over the black pin stripe that was showing.  I did about 5 coats, hit it with a hair drier, let it sit for about an 1/2 hour and then lightly sanded it wet with 1,000 grit paper.  It came out smooth as a babies butt.  I'll let that sit overnight and then tomorrow spray the Chevy ( Hugger ) orange or Pontiac ( Carousel Red ) base coat, and then the clear.  Let that sit a day or so, and sand that with 1,000 then 2,000 grit and then buff that out and lay down the V'd stripe.
Wish me well.

[tan top]

  sounds like a good plan    looking forward to seeing it ..good luck for tomorrow 

[1969chargerrtse]

sounds like a good plan    looking forward to seeing it ..good luck for tomorrow 

Thanks, I hope to get it done tomorrow but now the wifes car needs me to do brakes after work so we'll see.

[0X01B8]

been following your story from the beginning.   

[1969chargerrtse]

been following your story from the beginning.   

Thanks, yeah it's been a rocky road, a love hate relationship with what I see as the worlds most beautiful car.  I enjoy posting my step by step story, and there's much more ahead as I have the trunk, jack etc restoration to do later.

[1969chargerrtse]

So I run home after work to shoot the base coat clear coat, It had been raining on and off all day and it finally stopped.  Oh yea.  Smack in the middle of shooting the clear I get a down pour.  Ain't life silly?  I'll lightly sand and buff it over the weekend and then lay down that stripe.  It came out nice. 

[1969chargerrtse]

Well I'm done for now.  Good news is the painting came out good.  Bad news is I didn't sand down my seam line good enough and it shows through the stripe.  I'm really surprised at this, I thought I sanded it down fine.  Body work is for artist.  So It looks fantastic to what I had before but not 100% show quality perfect.  No regrets at all and when I have the patience, I'll redo the deck lid again.  No painting next time just sanding and then another stripe.  Still a huge bargain compared to having a body shop do it.
Can't be to bad as it doesn't show in the pictures, but I see it clearly.

[ChargerSG]

Looks good

[Charger-Bodie]

Just strip the whole thing down and paint it Y2 ! That would be AWESOME.

[69*F5*SE]

       

[tan top]

Just strip the whole thing down and paint it Y2 ! That would be AWESOME.

    ................


looks real good Rob ! 

[1969chargerrtse]

I think we'll just leave it the orange for now.  I put my new gas tank in today.  Small note:  Make sure you tighten down the gas gauge sending unit fully, or when you pull in your garage you will still be leaking gas  .  Took me a while to get it clamped down while on my back with gas pouring on me, but I got it.  Me do stupid thing.

[Green71R/T]

I think we'll just leave it the orange for now.  I put my new gas tank in today.  Small note:  Make sure you tighten down the gas gauge sending unit fully, or when you pull in your garage you will still be leaking gas  .  Took me a while to get it clamped down while on my back with gas pouring on me, but I got it.  Me do stupid thing.

But at least you did not pay good money for a shop to do a stupid thing!!!

[69bronzeT5]

Looks great Rob. Good work

[1969chargerrtse]

I think we'll just leave it the orange for now.  I put my new gas tank in today.  Small note:  Make sure you tighten down the gas gauge sending unit fully, or when you pull in your garage you will still be leaking gas  .  Took me a while to get it clamped down while on my back with gas pouring on me, but I got it.  Me do stupid thing.

But at least you did not pay good money for a shop to do a stupid thing!!!

Oh so true. 

[1969chargerrtse]

My newest issue is the gauges peg to the right everytime I take the car out ( on and off ).  The tach also is almost at  5,000 rpm while I'm going 40 mph.  I'm waiting for new parts.

[Finn]

That stripe looks amazing man.

[1969chargerrtse]

That stripe looks amazing man.

Thanks, I still can't believe the straight gloss stripe is gone.  I really lucked out with the base coat clear coat paint and the fact that the tape stripe was a hair wider.

[lilwendal]

My newest issue is the gauges peg to the right everytime I take the car out, and if they are pegged, it stalls when I slow down to pull into a driveway.  The tach also is almost at  5,000 rpm while I'm going 40 mph.  I'm waiting for Mike ( lilwendal )to send me new parts and then I have to pull the dash again. That sucks.    Oh that's the same time as last month as the stupid clock doesn't work.

Alright...I'll try to be as diplomatic as possible with this.  Don't want to start an argument on the board and I've tried to stay away from directly responding in this thread but here it goes.
Rob I don't understand why you have  a problem with the Ebay seller msirepresenting the car, a loan company lossing your money, a shipper damaging your car, A second set of mismatched woodgrain you purchased, a damged bezel, a stripe that was delivered flawed, A rebuilt engine that leaks, and a malfunctioning cluster from Mike AKA Lilwendal.
So why did I get the notoriety of getting named when all those others you have issues with do not
Are not some of those unmentionables above also members here? Just bugs me I guess.  Maybe unwarranted.
And I'm the one when anyone has any kinda question or problem I jump through hoops to make things right.
On the technical/info side and so others know some additional details of your cluster.  I did not provide his bezels or woodgrain.  I only did the actaul cluster.
First. A new electronic voltage regulator from RTE was installed per coustomers request.  I don't make these. I buy them like the tach boards directly from RTE. The issue you are describing now with all the gauges going to full is supposed to be impossible with that new style regulator according to RTE. Or  all the gauges are getting full ground simutaniously. With you mentioning the car stalling as well when this is happening I suspect there is some bigger issue than the cluster's voltage regulator.
If the cluster VR has failed in a way that its supplying 12 volts to the gauges, impossible according to RTE, then the gauges would have burn't out in less than a minute.  Usually with notable smoke/smell.  Thats all if the cluster VE is sending 12 volts out instead of 5VDC.  If it is full ground the gauges are all reading then they will go to the max reading on all but will not harm the gauges.  Unless something conductive is physically resting across all the gauge studs out the back of the cluster, highly unprobable, I don't see how they are all getting full ground at the same time.
I've never heard of a cluster VR being able to influence how the engine runs and causing a stall.  Its such a low current circuit to cause a engine stall. No doubt there is some electrical issue going on. The RTE VR is warrantied.
On the tach...Did this start the same time as the gauge/stall issue??
On the clock. Again I don't make the movements. They are from IS. I have purchased over 100 of these movements in the last 2 years and have 3 that I'm aware have completely failed. 2 From your car.  I test those clocks at least 3 times before the cluster goes out. Once before assembled in the housing for a minute or two to verify its at least running before closing the case. Once the clock is assembled it gets hooked up again and will run for a mimimium of 48 hours. Finally when doing the last testing of the completed cluster it gets run again for 10 minutes or so. These are also warrantied by IS for a year.
I noticed in your earlier thread you also have/had issues with your charging system/voltage reg...Is there a possibitlity your alternator is randomly throwing out a different voltage or frequency that is causing issues/damage?
So I'm done venting and heres how we can proceed.
I do too many of these clusters and do not have issues like this so I really don't understand all the problems your having but am curious and willing to help.
Two Options...
A. I'll refund total cost of your cluster refurbishing.
Return the tach that I supplied and I will refund all costs you paid on that as well.  I will return your clock refurbished to put back in your cluster.
I would need the RTE VR to test/ return. I will return an original style.

B. I need the entire cluster again to go through everything to see whats going on.

You taking option A. has me out all the time/materials spent on your cluster including a fully refurbished clock.
Option B has me investing more time/money to investigate yours.
Either way I'm not walking away from your problem and will help all I can but when I test a cluster on the bench and eveything is working great then it shipped/goes into a car 1000 miles away, installed by someone else into a 40 year old electrical system.  There are other variables.
Most know what I charge for these cluster refurbs. Its really not much considering how much time goes into them.  The materials alone come in at 150.00 for a cluster with no additional needs.  Not saying that you get what you pay for at all. I take alot of pride in my work.  What I'm saying is I really don't make that much on them and it takes a huge amount of time away from my cars. Huge. So I guess I'm like your engine builder and stating that I'm going to wrap up the couple I have here now and break off for a while and get back on the cars.
That 383 4 speed car keeps calling me.

[Neal_J]

Unlike the Keelser/Layson's thread, this vendor's response indicates he wants to resolve the problem.  Way to go!

[moparstuart]

My newest issue is the gauges peg to the right everytime I take the car out, and if they are pegged, it stalls when I slow down to pull into a driveway.  The tach also is almost at  5,000 rpm while I'm going 40 mph.  I'm waiting for Mike ( lilwendal )to send me new parts and then I have to pull the dash again. That sucks.    Oh that's the same time as last month as the stupid clock doesn't work.

Alright...I'll try to be as diplomatic as possible with this.  Don't want to start an argument on the board and I've tried to stay away from directly responding in this thread but here it goes.
Rob I don't understand why you have  a problem with the Ebay seller msirepresenting the car, a loan company lossing your money, a shipper damaging your car, A second set of mismatched woodgrain you purchased, a damged bezel, a stripe that was delivered flawed, A rebuilt engine that leaks, and a malfunctioning cluster from Mike AKA Lilwendal.
So why did I get the notoriety of getting named when all those others you have issues with do not
Are not some of those unmentionables above also members here? Just bugs me I guess.  Maybe unwarranted.
And I'm the one when anyone has any kinda question or problem I jump through hoops to make things right.
On the technical/info side and so others know some additional details of your cluster.  I did not provide his bezels or woodgrain.  I only did the actaul cluster.
First. A new electronic voltage regulator from RTE was installed per coustomers request.  I don't make these. I buy them like the tach boards directly from RTE. The issue you are describing now with all the gauges going to full is supposed to be impossible with that new style regulator according to RTE. Or  all the gauges are getting full ground simutaniously. With you mentioning the car stalling as well when this is happening I suspect there is some bigger issue than the cluster's voltage regulator.
If the cluster VR has failed in a way that its supplying 12 volts to the gauges, impossible according to RTE, then the gauges would have burn't out in less than a minute.  Usually with notable smoke/smell.  Thats all if the cluster VE is sending 12 volts out instead of 5VDC.  If it is full ground the gauges are all reading then they will go to the max reading on all but will not harm the gauges.  Unless something conductive is physically resting across all the gauge studs out the back of the cluster, highly unprobable, I don't see how they are all getting full ground at the same time.
I've never heard of a cluster VR being able to influence how the engine runs and causing a stall.  Its such a low current circuit to cause a engine stall. No doubt there is some electrical issue going on. The RTE VR is warrantied.
On the tach...Did this start the same time as the gauge/stall issue??
On the clock. Again I don't make the movements. They are from IS. I have purchased over 100 of these movements in the last 2 years and have 3 that I'm aware have completely failed. 2 From your car.  I test those clocks at least 3 times before the cluster goes out. Once before assembled in the housing for a minute or two to verify its at least running before closing the case. Once the clock is assembled it gets hooked up again and will run for a mimimium of 48 hours. Finally when doing the last testing of the completed cluster it gets run again for 10 minutes or so. These are also warrantied by IS for a year.
I noticed in your earlier thread you also have/had issues with your charging system/voltage reg...Is there a possibitlity your alternator is randomly throwing out a different voltage or frequency that is causing issues/damage?
So I'm done venting and heres how we can proceed.
I do too many of these clusters and do not have issues like this so I really don't understand all the problems your having but am curious and willing to help.
Two Options...
A. I'll refund total cost of your cluster refurbishing.
Return the tach that I supplied and I will refund all costs you paid on that as well.  I will return your clock refurbished to put back in your cluster.
I would need the RTE VR to test/ return. I will return an original style.

B. I need the entire cluster again to go through everything to see whats going on.

You taking option A. has me out all the time/materials spent on your cluster including a fully refurbished clock.
Option B has me investing more time/money to investigate yours.
Either way I'm not walking away from your problem and will help all I can but when I test a cluster on the bench and eveything is working great then it shipped/goes into a car 1000 miles away, installed by someone else into a 40 year old electrical system.  There are other variables.
Most know what I charge for these cluster refurbs. Its really not much considering how much time goes into them.  The materials alone come in at 150.00 for a cluster with no additional needs.  Not saying that you get what you pay for at all. I take alot of pride in my work.  What I'm saying is I really don't make that much on them and it takes a huge amount of time away from my cars. Huge. So I guess I'm like your engine builder and stating that I'm going to wrap up the couple I have here now and break off for a while and get back on the cars.
That 383 4 speed car keeps calling me.

wow that is going above and beyond , kudo's to you for standing behind your name and your product 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

He's got my vote!