hemigeno's Daytona restoration - a few more tweaks... again!

[hemigeno]

More shots of the latchtray reinforcement bracket, from the underneath side.

You can see where the yoke lip was prepped for the spot welds by removing the paint.  All the original spot weld locations were still quite visible, so Vance had a pattern to follow for the reinstallation.

The radiator is removed at the moment, since we're having it re-cored (again) with an original 2-row core still in excellent shape.  Bob over at Glen-Ray Radiators has been a BIG help on this detail.  If/when the car sees more driving duties, I will probably replace the "ultra-correct" 055 radiator with one that has a modern high-efficiency 3-row core but still retain the correct 055 top tank.  Best of both worlds then, but for now the car has to make due with what Chrysler's engineers (strangely) saw fit to install in the car.

[hemigeno]

A couple more shots of the windshield area, and in the first you can see fingerprint remnants in the butyl sealant.  In the second shot, you can see a very small gap between the windshield gasket (a vintage part not a reproduction) and the glass.  Vance plans to cut a very small tip on a tube of black sealant and get some sealant back inside this gap for weatherization purposes.  It probably wouldn't leak if left alone, but it'd be better if we could keep very much water from pooling up inside the gasket.  Once he's finished with it you won't see the sealant without prying around on the gasket, and that better not be happening  

The last picture was a reminder to me to order another decklid stripe section.  You can see the lines that run front-to-back on the decklid stripe.  David Patik had suggested that Vance try using Windex as an installation lubricant instead of his usual dishwashing soap.  Problem is, the Windex doesn't allow much set time, and was pretty much dried out by the time they got the stripe positioned and started removing air bubbles.  Not good, since the stripe material started to pull as they worked the bubbles out.  The result is the marks you see here.  Another stripe section has already been delivered, and may have been installed (using dishwashing soap!!) by now.  I'm getting a little gunshy in relaying "this is how they said to install it" messages to Vance since this isn't his first rodeo.

In the last shot you can see that the bumper and the remainder of the tail-end components have been installed.  This area is pretty much complete, except for cleaning/detailing and installation of the June '69 Missouri license plate.

[hemigeno]

The undercoating in the rear wheelwells and on the rear underside of the car has been installed too.  The first and second pictures show the same area from two different vantage points.  Undercoating was usually installed by a guy standing at the rear wheelwell, and he shot the trunk floor from that direction... which is why you can see body-colored paint peeking through on the backside of the ribs - but see no such color showing from the frontside.

The last couple of pictures just show the wheelwell undercoat application.

[hemigeno]

A couple more undercoat photos, of the opposite-side's wheelwell.  The last photo shows how some of the undercoat got on other areas of the car & its components near the rear axle.

(BTW, the "Q" clamps visible in the 3rd pic are slated for replacement with "regular" muffler clamps - Vance is detailing up a set of those).

[hemigeno]

This is the last of the latest round of pictures taken.  I'll be going back up in a few weeks to exchange some other components, and will have a few more things to show then.  The To-Do list is getting a lot shorter than it was, for sure.

In the first picture, you can see the scissors jack hold-down nut isn't the correct one.  The style used when this car was built is the style that has the captive square nut - rather than the style here that has the threads machined into the body of the wingnut itself.  Vance pointed this out to me, and showed me the other nut he has ready to install after it's been replated.

The second pic is of the original washer hose we swiped from my Charger R/T "parts car".  It was in perfect shape, and we didn't have to try and eliminate the yellow stripe found on the other hose section I had found (MoparJohn knows what this is about).

The last pic shows the relocated oil dipstick... now outside the exhaust manifold as it was for 1969.  You can also partially see that the steering column has been blacked out too.

[Troy]

I think having non-original fingerprints in the A-pillar trim sealant will cost you 2-3 points. You should have found a creative employee and copied his prints - or had him install the trim. I'm sorely disappointed...

Troy

[hemigeno]

We're still searching for the Creative Industries employee fingerprint file so that they can be replicated in exact detail.  In the meantime, we had a copy of Elvis' fingerprints and used those.

[Davtona]

I think having non-original fingerprints in the A-pillar trim sealant will cost you 2-3 points. You should have found a creative employee and copied his prints - or had him install the trim. I'm sorely disappointed...

Troy

Don't laugh Troy he may do that now that you caught that. How about a previous owner?? I'm sure I touched those areas at one time or another. Would that go back far enough?? I'll stick my fingers in it the next time I'm in Michigan. 

[moparstuart]

I think having non-original fingerprints in the A-pillar trim sealant will cost you 2-3 points. You should have found a creative employee and copied his prints - or had him install the trim. I'm sorely disappointed...

Troy

Don't laugh Troy he may do that now that you caught that. How about a previous owner?? I'm sure I touched those areas at one time or another. Would that go back far enough?? I'll stick my fingers in it the next time I'm in Michigan. 

call in CSI

[hemi68charger]

...

The second pic is of the original washer hose we swiped from my Charger R/T "parts car".  It was in perfect shape, and we didn't have to try and eliminate the yellow stripe found on the other hose section I had found (MoparJohn knows what this is about).

...

Are you going to "over-spray" the cowl area and get paint all over that nice hose and squirters?

[hemigeno]

Are you going to "over-spray" the cowl area and get paint all over that nice hose and squirters?

Lots of pristine parts will get the overspray treatment.  We're waiting for a C.A.R.E. package from Paul Jacobs to arrive in a couple of weeks before getting out the paintgun again.

Some things, like the Emissions Decal, will never see the light of day again after Vance is through   

[maxwellwedge]

I think having non-original fingerprints in the A-pillar trim sealant will cost you 2-3 points. You should have found a creative employee and copied his prints - or had him install the trim. I'm sorely disappointed...

Troy

Geno didn't want to spill the beans but he sent a couple of guys from Jersey to bring the Creative guy to Lance's. The guy wouldn't go so the boys
got "Creative" on their own.......


PC Disclaimer: No humans were hurt in the making of this post or the fingerprints on Geno's car.....This is a fake, novelty finger......made by the same people that make rubber vomit and fake doggie-doo.

[69_500]

Gene I'm pretty sure that if you just cruise around up there in Detroit out on 7 mile you might find some of the same people, who were looking for work and were picked up by Creative for a day or two, still looking for work now. I mean the ecomony is bad right? You should give it a shot on a weekend.

[maxwellwedge]

Gene I'm pretty sure that if you just cruise around up there in Detroit out on 7 mile you might find some of the same people, who were looking for work and were picked up by Creative for a day or two, still looking for work now. I mean the ecomony is bad right? You should give it a shot on a weekend.

Too late - He was on Doctor Phil and is now going to be in a Nicholson movie.

[hemi68charger]

Well,, you could go by Jim M.'s green Daytona, didn't look like it had 'too' much overspray...... 

I'm glad I live in the South, you guys up North are rough, especially you Canadians... 

[maxwellwedge]

Well,, you could go by Jim M.'s green Daytona, didn't look like it had 'too' much overspray...... 

I'm glad I live in the South, you guys up North are rough, especially you Canadians... 

Yeah - It was a little edgy - no?   

[69_500]

Gene give me a heads up the next time your heading up that way. I'd tag along if you don't mind someone crawling all around your car snapping a few hundred if not a thousand pictures.

[maxwellwedge]

Danny - You and Geno need to drop by my place as well.....I'll let "Olga" know your coming ahead of time....

[UFO]

Gene, The paint on the latch tray-is there a texture to it? Looks different than the z brackets.
Maybe it's just the flash creating a illusion.

[472 R/T SE]

Absolutely stunning.  I'll never own another wingcar most likely, real or not.  But thanks for putting all these photos up.  It's a good thing I have 2 external hard drives. 


Quick question pertaining the exhaust manifolds.  Is there a high temperature paint that matches them that a person could paint them to keep them from discoloring. 

I don't imagine you'll drive it too much so it's not much to worry about.  I wanted to do something permanent with my Challenger since I had got caught in a couple rain showers & edges were showing rust.

[69_500]

Danny - You and Geno need to drop by my place as well.....I'll let "Olga" know your coming ahead of time....

Now that I've waited so long to go up to your place Jim, I'll have to renew my passport now. It expired last summer. I don't think "Olga" will let me slide on that one.

[hemigeno]

Gene give me a heads up the next time your heading up that way. I'd tag along if you don't mind someone crawling all around your car snapping a few hundred if not a thousand pictures.

Sure thing, Danny.  What's your schedule like over the next couple of weeks?  I may be making another multiple-stop trip that COULD take me through Indy, twice (long story).  If that happens, you could hitch a ride with me both ways if you'd like. 

Danny - You and Geno need to drop by my place as well.....I'll let "Olga" know your coming ahead of time....

I may take a week off sometime this summer and swing through a couple of places up north.  Wouldn't be a complete or successful trip without crossing the border and paying you another visit.  Next time, tell Olga I'm a married man, wouldya?

[hemigeno]

Gene, The paint on the latch tray-is there a texture to it? Looks different than the z brackets.
Maybe it's just the flash creating a illusion.

You've got a good eye there Brian.  The latch tray does have a texture to it, and this is another detail we copied from my original tray (also observed on at least two other original/untouched Daytonas) that goes against the grain of how most cars were done... which was to paint the latchtray same as the Z brackets.  My car has some weird quirks to it, for sure.

Absolutely stunning.  I'll never own another wingcar most likely, real or not.  But thanks for putting all these photos up.  It's a good thing I have 2 external hard drives.  


Quick question pertaining the exhaust manifolds.  Is there a high temperature paint that matches them that a person could paint them to keep them from discoloring.  

I don't imagine you'll drive it too much so it's not much to worry about.  I wanted to do something permanent with my Challenger since I had got caught in a couple rain showers & edges were showing rust.

Thanks, Mike!  The first couple of years the car won't see too much road action (too much trouble to keep it perfectly clean for some of the shows I want to attend), but if I can't justify driving this car I don't know if I can justify keeping it.  It won't ever see duty as a daily driver, but simply pulling it on/off the trailer isn't much fun.  I'll have the "beater" car from my stable to tool around in also, but the allure of driving a wing car can only be held in check for so long.

The exhaust manifolds were ceramic-coated on the inside surface only, to help keep the heat inside the manifold casting to the greatest degree possible.  Vance's preferred engine paint is (I think) an Imron paint he has found does not discolor much with average engine temps.  As long as I don't accidentally retard the timing too much or do something else that would elevate exhaust temps beyond the normal range, the combination should hold up well.

If you need additional specifics on the engine paint, let me know so I can ask Vance.

[maxwellwedge]

Danny - You and Geno need to drop by my place as well.....I'll let "Olga" know your coming ahead of time....

I may take a week off sometime this summer and swing through a couple of places up north.  Wouldn't be a complete or successful trip without crossing the border and paying you another visit.  Next time, tell Olga I'm a married man, wouldya?

Unfotunately, the glove does not discriminate.....

[hemi68charger]

Danny - You and Geno need to drop by my place as well.....I'll let "Olga" know your coming ahead of time....

Oh,,,, I see how you are................. got somethin' 'gainst Texans-who-formerly-were-native-Floridians?