AAR Cuda resto starting......Update!! 7-13-2011 PICS!!!

[69 OUR/TEA]

 For you E- body guys figured I'd  post on a AAR cuda that I am doing for a friend.It is an orig AAR,originally white,black vinyl top,auto on floor.We found this car a couple years ago locally,my friend bought it and has waited for me to get going on it.It is going to be color changed to FJ6 sassy grass green w/no vinyl top,and a four speed.He made the choice as the orig motor and tranny are gone,and he absolutely does'nt want white.He's fine with it being a color change to his desire,he is just satisfied with it being a real AAR.He did find a T/A block,intake etc,so at least that will be correct.
The car had it's typical E-body rust,but really not that bad,I'm making it look worse than it is as to all the panels I took off.Going to be doing the AMD roof skin,full 1/4s,one piece trunk floor,drop offs,and dutchman panel.The orig trunk lid is real nice,as was the tail panel.Floors are very solid,just going to be a little pitted from when it comes back from the blasters.Firewall was great,along with the inner front fenders.Frame rails are beautifull.I removed cowl to have all the inside blasted and so it can be primed and painted,and not sure yet whether we are using the orig or going with a new AMD,as well as the exterior A pillars as those have holes in them too.
Brought it today to get blasted,they are going to be doing everything top,bottom,in/out,suspension,trunk lid,tail panel,cowl to start.When I pick up the car I'll be bringing them the doors and fenders.
 

[69 OUR/TEA]

Some pics.....

[69 OUR/TEA]

Says I have loaded a file with that name already???

[69 OUR/TEA]

finally working....

[69 OUR/TEA]

last ones...

[BB1]

WOW 

[PocketThunder]

WOW 

Holy Crap!  Now that is getting into it.   

[Finn]

 
Should be fun to follow along on this one!

[bull]

Can you say, extensive restoration?

[Silver R/T]

bare bones?

[Landonsrt]

Big job ahead. Just like Im getting into.

[Blown70]

I love AAR's,   Cannot wait to see her when done and WHOLY cow.... that is some stripping... She will be fresh....

[69bronzeT5]

Wow, big project! Good luck!

[Charger-Bodie]

Looking good Paul!!  Cant wait to see it with a slick coat of Dupont fe5 Red !!

[tan top]

lot of work there dude ...... keep the pictures coming 

awesome stuff

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

If he really wants a color change to a green, get him to consider the Viper's Snake Skin Green that "yeahitsgotahemi" used

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,60580.0.html

[69 OUR/TEA]

He wants an orig color,as FJ6 was my 2nd fav color on those cars,I suggested it,and at Carlisle 2 years ago there was a restored one under a tent in the swap area,he stood there for 1/2 hour staring at it ,right then and there his mind was made up.
I just bought some epoxy ,a quart of FJ6 ,etc,the other day so when the car comes back I can put it in epoxy and get some color on the areas that are going to be covered up with the new skins.
The funny thing is that alot of AAR's have the wrong BS's found in them,the one I found in mine is 139 cars off and" IS" for an FJ6 4spd car!!!!!!!

[69bronzeT5]

 

[mopar73]

Whooo Doggy!!!!!!!!!  When someone asks you if you did a "frame off"  restoration, you can just smile and say HELL no!!!  I started with a few pieces of metel laying around and built a AAR out of it    Can't wait to see more pics

[1969chargerrtse]

Says I have loaded a file with that name already???

That happens to me a lot. I just add a new letter to the name and redo it. Then of course you get that you ready made this post!!!
You do great work my friend.  Looks awesome.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Thanks guys,should be ready by this fri to pick up at the blasters.Then off to Autobody specialties to start buying all the AMD panels needed.I'm fortunate to live only a few miles from them,so no shipping,and get to inspect the parts before I buy them.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Got the car back from American Dry Stripping yesterday,worth every penny for the work they did !!!They are the only one I will ever bring anything to around here,operate like a doctors appointment,never leave your stuff outside,very thorough on the job,and price was more than fair for what they did.
The floors were way better than I had hoped(not to mention the whole car),very clean and solid w/not to many lite-brite holes, and will be staying in the car.
  Got it home and cleaned the floors and got epoxy on them right away.Tonite went to Auto body specialties (very convienient living next to them),and picked up the one piece trunk floor(AMD),and AMD full 1/4s,the rest we ordered and will be in here a couple weeks.
Some food for thought,we had bought a Goodmark one piece trunk floor last year,and could not return it,and wanting all AMD on the car,had to buy another one.Comparing the two,there is a substantial weight difference in that the AMD one is definitely heavier.The other test is when I go to put it in,I will get to see how both compare on how well they fit,but the AMD is the one that will be going in.

[69 OUR/TEA]

pics......

[69 OUR/TEA]

more pics......

[1969chargerrtse]

You be the man!!    Anyone having you work on their car is one lucky dude  .  Thanks for taking the time to show me your stuff last week.  I'm blown away by not just your autobody work, but how you built your house!  You're one of those guys that got it all going ( does your wife know this? ) .  Great job and keep posting pictures.  Your buddy Rob.

[Silver R/T]

It's gonna turn out very nice

[ZSmithersCharges]

last ones...

This is probably an old photo by now but the first thought that came to my mind with this one was... That would be a sweet dune buggy  Anyways, carry on 

[Hemidog]

An AAR cuda is definitely worth this resto! 

[aone415]

SWEET!

[69 OUR/TEA]

Heres an update on the AAR resto,been busy working on the 3x9 R/T SE ,but since getting the cuda back from the blasters did manage to get it in epoxy and get  all the AMD sheetmetal fitted,trunk floor,extensions,roof,1/4's,A-pillars,and the upper cowl.Gotta say I am having a good experience with it,very good fit,straight,thickness,etc.Of course it just does'nt just jump out of the box and on the car,but way better quality from years past repo panels,with very minimal tweeking and such.Waiting on one piece though(rear valance) for 3 months now.

[69 OUR/TEA]

pics.....

[69 OUR/TEA]

one more...

[69bronzeT5]

Amazing metal work!

[BB1]

  superduper!

[rav440]

lookngood  that is a ton of work  i wish i was able to to that 

[tan top]

 nice 

[RD]

dumbfounded is an understatement.  OMG, this is just unreal.

[RIDELIKEHELL]

Very impressive! Can't wait to see the finished product...

[turbobitt]

Awsome,
I've been patiently waiting to see how this will come out. Good Work...
From what I here your hourly rates are, I will have to start bringing my stuff over there.
AG.

[mopar_nut_440_6]

Awesome work!

I think I am pretty good at fixing my own stuff and then I look at some of the work coming from you  guys and think I SUCK. But hey, you guys give me something to strive for!

Again, great job and reference for us hobbyist car restorers!!

[JohnZepka]

A buddy of mine just finished a project on a 70 aar cuda that looked like yours when you started.  340 6-pack, 4 speed, burnt orange.  He did it in his spare time and it took him 5 years but he finally got it done and it is awesome.  That is definitely a special car.  JZ.

[1969chargerrtse]

Awesome work!

I think I am pretty good at fixing my own stuff and then I look at some of the work coming from you  guys and think I SUCK. But hey, you guys give me something to strive for!

Again, great job and reference for us hobbyist car restorers!!

I have to laugh because I have felt the same way when I view the work some of these guys do. Paul is one of those guys that does an A+ job.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Forgot that I had this topic going,so I'll bring it back up with some more work done on it.I work on this in between other stuff just to keep it moving,and ntm I'm working on another car for the owner that owns this AAR,so he knows where I'm at and what I'm doing with it.We were basically at a stand still from last July as I had the entire cars sheetmetal on,opening and closing doors,hood,trunk lid on the latches and all,before you dare do any welding or bodywork.The right front fender was an NOS one that will be saved and reused,but the drivers side was junk,and as of last Julys Carlisle,from the AMD tent speaking with Alan,the front fenders for the barracuda/cuda will be 2-3 months.Right!!!!!All year calling every month or two,same answer ,another month or so.
So here and there working on it,got the trunk floor welded in,frnt windshield A-pillars,painted inside and the underside of the new cowl and welded that all on along with the braces.Did the body work on the doors,trunk lid,front header panel.And finally,a week before Carlisle we got the fender,so yesterday mounted up all the front end to se how it fits,along with another AAR hood I picked up at Carlisle this year because of the first one not meeting the header panel to good.Well,the one I picked up at Carlisle you can see was another manufacturer when comparing the two,and did not fit any better on other areas.I even mounted up the orig,and beleive it or not,that one fits the best,but will be requiring way to much glass work on the inside as it is all broken up on the frame work.After mounting 3 AAR hoods yesterday,we are back to the one we orig had.
As far as the new AMD tooling on the fender,it fits dam nice,even their front valance meets the orig fender great and their repo one great.Very happy with it.
Now with that I can start back on the 1/4 panels and get them painted up on the inside with the correct undercoating and move on to get everything welded and start the bodywork on the back half.

[69 OUR/TEA]

some pics....

[69 OUR/TEA]

more...

[69 OUR/TEA]

last one...

[Charger-Bodie]

Looking good Paul!

[RallyeMike]

So about all that was saved was the inner frame of the unit-body?  It looks like every scrap of sheet metal except the cowl, firewall, and inner fenders has been replaced? (waiting for the "Is it a re-body?" crowd to chime in).

That's a ton of work, but looks like a lot of fun and quite bootiful. 

[69 OUR/TEA]

No,you see the first pic from the first page.I have made this car look worse than it was because of so much sheetmetal skins I took off.It was a vinyl top car,so there was rust creeping around under the roof skin,and did'nt want to risk trying to geuss if I got it all,so off the roof came with intentions of poss reusing it.When you weigh the options fix or get a new roof skin,we went with the new skin,and if it did'nt fit good,would be returned and fix the orig.It fit like a glove,to say the least.The rad support,inner front fenders,lower firewall,frame rails,floors,rear inner and outer ww's all were extremely nice,as well as the rear tail panel and orig trunk gutters,trunk lid,doors and header panel.Had at one point an NOS right front fender put on,which is what you see there now.
With all the skins off it allowed me to get all of that blasted and epoxied and paint everywhere you normally would never get to.When the car is done,alot of people are going to wonder how I got all that area inside the trunk,quarter panels,ww's so nicely covered with paint. Will be getting done in stages as parts go back on to get welded.Example,like the factory undercoating on the inside of quarter panel before it goes on,duplicated off  the originals which I still have for reference, then painted then put on the car.
Gonna take some time though,as I only work on this car 4 or 5 times a month.

[maxwellwedge]

Looking good Paul!!  Cant wait to see it with a slick coat of Dupont fe5 Red !!

[maxwellwedge]

He wants an orig color,as FJ6 was my 2nd fav color on those cars,I suggested it,and at Carlisle 2 years ago there was a restored one under a tent in the swap area,he stood there for 1/2 hour staring at it ,right then and there his mind was made up.
I just bought some epoxy ,a quart of FJ6 ,etc,the other day so when the car comes back I can put it in epoxy and get some color on the areas that are going to be covered up with the new skins.
The funny thing is that alot of AAR's have the wrong BS's found in them,the one I found in mine is 139 cars off and" IS" for an FJ6 4spd car!!!!!!!

Looking good   

[bill440rt]

Damn, Paul. You're up to your elbows in that one!
There is no doubt that it will be impeccable, just like everything else I've seen you do. Keep it up! Can't wait to see it in green!! Errrr.... red!!!  Errrr.... GREEN!!! 

[69 OUR/TEA]

Thanks Bill and Bill .It is going to be FJ6,no change now,already have inside cowl done,LOL.Mine will staying orig, EV2,no doubt.

[Belgium R/T -68]

Awesome work Paul I fully agree with you concerning AMD, most of the panels fit like a glove but here's my dilemma as see you had kind of the same problem: All I need now is the front fenders and AMD has been promising those ones for 18 months now, always same answer -"next month".
What to do? Go for Goodmark or put the project on hold? I can't do the quarters and trunk/extensions without aligning the front I have learned.

Per

[69 OUR/TEA]

Awesome work Paul I fully agree with you concerning AMD, most of the panels fit like a glove but here's my dilemma as see you had kind of the same problem: All I need now is the front fenders and AMD has been promising those ones for 18 months now, always same answer -"next month".
What to do? Go for Goodmark or put the project on hold? I can't do the quarters and trunk/extensions without aligning the front I have learned.

Per

For what car ??

[Belgium R/T -68]

Sorry 

Per

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,62341.0.html

[69 OUR/TEA]

Wow Per,you're into a pretty crazy build to!!!!! On the fender,check with the place that Dynacorn is sistered with that makes the fenders and such,thought I saw them advertise new challenger fenders made by them.I tried to find it,no luck but seen it in recent magazines.

[Belgium R/T -68]

They advertise fenders on ebay Would you think they would be better then Goodmark since I've heard they had problems with the lower bodylines on there's. Also I have a AMD shakerhood so fitting is cruisal.

Per

[69 OUR/TEA]

If you have no other option,I think I'd go with Dynacorn rather than Goodmark.I waited a year for them to get the Cuda fenders out.If you want to move on,don't sit by the phone for them.They just had to send back all 50 right front fenders because of the antenna hole punched in the wrong location,and said would take another 3 months till they get the new ones in.Good thing I need the drivers side.

[69 OUR/TEA]

Per,I checked ebay to see what you were talking about,they all look like they are Goodmarks.No Dynacorn.

[nh_mopar_fan]

 

Wow.

[Belgium R/T -68]

Ok, maybe they just use there name.

Per

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/70-71-Challenger-Fender-Front-LH-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQfitsZModelQ3aChallengerQ7cYearQ3a1970QQhashZitem3cb9b2c7d8QQitemZ260813539288QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

[69 OUR/TEA]

Did'nt see that one Per,sure looks like it could be the Dynacorn fender,I would call and talk to them,NTM looks like a good deal at $440.AMD cuda fenders are $600.