1972 Dodge Charger

[72ChargerDodge]

Found the worse part on my car, the truck and the leaf spring rear bracket holder. Both are rusted pretty bad. I am taking back my previous claim of little rust. There is quit a bit of rust hiding its ugly head. Any one know were to find a new bracket?

[Foreman72]

Found the worse part on my car, the truck and the leaf spring rear bracket holder. Both are rusted pretty bad. I am taking back my previous claim of little rust. There is quit a bit of rust hiding its ugly head. Any one know were to find a new bracket?

i hear you...rust is no good at all...

there are several places that sell good parts however...check these out

http://www.autorust.com/
http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/restoration1.html
http://www.p-s-t.com/

[71383bee]

Man that ain't no bracket that's the frame!

Now don't go driving around beating and banging that thing.  Your gonna tear the axle right out of it.  That car needs to be taken down to the shell and redone...Those rear springs are basically not attached to anything! 

[72ChargerDodge]

The frame is good, this bracket is welded to the bottom of the trunk pan I have inspected the entire frame and it all feels solid. It looks like the frame from the picture but its not. It still needs repaired soon though. Thanks Foreman72 I think this will work great to replace the old one (going to replace both).

[oldrock]

Looking at that picture, I'd be careful driving that car too much in that condition. The rust looks like it has definately weakened the metal in that area. Might be worth having that area looked at by a local shop to get some opinions on best way to repair. Either that or at least get a wire brush on a drill after it to see just how bad the rot is.

[FLG]

Your going to need to replace the whole shackle mount. Going to need a bit of metal working skills.

Heres a pic of mine, only one i had ATM. As you can see, theres a bit of rust but its in decent shape (especially for a car that spent its life on the east coast).

Think auto body specialties sells em

Also that bracket is NOT welded to the trunk pan. Those are optional sliders that can be used for spring mounting, but you will need to replace the frame/spring mount piece you see in the pic i posted.

Dont just "look" at the frame, start giving it some hits with a blunt object...nothing to cause damage but something substantial enough to make sure the metal is as thick as it seems.

[72ChargerDodge]

I'm been going through the frame with a hammer. So far so good, I was pretty surprised but the floor pan is solid, though for sure I would bang some holes in it. Here are some pictures of the truck, this seems to be the worse spot so far.

[FLG]

Dosnt seem too bad. Dont know who decided to use spray foam to fix the rust problem 

[72ChargerDodge]

Haven't you heard that spray foam is the #1 recommended method by BK Auto for stopping rust on contact.

[The 500 Foundation]

I do not want to thread jack but I have been enjoying the thread and thought for my first post  I would
say thanks for the connection.  I have a 72 real 440 Pistol grip 4 speed Dana super trac pac car in need of resto and am looking forward to contributing

[72ChargerDodge]

Anyone heard of Ultra One Safest Rust Remover? http://www.safestrustremover.com/

If it works like it says it does then it would be some great stuff for cleaning rust off the undercarriage. Then a POR 15 paint job to stop future rust.  

[FLG]

Dont use any of that crap honestly.

Unless the car is getting dipped, remove the surface rust the old fashion way.....grinding and cleaning.

Also POR 15 is meant to be Paint Over Rust hence the abbereviation POR.

I hate all the paint over rust, remove rust products. In my opinion there garbage and you might as well do it the right way the first time.

[72ChargerDodge]

I am not the biggest fan of sanding off surface rust & if Ultra one works then I would use it. If not electrolysis works. You can't sand down bolts and little pieces worth a crap so dipping/spraying sounds like the way to go. POR 15 works great as an undercoating on clean bare scratched up metal as well as painting directly on rust. It can be painted over rust but it can also be used to paint on bare metal to prevent rust from ever occurring.

[FLG]

I am not the biggest fan of sanding off surface rust & if Ultra one works then I would use it. If not electrolysis works. You can't sand down bolts and little pieces worth a crap so dipping/spraying sounds like the way to go. POR 15 works great as an undercoating on clean bare scratched up metal as well as painting directly on rust. It can be painted over rust but it can also be used to paint on bare metal to prevent rust from ever occurring.

Your can do what you want but POR is specifically designed for painting over rust, and only that. Bolts and little pieces can be cleaned with a wire wheel, or even dipped and cleaned. You cant do the same for your frame.

Dont take this the wrong way, im not trying to come off like an a$$ but if your not "into" sanding off rust then your only going to wind up with problems later down the line.

"Measure once curse twice"


Always better to do things the right way, do it half assed as your going to wind up doing twice the work to get it done right. Im not saying these things dont work, but i just think if you take the time to remove all the rust you KNOW you wont have problems. Use some of these things and if they dont work well now you have more rust to deal with and alot more work to do.

[72ChargerDodge]

Who is into sanding off rust? Sanding sucks... I just wanted to know if anyone has ever used Ultra One before. If it works then it would be worth it to me to not sand. I would rather spend 50 dollars on Ultra one and wash the rust off. I know I will still be sanding off the paint which isn't so bad. I know people who spray POR-15 on the undercarriage of their cars. I went ahead and wrote to POR-15 to see if that is a sensible application of their product. If not then I will find something else to use on the undercarriage. I didnt take you as being an @$$  I don't mind peoples opinions either. I just wanted to know if anyone has ever used Ultra One and if it worked. If it works then I will be cleaning the entire undercarriage of my car with it. If it doesn't work then I will be getting busy with a wire wheel.

[oldrock]

the roof on my sons charger was really really rusty since it used to be a vinyl top. I am not a huge fan of sanding either so we did a little of both. First we did a quick and dirty job of sanding to get the big flaky rust off. Then we used the rust destroyer stuff to coat the remaining rust. We took our time and did 2 strong coats of the rust destroying stuff. Then sanded that down and followed with a good primer and basecoat/clearcoat. Seemed to work fine but I guess time will tell. In our case, the rust was pretty bad to the point the metal on the roof was kinda thin in spots so we were concerned if we sanded too much we might sand right thru. 

[gschmidt211]

This guy with the blue charger doesn't have to worry about rust remover.  The rust removed his frame.  It is gone.  Those pictures of the shackle mounts are horrible.  I have seen some bad stuff, but I have never seen a frame gone as much as this car.  You can see the bushing that is suppose to be on the inside of the frame.  Wow. 

A little bit of spray of grinding to remove surface rust will not help this matter.

Good luck.

[72ChargerDodge]

POR-15 wrote back and said:

Hello Michael,

POR-15 is designed to be applied to bare or rusted metals only.  If there was any paint or primer on that surface you would have to remove it before applying the POR-15.


Mark Kanya
POR-15 Inc
PO Box 1235
Morristown NJ 07962
1-800-457-6715

[72ChargerDodge]

The frame on my car is solid, the only bad section underneath the car is the passenger side rear shackle mount. The rear shackle mount is horrible, but its an easy fix, all I have to do is weld in a new mount.

[oldrock]

I agree it is fixable if the rest of the car is solid. I think some others were just saying be sure to fix it before you do much driving. It just looks like it could fail at any time and that would be very bad news if you were driving in traffic at the time. Keep us posted on the progress.

[71383bee]

The frame on my car is solid, the only bad section underneath the car is the passenger side rear shackle mount. The rear shackle mount is horrible, but its an easy fix, all I have to do is weld in a new mount.

Man you have GOT to be kidding me...So WHAT then is the rear spring supposed to mount too?  The body?  NO!  THey mount to the FRAME man.  and you gotta face REALITY that the rear FRAME is GONE!  

MOPARS ARE UNIBODY THE REAR SHACKLES MOUNT THROUGH THE FRAME!  DON'T TELL ME THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!  THERE IS A HOLE IN THE FRAME THAT THE REAR SHACKLES MOUNT THROUGH AND THERE IS NOTHING LEFT HOLDING THE REAR SHACKLE BUSHINGS IN YOUR PICTURES.  HONESTLY, YOUR SAYING THE FRAME IS FINE IS LIKE TELLING EVERYONE THAT STOP SIGNS ARE GREEN!   

IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO TAKE THE PROPER TIME, ENERGY, AND $$$ TO PROPERLY REPAIR YOUR FRAME THEN YOU ARE IN FOR A WHOLE WORLD OF OTHER ISSUES.  

I'VE RESTORED AT LEAST 3 71/72 MOPAR B BODY'S AND THIS IS YOUR FIRST MOPAR SO WHO SHOULD BE TELLING WHAT TO WHO HERE.  IF YOU WANT HELP THEN YOU NEED TO STOP DREAMING AND LISTEN TO WHAT OTHER EXPERIENCED PEOPLE ARE TELLING YOU  WHO MAY HAVE BEEN IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE...

I'm all for helping,but when the person we're trying to help basically says we don't know what we're talking about then I don't see the point in trying to help.  Just my  

[72ChargerDodge]

I honestly don't know what you mean. I have inspected the entire undercarriage of the car. I have banged every bit of the frame. The rear leaf spring shackle that holds the back of the leaf spring is rusted out. The shackle that the leaf spring hooks to. I need to weld in a new shackle. They make replacement shackles. Here is the shackle that I ordered. I am going to cut out the old shackle & weld in the new one. After I weld in the new one I will re-hook up my leaf spring.

Everyone has helped me out a ton.  The members of this site helped me find a replacement shackle.  I was having a hard time finding one.

Notice the frame next to the shackle. The bumper is attached to the frame. It goes shackle, frame, gas tank. The frame is in between the shackle and the gas tank. Notice that the frame is not rusted out.  I call the shackle that which the leaf spring is attached to. If you want to call the shackle a frame then yes the frame is rusted out.

[71383bee]

Just go back and read FLG's post on page 3.  He has a picture of the mount.  I can't say it any better than he did...

This is serious stuff here...not a wire brush, chicken wire, and some bondo.  If that spring mount looks like that I would be REAL worried about the rest of the car. 

[Smokey Bear]

Yer kinda both right.... the main rear frame does not support the spring shackle and it looks to be ok. On a 72 there is a short additional mount/frame about the same size as the main frame that runs runs parallel to the main frame. It's sole purpose is to hold the shackle, and yes it is attached to the trunk floor pan, but it is also braced to the main frame. Suffice it to say, a new shackle mount should be fabricated and braced off to the main frame like original. You have some work ahead of you that is more than just welding on the slider mount to the floor pan.

Nobody has asked yet, but I gotta know. Will it be Petty Blue again?

[Smokey Bear]

.... also i just noticed, looking at the spray foam, the visible fiberglass patches, and the tin patches under the trunk pan along with this spring shackle mount, I hate to break the news to you..... but it looks to me that you are going to find quite a bit of rust repair will be needed on this car once you start getting into it.