70 unibody gets new metal

[Bastrd]

Very inspiring!

[oldgold69]

 you used replacement quarters instead of factory  when it comes to putting body filling on the quarters  do you do anything on the inside to hide the weld seam or just put undercoat on it  i never see what the finished weld in the trunk on a quarter panel

[Domino]

you used replacement quarters instead of factory  when it comes to putting body filling on the quarters  do you do anything on the inside to hide the weld seam or just put undercoat on it  i never see what the finished weld in the trunk on a quarter panel

shoehorn yourself into the trunk, Clean it up with a green back, but don't thin out the panels. A good coat of epoxy primer will protect it, a proper undercoat job will hide it.

[Tigger]

Great work, do you metal fabricate for a living, or are you just a natural?

[Domino]

Great work, do you metal fabricate for a living, or are you just a natural?

No, prob wouldnt have this as a hobby if it were also work. It's that shoemaker/shoe thing :

[Cooter]

Im Impressed at the level of fab skill for making those little "Dies" for the stampings. Very nice.

Domino, you are a true craftsman. That Charger is lucky to have you.

[spoolinhard]

what grit roloc disc are you using to grind down your welds? They look great.

[Domino]

24 or 36 grit

[bill440rt]

Gotta hand it to you, that is some AMAZING metal fab work going on there! 

Really, REALLY great work! 

[Domino]

Thanks! Hopefully seeing what I've done will help and/or inspire others.
Keeps me going looking at other builds and posting up my own updates.

[Domino]

Got a bit sidetracked working on a blasting "shed". Figured I would benefit from having a dedicated area that would catch media to reclaim, needed like a shed outside with high flow ventilation and a light.  Step back 6 months I bought some porta pots to camo and use as deer blinds, one was a 5'x5' handicapped crapper.

Painted grey to match shop siding
I added a $20 4' work light, a freebie cut down loading ramp, a freebie moon bounce blower.
Built a baffle box to keep media from being sucked up without clogging like a furnace filter.
And made an adapter to attach 4" corex drain pipe, which runs out the floor and off 50' to clear the dust away.


And a DIY pressure pot blaster under $100

That started as a very old compressor tank freebie

[Domino]

I updated some of the pics above, but also wanted to share how well this actually worked!!!
The old blower is impressive...keeps the air fresh with the dust pulling down and out really fast. Of course the corex pipe makes a digerydoo(spelling?) sound at the pipe exit. No aborigines have showed up yet!
The diy pressure pot blaster works great so far. no clogs and no shrapnel either.
I have a pile of parts to blast, laying out tarps and stakes sucked, so I'm excited to have this problem solved!

UPDATE: had to add a grounding stake/wire to the blasting worktop.... with plastic walls and floor, the amount of static charge that builds up is really shocking...

[Domino]

Here's another update with some of the metal work on my fenders...still need to butt weld the patches, but I wanted to hang and gap the panels first.

I made it flat, then added relief cuts to get the curvature right, using arced templates at various places.


Building up some tack welds along the edge to perfect the gap.  Also, you can see the body line.  Tip: insert a piece of thicker 16 gauge sheetmetal into the rolled lip when shaping the curve or bending the body line or it will pinch shut and not accept the support piece later.

Similar work on this side except the door needed to be built up a bit...still a little too wide near the lower scallop, but not for long.



Here's all the crap I replaced on the two fenders alone.

Assembled and gapped, have since re arced the psger side of the hood.  Figure time now is well spent getting the gap edges looking really nice.

[AirborneSilva]

Doing some awesome work, thanks for taking/sharing all the pics 

[tan top]

  ...    

[Domino]

Put the spot-a-pot blaster to work on the front bumper "Y" brackets, inner bumpers, fender ties, J brackets, nose bumpers, latch support, and bits and pieces.  Basically everything forward of the core support is blasted, installed, and lined up except the grill itself.  The hood latches and stays gapped and even releases right!


Here's the problem: 
I think this is common for the '70, the fender kinda hangs out and doesn't really match the bumper very well down near the valance.
I can shove the valance to the left to align the right, or to the right to make the left look good, or split the difference and make both sides look just a little crappy!
I don't like options 1 through 3.

I prefer option 4:
Cut about 3/8"-1/2" slice out of the front valance and make both sides line up right....

Weld it up, including the license plate bracket holes cause those need to be redrilled.

Now fitting just right IMO, both sides curve in just enough that the reveal is even top to bottom looking from the front. 
It really makes the front end flow much better

[charger_fan_4ever]

I see most of the patches are tacked and grinded down. Are you going to use some type of sealer or finish of the welds ? Just curious.

[Domino]

I see most of the patches are tacked and grinded down. Are you going to use some type of sealer or finish of the welds ? Just curious.

they'll be welded up.  I partially tack in the patches and flatten both sides with the grinder so I can dolly/shrink the area to the final shape I want.  Also hang the panels and check the curvature, gaps and overall fit.

Then slowly finish up the welding process, minding heat of course.  This way if something doesn't fit right, I can slice some of the tacks and rework the patch.

[tan top]

, yeah was going to sugest before i read option four    cut & splice the valance   
nice work 

[AirborneSilva]

great work  you don't live near San Antonio do ya I could use a little sheet metal help 

[superbirdtom]

My friend just did a six pack bird rotisserie like that and did the same quarter panel treatment.  he used all metal inside the quarters to smooth out the line seen from inside the trunk.  it took a week of torture and some improvised sanding tols to get waaay back in thee , but you see absolutly no seam  at all.   This bird is an un known although I could post the vin n here. Owner really dosen't want it up. 

             It will be auctioned off in Scottsdale in the next 2 years .  Not a stone factory build  . the body is factoy but the engine has been pumped up to 650 hp.   It will be billed as the straightest bird in existence, and it is . The panel alignment and work is simply amazing.  But they are not mopar experts so there will be wrong little stuff here and there.   I send mopar stuart pics in bare metal before. mabe he can post em back up.   

                     The interior of the trunk inner quarters will have no undercoating. and will be polished . Its over kill how he is massaging this bird out . but he will be asking 200 k for it .              Nice job on the blasting.  I also hate soda blasting. and like you said if you practice. you get real good with different grits of whatever .   good  post I love seeing  this type of work going on.

[Domino]

With the patches on the fender skins all welded up and smoothed out.  Hammered, shrunk, straightened etc.  And the support structures repaired and straightened, it was time to mate everything back together.
I media blasted again, prep'd and shot epoxy primer on the hidden areas with the weld spots masked.

Also, while apart, I modified the headlight supports to bolt in, they were spot welded originally which complicates painting, probably why they were rusted.
There are now 6 1/4-20 rectangle nuts welded on the back side of each headlight bucket where the spot welds used to be.  Plan is to paint separate and bolt together with SEM captive washer bolts.... modified for the better while keeping the OEM feel.





These are the steps to reinstalling the support bracing with the patched area.
With the brace in place, use a 1/4" burr to open up plug weld holes.

After welding.


Once together and welds cleaned up, carefully trim the flap to size with a cutoff wheel
No pic, but lastly finish welding up the seam where the patch meets the original skin

[Domino]

Sure...Just a few pinholes visible from the underside of the hood. I had a feeling there was a monster in the closet. 

I've already blasted and started patches. I'll post up those pics when done, but this is just a teaser pic for now:

[bill440rt]

 

That is just awesome fab work!

[tan top]

 

good stuff , split the frame , only way to know forsure  whats going on