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

[hemigeno]

Here are some additional body pan shots.  Lots of nooks, crannies and bumps to work around.

[hemigeno]

On each bracket and panel edge that shows, they have even taken the time to fill / sand in the pitting on the metal's EDGE. 

I asked the guys in the shop what would cause the extent of the pitting that they saw on a car like mine - driving it, or storing it.  They all chimed in at the same time and said "Storing it."  My car was stored for 3-4 years outside, and at least a few years inside on a dirt floor.  Even being inside on a dirt floor will allow a large amount of pitting to develop in the metal since moisture can still be a big problem with the dirt.  I don't know if the car was stored with a tarpaulin over it or not, but that's another BIG no-no since it traps moisture underneath making an already bad situation that much worse.

Anyway, the effort is being made to fill in every pitted area that can be reached (and almost every area that can be seen or felt).

[hemigeno]

The first two shots are showing some of the metal work that they've done on the inside of the driver's side quarterpanel.  This is a patched area that ended up being a little larger than originally thought.  You can see where the marker lens hole has been worked over, and the second shot shows the seam between the patch and the original panel.  By the time they are done massaging this area, you won't see that seam - all evidence of the patch will have been removed.

The last two shots show more of the metal work that they've done inside the trunk compartment.  They haven't really started on the finishing work in this area yet, so it still looks a little rough compared to what it will by the time they're done.

[hemigeno]

More pictures from inside the trunk area at various angles that are pretty hard to see on a finished car (without being a contortionist)

[hemigeno]

One more shot from inside the trunk area.

The second picture is of the window channel area that is concealed by the headliner on a Daytona/500.  This is the area we were talking about on MsMopar's thread about whether or not the factory used a piece of inner window trim to protect the headliner from being gouged up.  Vance said that's what he has seen on the original cars he has worked on.

[hemigeno]

These four pictures are of the rear tail panel and/or valance area, showing some of the metal work they've done to this point.  I mentioned a little earlier why they had to cut into that valance area on either side of the license plate recess, and that second picture is another angle on the repairs that they had to make.

[hemigeno]

OK, now some of the fun stuff...

This is a '71 HemiCharger R/T from Harold Sullivan's collection.  It was an export car, shipped to Europe for the original owner who was in the service at that time.  Quite the terror on the European dragstrip scene back in it's heyday, and supposedly still holds multiple track records across the pond.  VERY nice car that Vance restored over a decade ago.

[hemigeno]

A few more of the cars at various stages of restoration from Vance's shop.  The 'Vert Coronet R/T is a Hemicar, as is the B5 '70 GTX. 

My daughter would dearly love to have the FM3 Road Runner (383 4-speed car), but that PeptoBismol color would take some getting used to.  Definitely eye-catching though...

The shaker-hooded E-Bodies (both the blue one and the green one in the paint booth) and the black convertible were all on the sheet metal side of Vance's shop when my car arrived, and I'm really looking forward to the day when my car gets to sit on the "clean" side of the shop for a change...

[hemigeno]

Vance did give me a disc with more pictures on it, but I haven't looked at it yet.  I won't give PocketThunder anything to beat me over the head with, so I won't box myself into a corner with a deadline (especially since I have some vacation time coming up).

That's all the car pics for now, but this last shot is one I took from the balcony at the B&B my wife and I stayed at in Grand Haven.  She went with me to visit Vance's place and to do some "Equal Opportunity Shopping"   

[PocketThunder]

Holy Smokes is your car getting the once over or what!  Nice...

[daytonalo]

NOW I KNOW WHY IM BROKE , YOU HAVE ALL THE MONEY !!!!!!!!!!!!

[hemigeno]

YOU HAVE ALL THE MONEY !!!!!!!!!!!!

I only wish that were the case.  See this remark made early in this thread:

Magnumcharger, you forgot to add one component to your list:
e)  Remember to spend an equal amount on your spouse so that you don't end up sleeping in the car...

Oh, and I'd love to have an A12 someday too, but the musclecar market has passed me by.  I'm blowing my hobby money for the next several years on Vance's restoration - plus, see note (e) above...   

Although, I have wondered if this is what Vance was using for body putty:

[pandamarie]

Hey Geno. After looking at all the pictures I havent seen any pics of the torque boxes, I thought all big block 4 speed cars had torque boxes?

[hemigeno]

Hey Geno. After looking at all the pictures I havent seen any pics of the torque boxes, I thought all big block 4 speed cars had torque boxes?

Not a bad question, and I've heard that stated before.  However, the torque boxes were normally found only on Hemicars and convertibles, although you will occasionally find a hardtop/sedan 440 car that had them and even more rarely see a Hemicar without them.  99% of the time though, a 440 (either automatic or 4-speed) will not have the torque boxes or the other reinforcements found on a Hemicar. 

[FJMG]

Truly amazing work happening there, Chrysler (or no other car co. for that matter) never built them with that level of craftsmanship. I had to run out to check the filler tube opening on both my cars, even the car with a 342XXX VIN has the oval hole. A big thanks to Ray and you for posting that info, I never would have thought of that.
   You could burn a couple of DVD's of the bodywork stage and sell them (maybe even through the clubs), I'd gladly buy one off you. Information like that is invaluable during the body stage (like the 69hemi site)

[69_500]

Hey, where did you come up with that photo of the front fender with the cash on it? That was my fender, and that cash was mine as well. However the picture was taken by cudaken.

[PocketThunder]

Hey, where did you come up with that photo of the front fender with the cash on it? That was my fender, and that cash was mine as well. However the picture was taken by cudaken.

well then i guess he got it from you

[69_500]

I don't remember ever posting it though. Heck I don't even know where I saved it.

[tan top]

more good progress on the Daytona ( hemigeno)  looking awesome     

[hemigeno]

Hey, thanks again everyone!

Danny, I saved that picture from the old D-C.com site.  If I remember right, it was from the "3 Daytonas at the Shop" classic/monster thread, but I could be wrong...  I thought it was pretty funny (but sadly appropriate) when I first saw it.  While I remembered that the picture was CudaKen's, I had forgotten your connection to the picture.  Where should I send the royalty check to?   

On a different subject - Vance was asking how the video editing was going.  I told him that you were having more problems cleaning up the audio than anything else, but that you were probably getting close to being done.  He's still interested in getting together with the fella from Detroit, and I think he wants to do it when you can make it and record the whole thing. 

I may have another neat interview to set up for the Monster Mopar Weekend this year too.  Seems there's a guy that lives not too far from me that told a friend of mine that he probably worked on  my Daytona.  I told my friend to politely relay that I doubted that was the case, since they were made at Hamtramck.  He said "No, I worked for Chrysler at the St. Louis plant, but they farmed me out for two years to Creative Industries while they were working on the Aero cars."  Small world...  Anyway, this guy was supposedly involved in helping Creative sort out some problems with paint & finishes, and I'll be very interested in finding out what all he knows that would shed some light on the whole conversion process.

Much more on that subject later...

Geno

[WINGR]

Hi Geno & Danny, how are you guys doing? that's sounds like a great contact if it works out. It would be awesome to find out even more about how things were done at Creative Industries. Do you know if anyone has any pictures inside the shop during the conversion process. I think it would be pretty awesome to see them sitting there in the pre-completion stage. Thanks


Steve

[69_500]

As far the editing of the video's go Gene. I'm dumped them all onto MiniDV, and started inserting them onto the computer to start the editing. I haven't even got all the clips labeled, and sorted yet, so its still quite a ways off as far as a completion goes. Been working on editing the Chrysler Classic from Columbus lately.

Would love to do the interview we talked about, and any more of people who worked on these cars when new, or even before they were created.

[nascarxx29]

Never seen any assembly pictures from creative converting the wingcars.There is a 3 or 4 page conversion list from creative industries

[PocketThunder]

Thanks guys, it is slowly making progress. 

These are all very nice and everything but when are we gonna see some paint!!!!!!!! 

Not soon enough for either of us, believe me...  It might be a while before I can make it back up, so maybe they'll have it all in primer and ready for the paint booth with the next batch of pictures.  Strange how I can let the car sit for years without worrying too much about it, but once the resto gets going I get anxious for it to be done.

Speaking of wanting to see paint on some fresh sheet metal there, PT...         

Opportunity has come a knocking on my door, which means I'll see you in Milwaukee at the Aero Car meet in August with my C500.  There wont be fresh paint on the car though. 

[Charger_Fan]

Opportunity has come a knocking on my door, which means I'll see you in Milwaukee at the Aero Car meet in August with my C500.  There wont be fresh paint on the car though. 

Will it be moving under it's own power?