1963 Dodge Dart for the Wife....

Lots of bead blasting and disassembly
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Wow. You must have a little experience repairing motors :)
Evaporator looks like copper/brass sides, psi test with freon & sniffer or replace? Not fun replacing after build.
Off topic sorta related- how did freon comp you rebuilt work out?
 
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EddieF said:
Wow. You must have a little experience repairing motors :)
Evaporator looks like copper/brass sides, psi test with freon & sniffer or replace? Not fun replacing after build.
Off topic sorta related- how did freon comp you rebuilt work out?
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I am an electrical engineer with power electronics by day so this stuff if easy to me. I send radiators/heater core to a restoration shop in Wisconsin, the only official Chrysler licensed source for reproduction radiators. He is an artist and will rebuild this along with the radiator.

It worked fine until I was screwing around and over reved the engine with the AC on and put a reed valve through a piston..... Cost me $300 and a weekend to fix it for her :)
 
'63 Dart wiper motor ready for another 56 years... I will solder the wires on once I have the dash wiring debugged and see that this works with the dash switch... not that I don't trust my work ;) Next project staged and ready to go!

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Rip old freon pump! My 91 & 93 Caddy has high/low side temp sensors i read on dash in diagnostic mode & convert to psi so i can monitor as i drive, park, wind blowing ect to fine tune freon :)
Amazing how parking against wall, slight breeze, rolling 5mph, 50mph, rain, dirty/clean condenser, effects pressures.
 
Even 18 hour old epoxy can stand up to banging around on reassembly....

Started on the..... starter..... AND I QUIT..... I have done 3 starters without a quality pair of snap ring pliers for that #$%J&%$%^&%#@%^ output shaft snap ring... I am done till I go to town and buy a quality set of pliers...

So I reassembled the parking brake and blower motor...

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Nice work. I like your attention to detail. If you dont mind me asking where do you send your radiators to in Wisconsin?
 
Stopped by the machine shop and Dave pressed the alternator parts that I needed him for. The final assembly will be on a crappy cold, windy, day when I don't want to be outside. Today was beautiful though so I was working the sheet metal...

Bit embarrassed to post these but this is the extent of my capabilities for metal work. I got it straight enough for me (filler less than 1/8" or so). The previous "restoration" had some filler (and punched, not drilled holes) that was over 1/2" thick that just oozed into the inner panel space. Shocked it did not get wet and fail on the outer surface but it is Arizona.....

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Days gone back "body work" with a punch and slap on the bondo.....



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Shrinking the metal the redneck way. It was REALLY stretched..... I should have just run a weld to shrink it, this took it too far and it was tough to get it stretched back but it will now be flat like it should be (it had an incorrect shape to it with the filler before) and is within 1/8" of an inch or so of being flat... I am not afraid of filler ;)

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The wife hates the 270 model trim so what else can I do but weld the holes closed.... Learning a lot about metal shrinkage with welding on this restoration..... It is as close as I am going to get it. I made it so it is not too high anywhere but will require around 1/8" (or so) of filler which is a lot better than the previous job.... Going to clean it tomorrow and epoxy primer Sunday since it is going to be 70F and sunny that day. I will shoot the patches as well so it will be coated with epoxy on the backside of all the panels. Once done I can start welding in the patch panels.

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Sure loved all the attention to detail! I've done a few things like motor and pump repair, but never remember to document it. I also think you are doing a fine job on the metal, it's plenty enough to make sure all the holes are welded and the metal gets a good layer of epoxy, that ensures that any of our shortcomings can be dealt with by our descendants...
 
crashtech said:
Sure loved all the attention to detail! I've done a few things like motor and pump repair, but never remember to document it. I also think you are doing a fine job on the metal, it's plenty enough to make sure all the holes are welded and the metal gets a good layer of epoxy, that ensures that any of our shortcomings can be dealt with by our descendants...
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Thanks crash, after seeing some of the metal work here it is easy to feel inadequate :)
 
Well, I think a lot of us who do "regular" bodywork using filler don't feel like sharing photos of it for the same reason. But really the most important thing isn't whether there is 1/32" or 1/8" of filler, it's attention to detail and proper procedures that make for a long-lasting job, and it's very obvious that you have those things down pat.
 
Long day today out in the sun. The wife stuck it out all day and we got the hood stripped and prepped. The trunk I new had some issues but I was hoping a good blasting and it would be good enough...... not... I need to unroll the bottom lip and blast under it and maybe replace a bit of metal.... Another place where the sheet metal body lines caused a very tight space near a seam so mud and crap can get trapped in there and get wet.....

The rest of the parts and body where Dawn'ed and power washed ready for primer tomorrow...... Not much photo worthy.
 
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