The Crusty Cuda: Whole lotta Shakin' (N96) Goin' on!

[njsteve]

The used set of rear window stainless arrived yesterday from an ebay seller. Much nicer than described! Already polished, too!

I outlined the entire opening in blue masking tape and then gently snapped each piece in place which is rather tricky since they have to be connected together to do this because you can't get the last piece hooked to the first one if the first one is already snapped in place. Just slightly nerve-wracking.

[njsteve]

I also decided to reuse the original dashpad since there were only two minor cracks by the front speaker grill screw holes - a common occurrence. Since it is around $800 plus $200 core charge to get a reproduction dash... and none are available now, I decided there are better things to spend my money on...like vintage mag wheels.

I wound up using some JB-Weld epoxy and gently pushed it in to the cracks with a tiny screw driver. Once it was filled, I waited for it to cure and then sanded. I then sprayed the entire dash with SEM Landau Black interior dye (I LOVE that paint - I put that s@$& on everything!). Here's the results.

Not bad from a foot away or so and now I don't have to mess with transferring the vin tag to a new dash pad (Stupid Chrysler design - lets rivet the vin to a removable part!!!)

[njsteve]

I also got the dash carrier assembly disassembled. There was a lot of crustiness on the underside so I rigged up the pool cover siphon pump and a short hose and have it circulating the Evaporust solution via a spray tip, onto the dash frame. It all drains in to a sheet of plastic that ends at the bottom of a 7-gallon bucket. The siphon pump has to be fully submerged to work, so you want that at the bottom of the bucket inside the plastic sheet which acts as a funnel to direct all the runoff back to the bottom. I got the aquarium heater in there too. The kiddie pool is there as an emergency backup in case it all springs a leak.

[Canuck]

Originally Posted by njsteve

I also decided to reuse the original dashpad since there were only two minor cracks by the front speaker grill screw holes - a common occurrence. Since it is around $800 plus $200 core charge to get a reproduction dash... and none are available now, I decided there are better things to spend my money on...like vintage mag wheels.

I wound up using some JB-Weld epoxy and gently pushed it in to the cracks with a tiny screw driver. Once it was filled, I waited for it to cure and then sanded. I then sprayed the entire dash with SEM Landau Black interior dye (I LOVE that paint - I put that s@$& on everything!). Here's the results.

Not bad from a foot away or so and now I don't have to mess with transferring the vin tag to a new dash pad (Stupid Chrysler design - lets rivet the vin to a removable part!!!)

Nice repair job. Weird that Mopar riveted the vin to the dash,although rivited to the metal carrier on my 68 Dodge Charger it too is a removable part.

[njsteve]

Well I took a couple days off the tinker with the new wheels.

First I had to wait for the Aluma-Brite to arrive. http://www.k-chem.com/msds/AlumaBrite.pdf
Its a hydroflouric acid detergent solution used in the detailing trade to brighten up raw aluminum - like boat pontoons and big rig fuel tanks. After carefully donning all my PPE, I sprayed it on the wheels full strength and let it sit on there and foam for about a minute. I then hosed it off with cold water. It repeated it a couple times and then really washed them off with soap and water for around ten minutes.

I then moved on to the shiny parts of the wheels. It took eight hours or so of hand-sanding to get the polished finish back on the spokes. The five holes are supposed to be in an as-cast finish.

Starting with 800, then 1000, then 1500, then 2000 wet paper. I hand sanded the hub area spokes and the outer small hub spoke sections that touch the chrome rim. VERY CARFEULLY, trying not to touch the chrome with the sand paper.

I have no finger tips left at this point but the rims came out great. I then masked off the outer area and painted the black out section with Rustoleum Matte Black paint.

Here's the finished set with the Polyglas F70x14s mounted. Sorry I couldn't pull it out of the garage but there's no steering wheel or dash in it at the moment.

[Xplantdad]

Looks great Steve!!