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1970 4 door cuda?!?!

ECS

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Here are a few more of the Tail Lights and the Gas Tank. Notice the correct Tank Pad that we are now making for these cars. It is the correct "waffle" material that originally came on Chrysler vehicles. This is another new product we will be including in our Inventory that has resulted from this project. They will be available for A,B & E Body vehicles.

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ECS

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I was asked in an email if anything was used on the Gas Tank to keep the metal from turning chalky white and/or tarnishing. I used AMMO on it and it will stay looking new for many years. It was developed for the Gun Industry but will work on any metal. We just signed a contract with NATO to supply various Military Forces with the product. Below is a short video link that shows how it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdr40BSNW-g

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ECS

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Here are a few pictures of the custom Door Weatherstrip we fabricated to fit along the belt line. They actually look like they were meant to be used on a stock 2 Door Barracuda. They are a metal reinforced rubber with felting on the (back) side that makes contact with the Windows.

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resq302

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Dave,

wow ! You and your crew made up those window sweeps / seals? Very cool ! How did you make those up?
 

ECS

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Dave,

You and your crew made up those window sweeps / seals? Very cool ! How did you make those up?

We went through dozens of various designs before coming up with the ones in the pictures. They are metal reinforced rubber with felt on the side that makes contact with the windows. We had to cut relief slits in the metal in order to bend them to fit the custom belt line contour. None of the alterations are visible so they look Factory correct. Other than knowing the correct appearance of the originals, you would never know the difference in how these look. I'll post some pictures of before & after pictures of the alteration process.
 

resq302

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Very ingenious, Dave ! Looking at them, they look factory ! Great work !
 

ECS

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The suspense is killing us. Any predictions on completion date ?

We're moving right along but had a few setbacks. We had an occurrence a few weeks ago that caused quite a scare. I'll get some photos from a while back with the car sitting outside and with a few more components assembled.
 

ECS

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Great work !

Thanks Brian! Here are a few from a while back. We were finally able to push the car outside to look at the "work" in a different light/setting. This allows any defects to become visible before applying the undercoat & moving into the final assembly.

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resq302

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Wow ! That paint looks like its still wet ! Awesome job !
 

ECS

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Wow ! That paint looks like its still wet ! Awesome job !

Keep in mind that not a square inch of it was wet sanded. Other than knocking down a few dirt nibs with a sanding stone, that is how it looked after being buffed with a sponge pad, some mild compound and swirl remover.
 

resq302

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Wow that's amazing that the paint turned out that nice. You must have the best body / paint person on the planet!
 

ECS

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Wow that's amazing that the paint turned out that nice. You must have the best body / paint person on the planet!

I certainly won't argue with you on that point. Here are a couple of photos showing the Valiant & this 4 Door project car within 30 minuets after the paint was applied. It took a few years and 4 restorations but we came up with the process for getting an Assembly Line finish. Steve certainly mastered the art of dong Factory paint jobs.

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resq302

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Dave,

What extra steps do you guys take to make sure that the paint process is performed to look like a factory like job?
 

ECS

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Dave, What extra steps do you guys take to make sure that the paint process is performed to look like a factory like job?

We try to do them the way they looked when done on the Assembly line. That means duplicating every layer of primer & paint the way it originally came. It's impossible to mimic the actual Factory steps but you can get the correct look by taking time to perform creative processes. One mandatory step in getting a "Factory" job is to paint the vehicle as a complete assembly. I've never understood why some people go to extremes to put overspray on the bottom when painting a disassembled vehicle. That negates the Factory look they are trying to emulate. They were painted bolted together.

Another common mistake is using one underside primer and then immediately applying the colored overspray. There were 4 different colors of primers that were used before the paint was applied. Evidence of those primers can be seem when looking at the bottom side. It's also incorrect to spray directly from the underside to manipulate the overspray patterns. It is easily detected and looks un-natural & deliberate. If you paint the car the way it was suppose to be painted, the overspray patterns will take care of themselves. It makes no sense to try to get a Factory looking paint job, only to ruin it with incorrect and manipulated processes.
 
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ECS

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.....to make sure that the paint process is performed to look like a factory like job?

Below are the documented layers we found during my Challenger restoration. Also included is a Chrysler animation of the dip process.

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Before & After Comparisons

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Chrysler Anti-Corrosion "Dip" Process
 

70440cuda

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Door Posts black out and coding on fender tag??

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This is an amazing project and I can't wait to see it completed. I was wondering about the door post blackout treatment. E-Bodies always had the door frame codes 000 because they were pillar-less. Would the 4 doors possibly of had that coded TX9 on the fender tag?
 

ECS

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This is an amazing project and I can't wait to see it completed. I was wondering about the door post blackout treatment. E-Bodies always had the door frame codes 000 because they were pillar-less. Would the 4 doors possibly of had that coded TX9 on the fender tag?

Thank you for your comments! You can't look at a 4 Door with the same logic as a 2 Door. There are 3 zeros on the fender tag because the interior door panel is a complete one piece unit and covers the entire inner door frame structure. There is no numeric code (other than zeros) on my fender tag because the interior door frame is completely covered by the door panel. Those numbers DO NOT reference the outside "Door Posts" or window frames.

Consistent to the way Chrysler coded their vehicles, we decided that the BH41 Body Code would incorporate a mandatory black out scheme on the exterior Window Frames. This is similar to the blackout treatment on the tail panel of a BS23 Cuda. You won't find a fender tag code designating that particular black out feature either. The rear blackout treatment on a Cuda automatically comes with the BS23 designation.

Notice the custom Door Panels in the pictures below. They will be completely covered in vinyl. There will not be paint on the upper part of the interior Door Frames.

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