AAR resto

[don selleck]

100 plus welds ground down on top, just bottoms left and some touch ups. then tail panel and trunk latch support.
and beer thirty again

permanent

 

[Cuda Hunter]

That looks great!

 

[don selleck]

the metal in these cars just look like works of art to me. love replacing the rot and making them solid again.

 

[mrmopar340]

Wow!

 

[Challenger RTA]

Were subframe connectors and torque boxes a thought? Nice work.

 

[don selleck]

already has factory torque boxes, sub frame connectors would be nice but the car being an AAR, just can't bring myself to weld to those near perfect floor pans (minus drivers side front) and the look wouldn't be to my liking, so I just won't put any sticky tire on her. The mid shock cross member was in rough shape, with the trunk pan being rotted put alot of stress on it. there was 2 spot welds left on the passenger side where it connected to the frame and was cracked in three spots. I originally put the motor in it and got it running then figured I would fix the rest as it stood out, which was pretty much everything. The one thing I couldn't figure out is a vibration on the car when I had a passenger side head wind. one day it would be fine at 80mph on highway the wind would change direction and 65mph was a handful. with a violent shaking, crossmember condition pretty much solved the mystery,

so welded the crossmember back in where it broke and I am adding a reinforcement piece to the back side of the front of the member where its narrow, not needing to accommodate the tail pipe going thru, no tailpipes on an AAR will put a 3/4" bend at the bottom to match the rest of the crossmember. may not be necessary with the new pan welded in, but will make me feel better about it.

 

[don selleck]

if I would have put a stroker motor in this to begin with I would have possibly had a real mess on my hands, so glad I tore this thing down would have been hard to find not doing it.

 

[Challenger RTA]

the car being an AAR

I get that.

 

[don selleck]

finished up a frame patch, welded a few more holes. removed the weld nuts on the new AMD rear crossmember, were welded to the wrong side, I guess **** happens. Can't complain about the quality of the AMD panels, would be nearly impossible to do this without them. spent about 4 hours fitting the tail panel into the opening, installed tail lights, chrome, and trunk lid again. Screwed it all together, fits great. heading out to the last Christmas

gathering now. hoping to get back on it tomorrow by removing the panel for the last time drilling the weld holes and reinstalling with the trunk latch support and weld.

 

[Xcudame]

Don, quick answer to the following question because people constantly ask about what's the best sheet metal and how good is the quality. I think AMD is the best, but even it needs a few hours the blend it in, correct? And I you said, sure beats fabricating panels from scratch!

 

[don selleck]

to be honest AMD is all I ever used, I compared original to These panels and they are very close to original, worst case I had a front fender on a 68 charger that a body line was stamped off position about 5/8". that was 10 years ago. Got a lesson on metal massaging from an old mexican friend of mines uncle, moved the center line back in position with a hammer and dolly. Nothing is perfect, expect to do a little massaging and adjusting, makes it look and feel that much better when its done.

 

[don selleck]

i got back tonight and was looking at the tail panel install, i pushed the bottom of the tail panel out on the bottom pretty forceful when i screwed it in. when looking at the tail panel to rear quarter reveal it looks like i'm going to have to go out about a a fat quarter " more to keep the reveal even and an eigth"

on the drivers. wonder if it is common for those to be off a bit from the factory. I got a pic from mecum when they sold that original pink AAR they sold didn't really have any close ups of that area. ANY ONE HAVE A CLOSE UP of that area thanks,

 

[don selleck]

I think i found my answer this is from Kissimmee Mecum

last year unrestored

 

[don selleck]

lining

up pretty well

 

[pschlosser]

You're passenger side DOES seem to flair outward a bit more than mine. But nothing dramatic. Pictured is a 1970 Barracuda with original rust.

 

[don selleck]

Thanks, I thought it sloped slightly in having a larger reveal at the bottom. was gonna get the bfh and dolly out for a minor adjustment will move my driver side slightly in to match passenger.

 

[don selleck]

fitting the rear valence, was off about 5/8" high to the quarter panels. last step I think, bumper holes on frame rails were not changed so if there's any discrepancies I should be able to adjust with the bumper brackets (I hope) so skipping assembling that. time to remove the tail panel drill the weld holes, grind down a few welds in the trunk I missed, that

will keep me from standing on my head for at least that step.

 

[don selleck]

tail panel complete for welding, minus a few touch ups, tired of the ass end for a while. fixed a few dents

in the frame rail with a little heat and a dent puller

 

[pschlosser]

tired of the ass end for a while.

Some of us never tire of her ass-end.

Your work is looking great. Thank you for taking some time to share it with us.

 

[don selleck]

on to the last mess of going in reverse, and removing the last of the sins. was thinking of using about half of the floor board replacement panel, but the crust went further than planned so took it to the factory connection point. again rusted from the inside out, confined to the drivers footwell and metal splash pan brace from rocker to frame, just under that floor pan. the braces should be here friday