My T/A restoration...

[MN74]

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Assembly - Original hardware cleaned and reused. There is a flaw, though, with some of these parts. True purists will know what it is. It was a choice I made with a select few items which may get me dinged in judging but... I am a purist and it was a difficult decision to do what I did.

Great cleanup and restoration on the suspension components. Love to see original hardware cleaned up and reused! What did you treat the hardware with?

I too believe that some of the "heart" parts that the car was born with stay with the car no matter what condition they are in. If it results in a safety issue than that is a whole different matter....

 

[1969VADart]

Did you make your own body rollers for mounting under the car, or are those US Car Tool (or some other brand)? I am slowly stripping my 72 down to nothing so that I can have the body dipped to strip the metal before I begin the bodywork.

 

[Grady Cain]

Love to see original hardware cleaned up and reused! What did you treat the hardware with?

I had anything steel/iron hot-tank cleaned and then treated them with an older Eastwood product called "Nylac." I believe they now call it "Diamond Clear" but nevertheless, they both do the same thing. It is a matte clear for bare metal parts. I use it on everything bare metal including the OEM-style steel brake and fuel lines. It maintains the look but gives you protection against surface rust, etc...

I too believe that some of the "heart" parts that the car was born with stay with the car no matter what condition they are in.

I went out of my way to restore original parts - way out of my way in some cases like the brake booster and master cylinder. I'd guess many would look at this and look for replacements. Hours spent with body filler on the booster to get it looking perfect was well worth it as both the booster and MC are original to the car! NOS master cylinders for the T/A are rare and extremely expensive as are rebuilt correct parts. The wiper motor you see in the last pic is also the one that came with the car in 1970.

 

[Grady Cain]

Did you make your own body rollers for mounting under the car, or are those US Car Tool (or some other brand)? I am slowly stripping my 72 down to nothing so that I can have the body dipped to strip the metal before I begin the bodywork.

I did make my own rollers - they worked out great! Front ones adjust to fit B-body (or other) cars...

 

[Grady Cain]

More cool history - When I picked up the car from it's last (3rd) owner, he told me we had to go up the road a bit to get the original engine from the guy who was the 2nd owner. This dude is a local well-known Mopar guy from way back, having early hemi and winged cars in his possession. We loaded up the engine and then he started telling stories about the car when he had it from 1973ish-77. Here are some pics I took of photos he had in a scrapbook of the car at Lebanon Valley Dragway in NY back in the early-mid '70s. This guy is still in the area and I can talk to him any time about my car. Last photo is of the T/A in the winter. This was taken when the 3rd owner had the car sometime after 1977. He put an extra black stripe down the side and a large "Dodge" logo on the quarter. Quality is not great but you get the idea. Lots of great stories about my car...

 

[3406pk]

Super pictures from the past. Great to have those people and memories around.

 

[rbbruno3]

Awesome love those old pics . The Valley is a short drive for me. They have good Mopar shows there every year. Great work your doing too.

 

[AUSTA]

I had anything steel/iron hot-tank cleaned and then treated them with an older Eastwood product called "Nylac." I believe they now call it "Diamond Clear" but nevertheless, they both do the same thing. It is a matte clear for bare metal parts. I use it on everything bare metal including the OEM-style steel brake and fuel lines. It maintains the look but gives you protection against surface rust, etc...



I went out of my way to restore original parts - way out of my way in some cases like the brake booster and master cylinder. I'd guess many would look at this and look for replacements. Hours spent with body filler on the booster to get it looking perfect was well worth it as both the booster and MC are original to the car! NOS master cylinders for the T/A are rare and extremely expensive as are rebuilt correct parts. The wiper motor you see in the last pic is also the one that came with the car in 1970.

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Picked this kit up on ebay correct fit

 

[340challconvert]

Great story. Looking forward to watching your progress. Nice TA in Y1. I will enjoy this build.

 

[MN74]

I had anything steel/iron hot-tank cleaned and then treated them with an older Eastwood product called "Nylac." I believe they now call it "Diamond Clear" but nevertheless, they both do the same thing. It is a matte clear for bare metal parts. I use it on everything bare metal including the OEM-style steel brake and fuel lines. It maintains the look but gives you protection against surface rust, etc...



I went out of my way to restore original parts - way out of my way in some cases like the brake booster and master cylinder. I'd guess many would look at this and look for replacements. Hours spent with body filler on the booster to get it looking perfect was well worth it as both the booster and MC are original to the car! NOS master cylinders for the T/A are rare and extremely expensive as are rebuilt correct parts. The wiper motor you see in the last pic is also the one that came with the car in 1970.

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WOW! I am impressed....I cannot believe that is the same booster! Great work and looks perfect!

 

[340challconvert]

Really nice work with the brake booster and master My originals were still in my car and need the same cleanup and resto! Yours look great. A lot of work goes into getting the parts to that level.

 

[CARPORT T/A]

Looking great! Did you put a new diaphragm in the power brake booster? If so who did it? Thanks!

 

[Grady Cain]

Did you put a new diaphragm in the power brake booster?

Yes, I should have mentioned that both the booster and master cylinder were mechanically rebuilt by an old-skool Mopar guy in my area who had the appropriate tools. The parts were found online. Definitely not just a rattle-can restoration! Thank you all for your positive comments. I will try to post some more tonight...

 

[Grady Cain]

Also want to mention this - I definitely do not know all there is to know about this! I try not to do things until I am at least 99% sure but sometimes things get missed. If anyone sees something incorrect that warrants discussion, please call me out on it! I love to learn. This build thread is not about what I know or what I've done but rather what I've learned and the purpose being to pass it along to anyone else involved in a similar project who also wants to learn. Also if anyone has any requests for photos of a specific area or areas, please feel free to ask. I will get them to you as soon as possible. Again, thank you all for your positive comments...

 

[Grady Cain]

I'll continue with the front suspension. I reused and restored as many original parts as possible but certain things needed replacement like ball joints, tie rod ends and idler arm. I used American-made parts where possible. I tried to reproduce the appropriate finishes, whether drop-forged, natural, heat-treated, etc...

All of the original steering components were still with the car and the original break-off grease fittings were still present. I will install them after the new parts have been serviced with grease. More cool original parts saved for authenticity.

Original tie rod sleeves restored along with their original hardware!

Original manual steering gear rebuilt by Firm Feel. Original phosphate plated hardware reused.

 

[Grady Cain]

Note the trace of blue paint on the tip of the torsion bar adjuster...

LCA's completely disassembled, degreased, blasted and repainted with "Quasmoline" - another fantastic product from Resto-Rick Kreusiger.

UCA's glass bead blasted and matte-cleared to retain their natural look.

A final assembly photo - note the blue paint...

 

[moparlee]

Thanks for posting up all these great details (and for the ones to come yet)! What are using for your replacement grease boots on the steering components? Seems like the correct factory replacement ones are hard to find.

 

[Grady Cain]

What are using for your replacement grease boots on the steering components? Seems like the correct factory replacement ones are hard to find.

The factory boots are very hard to find. When I go to Carlisle, I look for steering parts that may be worn out but the boots are still good so I can reuse them. The boots in the pictures came with the Spicer kits I used. The boots looked closer to OEM-type boots than many others (they were smooth and did not have ribs like some brands.)

 

[DetMatt1]

I’m kinda speechless, nice work! My hat is off to you, you’re a credit to the hobby.

 

[AUSTA]

View attachment 45598 View attachment 45601 Note the trace of blue paint on the tip of the torsion bar adjuster...
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LCA's completely disassembles, degreased, blasted and repainted with "Quasmoline" - another fantastic product from Resto-Rick Kreusiger.
View attachment 45605 UCA's glass bead blasted and matte-cleared to retain their natural look.
View attachment 45606 A final assembly photo - note the blue paint...

Not only looks great it will be awesome to drive,4 speed , 6 pak ,3.9 , manual steering, big power brakes
Has all the goodies.