My 1978 Dodge Monaco 4 door sedan.

[Gary P]

I love the idea of the see through template material, that is a bit of genius.

Thanks Greg - again, I bet if you went to a local sign shop they would just give you some old off-cuts or roll-ends of something useful!

 

[Gary P]

So, with a little bit of "fannying around" (English term) I managed to get the new piece under the floor for the most part. It's wedged in there pretty good and I put some heavy tack welds all around and two big plug welds in the middle. Stronger than a dang Chrysler floor now! I then fired primer up in and around the joins. Once the car is roadworthy again, I have a friend who has a lift in his shop, so I'm going to make a day of sealing and painting the underside.

I'm picking up some seam sealer from NAPA tomorrow to seal this bit up, then I can lay the rest of the sound deadening with the wifey.

I experimented with some gray. This is Smoke Gray, from Rustoleum.

I also put the trunk lid back on. I have a Fire Truck coming in tomorrow for stripes, and the Monaco must go outside - Utah is currently 98F one day, 53F the next. Rain. Snow. Brutal wind. Hot sun. Rain. Repeat.

Hope you're all well today fella's!

 

[hyde-park]

So what does the sticky note on the speedo say? I can't quite make it out.

 

[Gary P]

So what does the sticky note on the speedo say? I can't quite make it out.

It's a reminder to me that the wheel nuts are not torqued all the way tight, as I've had wheels off all over the place. It would be my stupidity that I jump in it and go for a spin "round the block" hahahaha

 

[HawkRod]

my wifeys 20 year old daughter tested positive for Covid.

Going backwards to the top of page 9 of this thread, some of you fine folks thought you may have a grommet spare...If I measure the one I'm missing.
Well, here you go, and a huge thanks in advance!!
View attachment 961023

Hi Greg,

Sorry for the slow reply on my part - life has gotten in the way as I am finishing up at work.

First and foremost, I hope you all are OK from a COVID perspective.

So I would have bet some money on the fact that I had extra floor plugs, as a matter of fact, I was sure of it.
Well, I was wrong.
I have lots of them, but my largest are 2.5". So I have no 3" plugs. Sorry! I would have gladly sent you one if I had.

Hawk

 

[Gary P]

Hi Greg,

Sorry for the slow reply on my part - life has gotten in the way as I am finishing up at work.

First and foremost, I hope you all are OK from a COVID perspective.

So I would have bet some money on the fact that I had extra floor plugs, as a matter of fact, I was sure of it.
Well, I was wrong.
I have lots of them, but my largest are 2.5". So I have no 3" plugs. Sorry! I would have gladly sent you one if I had.

Hawk

Hey thanks for checking Hawk, much appreciated! No need to say sorry brother, life always gets in the way of stuff No matter, as I can use that one I made from an old floor mat and some Shoe-Goo - it's definitely in keeping with the rest of the car hahahaha - and we are all OK from Covid, I hope you are too - thanks again Hawk.

 

[Geff McCarthy]

looks similar to a 71 Fury that i owned in the 70s. Dog. Wallowing dog. Smogged dog. Transported our 5 kids around thought. BTW the right hand jack in your photo is just like my 63 MOPAR Sport Fury jack. My car came with a paper jacking instructions glued to the roof of the deck lid. Good luck with your baby!

 

[Gary P]

Hi guys!

This late afternoon/early evening we worked to finish the sound deadening in the car. But first, I had to make the panel that separates the trunk from the cabin...

I used a composite aluminum sheeting called DiBond, which we use for sign faces.

After cutting and measuring, it went in good and I deadened it with some of my favorite Peel & Seal which I then ran out of!! To the hardware store...

I returned from the hardware store with everything I needed for a good evenings work.

After sealing everywhere that needed sealing with Seam-Sealer, we got to it.

This is a weird place to be...

While I was under here I noticed the throttle cable only has a small rubber bead on the end, to stop it coming away from the pedal!!!! Eeeek!! anyone have a good fix for that? I was thinking of welding a blob on the end but I've no idea how to get under there with a welder.

With the sweet wifey's help we finished the floor by 8pm, and very appreciative I was too!

 

[jprather]

for what its worth, I pulled my door panels off and used peel and seal behind them also. made a big difference in sound and helps the ac that much more

 

[Gary P]

for what its worth, I pulled my door panels off and used peel and seal behind them also. made a big difference in sound and helps the ac that much more

Agreed - I do that also. In a 67 VW Bug I once had I filled the door cavity with foil wrapped bubble wrap - it worked great except you could hear it "schmooshing" around inside the door, so now I just use a few strips of Peel & Stick.

 

[HawkRod]

Greg,

If your throttle cable is like mine (hard to see from the picture), the cable itself has a small metal ball crimped to the end. This passes through a hole in the accelerator bracket and then slides up to a small "cup" or depression in the bracket. then there is a small plastic plug that plugs up the hole and keeps the cable from coming out.
It may seem archaic (and perhaps it is), but it has worked great for me and never let me down.

Hawk

 

[Gary P]

Greg,

If your throttle cable is like mine (hard to see from the picture), the cable itself has a small metal ball crimped to the end. This passes through a hole in the accelerator bracket and then slides up to a small "cup" or depression in the bracket. then there is a small plastic plug that plugs up the hole and keeps the cable from coming out.
It may seem archaic (and perhaps it is), but it has worked great for me and never let me down.

Hawk

Yeah that's it! But the ball is rubber - this explains the squeeky noise in winter when the ball is softer and more rubbery when I have the heater on! It is very archaic, that's the right word!! Cheers!

Gary

 

[Gary P]

It's so stinking hot here in Utah today, 97F...I was going to roll the car outside and get onto some sanding, but it's too hot. So I finished up the sound deadening while wifey went to do girlie things, and I also glued the rear hatch seal back in place. Just those two things took me all of 4 hours. Dang...

I put a few strips in the trunk.

There's a method for my madness by putting this seal back in, and that's because I have to get the car back together sooner rather than later. The shop is becoming busy and we need the space. I have a feeling it's going to have to live outside quite a lot, and therefor needs protection from the unpredictable Utah weather. I've blasted the jams of the trunk with grey already, so when it comes time to paint I don't have to worry about removing it all again... I know, I sound insane but it's all good I promise.

Nice tidy trunk area. Once I have my interior carpet from OC Autocarpets, I'll take a little bit and match the color, and make a trunk liner.

Happy 4th July you guys.

Gary

 

[Gary P]

This evening I carried on sprucing things up and putting them back together. These are the little rubber bits of trim that sit between the rear end of the body and the bumper.

Before...

After...

The remaining stretch of the rear trunk seal was glued down...

Those little bits of trim put on...

And the bumper back on, complete with working lights (except the license plate light).

Again, it seems archaic to be putting the car back together before paint, but I assure you, paint is a ways off and I have a plan and also a schedule in which I can drive my car around a lot, so bear with me!

Gary

 

[HawkRod]

Nice work on the bumper trim!

 

[Greg Ducato]

Great progress, I am digging the color choice.

 

[Gary P]

Hi guys!

So today, just little jobs for work and on the car.

These are the headlamp holders, that are bolted into the fiberglass nose section. They hold my headlights, a pair of rectangle per side.

The adjusting screws are present but the square plastic holding blocks have perished...

So after a bit of mincing around in NAPA, I found these, which with a tiny bit of modification, worked perfectly! (the black anchor blocks needed sanding down about 1mm to fit in the square mounting holes)

They work great as the factory ones.

I did have to bore the mounting holes out a fraction too...

- but slap my arse and call me Shirley, they work perfectly!

That pack, for a pair was $4. Of course they only had one pack, so I called and ordered three more packs for tomorrow.

Excuse the last photo - I am about to get itchy with fiber glass. Well, tomorrow I am.

Thanks you guy, for staying interested - I know it's all slowed right down recently!

 

[Gary P]

Last night I picked up the remaining parts from NAPA and they work really well. I am very pleased. Headlights installed and in place as factory, grand total $17. Lovely.

 

[Charger72]

You are doing a great job.

 

[Gary P]

You are doing a great job.

Thank you so much!!

here’s today’s little dabble...

It only took a few minutes on another forum type page for someone to tell me what is right, and wrong, and what a typical cop car should be etc etc. Good thing this is neither typical nor a cop car really, otherwise I’d have done myself a bad turn huh?

My car, my choice, I really like this grey and if the whole car looks silly I’ll sand it off and paint it again. Typical? Not me. The wifey loves the grey too.