My 1978 Dodge Monaco 4 door sedan.

[Gary P]

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Hope you are able to get everything dialed in just right!

@nitro_rat Thank you kind Sir - I appreciate you taking the time to read my stuff! I'm hoping to get this car rumbling along here soon. Although I did just delve into paint and body so who knows how long it'll be! I work faster on bodywork.

And thanks everyone else for comments and confidence boosts!!

You are all awesome!

 

[HawkRod]

Alas, nothing. We can't get the good Aircraft Stripper here in Utah, because apparently everyone here is an idiot and might drink it.

I'm telling you, lawyers protecting idiots are going to ruin the world!

Nice to see you working away at your car. You are doing great - learning and improving on the car as you go along. Keep up the good work!

 

[Gary P]

Hi guys - hope you are doing well. It's hotter than all hell and fury this week and we've had so much to get done but I did finally get the hood - both sides - down to bare metal!

I like to DA it with 100 grit to make it shinier and a bit rougher, before I hit it with my favorite high build. I estimate ten hours it took to get the hood down to bare metal. Yikes!

I have a question for you guys - I know there's barely anyone who has a Monaco but I'm hoping the basic principals are the same with other similar cars of this ilk....How do you remove the chrome drip rail trim - I can do the window surrounds but I mean the drip rail trim, the bit that's standing proudest in this pic...

It looks like it might "twist" off the drip rail, but I don't want to bend the chrome. This car also had a vinyl top, so maybe the remaining slivers of vinyl under the chrome are causing it to be really tough to remove - oh wise ones, is there a trick to popping these off without damaging them??? Thank you in advance!

 

[nitro_rat]

I have a question for you guys - I know there's barely anyone who has a Monaco but I'm hoping the basic principals are the same with other similar cars of this ilk....How do you remove the chrome drip rail trim - I can do the window surrounds but I mean the drip rail trim, the bit that's standing proudest in this pic...

It looks like it might "twist" off the drip rail, but I don't want to bend the chrome. This car also had a vinyl top, so maybe the remaining slivers of vinyl under the chrome are causing it to be really tough to remove - oh wise ones, is there a trick to popping these off without damaging them??? Thank you in advance!

You have it sized up correctly. It is just pressed on over the drip rail. It is normally difficult to remove without damaging it. I'm not a body guy, I try to mask around it usually. If you're going back with a vinyl top you'll have to get it off. I recommend going slowly and maybe picking up some plastic putty knives, maybe a windshield tool, stuff like that will let you add a little "persuasion" without being too rough on the trim.

 

[Gary P]

You have it sized up correctly. It is just pressed on over the drip rail. It is normally difficult to remove without damaging it. I'm not a body guy, I try to mask around it usually. If you're going back with a vinyl top you'll have to get it off. I recommend going slowly and maybe picking up some plastic putty knives, maybe a windshield tool, stuff like that will let you add a little "persuasion" without being too rough on the trim.

Thanks for your response @nitro_rat

I was dreading them being a press fit! But now I know, I can do as you say and grab some plastic remover tools and such. These trim pieces seem a little thin compared to the beastliness of other parts of the car, and as there seems to be precisely zero spares anywhere in the world, I must use caution.

Or mask them :-D

 

[nitro_rat]

Thanks for your response @nitro_rat

I was dreading them being a press fit! But now I know, I can do as you say and grab some plastic remover tools and such. These trim pieces seem a little thin compared to the beastliness of other parts of the car, and as there seems to be precisely zero spares anywhere in the world, I must use caution.

Or mask them :-D

Due to their nature they are simple to mask effectively. Just make sure to take a sharp razor blade and remove any vinyl top residue that's poking out from under them, and then use a razor to trim the masking tape right at that inner edge. It's pretty much impossible to tell that they were masked and there's no damage or distortion from removing them. I would 100% mask if not replacing the vinyl top!

 

[RexM]

Hi guys - hope you are doing well. It's hotter than all hell and fury this week and we've had so much to get done but I did finally get the hood - both sides - down to bare metal!
View attachment 1867835View attachment 1867834

I like to DA it with 100 grit to make it shinier and a bit rougher, before I hit it with my favorite high build. I estimate ten hours it took to get the hood down to bare metal. Yikes!

I have a question for you guys - I know there's barely anyone who has a Monaco but I'm hoping the basic principals are the same with other similar cars of this ilk....How do you remove the chrome drip rail trim - I can do the window surrounds but I mean the drip rail trim, the bit that's standing proudest in this pic...
View attachment 1867833

It looks like it might "twist" off the drip rail, but I don't want to bend the chrome. This car also had a vinyl top, so maybe the remaining slivers of vinyl under the chrome are causing it to be really tough to remove - oh wise ones, is there a trick to popping these off without damaging them??? Thank you in advance!

A friend of mine has a 77 Fury four door that he is prepping to paint. His had this chrome trim, but not a vinyl top. I watched him pull the trim off the roof. He started at the front and twisted from the bottom upward kinda around the body rail and worked it back slowly doing the same. It didn't seem hard, but he went slow to avoid deforming the trim. It looked like it had a slight twist when it was off, but he kinda twisted in reverse by hand and it looked fine then.

 

[nitro_rat]

A friend of mine has a 77 Fury four door that he is prepping to paint. His had this chrome trim, but not a vinyl top. I watched him pull the trim off the roof. He started at the front and twisted from the bottom upward kinda around the body rail and worked it back slowly doing the same. It didn't seem hard, but he went slow to avoid deforming the trim. It looked like it had a slight twist when it was off, but he kinda twisted in reverse by hand and it looked fine then.

I leave the twist in, because installation is reverse of removal. No need to bend it up more than necessary!

 

[Gary P]

Hi guys - hope you are all doing well.

I've not posted for a while because I have been doing bodywork. Lots of body work. In fact, I have no fingerprints left, so now would be a good time to do a bank job....actually, good news is that on July 22nd 2025, I will be sworn in as a bonefide American Citizen!! So I better not do a bank job...

Suffice to say I don't want to turn this thread into a borefest with bodywork pics but just so you know I'm still alive, and almost American, here's two...

^^^ the hood looks ready to go...but alas it was not. Hundreds of lows and highs, and easily another 20hrs trying to get it acceptable.

Cheers you guys!

 

[Don Frelier]

Hi guys - hope you are all doing well.

I've not posted for a while because I have been doing bodywork. Lots of body work. In fact, I have no fingerprints left, so now would be a good time to do a bank job....actually, good news is that on July 22nd 2025, I will be sworn in as a bonefide American Citizen!! So I better not do a bank job...

Suffice to say I don't want to turn this thread into a borefest with bodywork pics but just so you know I'm still alive, and almost American, here's two...
View attachment 1876604
View attachment 1876605

^^^ the hood looks ready to go...but alas it was not. Hundreds of lows and highs, and easily another 20hrs trying to get it acceptable.

Cheers you guys!

Great work!

 

[Kern Dog]

Hi guys - hope you are all doing well.
On July 22nd 2025, I will be sworn in as a bonefide American Citizen!!

Heck yeah, good for you, man.

 

[Chargerjase]

actually, good news is that on July 22nd 2025, I will be sworn in as a bonefide American Citizen!!

Congratulations Gary, that’s awesome news.

 

[HawkRod]

Gary, congratulations on your upcoming citizenship!

It looks like you are doing a nice job on the bodywork, but obviously you missed the memo. You are not done bodywork once you loose your fingerprints - you need to wear out all the skin and that signals that you are done!

Good luck!

 

[Gary P]

Thanks you guys!!! I'll be sure to post a picture celebrating the fact.

For now, though, I know I promised not to bore you all with dull bodywork pics but today I did one of the sketchiest bits of redneck engineering I've ever done (and I have old Volkswagens!!), I had to get the hood somewhere paintable....so....ummmm...

Yeeeep, I used ratchet straps and the rafters of the car port. It was not an elegant moment. But if it worked was it really a bad idea?

It's 100F and mixing filler has been a real pain in my derriere - using such a small amount of hardener, because at normal quantities, the filler is going off within a minute or two. You would think 1/3 hardener than usual would give me more spread time? It did, but only about 3 minutes, then the filler would go off, but take another hour almost two, to dry enough to be sandable. It was clogging my 100g like a....cloggy thing

I am getting there. Today was a long hot shift but I put a lot of high build on the hood and another 4 maybe 5 hours and I will have the front end all in primer.

That's the goal.

Cheers fellas!

 

[Greg Ducato]

Well done Gary, I'm proud for you for all the sweat equity you have put into this build. Proud also to call you a fellow American, we could use a few Million more just like you!

 

[nitro_rat]

Here’s a neat trick for popping off that pesky drip rail molding:



For those that don’t FB, he’s using the square end of an old bottle opener with some masking tape around it to protect the finish to very quickly pop the drip rail molding off of a ‘70-‘72 Chevelle…

 

[Don Frelier]

So he carefully removed it and then threw the trim on the unprotected paint on the roof?
Not something I would do.

 

[nitro_rat]

So he carefully removed it and then threw the trim on the unprotected paint on the roof?
Not something I would do.

 

[HawkRod]

So he carefully removed it and then threw the trim on the unprotected paint on the roof?
Not something I would do.

Maybe he is taking the trim off because the car is getting painted?