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My 1978 Dodge Monaco 4 door sedan.

Hey there brother, hope all is well with you mate.

Monaco is coming out of hibernation here soon, I've been fully consumed by my Volkswagen, it kinda took priority this summer.
 
Hopefully you can get the Monaco up and running so you can have a driver with a real heater and defroster this winter!
 
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Hope you are able to get everything dialed in just right!
 
The OP hasn't popped in this thread in 5 months. I liked the guy...I wonder what happened to him.
 
Hello guys! How are you all doing?

It's been a long time, life has been running me ragged, we got married 1 year ago, went to Iceland for our honeymoon, I've changed jobs 3 times, and we started another business in February - so just a little bit going on!

I hope you are all well - this week I finally got back to doing some work on the car. It's unacceptable I know considering it was 2020 when I started but hey ho.

I'm fixing this blasted fiberglass header panel, as you can see. I've struck out every time I've searched for a replacement one so a fiberglass kit and some itchy arms ensued. Tomorrow, I will add filler to this and build up the low spots that have been broken or sanded too far.
IMG_1562.jpg


IMG_1565.jpg


It's coming along.

Last six months or so, I've noticed a huge increase in youtube content featuring these 4 door Monaco/Fury/Coronet B Bodies - that can only be a good thing. Oh and during the winter, some pleb knocked on my door and offered me $500 for the Monaco. Place your bets on what I said!

Best wishes to you all - I'll keep moving forward now!

Cheers. Mr P.
 
IMG_1549.JPEG


Here she is the little beauty. I sure am glad I hit this car with Rustoleum as a preserving tactic - even under this car port she gets hammered with rain and snow. I've prepped that driver side fender, primer soon.
 
Gary!

It is nice to hear from you and I am glad to hear you still have and are enjoying the Monaco!

Congratulations on your wedding and I hope your new business does very well.
These cars are long term projects and as long as we keep that in mind, it's not so bad that it sometimes takes years to do them. You also have a harder car to work on than my 70 Road Runner because parts are more readily available for my car. I'm glad to see you are tackling the front end repair yourself - I'm sure it will turn out well!
 
HawkRod said:
Gary!

It is nice to hear from you and I am glad to hear you still have and are enjoying the Monaco!

Congratulations on your wedding and I hope your new business does very well.
These cars are long term projects and as long as we keep that in mind, it's not so bad that it sometimes takes years to do them. You also have a harder car to work on than my 70 Road Runner because parts are more readily available for my car. I'm glad to see you are tackling the front end repair yourself - I'm sure it will turn out well!
Click to expand...
Great to hear from you Hawk and thank you!

She still doesn't run good although starts and idles perfect. Once that's figured out I gotta get some paint on this car so I can drive it!
 
congrats.jpg
Greetings and CONGRATS, Gary! Glad to see you're still with us and that you're doing well in life.
Yes, these cars are ongoing hobbies - they're never quite finished, no matter what anyone says. :)
 
Hey Gary, great to see you pop up again. Congratulations on your wedding and business ventures. Monaco will be great when done. Looking forward to hearing about the trials and tribulations of this fibreglass piece. Good luck.
 
Hello fella's - it's great to hear from you all, thanks for the welcome backs! I trust you are all well?

Here's some progress pics for you. I found fiberglass repair to be both tricky and expensive - $31 for a small "repair kit" in which I ran out of hardener for the resin in two minutes.
Buuuuut, I have this header panel feeling very tough and together so structurally, I'll go for it now.
IMG_1562.jpg

IMG_1604.JPEG

Terrible fitment, so more filler and some "redneck engineering" was needed to bend that bezel backwards and close the gaps up a bit...
IMG_1608.JPEG

IMG_1611.JPEG

I sprayed this cheap crappy paint over my filler work to see what more is needed...turns out, a lot. Spot filler and a little more finessing for sure.

I put the panel back on the car and adjusted it as best I could...

IMG_1619.JPEG

^^^ I have to adjust the hood a little, that'll take care of the bad fitment with the body lines.

We are ok on the driver side...
IMG_1617.JPEG


But the passenger side where that damage was, needs a lot more love...
IMG_1618.JPEG

Somehow, I need to build up the top half, and move that "fin" on both fender and header so it meets respectably, or at least "as good as Chrysler did it in 78".

Almost there! Ten hours on this so far.

Thanks for still checking my Monaco out fellas - I sure do appreciate it!
 
Oh and ps - the blue stuff all over my fiberglass repair is the adhesive one uses to bond pvc sprinkler pipes together - it's freaking awesome and helped a LOT!
 
Gary P said:
Hello fella's - it's great to hear from you all, thanks for the welcome backs! I trust you are all well?

Here's some progress pics for you. I found fiberglass repair to be both tricky and expensive - $31 for a small "repair kit" in which I ran out of hardener for the resin in two minutes.
Buuuuut, I have this header panel feeling very tough and together so structurally, I'll go for it now.View attachment 1852584
View attachment 1852581
Terrible fitment, so more filler and some "redneck engineering" was needed to bend that bezel backwards and close the gaps up a bit...
View attachment 1852582
View attachment 1852583
I sprayed this cheap crappy paint over my filler work to see what more is needed...turns out, a lot. Spot filler and a little more finessing for sure.

I put the panel back on the car and adjusted it as best I could...

View attachment 1852587
^^^ I have to adjust the hood a little, that'll take care of the bad fitment with the body lines.

We are ok on the driver side...
View attachment 1852585

But the passenger side where that damage was, needs a lot more love...
View attachment 1852586
Somehow, I need to build up the top half, and move that "fin" on both fender and header so it meets respectably, or at least "as good as Chrysler did it in 78".

Almost there! Ten hours on this so far.

Thanks for still checking my Monaco out fellas - I sure do appreciate it!
Click to expand...
Gary,

It looks to me from your pictures that your passenger side fender has some damage (from about midway on the side to and a bit beyond the top body line). Am I seeing that right? If I am, then you need to throw some weld on that fender and get it fixed up!
 
HawkRod said:
Gary,

It looks to me from your pictures that your passenger side fender has some damage (from about midway on the side to and a bit beyond the top body line). Am I seeing that right? If I am, then you need to throw some weld on that fender and get it fixed up!
Click to expand...
Hawk, you are absolutely right - the fender needs to go one way, the header the other and "meet in the middle" hahaha
 
Hi guys and happy Friday!

Just for fun today I quickly mixed up a bit of high build to see how well (or not) I did with the fender.

IMG_1664.JPEG
IMG_1663.JPEG
IMG_1662.JPEG
IMG_1661.JPEG


Despite reducing the high build a little too much, I'd call that a win. I'll see how it flats out this weekend. Only the whole rest of the car to paint and bodywork hahaha!
 
I agree on the fender.
The hit moved the dented area forward*.
Looks like there's even some filler there.
*It might just be bad filler application.

My guess as to the reply on the $500-

Nothing. Just walked away or closed the door whichever was applicable.

When someone does that to me I ignore them.
If they do it again, I laugh.
 
YY1 said:
I agree on the fender.
The hit moved the dented area forward*.
Looks like there's even some filler there.
*It might just be bad filler application.

My guess as to the reply on the $500-

Nothing. Just walked away or closed the door whichever was applicable.

When someone does that to me I ignore them.
If they do it again, I laugh.
Click to expand...
@YY1 My exact words were..."this car isn't going anywhere for $500. In fact, you can't find anything for $500 any more, no matter what car it is."

He then told me he's found loads of these cars for around that kind of money. I proceeded to let him know, then, that he should be a very happy man, because I've seen one of these cars in real life and it's this one. He was not what I call a genuine car guy, I suspect.
 
Ok fella's it's been a hectic time as usual but I've been doing my ritual "1hr per day minimum" on the car. I removed the hood, flipped it over and to my terror...
IMG_1669.JPEG


With paint stripper, wire wheels, wire brushes, sandpaper and harsh language I worked this down to a paintable surface, kinda...
IMG_1687.JPEG


Just the top of the hood to paint strip...
IMG_1690.JPEG


I've been trying different concoctions of Aircraft Stripper mixed with various other nasty stuff, to try and get a more aggressive reaction. Alas, nothing. We can't get the good Aircraft Stripper here in Utah, because apparently everyone here is an idiot and might drink it. So the Rustoleum brand of stripper is the best I can get, and it's not brilliant.

However, big globs slopped all over, plus wrapping the hood in plastic and leaving it in the sun did this...
IMG_1691.JPEG



That'll do. Still needs sanding off in places but it's certainly better than nothing.

I'll keep plugging away - hope you are all doing well!
 
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