1968 Plymouth GTX

['68 Coronet R/T]

Finally got the trunk floor and rear deck filler panel welding into place.
Sprayed a quick coat of epoxy on it (still wet in the picture) to prevent rusting. We have had a pretty good Monsoon season here and the humidity is at levels I haven't felt in a long time.

Still have some work to do, since I got grinder happy in a couple of spots and being in a hurry, I ran and wrinkled the epoxy it a couple of places.
Trying to get the hang of spraying while my body is contorted and twisted in an effort to reach is my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. LOL

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Here's a close up view inside.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Started drilling out the spot welds on the passenger side of the floor pan.
The area under the heater box was so rusted I couldn't find some of the spot welds, so I used the air chisel to rip some slits into the metal so I could work along the floor support rails, removing the welds as I came to them.

Passenger's side is all loose now and ready to come out. Tomorrow I will move on to the driver's side.

 

[SRT_Blubyu]

looking really nice... and time consuming for sure!

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

The old floor pan is finally out of there.

54 years of dust accumulation to get vacuumed out.

Next is to get all this media blasted and into epoxy primer.
Then I will begin transferring the parts from the bottom of the old pan to the new.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Waiting for my epoxy primer order to get here, so I decided to start transferring parts from the old pan to the new one.
Media blasted and then painted the underside of the seat belt nut supports and emergency brake cable guide and welded them in to place.

Then I drilled the hole for the shifter linkage.

Working now on getting the spot weld holes drilled in the right places.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Test fitting the pan.

Still have a bunch of spot weld holes to drill.
Also, waiting on by epoxy primer order to be delivered so I can get the frame supports sprayed before installing the pan.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

The old floor pan was so rusted and distorted that I couldn't trust the spot weld transfers to the new pan.

So I made some measurements and then placed a piece of masking tape on the panel with one edge being on the center line of the frame support.

Then I measured and recalculated the location of the spot welds to get them more evenly distributed.

You can see in the photo below, how scattered the white dots are that were made by overlaying the old pan and marking through the old spot weld holes.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Got the floor supports media blasted and spray with two coats of epoxy primer today.

Should be able to start floor pan install on Saturday.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Got the floor supports media blasted and spray with two coats of epoxy primer today.View attachment 1339874

Should be able to start floor pan install on Saturday.

Looks great. Did you roll it outside to blast it or do you have a less messy method of doing it?

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

This time I blasted it where it sits.
Cleaned up the mess. Took longer to clean everything, including inside the frame rails, than it did to blast and paint it.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Floor pan is in.
Gave it one coat of epoxy for now. I will put the seam sealer on and then shoot another coat.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

While waiting for my seam sealer, sandpaper and filler order to arrive, I decided to look at my console.
It has 3 series cracks in it, which I super glued to close them up. However there are chunks missing and the edges of the seams have some wear so show.

My current plan is to mix up some JB Weld clear epoxy. Then use a toothpick to fill and level the seams. Once the epoxy begins to set, press a piece of vinyl cloth into it in order to create a texture similar to the surrounding areas.

Anyone with experience in this type of repair please offer suggestions and/or recommendations.
I know I can get a reproduction console for $250 plus shipping but thought I would try to repair the original first.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

So here's what I got.
Had to change up the game plan a couple of times but it came out pretty decent.
Not perfect but I doubt most people will notice.

 

[Nxcoupe]

Looks great! Is that black?

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Looks great! Is that black?

No, was a darker blue and very beat up and old.

What I ended up doing was to use Plastik Honey to get some filler real slick and then just skimmed over the bad areas.

Sanded that with 150 grit and applied two coats of SPI black epoxy, reduced about 20%. Once it started to firm up I pressed the texture into the surface and then let it cure out for an hour or more.

I found an old Spanish New Testament sitting underneath a bunch of stuff and it had a vinyl cover with texture that was almost a perfect match.

I then mixed my Q code base for interior use (Mixed 1:1 and 10% clear activator added) and sprayed three coats. This mix doesn't need clear over the top. Works great on dash pads, arm rests, kick panels, etc.

 

[Nxcoupe]

No, was a darker blue and very beat up and old.

What I ended up doing was to use Plastik Honey to get some filler real slick and then just skimmed over the bad areas.

Sanded that with 150 grit and applied two coats of SPI black epoxy, reduced about 20%. Once it started to firm up I pressed the texture into the surface and then let it cure out for an hour or more.

I found an old Spanish New Testament sitting underneath a bunch of stuff and it had a vinyl cover with texture that was almost a perfect match.

View attachment 1345650

I then mixed my Q code base for interior use (Mixed 1:1 and 10% clear activator added) and sprayed three coats. This mix doesn't need clear over the top. Works great on dash pads, arm rests, kick panels, etc.

Wow, cool, thanks!

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Chrome is pretty beat up. Tried buffing the lights and side chrome but may end up replacing them.

I am going to sell the '69 top plate assembly and get the proper one for 1968.

 

['68 Coronet R/T]

Needing some help with the deck lid torsion bars.

Decided to install the deck lid to check the fit. Problem I am having is the when I close the trunk lid, these bars make a very loud "pop" sound. I even put a dab of grease between the plastic bushing and cam surface.

If I raise the lid to full open, these will actually come loose and fall out of their slots.
Is this because I don't have enough tension on them??

I have a very short video recording of the hinge during the popping sound but don't know how to upload it.

 

[1Tlew0]

Needing some help with the deck lid torsion bars.


Decided to install the deck lid to check the fit. Problem I am having is the when I close the trunk lid, these bars make a very loud "pop" sound. I even put a dab of grease between the plastic bushing and cam surface.

If I raise the lid to full open, these will actually come loose and fall out of their slots.
Is this because I don't have enough tension on them??

I have a very short video recording of the hinge during the popping sound but don't know how to upload it.

The deck lid hinges are held in place by a push on lock washer. Without it, the brackets will move from side to side, pop off, or wont pull down properly.

You currently have the torsion bars in their lightest position. Pulling them towards the rear panel will increase the tension on the rods. You can also move these slightly to the left or right, which will center the nylon slider.