My 1978 Dodge Monaco 4 door sedan.

[moparedtn]

I make NO PROMISES, but let me know the measurement of the grommet. I may have one I can send you (for free).

Hawk

P.S. Looks like you have a good woman. Treat her right and take care of her!

Yep and if Hawk doesn't, I surely do - or any of a number of us.
I'm betting we all have baggies full of the dang things.

 

[Gary P]

You guys are amazing! I’ll measure it up tomorrow. Thanks guys! I have paypal and Venmo so I can pay for shipping and also give you a “little tickle”

 

[Gary P]

Hello guys.

It's been dead this week. Very nerve racking actually. End of today, Tuesday 2nd June I did a bit more to that fender.

Went round and stitch welded the rest of the repair panel.

I'm actually very happy with the curve I achieved on this...

Spent a lot of time grinding her down to shape...

I had a couple of pin holes to fill with JB, and then I hit it with hi-zinc primer.

I spent some time with the hammer and dolly on the rest of the fender. I poured denatured alcohol over the fender and for about 30 seconds (before it evaporates) I get a nice glossy look so identifying my high and low spots are way easier. It's a bit of a waste of denatured to be fair but I'd be a donkey of the highest magnitude if I poured water on the fender after all this work :-D
Next will be filler. But the scale of the filler and prep work ahead of me definitely kicked in today. But as you guys say, every little helps.

Cheers fella's I hope you are all doing well.

G

 

[moparedtn]

I'm getting a kick out of the results your "non-conventional" methods are achieving.
Looks pretty darn good from here!

 

[QOTHL]

Me and the wifey have been trying to find somewhere to have the seats reupholstered and have finally found somewhere. We will take them up there for a price soon. In the meantime we need to get the interior done so we started on the sound deadening.
View attachment 956959
[/QUOTE

 

[QOTHL]

If you've got the time and the money, by all means have the seats done. I've posted before about doing my own seats after many cast dispersions. I didn't want to wait AND pay money. I've also posted several times which is restating what I've heard on youtube many times: the guy in the shop doesn't care as much about your car as you do. I did my own seats for my Charger as well as other parts of the interior and the only points I lost was on the headliner that a professional was paid to install.
There is a very nice guy who does auto upholstery about 2 mi from my house. I've been there when he's rushed to finish someones stuff and seen what can happen that won't be seen unless the seat is taken apart. Just my opinion, if you can do sheet metal, this will be hard work but worth it to get it right.

 

[Gary P]

If you've got the time and the money, by all means have the seats done. I've posted before about doing my own seats after many cast dispersions. I didn't want to wait AND pay money. I've also posted several times which is restating what I've heard on youtube many times: the guy in the shop doesn't care as much about your car as you do. I did my own seats for my Charger as well as other parts of the interior and the only points I lost was on the headliner that a professional was paid to install.
There is a very nice guy who does auto upholstery about 2 mi from my house. I've been there when he's rushed to finish someones stuff and seen what can happen that won't be seen unless the seat is taken apart. Just my opinion, if you can do sheet metal, this will be hard work but worth it to get it right.

Thank you brother, for the information. I’d absolutely love to give it a shot. Maybe I will, because paying over what I paid for the car, just for seat reupholstery, doesn’t seem like a good time to me.

 

[Gary P]

I'm getting a kick out of the results your "non-conventional" methods are achieving.
Looks pretty darn good from here!

moparedtn thanks man! I’ve always been kinda unconventional. But I’ve never really been lucky so this is as much a surprise to me as it looks on this here thread hahah!

 

[moparedtn]

moparedtn thanks man! I’ve always been kinda unconventional. But I’ve never really been lucky so this is as much a surprise to me as it looks on this here thread hahah!

I had that sort of mindset for a long time too with these cars...if I didn't have any particular expertise
with a given task, I was dubious of actually doing more harm than good often on them, so since I couldn't
afford to pay someone else to do it, it didn't get done typically.

It took my dad's simple, blunt observation one day when he was talking me into working on his '51 Ford pickup
to change my mindset - he said "you know, it was just other guys that built the dang thing, no better than you."
He had a point, even if it meant I had to do the kingpins on his truck.
(Talk about a nightmare task!)

 

[Gary P]

I had that sort of mindset for a long time too with these cars...if I didn't have any particular expertise
with a given task, I was dubious of actually doing more harm than good often on them, so since I couldn't
afford to pay someone else to do it, it didn't get done typically.

It took my dad's simple, blunt observation one day when he was talking me into working on his '51 Ford pickup
to change my mindset - he said "you know, it was just other guys that built the dang thing, no better than you."
He had a point, even if it meant I had to do the kingpins on his truck.
(Talk about a nightmare task!)

That's a super awesome story - he really does have a point! Your Dad sounds like my kinda person!

 

[moparedtn]

That's a super awesome story - he really does have a point! Your Dad sounds like my kinda person!

He was a heck of a guy, thanks.

 

[QOTHL]

Thank you brother, for the information. I’d absolutely love to give it a shot. Maybe I will, because paying over what I paid for the car, just for seat reupholstery, doesn’t seem like a good time to me.

Don't know what your seat stuff will cost, I used all Legendary covers and supplies (do NOT get your hog rings from them, you can find them cheap on ebay. Get plenty so you can make mistakes. Hog ring pliers can be had cheap from Harbor Frieght and you'll either need a steamer or heat gun unless you have incredibly brutal forearm strength. Videos of the Legendary installer can be found on Youtube, that's how I learned to do it. Just my opinion again, you'll know it was done right doing it yourself, like the other stuff you're doing). Who knows, with your ingenuity, you may come up with an idea for compressing the damn seat springs while wrestling the cover over the foam instead of doing what I did which was literally kneel on top and heat the cover so it would stretch far enough...makes me tired just thinking about it.
Make sure you hang on to whatever hardware is in the seat and take lots of photos and don't throw the original covers away until you're done. Just my opinion.

 

[moparedtn]

Don't know what your seat stuff will cost, I used all Legendary covers and supplies (do NOT get your hog rings from them, you can find them cheap on ebay. Get plenty so you can make mistakes. Hog ring pliers can be had cheap from Harbor Frieght and you'll either need a steamer or heat gun unless you have incredibly brutal forearm strength. Videos of the Legendary installer can be found on Youtube, that's how I learned to do it. Just my opinion again, you'll know it was done right doing it yourself, like the other stuff you're doing). Who knows, with your ingenuity, you may come up with an idea for compressing the damn seat springs while wrestling the cover over the foam instead of doing what I did which was literally kneel on top and heat the cover so it would stretch far enough...makes me tired just thinking about it.
Make sure you hang on to whatever hardware is in the seat and take lots of photos and don't throw the original covers away until you're done. Just my opinion.

Agree. It is much like wrestling vinyl alligators.

 

[QOTHL]

Agree. It is much like wrestling vinyl alligators.

Yeah, vinyl alligators or as in the case of my R/T SE, vinyl and leather. I would say to Gary or anyone for that matter, be careful, not intimidated. I had to go back and watch the video multiple times every step of the way because I wanted my seats to be perfect and was very conscious of how misleading it is to see the guy in the video do this with ease. Being able to squeeze the seat springs with one hand and hog ring the cover with the other is a feat of incredible strength. If you find that it takes a lot more effort when you do it, don't be surprised. The guy in the video has been doing it for over 20yrs. I think he can do a set of Charger seats in about 4hrs. If you get your seats done that fast, you're doing well!

 

[Gary P]

Hello you guys. I hope you're all doing well this week. We had some news last week in that my wifeys 20 year old daughter tested positive for Covid. She's doing just fine and is pretty much over it, but me and wifey have had to camp out at the shop again, as a fairly extreme quarantine method. She has an auto immune disease and we are not risking anything. So we have a tent up in the mezzanine at the shop and we have tried to treat it as an adventure. It's been tough. I live in my sisters basement and her kids live there so that is a no-no, so our little shop is the only option. Quarantine sucks but it's necessary. Hope you guys are all ok.

We went from 96F to 43F within 3 days and storms like crazy. Here's a still taken from my phone during a time lapse...the strike did weird things to the refraction of light through the shop window, but it gives you the idea!!

BACK ON TOPIC GARY JEEEEZZZZ....

So the most important next stages of the car involve welding, cutting, grinding and painting....all of which I absolutely won't do when we have to sleep at the shop. So progress has been limited. I started to stick the nose cone back together and slowly bolt the car back together a bit.

Glue and clamps, for now. As a base for fiberglass work this will give me a great guide.

Looking down from the mezzanine where we now live.

The nose section went back on but for the life of me I couldn't line it up close to both fenders. I clamped the whole thing tight using the radiator support to bring everything in line...

And X marks the spot where I drilled and bolted the nose section support to the hood latch area, which closed the gap.

In the middle of the night...she watches and waits....

Not very exciting and I apologize for no good work this week.

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!!

 

[QOTHL]

Hello guys. It's been a minute. Business has been pretty good, and I've not had time for the car. Today was Memorial Day (Monday) and after a busy day with the lady riding bikes and fixing up her yard, we went to the shop and did a little bit of this...


This rancid old fender from the other week...
View attachment 955342

View attachment 955343

Once the new bit was kinda in, I did the usual scribe, bend, notch, grind, pretend I know what I'm doing...
View attachment 955345
View attachment 955346 View attachment 955344 View attachment 955347

Still a lot of welding left on this patch panel but I was very pleased with the contour that I bent using my hands and a floor jack handle (rolled the metal over it with my weight on it to get the curve). I'm thinking this car will get some more love this week so watch this space.

Hope you are all doing well, guys! Be safe. G.

I'm making a body dolly cart and was having trouble with my tacks and I was welding pretty hot. Ultimately I welded the tip solid and had to replace it. My tacks and welds looked and worked a lot better after that.

 

[Gary P]

Well hello there fella's and I hope you have all been keeping well over the last three-and-a-bit-weeks. I've been busy with work so that's good. Not life-changing busy, but busy none-the-less.

Today, Monday 29th June sees me with an hour spare. So I thought I would tackle the work that's holding me up with the interior, and it's this despicable hole in the drivers footwell...

You know what's next.... I tried to keep dust and crap and danger to a minimum by using my tin snips...

But they were about as much use as a chicken flavored flower pot. So I donned a mask and some eye wear and very carefully (there's the ebrake cables and the speedometer cable right there, not to mention the frame) cut it out as evenly as I could...

Next, I used one of my hacks to make a template for the piece to be welded in. This time, I used some cheap-*** clear laminate I have. You can just about see it in this pic below, I gently covered the hole without stretching it...

Then I was able to draw around the hole, oversized, and mark where I want to plug weld this sucker.

...and also mark roughly where the bend needs to start.

I carefully peeled it away and here on the table top you can see how effective this hack is for making templates.

I painted every possible inch under there, with POR15, and Rustoleum out of a spray can for the hard-to-reach areas, and hit the bare metal with weld-thru primer.

Unfortunately I've run out of time. I like to update this thread at the time, otherwise I'll forget to do it. That's all for today, I'm hoping to cut the panel and weld it in tomorrow. For now, gentlemen, adios. Be safe and be lucky. Gary.

 

[moparedtn]

"...about as much use as a chicken flavored flower pot."

Again, I'm impressed with the, ummm, "unorthodox" methods you employ to perform
the tasks at hand. Wonderfully creative AND logical, simultaneously!
Thanks for checking in, Gary!

 

[Gary P]

"...about as much use as a chicken flavored flower pot."

Again, I'm impressed with the, ummm, "unorthodox" methods you employ to perform
the tasks at hand. Wonderfully creative AND logical, simultaneously!
Thanks for checking in, Gary!

Thanks Ed I appreciate it. It's been frustrating not being able to get on with it. I'm hoping for a couple of hours tomorrow too! Hope you are well!

 

[Greg Ducato]

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