[RAIVJUMB]

Mine actually was 355, I thought that it would be 373.

Sent from my E6782 using Tapatalk

[72projectbird]

Progress has slowed slightly, but still moving along. The front sub frame has been removed, and is being stripped down in preparation for powder coating. The control arms, springs, knuckles, dust shields, bumper brackets, inner wheel housings, accessory drive brackets, and shaker base will be joining along on a trip to the blaster and powder coater.

I snapped a pic with all 3 birds together. They're usually separated in other garages.

[72projectbird]

Got the sub frame torn down, and prepped for sand blasting. After that I figured I'd try my hand at doing door skins. Got the original skin removed, and the new skin mocked up to check fitment. It looks really good!

I don't know if it's possible, but if a Mod could change the title of this thread to something like "1970 RAIII Build" that be cool.

[Pepper Judge]

Originally Posted by 72projectbird

Got the original skin removed, and the new skin mocked up to check fitment. It looks really good!

I don't know if it's possible, but if a Mod could change the title of this thread to something like "1970 RAIII Build" that be cool.

What did you do / plan to do to prep the door guts, if anything, before the skin was fit in place?

Trying an update on the thread name....

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by Pepper Judge

What did you do / plan to do to prep the door guts, if anything, before the skin was fit in place?

Trying an update on the thread name....

The actual door structure will be ground to raw metal, where the panel bonding adhesive can bite. After the bond, I'll hammer and dolly the edges over.

I was lucky enough that the actual structure is solid. Just the outer skin was smoked.

[JUDGE3]

the skins are indeed another pleasant nice fit repop. mine needed some bottom structure replacement. pre-drilled holes and plug welded mine after the hand and dolly work.

[72projectbird]

I'm thankful the bottom of mine are OK.

Yours came out beautiful!

[JSPONT]

subscribed, Cool car!! Nice score

[muscle_collector]

how hard is it to get the new skins installed. can you tell they have been reskinned once installed

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by muscle_collector

how hard is it to get the new skins installed. can you tell they have been reskinned once installed

I'm not finished with them, so I don't know for sure yet.

I will say that up to this point, it's been very easy. I just took my grinder and ran it around the edge of the door until the skin separated from the door itself. After the skin is removed, I hit the inner structure where the skin will be bonded to with a flap disk to clean off the paint and surface rust.

I'm waiting on the panel adhesive to come in. It should be here Tuesday, and once it arrives I can begin mounting the skin permanently.

I'm doing the passenger door too, so if there's any specific pics you guys want/need to see let me know.

[72projectbird]

Got a little more work done. Got the passenger door skin on permanently, and the driver skin isn't far behind. I also got the upper cowl/dash removed and prepped for a replacement. I had a little rust to fix at the base of the driver side pillar, but nothing serious.

[72projectbird]

Heres a few pics of the driver door installed with the skin finished. The cowl panel is mocked up for final fitment. Overall I'm very happy with how the skins came out! The final product will be much better than a door that's been fixed in multiple areas.

[HWYSTR455]

Subscribing! Nice find!

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[starlightblack]

Great car, glad you got it. Did you re-check your 12-bolt axle code stamping?

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by starlightblack

Great car, glad you got it. Did you re-check your 12-bolt axle code stamping?

Yup, it's a COZ, not a COX code like I originally thought.

[72projectbird]

Got the subframe mounts repaired. It's going to the sand blaster this week.

Also, I thought you guys would get a kick out of this: The passenger side body mount bushings were made out of steel plate and an old tire. lol

[unruhjonny]

that's hilarious!

[Formulabruce]

Lots of progress on this! Do you take your blasting up to Bert in North Hampton, NH ?

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by Formulabruce

Lots of progress on this! Do you take your blasting up to Bert in North Hampton, NH ?

I was going to use a guy in Southern NH, but I found a company in Amesbury MA that'll do it for the same price and they're super close to me.

I'm a little hung up on the powder coating cost. On one hand, it'll look amazing, but on the other I know I can lay down some paint on the freshly blasted metal and it'll look just as good. Initially I wanted to go with the powder coat because of its durability over paint, but its a show car, so the paint should hold up just fine I would think?

Opinions?

[HWYSTR455]

I wish I would have done epoxy paint instead of powder coating it, the powder coating I got is not as durable to chemicals as the epoxy coating is. Maybe I didn't specify a powder coating that is resistant to chemicals, not sure, but have heard a couple others complain along the same line. (Of course AFTER I had mine done!)

As a reference, blast and powder coating my frame was around $750-$800 as I recall. Paint with epoxy would have been a fraction of that. My frame was clean, too, no rust build up, no paint or undercoating build up, I cleaned it up before I took it up there even. (I was looking for cracks, etc)

I went back and forth on whether or not to box it in too, and decided not to. Several make the kits to box them in, and had a friend that would have done it for free. But I wonder exactly how much of a difference it would make, and felt solid body bushings would be enough for my case.

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