"The Beater Bee" becomes "The Better Bee"

[bashton]

Amazing...absolutely amazing. And entertaining too! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

Bashton

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Love the details, love the updates!!

Your posts have mucho personality!!

Ryan

[A12pilot]

Thanks guys! Glad you're enjoying the progress! So, today the car is sitting in 3 heavy coats of DPS3055 [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img] and I'm all set to start blocking the bad-boy out! I've been doing some stretches, loading up on carbs, and think I'm all set. A Triathlon is a walk in the park compared to blocking out 7.5ft 60's Dodge Quarter Panels! I can tell you one thing, to those that don't know, this stuff is friggin' expensive and the best part? About half of that is going to pile up on the floor.... or in my lungs! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/thumbsdown.gif[/img] Anywhooo....first thing's first and it's mounting up the remaining panels: trunk and front end parts.





Now it's onto everyone's favorite game: Align that Door! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/thumbsdown.gif[/img]

Cheers [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[A12pilot]

Door Alignment 101: Let me walk you through a day in the life of a highly skilled bodyman. To start, you need to BE one with the door. Don't fight it, embrace it. OK, after you get all kumbaya'y with your sheet metal shell, get out the sockets, scrap wood shims, and oh what the heck, the 5lb sledge. So where to start? It's all about Geometry here (I flunked math), and once you master that mathematical thing, door alignment is nothing more than a walk in the park with your favorite dog. Just always remember who walks who! Lets see. If I raise this end a bit here, that drops the back end of the door. OK.....so, then if I raise the back end, then the front should go down? No? Let's see...loosen this...let me (wedge)...wait....Oh, that needed to be tight first. OK, let me try that again. Loosen this, raise (bang bang bang) that. Hmm...that's worse than it was before. The top is out too far and the bottom is hitting the rocker. Well lets (rachet rachet...bang bang) tap this...( bang ) whoops! Well, that's what bodyfiller is for. That should line up nicely aaannd, it doesn't. OK door, my New Jersey is getting up here....let me try and lower this part and push (bang bang) this in....OK, why is the trunk out of whack now?!?!?!? I didn't touch that!!!!!! Starting to feel like that dog is walking me!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/mad.gif[/img]





How did this get done on the line so fast??? This took me 4 days, 12hrs, and I can't even tell you how many Scotch and Sodas!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/whistle.gif[/img] In all seriousness, I'm very happy with this side's door alignment and now it's onto the passenger side. More to come....

Cheers [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[A12pilot]

Still a few more tweaks here. The front end is about 3/16th too low, so I'll need to raise that up. But I know what'll happen. I'll do that and the Challenger's hood won't shut! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/thumbsdown.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/dunno.gif[/img] Yeah, I don't know why that would affect a totally different car, but it will! The good news about the panel alignment is looking at survivor cars, their alignment wasn't exactly spot on either. You remember that Lexus commercial with the ball bearing running over the door gaps and such? I'm aiming for that...with a bowling ball. I think I'm almost there!!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img]




Oh, and that big unsightly gap at the bottom of the door? Welcome to Mopar B-Bodys!!! I've had 7 of them and they're all the same. Chargers, Bees, Roadrunners....all the same deal. Not sure why they left such a big gap underneath. OK, a little more work needed on this side and next week I start block sanding with a little help from the wife!! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img]

Cheers [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[markinnaples]

Brilliant. Lots of hard work but that's gonna be beautiful when done.

[A12pilot]

And just to add a bit of nostalgia to the restoration, I hung the fender tag by a wire under the dash like they did as the car was coming down the Lynch Road factory back in the day! An interesting thing about fender tags: Lynch Road cars were coded differently (different format) than the other assembly plants and they also got attached to the car in a different way. St. Louis car, etc, were attached to the fender by one screw and the tag was bent up so it could be painted underneath the tag as the car was going down the line. Those tags have a distinct bend on the tag and one painted hold down screw. The other screw is not painted since it was installed after paint. Lynch Road car tags were hanging somewhere inside the car, usually under the dash, and only got a dusting of paint depending on how much overspray made it to the tag. Some show more paint than others, but both screws are unpainted and no bend in the tag corner. So next time you're at a show you can flex your Moparness! Or you can keep your mouth shut and just enjoy the nice cars! [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/biggthumpup.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/grin.gif[/img] [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/cool.gif[/img]



Cheers [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]

[RS_COPO_Canuck]

Looks good!

Here is an important tip.......put weight in the doors when you align them to mimic the weight of the glass, mechanisms etc. It makes a big difference.

[KenMaisano]

This is the first time I saw this post. Really cool to follow and a super awesome build. very excited to see it completed.

Kenny

[earntaz]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RS_COPO_Canuck</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Looks good!

Here is an important tip.......put weight in the doors when you align them to mimic the weight of the glass, mechanisms etc. It makes a big difference.</div></div>

HaHa -- absolutely ... learned that trick when hanging doors on 70's Camaros/Firebirds. Those doors are heavy as hell and need the weight to align properly. TAZ [img]<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif[/img]