Time To Dive Back In...

After a long vacation, some fall camping, and getting caught up on house/yard work, it's time to dive back in to getting this car apart. Thankfully, the shop where the majority of the work will be done has been behind schedule. Naturally.

Job number one: Get the garage back in working order.

Aaand GO!

More photos and videos are on the way.

Step(s) Two - Give me a break...

So upon first glance it would appear that the front-end trim pieces wouldn't pose too much of an issue. Well... that was yesterday's dream and today's liquid wrench stench nightmare.

For this next part please keep in mind that I work though the week and rarely get to start having "fun" with the car until sometime around 6:30-7pm on most evenings. 

So after three days and a half a can of liquid wrench, I have managed to remove... not much of anything. Four upper bolts holding the grill came off without an issue and I was able to remove one screw on the grill, but the rest seem to have been fused in place by salt and time. 

I then decided to shift focus to the area under the bumper and allow the trouble spots soak another day or so. There is a plate just under bumper that protects the radiator from road stuff. The lovely little bolts that hold this armor in place also seem to have fused to their nuts with little actual exposed thread remaining, just little chunks of rust. Good times. 

It should be said that I sprayed all of these bolts on Sunday and again just before attempting removal. Upon applying approximately one pound of pressure, these little bolts snapped in half like they were made of Tonka truck plastic. Since I now consider these bolts unusable, I'll probably just start cutting most of them off, that is, as long as new screw and bolt kits are available. 

The big successful happy moment came when I was able to remove the parking lights and their screws without any issues. All hail stainless steel screws. Even the plug connectors came apart without issue and still appear to be both pliable and reusable. Score. That'll save a nice chunk of change. 

Unfortunately, that's all I have for now, but something is always better than nothing. Feel free to comment with any helpful suggestions or critiques. I'm all ears. 

Step One - Glass Removal.

Okay, so I'm already cheating. Yesterday I paid a cool $90 to have the stainless trim safely detached and the front and rear glass removed.

I figured this was the best way to go as the tools to accomplish such a feat would have probably cost me more than the professional removal fee and I would have likely damaged the extremely expensive to replace stainless trim far beyond $90 worth of repair work. 

Bonus: It was finished and ready for cleanup when I got home from work. 

Since the car is now no longer street legal, I'm considering this day the official start of the project. 

Budget hit total: -$90

Here's the resulting "carnage". The sheet metal is in much better shape than I though it would be. I'll take it! 

One last cruise... for now.

Despite an hour long delay from a fuel system issue, Dad and I were able to sneak in one last drive in the Dodge just before sundown. Here's the short version...

My beautiful 1969 Dodge Coronet 440 was delivered to her original owner 47 years ago as of July 26th of this year. As of this coming October she's been mine for 18 wonderful years. I took her to proms, to car shows, and even used her to drive off from my wedding with my beautiful bride, Christine, sitting by my side. There were lots of shenanigans in between those events as well. I'm sure my old friend Joe Newby has a story or two. Maybe three. Sometimes a spring just breaks and lots of rubber gets burned on back county roads... 😏. Sometimes radiator cores like to explode during a simple low speed cruise.

Anywho.

Today is the last day the sun will set with all of her original parts still together as one. The glass is scheduled to be removed tomorrow at 10am, followed by a prompt disassembly of her exterior trim, body panels, electrical, and interior. She will be a shell with an engine and eventually just a clean unibody core. She is to be rebuilt and restored, bolt by bolt, to better than factory condition. A safer structure with better panel fit, better finish, and better modern highway cruise-ability.

The goal is to have her completed by October 31, 2018, twenty years to the day that I first brought her home. Realistically, that will likely stretch to her 50th birthday in July of 2019. If I'm extremely lucky. I will be documenting the entire project in a soon to be published blog, mostly for my own reference, but if anyone is interested in following, have at. I'll post that in the coming weeks.

This has been a long time coming and I'm honestly somewhat terrified of the unexpected, yet guaranteed, surprises that will occur.

Here's to a new adventure, old friend. We'll both get through this. I promise!

So after one last properly golden sunset, it's now time to back her into the garage and say goodnight. See you on the other side...