Build Thread... 1976 W200

[76w200]

more pictures

Updates...

Pressed out ball joints, spring bushings, and then cleaned and painted, cleaned and painted...

Calipers... (after glass bead)


The hold down bracket, and caliper will both be the same color. I know what everybody is going to say... red is for cars, paint them black... I spent quite a bit of time on these. The bracket has 4 coats of ceramic high temp paint, I put on very light coats, so as not to hide details yet coat all of the metal. I used this product on my jetta brakes and it works well. (no I will not be painting the drums in the rear red, they will be black, just like the rest of the chassis)

I painted the front calipers red for one reason... To break up all the black underneath... I couldn't find a blue that matched the chrysler blue for the engine. So I stuck with what worked. I have blown both the cylinders (ceramic pistons) out and am currently painting the calipers and will wait 7-10 days after paint cures to recoat then wait again, then install the new seals... The sway bar, and tie rod will be powder chromed, along with a new chrome differential cover, and that should be more than enough detail underbody.



Springs, bellhousing, wiper linkages, shackles, clutch pivot brackets, u-bolts, skid pan, cross bracing for the frame.... etc. You name it, it's hanging....


Bumper mounts, tow hooks, There's still another two spring stacks to blast and paint... That's a lot of painting there... I know why full restorations cost so much! Painting all those little things is a royal you know what... As soon as I started painting I realized I hung things too close... swinging in the breeze!

[76w200]

progress....

well, progress has been a little jammed up. I got my hands on a house with 3 beds, 1 bath, and a 2 car oversized garage. So I am moving 4/1/09... I'm done with the storage sheds and the disaster in my car, and my apartment. So progress will be slowed a bit but will begin shortly.

I painted the frame again, so 5 coats of paint, and got the rear axle painted. Don't have any pics yet.

[76w200]

Ah...

The dodge is out of storage FINALLY.... I got the entire truck (frame, axles, body etc) all of it in my oversized 2 car garage. Once I spent some time organizing things it was not nearly as crowded.

I spent some time yesterday and removed the old sleeved rubber spring bushings out of the (front) spring mounts inside the frame.... A good hacksaw blade and a bit of ingeniuty will get you a long way!

I reinstalled after cleaning the inside of the bracketry brand new poly bushings, from energy suspension.

If it would stop snowing... I could continue painting!


I'll get some fresh pictures of the dodge up tonight!

[KRB64]

Congrats on new home!
Can't wait to see end product. You going to be afraid to drive it once you're done????

[76w200]

afraid...

Yeah, afraid that some stupid moron will broadside me and total it... She won't be going back out onto the road without appraised value insurance coverage, and collector plates. People drive like isht in Denver...

But I however will not be afraid to enjoy all the hard work in the end! The truck is a "she" because it used to have as many mood swings as my girlfriend! She (the truck) will be going camping, 4-wheeling within reason... and in town jaunts for fun.

Here's a couple more pic's for reference...

The firewall, I've spent about 2 hours scraping undercoating off... And another two hours removing paint... The little areas, I plan to hit with a wire wheel on the drill..

.


The entire firewall is stripped (engine side only) there's green bags on the floor reflecting on the bare steel. Filthy and time consuming... that's all I have to say...

[QuantumJo]

Looks great! One day my Adventurer will get the same treatment. I will likely soda blast it.

[76w200]

Here's a stupid question... but anybody know how exactly to get inside where the wiper linkages mount to strip/prep, and paint it?? I have quite a bit of paint peeling inside of there ... I can use a shop vac, to clean out the mess, but how aside from hand sanding do you get in there??? That and the little flange where the wiring loom sits, (engine side of firewall) underneath where the wiper motor mounts??

Those are some tough spots to get to... Any suggestions would be helpful!

Frame Pics... Took four guys and two comforters, roll of duct tape, and a 26' uhaul to move everything in two trips...

Yeah, and the frame is dirty... It decided to snow the day I chose to rent the uhaul and move everything... Go figure!

[76w200]

So I'm in the market for a decent welder, a machine that is capable of welding up to a 1/4 steel. I've used welders before but have not had to repair things nicely! So I'll be doing plenty of practice on some old VW parts I have laying around!

Also in the market for at least a 60 gallon, 15-20 cfm air compressor... I'll be doing my own body work, and paint work... Since I now have a house... and a lack of $$.

Those Home Depot compressors look like a pretty good deal or the harbor freight machines, I just want to make sure that whatever compressor I choose will handle the load while I'm painting, and not have to stop in the middle for a smoke break while it catches up. What do you guys suggest?

[Hobcobble]

So I'm in the market for a decent welder, a machine that is capable of welding up to a 1/4 steel. I've used welders before but have not had to repair things nicely! So I'll be doing plenty of practice on some old VW parts I have laying around!

Also in the market for at least a 60 gallon, 15-20 cfm air compressor... I'll be doing my own body work, and paint work... Since I now have a house... and a lack of $$.

Those Home Depot compressors look like a pretty good deal or the harbor freight machines, I just want to make sure that whatever compressor I choose will handle the load while I'm painting, and not have to stop in the middle for a smoke break while it catches up. What do you guys suggest?

Look at the Millermatic 175. A quarter inch is at the very top of a 110V
[Millermatic 135] MIG welder's capability. For a stick welder.... Lincoln
makes a nice one.

I've had good luck with Craftsman compressors.

I don't do business with chinese when I can avoid it.... no harbor
freight for me.
John

[Desoto61]

I ended up getting the Hobart 187. Nice machine and Tractor Supply was running a good deal on them. They're made by Miller, just don't have as many bells & whistles.

Can't help on the air compressor, I'm using an old 30 gallon unit I got from a relative. It's a little small but you can't beat the price and it's built like a tank. To compensate I picked up the new Eastwood gun designed for smaller compressors. Haven't had a chance to try it yet.

[Williespeed]

Here's a stupid question... but anybody know how exactly to get inside where the wiper linkages mount to strip/prep, and paint it?? I have quite a bit of paint peeling inside of there ... I can use a shop vac, to clean out the mess, but how aside from hand sanding do you get in there??? That and the little flange where the wiring loom sits, (engine side of firewall) underneath where the wiper motor mounts??

Those are some tough spots to get to... Any suggestions would be helpful!

Frame Pics... Took four guys and two comforters, roll of duct tape, and a 26' uhaul to move everything in two trips...

Yeah, and the frame is dirty... It decided to snow the day I chose to rent the uhaul and move everything... Go figure!

I've been snaking the tip of my sand blaster in there but it is a difficult spot to reach for sure. I am looking into some coatings that kill rust and can be coated with rubberizer for the fresh air ducts.

[76w200]

I've contemplated drilling out the spot welds and completely removing the section. For stripping/painting purposes only. I would clean everything up real nice, and prime and recoat it with body color... I think the undercoating/rubberized coatings actually did more harm than good in some situations, especially where the water was able to sit on the surface for a period of time. I'm not there yet... still stripping paint... 10 hrs... and prbly another 10 before something magical happens... like having to buy a new drill!

Then how about the inside of the A pillers where the cutouts for the door hinge bolts are? What suggestions does anybody have with those?? They have suface rust inside, and looks to me like they were never coated from the factory inside. I'm out to correct future rust bleeding... and problems as many as possible while it's apart...

[Desoto61]

In typical order I would think that a rust converter/encapsulator type product would be easiest to do but as discussed the longevity is unknown.

A chemical dip would probably be better for removing rust, paint, and debris in these areas but it's tough to find places that still do that, is expensive and can cause problems when you go to paint if you're not real careful about cleaning out all the chemicals. Plust it still leaves issues with ease of re-coating but that still easier then removal.

Disassembly is preferrable for completeness and ease of stripping/restoration but you're just trading off that for the time spent in taking it apart and putting it back together, plus the chance of damage to the metal or the fresh paint.

Personally my plan is to blast everything I can and use option 1 for the rest, but my area is just far enough south that we're out of the rust belt so I don't need the protection that others might.

[76w200]

spent some time digging...

Digging into the rust problem that is...

It appears that the outside skin, and the rain gutter are one piece... Spot welded together. Dodge filled the raingutter with some sticky goop to keep the water from getting under the rain gutter... However, after 30+ years it seems that water found it's way irregardless.

This is the passenger windshield frame looking under the raingutter...


It's prettty rusty in there. There's rust holes all over the place, and the raingutter is barely attached, right in this area.

Another view from above...

Once I dug out all the goop I found complete rust through's and discovered why water was leaking into my cab every time it rained... I dug the big holes about 2 years ago, but it wasn't very difficult to poke holes with a screw driver right through the rain gutter, and for that matter the outter cab skin.

[76w200]

So my thoughts were...

To drill out the spot welds holding the rain gutter in place, and find a wrecked truck 92-93, and quarter the roof. Taking the outter piece I need to repair mine easily. (of course making absolutely sure that one doesn't have the same problem) Then cutting open my cab outer skin to reveal how much damage there really is, and replace all damaged metals, and prep it, spot weld everything back together. I believe that the inner piece of metal is what becomes the outer spotwelded section of the windshield frame. It tucks back up underneath the rain gutter, and you can actually stick a flat blade screwdriver in between and wiggle the two pieces separately...