1969 Dodge Coronet R/T restoration, going one piece at the time

[Wietse]

Hey all,

I own my '69 Coronet R/T since March this year and so far have not done any "big" things yet on it.
Mainly because the willing to drive it as long as the weather allows.
I've replaced several old and shitty looking items on the exterior and some maintenance and repairs on the engine and fuel system.
The last few days it's raining again and got bored so i made a start to do some restoration work on the chassis, the interior bit to be precise.
As i don't have the space to fully strip the car i will go bit by bit instead of doing it all.
I will try to plan it as good as possible so i will not have to remove/install things multiple times.

Underneath the car is fully covered in a sticky protective coating which will be a pain to do but i will have to at some point i guess.
But to see the true condition of the bottom i was thinking the interior side will tell a story already so i removed the seats, bench and carpet.
Surprisingly it does not look bad to be honest, most corrosion so far is at the passenger side foot well, which got wet a few times when caught outside in the rain.
Removed the old sealant from the seams and also underneath that not much rust to see really.

I got recommended to coat it with POR15, i will have to get some automotive sealant to re-fill all the seams and after apply a top coat (POR15?)
And after that the plan is to lay some sound&heat insulation as well.
I already ordered a new floor carpet to put in once finished.
Anyway, see some pics of the progress.

 

[BeeKool]

Wietse. Here are a few pics. Before and after of the floor pan on my 70 Coronet
I used POR15 it worked well. I'm happy with it.
Remove the rubber plugs. (Hairdryer will help.)
Clean the floor very good with a wire brush and some metal cleaner.
This stuff is permanent so take care not to get it anywhere you don't want it. I applied 2 coats.

 

[Wietse]

Looks good!
I will see if i can find a local POR supplier and get myself some of that.
Some more progress for today:




Edit: BeeKool, just noticed you have a different bracket on the tunnel then mine.
Does your car has a bench in front?

 

[Wietse]

Reading about different suggestions about what to use to prime and paint the metal.
I was not planning to remove all the paint, or should i?
Then, POR15 works best on bare metal, maybe not the right stuff to use over the current paint?

Or POR15 rust preventive coat on bare metal only and then POR15 top coat all over the complete floor?

Found Sikaflex 221 as a sealant, is that a good product to seal the seams with?
Stays elastic, polyurethane based and can be painted over.

 

[PP1RT]

You have a buddy seat brackets. Beekool has center console brackets.

Beautiful floors. Is there a particular reason you want to remove the undercoating? If it is in good shape and doing its job why strip it unless you plan a rotisserie resto? Just curious...thats all...nothing wrong with stripping it.

 

[Wietse]

well, the thick tar coating is protecting very well i guess.
But, if there is something growing below it you will not be able to see it.
Instead i rather get it all cleaned up and painted .

 

[BeeKool]

Doesn't need to be bare metal for POR15. Just clean with no rust.
Use these products in preparation & you are going to be happy with the results.

and then simply brush 2 coats of the paint on after wards.
The fumes from the cleaner aren't pleasant, but it's a great product

 

[Wietse]

So after the degreaser and the metal prep i should put 2 coats of rust preventive coat or the top coat paint?
Guess the metal prep will deal with the rust in this case so assuming the Top Coat.

 

[BeeKool]

I just put 2 coats of this stuff

 

[conv67bdere]

well, the thick tar coating is protecting very well i guess.
But, if there is something growing below it you will not be able to see it.
Instead i rather get it all cleaned up and painted .

I stripped all the undercoating off the bottom of my car . . . and more. One think that I did notice in my door was that any place that there was a impact ( had something pointy strike the outer door ) the undercoating in the door was chipping away and easily removed with your fingers.

I think a fully painted bottom of the car looks incredible . . .

For getting that undercoating off the bottom of the car I would highly recommend a needle scaler - like this

It will save you a lot of time . . . ask me how I know . . .

 

[Wietse]

The coating underneath my car will come off quite easy i think as it is pretty brittle and dry.
I also like the looks of a painted bottom, although i think i would go for chassis black undercoating.

I ordered a full kit of POR 15 products, degreaser, metal prep, rust preventive coating and a top coat.

 

[BeeKool]

I ended up leaving most of my undercoating. Reapplying some under the tunnel where an old transmission leak had caused some to get soft. But other than than that the undercoating was in great condition and stayed.
I took into account that I live in Iowa and even the pavement has gravel.that was probably the biggest factor in my decision not to strip everything on the underside and paint.

 

[metaldad]

the por15 i have bought before, likes to solidify and harden once opened.
i now store it, with a piece of saran wrap under the metal lid, upside down, in the 'frig'.

 

[Wietse]

Oh, the wife is not going to like that idea....

 

[BeeKool]

For the inside floorpans as seen in my pics. It took approximately 1.5 qt

I know it cost more, but to do it 1qt at a time means no wasted product or storing opened cans.

It sounds like this project is Go in to be piece by piece.

If that stuff leaks in your refrigerator, you will have a permantly undercoated fridge that smells of chemicals.

 

[Wietse]

If that stuff leaks in your refrigerator, you will have a permantly undercoated fridge that smells of chemicals.

Then i would be a dead man walkin.....

 

[metaldad]

For the inside floorpans as seen in my pics. It took approximately 1.5 qt

I know it cost more, but to do it 1qt at a time means no wasted product or storing opened cans.

It sounds like this project is Go in to be piece by piece.

If that stuff leaks in your refrigerator, you will have a permantly undercoated fridge that smells of chemicals.

understood.
haven't spilled any yet, and haven't any harden.

 

[Wietse]

Another day of grinding etc.....my body is broken!
Costs a lot to crawl around in the car putting yourself in weird positions.
Anyway, got both footwells done as far as rust goes, i will leave the rest as there is no rust to be seen.
I will just apply a new coat of paint over the good area's.
Ripped out all the old sealant and got the seams to bare metal so in can fill em with POR15 and after fill them up with sealant.

 

[Wietse]

How far would i be able to strip the dashboard?
To remove the complete frame the front window has to come out correct?
Now i am in there anyway, and i will have to wait another day for my POR to get delivered i could strip the dash and get after that once the floor is done.

 

[Wietse]

Got my **** delivered, see photo.
Just completed the run through the car with the degreaser, i already did this 2 days ago as well with my own general purpose degreaser so that body is clean!
Now letting it dry a bit and after go for the metal prep.
How i understand, you spray this on over all bare metal and painted area's, let it sit for 15-20 minutes and wash it off with hot water right?

After get the first coat of POR 15 on and in the evening get the second coat done so it can cure overnight.
Tomorrow get all the seams filled with Sikaflex and once cured get the top coat of POR 15 on.
And, i got my thermal&sound insulation as well to go over that...plus a new floor carpet!