Donny's 1969 GTX

[Donny]

Ahhh, FINALLY, was able to break out the GTX from a cruel and harsh storage today and get some work done on it, picking up where I left off! I was able to weld the underside of the floor pans in, meaning, after I did the top butt welds on the floor to original metal transmission tunnel/hump, I was under it, doing the dress-up of the back sides of these butt welds, and, the by-product that's not too fun; grinding/dressing the welds down.

As I said, this car has been neglected for about 6 months now -- how time flies! But, I have both this and my Satellite in the bay, the Dodge W250 project is next door at the paint place, so, looks like I'll have a few weeks to get some work done; meaning firm up the structure of the GTX, permanently install the inner wheelhouses, trunk floor. Still need quarter panels to complete this angle though, but, that will come soon! I'm thinking I will replace the outer rocker panels with correct AMD types vs. the Frankenstein set up that's currently there; along with new door jams along with the AMD qtrs, you know, all at once type deal!

I'll have some pics tomorrow!

 

[moparstuart]

:headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang::headbang:

 

[Donny]

Here's some pics, not of the work mentioned, but, the unmentioned work I've been doing for the past few weeks on related parts on the GTX like the rear end, deck lid support struts, etc. Remember on page 10 how bad the rear differential axle looked, it was bad, wicked pitted, since then, blasted it, filled in most of the pits, left some on top (no one ever will see the top of the axle), put it in some good epoxy primer, then, Chassis Black on top. I know it's not what MOPAR did color wise, but, I just wanted to get it done, and put away in my pile of done stuff! Also, the rear deck support struts been blasted, and epoxy primed too. The bottom metal section is toast, going to use the pieces off a donor car to replace the rotted swiss cheese. Also, the deck lid shown here I scored for 40 bucks at a swap meet, it had NO rust at all! Love deals like that! Got a few dents here and there, and the lock hole is toast, but, rust sucks!

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[SGTPaul]

Glad to see it back from the dead!!

 

[moparstuart]

Glad to see it back from the dead!!

hes still dead , just the walking dead

 

[roadrunnerman]

Everything's looking great donny.Get as much done while you can.

 

[Donny]

Did a little engineering today at COB, pushed the Satellite further in the bay, up against the wall, the GTX is on the lift -- but not high enough to clear the W250 truck which I wanted to put underneath it. The lift tines had to be spread out further than the car is wide, so, since the Rockers I'm going to replace (I think), I welded on a 3" long 2" sq pipe to the rocker on front and rear sections of the rockers. This allowed the tines to be spread apart to clear the width of the Dodge truck. Now, height was an issue. On goes the extenders, then some 4x4 blocks...this GTX is UP THERE on the ceiling almost! The Dodge truck slid underneath with 1" of clearance on the roof-GTX framerails.

 

[Revhendo]

Did a little engineering today at COB, pushed the Satellite further in the bay, up against the wall, the GTX is on the lift -- but not high enough to clear the W250 truck which I wanted to put underneath it. The lift tines had to be spread out further than the car is wide, so, since the Rockers I'm going to replace (I think), I welded on a 3" long 2" sq pipe to the rocker on front and rear sections of the rockers. This allowed the tines to be spread apart to clear the width of the Dodge truck. Now, height was an issue. On goes the extenders, then some 4x4 blocks...this GTX is UP THERE on the ceiling almost! The Dodge truck slid underneath with 1" of clearance on the roof-GTX framerails.

Amost sounds like some good ol fashioned block and tackles would have been easier.:icon_mrgreen:

 

[Donny]

Maybe...but, with the lift there, a different ball game!

 

[Donny]

Here's some recent pics, like today, 19 Aug 2012! Got the inner rear right wheelhouse in, more welds done on the floor and backseat passenger footwells, finished the underside welding (need to dress them though), got one trunk pan set in, not fully welded in though.

The train driving this is a 67 Fairlane needs to be Media Blasted, so, I have to remove the Satellite from the rotisserie and put that car on its dolly/rack, but, can't have any underside areas needing major fixing/repairs, (did that last week). Once that's done, the GTX needs to go back on it's dolly/rack but only when the underside is done whereas I can work from the top down, and, the GTX rack/dolly needs to be lowered about 2-3 inches. Yes, it's a shuffle game in my shops, moving cars around, never enough space...you all know this game, right?

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[wannadrag]

Nice work.

 

[dfarmercse]

Lots of great work, love to have your skill.

Dave F

 

[snakeyes]

looking good donny :headbang:

 

[Capt-Culver]

Awesome job Donny.....

I have a question for you though...please don't take this as critisism, I'm simply new to this hobby and don't know any better. But, why did you weld the seams vs using a seam sealer? On my build, I was just going to plan on using a sealer. Now I'm wondering if that is a bad idea....should I be welding those seams also?

 

[Donny]

I'm going to use the seam sealer on 'em too, just that some areas I'm not 100% confident my plug welds penetrated and are as good as the factory spot welds were, and, I'm weld crazy, and want to make it stronger than original. No offense taken!

 

[Donny]

Thanks all for the kind words! Just trying to make progress and do it all as well as I can!

 

[Basket case]

beautiful work. can't imagine doing more than one car at a time.
and wouldn't I like to borrow you and your welder for the day!

 

[Donny]

Basketcase, it is a dance for sure! Right now, I'm on my 'lunch break', more like mid-day running errands, go to store, get supplies routine, etc. This morning I media blasted for 2.5 hours, then hit lunch (where I'm at now) and gotta run some stuff to my wife's school as today is her first day back on the job for teachers, then, back to the GTX later today; going to do some more welding and setting in of new metal!

 

[moparstuart]

New Metal awesome !!! YOU DONE YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[roadrunnerman]

Always enjoy seeing your work donny.Are you going to grind your spot welds and seam welds or just leave them like they are?I know they will be underneath the car and mostly out of sight but i was just curious.When i get ready to weld in my rear floor pans i was just going to spot weld but after see your welds, i may just put a seam weld to frame like yours.