roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
I like that idea.
My New Doba
- Thread starter roadrunnerron
- Start date
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
Project Update - January 2015
We began the cut, sand and polish in December and burned thru the clear coat. Rather than try to blend the burn in, both rear fenders and roof - about half of the car - were repainted. After sitting to cure the clear coat and the holidays the sanding process restarted this week. At the time these pictures were taken the driver's side fender and half of the hood have been sanded and polished.
I apologize for the condition of the pictures but its hard to get good ones in a paint booth with all of the bright lights and sanding dust. The first picture gives you an idea of what the front will look like. The original bumpers are now the same black as the body colour, bumperettes, rubber protection strip and jack holes have been removed from the bumper, the trim surrounding the lights is also black and the lenses on the turns signal lights have been tinted black. To get a feel for what the front end will look like, imagine a black billet grill and modern headlights with black trim.
The next picture shows before and after of the passenger side right corner. While the spacing between the body and bumper is relatively unchanged, the gap is less obvious when the color is the same for both. Note also, that the side marker light is gone.
Wheel have been ordered and are in process of manufacture. They are model VN472 Burnouts from American Racing. We settled on 18 in fronts and 20 inch rears and will look like the ones in this computer rendering.
We began the cut, sand and polish in December and burned thru the clear coat. Rather than try to blend the burn in, both rear fenders and roof - about half of the car - were repainted. After sitting to cure the clear coat and the holidays the sanding process restarted this week. At the time these pictures were taken the driver's side fender and half of the hood have been sanded and polished.
I apologize for the condition of the pictures but its hard to get good ones in a paint booth with all of the bright lights and sanding dust. The first picture gives you an idea of what the front will look like. The original bumpers are now the same black as the body colour, bumperettes, rubber protection strip and jack holes have been removed from the bumper, the trim surrounding the lights is also black and the lenses on the turns signal lights have been tinted black. To get a feel for what the front end will look like, imagine a black billet grill and modern headlights with black trim.
The next picture shows before and after of the passenger side right corner. While the spacing between the body and bumper is relatively unchanged, the gap is less obvious when the color is the same for both. Note also, that the side marker light is gone.
Wheel have been ordered and are in process of manufacture. They are model VN472 Burnouts from American Racing. We settled on 18 in fronts and 20 inch rears and will look like the ones in this computer rendering.
jw16
Active Member
I thought the charger had the round lights and the dobas had square? NOOB question i know its just one of the main ways i used to distinguish the dobas, chargers, and magnums was the front and rear headlight and tailight bezels?
rumblefish360
Well-Known Member
Early Doba's had the round lights, later ones had the square lights.
My '79 had the square lights as well did the '78.
My old '79 was two toned like the black and silver one earlier in the thread was. It was a dark metallic brown and beige with beige interior.
The car had everything except the 4bbl., moon roof, tow package.
My '79 had the square lights as well did the '78.
My old '79 was two toned like the black and silver one earlier in the thread was. It was a dark metallic brown and beige with beige interior.
The car had everything except the 4bbl., moon roof, tow package.
1toolguy
Well-Known Member
75-77s had single round headlights (which look the best on the car) 78-79s had to meet the "new and improved" DOT requirements and got the stacked square headlights.
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
Thanks for asking. After the car was painted, it was sent to a detail shop where the clear coat was cut and polished. The following photo will give you an idea of the final colour. The headlights in this photo are the original seal beams. After detailing, the car went back to the body shop for final assembly which is still in progress. So far we have installed the LED headlights (this is a conversion package that fits the opening), installed the blackened chrome pieces and tinted the windows.
In the next image the LED lights are off.
In this picture the LED headlights and orange parking lights are on.
In this image, the LED red parking lights are on. The naked eye only sees red rings and not what the camera shows.
In this image the LED headlights, the orange parking lights and LED red parking lights are on. Note that you don't see any red i.e. the white light overpowers the red completely.
In this last image, I'm trying to show the former chrome parts (door handle, mirror and window trim) which are now the same colour as the body of the car. I leave it to you to imagine what it looks like without the dust. Lastly, notice that the windows have been tinted. I went with a 20% tint as I wanted to show the interior which will be white.
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
Info is at the shop. Will post it for you sometime next week.
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
http://www.oraclelights.com/automotive-lighting-products In the catalog, they are listed as Pre-assembled Sealed Beam - Round
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
Got it on the road
I managed to get the Doba ready enough to use at my daughters wedding on May 30 and post updated pictures for those tracking this thread. When faced with the decision at to whether to use the Runner or the Doba, she chose the Runner because it was a nice blue but later admitted that going to her wedding in a black car might be a bad omen. The bridesmaids went in the Doba.
In the rush to get it wedding ready, I put the original grill back in and I'm starting to like it - it has a "formal" touch. I'm also searching for Charger SE grills from cars of the same vintage which I would blacken for a "sinister" look in keeping with the rest of the car. The key difference between the two is that the Charger grill lines are horizontal rather than vertical.
These wheels are loaners from an 06 Charger and are 20". The wheels for the car will be 18" at the front and slightly wider in the rear. front and back will have greater offset to the edge of the fender wells.
The interior has been installed. The radio was in a box in the trunk.
I've had the car out to a couple of cruise nights and it generates a lot of conversation. For some reason it is reminding people of the movie "The Car" which if I recall correctly was actually a Lincoln.
On the highway, this is a dream to drive. At 80 mph the engine is loafing. With the big brakes and stiffer ride from the low profile tires, It is every bit as nimble as a modern car. Overall the Doba is funner than the Runner.
I managed to get the Doba ready enough to use at my daughters wedding on May 30 and post updated pictures for those tracking this thread. When faced with the decision at to whether to use the Runner or the Doba, she chose the Runner because it was a nice blue but later admitted that going to her wedding in a black car might be a bad omen. The bridesmaids went in the Doba.
In the rush to get it wedding ready, I put the original grill back in and I'm starting to like it - it has a "formal" touch. I'm also searching for Charger SE grills from cars of the same vintage which I would blacken for a "sinister" look in keeping with the rest of the car. The key difference between the two is that the Charger grill lines are horizontal rather than vertical.
These wheels are loaners from an 06 Charger and are 20". The wheels for the car will be 18" at the front and slightly wider in the rear. front and back will have greater offset to the edge of the fender wells.
The interior has been installed. The radio was in a box in the trunk.
I've had the car out to a couple of cruise nights and it generates a lot of conversation. For some reason it is reminding people of the movie "The Car" which if I recall correctly was actually a Lincoln.
On the highway, this is a dream to drive. At 80 mph the engine is loafing. With the big brakes and stiffer ride from the low profile tires, It is every bit as nimble as a modern car. Overall the Doba is funner than the Runner.
slepr1
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Nice outcome Ron. I agree...my Doba is funner than my 71 Cuda, mainly cause its an automatic where my cuda is a 4 speed. Its also a very comfortable ride. Update your pics when you get the final wheels and rubber.
I'm in the lookout for some door sills for my Doba. If I can't find a nice pair I'll make some. I powder coated the door sills in the cuda and they look really nice...better than the shiny chrome.
I'm in the lookout for some door sills for my Doba. If I can't find a nice pair I'll make some. I powder coated the door sills in the cuda and they look really nice...better than the shiny chrome.
Northeast300
Well-Known Member
This is/was an amazing build! Thanks for sharing!
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
The Doba was Christened Today
Still waiting for the wheels and have yet to hook up the halos on the brakes. In the meantime my attention has turned to smaller items. I plan on taking this car (in 2016) down route 66 (the A/C has to work), up to Vancouver and return home by an all Canadian route. It will take its maiden long distance trip to Quebec City and back and attend a family reunion in Quebec city on July 4. So I took it to Dennis' auto service to get the A/C working and find out why none of the gauges worked.
A/C was a snap conversion to the current gas in use and held the charge with no leaks. The circuit board had deteriorated at a point where all of the instrument power converges. They replaced the deteriorated section with piece from an unused section of the board, fixed the connections on the board and all of gauges powered up. Time to diagnose and fix was four hours.
A couple of things before the trip that I want done are to clean the gas tank and get a sending unit that works. I want to keep the large tank so as not to lose range between fillups on the trips I plan to make. Dennis has a sending unit from a 60's GTX that he's sure will work with minor modifications. I'm not really concerned how it might display as long as it shows empty when I'm low on fuel.
I did a 1.5 hr trip yesterday to an event in Shellburne ON as a test to see how things were working in preparation for Quebec City which is a nine hour trip. The car and the A/C worked well. We went up in a convoy with the 57 Chev in front and the Cougar at the rear. The passenger in the Chevy remarked that the Doba was a really spooky car to have following you. The ladies felt the car must have a female name.
As passers went by, we watched as they did a double take and tried to figure out what kind of car it was. The registration was of no help. The make was shown as Chevrolet and the model was shown as Doba. The ladies had fun with them and were soliciting names for the car and pushing their personal favourite "Morticia".
One guy came up to me to tell me it was a 76 and not a 75. He was adamant because he had a 75 and the lines were a little different and this had to be a 76. After a little more conversation we realized he had owned a Grand Prix and not a Cordoba. Another person got it confused with a Grand National down the street.
At about three o'clock in the afternoon when the sun was really hot a large black fly landed on the hood of the car and was instantly fried. That did it for me - the car's name is Morticia. I'm now considering a grahic on the flat back of the trunk that would be a vase of rosed with the heads cut off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppfplBvq6UU
Still waiting for the wheels and have yet to hook up the halos on the brakes. In the meantime my attention has turned to smaller items. I plan on taking this car (in 2016) down route 66 (the A/C has to work), up to Vancouver and return home by an all Canadian route. It will take its maiden long distance trip to Quebec City and back and attend a family reunion in Quebec city on July 4. So I took it to Dennis' auto service to get the A/C working and find out why none of the gauges worked.
A/C was a snap conversion to the current gas in use and held the charge with no leaks. The circuit board had deteriorated at a point where all of the instrument power converges. They replaced the deteriorated section with piece from an unused section of the board, fixed the connections on the board and all of gauges powered up. Time to diagnose and fix was four hours.
A couple of things before the trip that I want done are to clean the gas tank and get a sending unit that works. I want to keep the large tank so as not to lose range between fillups on the trips I plan to make. Dennis has a sending unit from a 60's GTX that he's sure will work with minor modifications. I'm not really concerned how it might display as long as it shows empty when I'm low on fuel.
I did a 1.5 hr trip yesterday to an event in Shellburne ON as a test to see how things were working in preparation for Quebec City which is a nine hour trip. The car and the A/C worked well. We went up in a convoy with the 57 Chev in front and the Cougar at the rear. The passenger in the Chevy remarked that the Doba was a really spooky car to have following you. The ladies felt the car must have a female name.
As passers went by, we watched as they did a double take and tried to figure out what kind of car it was. The registration was of no help. The make was shown as Chevrolet and the model was shown as Doba. The ladies had fun with them and were soliciting names for the car and pushing their personal favourite "Morticia".
One guy came up to me to tell me it was a 76 and not a 75. He was adamant because he had a 75 and the lines were a little different and this had to be a 76. After a little more conversation we realized he had owned a Grand Prix and not a Cordoba. Another person got it confused with a Grand National down the street.
At about three o'clock in the afternoon when the sun was really hot a large black fly landed on the hood of the car and was instantly fried. That did it for me - the car's name is Morticia. I'm now considering a grahic on the flat back of the trunk that would be a vase of rosed with the heads cut off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppfplBvq6UU
slepr1
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Wow 4 hours to fix that dash issue is a good deal. I'm so nervous bringing my cars to a garage without getting a referral. I've been hosed a few times, especially by Lowdown Hot Rods near Cambridge.
I do road trips all the time but only in a rental car or in my truck. I don't have A/C in any of my mopars. I'd be a nervous wreck always looking at the gauges and worrying something is gonna fall apart lol.
Morticia is a fitting name and a graphic would be really cool. Do you know a good graphic artist?
I do road trips all the time but only in a rental car or in my truck. I don't have A/C in any of my mopars. I'd be a nervous wreck always looking at the gauges and worrying something is gonna fall apart lol.
Morticia is a fitting name and a graphic would be really cool. Do you know a good graphic artist?
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
Lighting Effect
Got the wheel lights finished today. Here a couple of night time shots.
Got the wheel lights finished today. Here a couple of night time shots.
lookin' good ! I was wondering if you changed the rubber isolators to solid yet? My 79 300 are in good shape but I hear that they really make a difference in how it handles.
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
In a previous post, I advised that the girls named the car Morticia and that I was considering an air brushed graphic on the rear of the car. This image is a sketch created by my son-in-law. Before I have it done, I was wondering what you good folks thought. Would you include the name Morticia (in gothic script) into the graphic?
roadrunnerron
Well-Known Member
Good point Darter6. Been advised that there should be no issue as it is not for commercial purposes. Also, the actress that played Morticia died in 1984
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