Lets see if this works.

I thought I'd have it in solid primer and wet sanded but everyone was closed for the holiday so it'll have to wait for another weekend or two. I have aluminum on order for the floor and will finish that and all the plumbing once paint is done.
I'm trying to figure out what front wheels I want to run. Any suggestions out there?
Weld, Gibson, American Racing. Thanks all.

Awesome welding job Andre,getting closer. I like the weld drag lights myself.

Well I finally got it painted today. Took about 5 hours of just spraying, from sealer to the final coat of clear. I'm pretty happy with the result. I think with a litt;e sun baking to flatten out a few spots it'll turn out well. It's been about 10mo. since I last painted a semi and man are my arms tired. I'm leaving itthe booth tonight so it's in a dust free space and then I'll pick it up tomorrow.
My brother took most of the pics with his phone as we were spraying and they came out pretty good. I'll get some more when it's in the sun tomorrow - before I put my first scratch on it

Awesome! Looks really good.

Now for the fun part....wet sanding and buffing to make her shine. Keep the pic's coming.

Heres some more pics of the rear floor. Have it about half way done. I'm going to make the front section removable for easy access to adjust. Also got some of it painted for the time being and the anti roll bar installed finally. Wheelie bars, floor, and all the rear plumbing and it should come around.
I have finals next weeks and heading to the Mopar Nat's for the weekend so a couple more weeks before anything gets done. And I still have to wet sand buff and just clean the entire thing.

Well it's certainly a lot nicer than what I am doing, now I'm jealous. Again.... you are doing an awesome job.

Thanks. But I'll tell yah, you made the smart move with steel. You can't touch the aluminum without scratching it or putting some kind of dent in it. I think this winter I'm going to repaint the interior black because of all the scratches I have in it from fitting. And I might paint all the aluminum some sort of silver or gray because of the scratches - and it'll never stay remotely clean.

Well heres some more pics. Slowly piecing it together. My main goal now is just to get it out this year. Probably wont be wet sanded, may not even have bumpers but It may just see Us131 once.
I got the new wheels yesterday, also upgraded the rears to Wilwood discs. That was a pain because they just didnt fit right, but after some machining I got everything on, and lost about 25lbs verse the drums. I'll have all my SS brake line and plumb that this weekend as well as hopefully starting the car and just finishing up a bunch of loose ends.
Thank god they made Chevy's and GM uses Isuzu's (Duramax). Injectors are paying for alot of the race car, but taking away weekends working on it..Oh well

Everything is looking good.

What a great looking car. Love 68 Cudas, love narrowed Dana 60's, blue is perfect, wheels and stance are perfect. I can't wait to see this one done. I'd try to keep the aluminum finish myself but it's not easy to keep thats for sure.

Sheldon

I agree nothing like a narrowed Dana and lots of tire under the fenders. You know the car is serious business! Looks great!

Joe

Thanks for the input guys. Heres a couple more pics. Going to get the tires mounted on the wheels tomorrow, and hopefully some pics of it rolling and stopping! this weekend.
Now if a couple more duramax's will puke injectors or CP3's I can afford to buy the the two pieces of trim for the deck lid and have the back looking good.
Andre

What size welder did you use on the rear housing and the brackets and what size springs on the rear did you use ( lbs )?

For most of the welding I have an older Miller 175, probably 17/18 years old. If I recall correctly its rated to 1/2-5/8 and it has welded alot of truck (semi dump trucks, roll'offs etc.) Its a great welder, for small stuff I'll put .023 wire in it, and for the chassis stuff some .035 and go to town. It doesnt have all the bells and whistles, but comfort I think is a big part.
The rear springs are 110lb. Car roughly 3000lbs I'm guessing. I talked with Bickel about them alot and he recommended a lighter spring even though I could have went heavier. Lighter springs in a heavier car can store more energy while maintaining ride height and respond quicker. The only down side is they will wear out faster but springs arent too expensive. A heavier spring will last longer but in all honesty if springs cause me to loose a couple hundreths, who cares.
Sorry so long.
Andre

Your doing a fantastic job..that is going to be one beautiful cuda!

Well, heading to the track Saturday for some testing. Ran into a couple problems the past week. The coil springs were too stiff, as I actually recieved 150lb ones and didnt know it. Switched to 130lbs and ride height of the shock with pre-load is perfect. Turns out in the accident last year when I slammed on the brakes it hurt something in my master cylinder so I had to get a new Wilwood MC and put a 10lb residual pressure valve in the front to keep the front drums working right.
Sure hope Saturday goes well. I will have two time trials before 1st round. If nothing else I'll probably be an easy round one win for some joker out there. Assuming my junk makes it that far.
Also, didnt get time to wet sand it, so a quick coat of wax and a wipe down. Also still waiting on the glass front valance so I'll race without that as well. Oh well.

Good luck on Saturday, let us know how it went. Car is looking good man