MA MOPAR BIT ME AGAIN or SO MANY MOPARS, SO LITTLE TIME

[1967 'cuda]

Now I'm starting to do some layout work for the Duster and the dually. - Not for decals but more likely for airbrush/lettering purposes. I'm more or less making templates.

I had been trying to come up with a name for the drag car and it came down to a choice between CROP DUSTER and RAT POISON. I'm working on the CROP DUSTER design now.

I wanted a cartoon image of a Duster on the side of the car chasing a farmer and a chicken, followed by the name CROP DUSTER. The Plymouth logo will be for the rear quarters and the 440 MAGNUM will get painted on the sides of the cowl hood scoop. (if I follow through with this design) I'd like to leave most of the car black and choose a contrasting color to do 'billboards' on the sides. I think I'll do the DUSTER logo in metalflake orange vinyl. The lettering and images should fit nicely with a 6" to 8" height. The hood lettering will be around 2" tall. I am using a 42" tv as a computer monitor and it really helps in laying things out.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Well, the 'Lil Red is red again. It still needs color sanding and clear but at least the paint is on.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I mapped out the side stripe on the driver's side of the dually today. I need to pick up some fine line tape before I can spray it. It's drawn on the truck in pencil and ready to be masked. I took the time to sand the hood indentations when I drilled the holes for the 400 MAGNUM emblems. - As with the side, I need fine line tape before I can spray the black. I am going to ignore the rust spot in the fender for now. I should fix it but not right now. With any luck I'll have the hood and side stripes painted tomorrow.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Instead of ordering from JEGS, I had been bidding on some wheel studs for the Duster on eBay. I thought I could save some money. The auction doesn't end until tomorrow. I just realized that if I win the auction there's a good chance the studs won't arrive until it's too late for the drags next weekend. CRAP!! I guess I better order through JEGS or SUMMIT to make sure they're here in time.

I'm going to try to get the Duster painted in time for the drags. I'm going to be cutting it close. I am supposed to help put the strobe stripe decal on the Challenger on Monday. It's very close to finished and should be done next week. The paint on the 'Lil Red should be done next week too. Things are going to be real hectic around here. I guess any further tuning on the Barracuda will have to be done at the track. - Oh, - I have to rewire the dually for the trailer lights and install a brake controller too. I knew that I shouldn't have slept the other night!

I think I found a buyer for my buddy's '65 Coronet. I'd posted it on B-Bodys Only and got quite a few hits on it. Whoever ends up with it is getting a bargain. It's probably one that I should have snagged myself but every now and then I do tell myself no. - Actually, Teresa would have hurt me if it'd shown up on the yard. - And we still have to contend with the Sebring convertible. That fiasco cost me twice what the Coronet is selling for.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I ran to Columbus today to get some supplies. I picked up primer, paint, pin-striping tape, and lace. Nobody had fine line tape so I'll try to get by with other. When I got home I saw that the rear window graphic had shown up. I hadn't expected to see it arrive for a few more days. I also picked up a new 7 pin wire connector for the trailer light wiring coupler. I didn't get the brake controller yet. I still hope to get done painting the truck tomorrow.



I had also bought a used AM/FM radio off eBay that I'll try to get installed by Friday. It showed up too. Supposedly it's already been tested and confirmed to be good. I hope so, - I don't need another core on the shelf.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I look at the Duster as being sort of a blank canvas. It's showing it's age with some bubbling beneath the paint along the bottom of the car. Because it's paint is far from perfect I figure I can play with graphics on it. I'd like to experiment with some laced stripes over the hood and deck lid. - Maybe even some scallops and flames incorporated into stripes. I'd done some wild paint jobs on other people's race cars years ago but I didn't have a computer back then to help with layout.

Now that the end of Summer is approaching we're starting to see more rain again. Without more shop space I'm still forced to work outside quite a bit. I still have most of my old 1-shot lettering enamel back at the farm but I don't know if any of it is any good yet.

I'd meant to pick up some carbon transfer paper when I was in Columbus but I forgot. Although not essential, it would have helped speed up getting the graphics drawn out on the car. I don't know where my old airbrush is at so I will try to get by with my touch up gun and poof cans.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I started the day working on the hood blackouts. By themselves, I didn't care for them. Putting the 400 MAGNUM emblems on helped to make them look better though. I think that the side graphics will help even more. As soon as I'm done masking, I'll shoot them black too. I didn't get the other side drawn out yet. I'm waiting until I see how the driver's side looks first.











I haven't stained the wood for the 'Lil Red yet. I'd had it sitting in the back of the box and it'd been rained on the other night. - Big mistake! Because it wasn't bolted down or sealed, it warped on me. I went to attach it and found that I'll have to get it to lay flat before I can work with it. The reason that I didn't seal it right away was because I waited for new bolts to arrive. I wanted to make certain all of the bolt holes lined up properly. I hate working with wood. I was totally without a clue that the wood was in danger of warping.

 

[1967 'cuda]

OK. I can hear some of the heads shaking from here. Shade tree engineering. After the paint sets for awhile, I'll pull the tape and decide if it's worth my effort to do the other side. Surprisingly, I've had less issues with bugs in the paint out here than I did inside the garage. With my luck there's probably some evil flock of sparrows just waiting to add to the artwork.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Well it doesn't make me want to puke. I guess I'll start working on the passenger side.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I picked up the enclosed trailer that I'll be using next weekend when I go racing. I hadn't realized that it was going to have a checkered flag theme on the side of it too. Cool!

I'll have to wire up the trailer connector before next weekend and test everything out.

 

[1967 'cuda]

My thermometer is broken. The computer isn't giving the correct temperature either. The both of them say it's 85' outside but I know it's closer to 200.

I still want (and need) to get a lot more done today, but I've had so much sweat running off me that I think it's starting to kill the grass. Oh if I only had a nice big climate controlled garage! It's time to take a break.

 

[1967 'cuda]

At over 3" long I sure as hell hope that's a dragonfly and not a mosquito! It scared the bejeezus out of me when it buzzed by my head. I think I need to put the flyswatter away and grab a baseball bat.



Good news! The heat and humidity suddenly dropped.
Bad news! The wind picked up suddenly too, followed by thunder and lightning. I think we may have a big storm brewing. I've got the Barracuda inside of the enclosed trailer so it will be protected if we get any hail. The Duster's just going to have to take it's chances sitting on the open trailer.

Tonight I'm going to see if I can straighten out the garage again. If I can make enough room for the Duster I'll be able to work on it inside. I still have to fabricate a battery hold down, re-do the seat mounts, attach the belts to the frame, switch wheel studs (when they arrive), and paint it.

I'm hoping it won't eat up much of my day tomorrow when I put the stripes on the Challenger.

YIKES!!!! There was just a HUGE lightning strike close by! I've still got the garage door open and it practically blinded me. The wind is settling down but we're sure getting a light show outside.

I'm planning on putting FOR SALE signs on the dually when I get to the track. Hopefully I'll get some nibbles on it. Maybe if the Duster cleans up nice I'll put one on it too. I hope it can turn some times close to what it was supposed to be able to. At least I'll have hard data to tell.

 

[1967 'cuda]

The stripe is on the Challenger but it still needs a lot of the trim installed. I'd forgotten to order a new windshield for the 'Lil Red so it will be a few more days before one arrives.





Last night's storm 's bark was bigger than it's bite. No hail and just some small branches down from the wind. I'm still cleaning the garage and hoping to get the Duster inside later today.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Well the garage is clean enough to squeeze the Duster in. I had some cracked bondo showing in the left rear quarter and decided to fix it before paint. - Keep in mind this is a race car and not a show car.



I'm still playing around with the layout. The roll of orange metal flake vinyl came in the mail today so I started cutting out the lettering. I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to put the PLYMOUTH on the rear quarters in black or in more of the metal flake. I did decide to cut the word 'CROP' out of chrome vinyl though.









I'm going to try to apply all of the vinyl before I shoot the gold paint on the sides. My plan is to leave a heavy black border around the lettering, so I'll mask over the vinyl (leaving a border) and spray the gold over it all.

 

[1967 'cuda]

Until the shadowing and billboards are painted the lettering will look bland.

 

[1967 'cuda]

My inspiration for the CROP DUSTER was this picture of my funnycar.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I was going to play with some lace hood stripes, but I better keep concentrating on the rest of the lettering & paint first.





I decided to make the PLYMOUTH black on the quarters. After creating a template the size I wanted, I positioned it on the car. I moved it around until I was happy with the location. The next step I took was to lay down some masking tape under where it would be. Then I took a few sheets of carbon paper and taped them over the masking and put my template over that. After tracing the insignia, I had the lettering transferred where I wanted it and used a razor blade to trim off the excess. Now all I need to do is spray my gold paint over it and peel the mask back off and I'll have my black lettering.

 

[1967 'cuda]

The sides are getting closer to being ready for the gold paint. I have the shadow masked off behind the CROP DUSTER logo now. I taped some contingency decals in place while I was at it. My FABO decal is on the front fender.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I keep changing directions on the layout. I want it to be bold and legible from a distance. I decided to incorporate a large Duster logo on the sides.





I masked it off so that it will be black with a gold background when done. I doubt that this Duster will ever have that iconic look of a Sox & Martin car or the Mopar Missile, but I am shooting for a 'catchy' theme that has the right feel to it.

 

[1967 'cuda]

I decided to go with blue headlight tint.