fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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the last ones are pics of my 69 CHP Polara, when it still belonged to Don M.
Carsten
Carsten
MrMopar's 1969 California Highway Patrol restoration
- Thread starter MrMoparCHP
- Start date
I saw after the fact, same blue and yellow plates... :icon_mrgreen:
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
The way I looked at this was can I cut metal? Can I weld? Once the bad metal was removed it was much easier to see and was less overwhelming. To me it was all baby steps, the rear window probably would have taken a shop 30 hours but I did it over months with probably 40 hours of work. To me it was about getting it done sooner than later, I would still be saving money to have a shop take care of it and keeping the shop moving is the other problem.
The rust repair on this car was monumental and under normal circumstances I would not have taken on a project such as this. I have been told by a couple individuals that they chose to tackle their own projects after reading about mine.
Would I do this again, probably not, at least not a major rust repair project.
Alan
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
Wanting to move the project along I enrolled in an auto body class in Santa Maria and needed a way to get the car there. For logistical reasons a trailer was out of the question so I put into motion a plan I thought about for an earlier project but never did. In short a tow bar was fabricated and attached to the frame mounts taillights installed and I was rolling.
Like the rear window I wanted to clear the rust on the front floor enough to have a clear view of what might be the final patch.
The parts car I acquired originally for the first car was already being cutup for disposal when I acquired this car, fortunately I didn’t cut the floor in the wrong area. The front section of the parts car was moved into the garage and I proceeded to drill out probably over 60 spot welds. The decision was made to carry the patch up to the heater box opening as parts of it were rusted as well.
Time and money keep getting in the way but I still find time to get some work done. Now 10 months in and I have the front floor fitted. But now my friend’s welder is not available, will be looking for other options.
A few months have gone by the floor is now cleaned of undercoating and ready to install.
I was finally able to get the welder and was ready to blaze away. First up was one of the patched in the trunk just to get my rhythm as prior to this I have only welded the patches on the other Polara quarter panels, ever. That done I moved up front where I have already screwed the floor down with close to 100 screws. I made quick work of that removing all the screws and following up with welds in each of them.
After some small details it was done.
Like the rear window I wanted to clear the rust on the front floor enough to have a clear view of what might be the final patch.
The parts car I acquired originally for the first car was already being cutup for disposal when I acquired this car, fortunately I didn’t cut the floor in the wrong area. The front section of the parts car was moved into the garage and I proceeded to drill out probably over 60 spot welds. The decision was made to carry the patch up to the heater box opening as parts of it were rusted as well.
Time and money keep getting in the way but I still find time to get some work done. Now 10 months in and I have the front floor fitted. But now my friend’s welder is not available, will be looking for other options.
A few months have gone by the floor is now cleaned of undercoating and ready to install.
I was finally able to get the welder and was ready to blaze away. First up was one of the patched in the trunk just to get my rhythm as prior to this I have only welded the patches on the other Polara quarter panels, ever. That done I moved up front where I have already screwed the floor down with close to 100 screws. I made quick work of that removing all the screws and following up with welds in each of them.
After some small details it was done.
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commando1
Old Man with a Hat
That is brilliant. LOL
Fratzog
Old Man with a Hat
Nothing cooler than using a Swepty to haul with.
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I was just thinking that if you did that with a wagon, it would be the world's coolest trailer.
fc7_plumcrazy
Old Man with a Hat
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come on it is not that bad. The frame rails are still nice
))We spent 130 hours of welding on mine in the non visible part and the roof area.
We would do it again for the right car
Carsten
polara71
Old Man with a Hat
Alan, excellent work and amazing stuff. Thank you for the dialog, please keep posting as you move on
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
Glad you joined here. Your attitude is a hoot if not an inspiration. LOL
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
I went over the trunk floor with a wire brush and a hammer trying to see how bad it was and it turned out to be in far better shape than I originally thought.
With the window done I needed to get the hinge and quarter supports back in. I chose to use the ones from the parts car as they were in far better condition.
With much of the heavy duty stuff done I started cleaning up the rest of the body starting with the firewall. Originally I thought I’d be at this for hours sanding by hand till my fingers were raw, in the end it was about one hour with a triangle head on a multi-tool.
On to the inside, like to firewall I went at the area in and around the air plenum and was able to clean it up even in to some of the tight areas. While inside I sanded the inside of the roof to remove as much of the surface rust as I could.
The windshield was removed giving me my first look at the rust issues there.
I felt it was a good time to go over the entire body with the sander to see if there were any other issues and sure enough both lower quarters have problems.
Repairs to the front and rear window frames were done.
Even though I knew I needed to do some bodywork I chose to hit the car with primer, (I was originally just going to do the firewall and interior).
This is up to March 2012, a little over a year and a half into the project. The next year and a half will get interesting.
With the window done I needed to get the hinge and quarter supports back in. I chose to use the ones from the parts car as they were in far better condition.
With much of the heavy duty stuff done I started cleaning up the rest of the body starting with the firewall. Originally I thought I’d be at this for hours sanding by hand till my fingers were raw, in the end it was about one hour with a triangle head on a multi-tool.
On to the inside, like to firewall I went at the area in and around the air plenum and was able to clean it up even in to some of the tight areas. While inside I sanded the inside of the roof to remove as much of the surface rust as I could.
The windshield was removed giving me my first look at the rust issues there.
I felt it was a good time to go over the entire body with the sander to see if there were any other issues and sure enough both lower quarters have problems.
Repairs to the front and rear window frames were done.
Even though I knew I needed to do some bodywork I chose to hit the car with primer, (I was originally just going to do the firewall and interior).
This is up to March 2012, a little over a year and a half into the project. The next year and a half will get interesting.
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commando1
Old Man with a Hat
I would have given up on the whole project right on that area alone.
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
That particular repair was actually quite simple as I still had the parts car and just needed to cut the needed area out.
The real problem with this hole is that it can promote rust in the hinge area as is often on other police car that were left to the elements without the spotlights installed, I was fortunate that my spotlights were there and this hole was largely covered in sealant.
Alan
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commando1
Old Man with a Hat
All that damage because they had to have a silly spot light....
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
I think mine was just 30 years in the field, a couple others I looked at the doors were ready to fall off the rust was so bad and those spotlights were gone unlike mine having them.
I just noticed that it didn't have a mirror, how time flies.
Alan
PS the car on the left is a 440 HP 1969 Monaco 4-door sedan and is for sale.
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
April 2012 two years after I found out about the car I had it at the very show where we learned of its existence.
This was an all Mopar show in Van Nuys and I put it in the work in progress class and got first place!
This was an all Mopar show in Van Nuys and I put it in the work in progress class and got first place!
polara71
Old Man with a Hat
72Fury
Senior Member
Interesting stuff. I had a guy contact me about a year ago wanting to sell a fully restored 69 CHP car. Frame off, painted black. Upgraded suspension. He claimed it ran 168 mph on the Road Atlanta race track & had the slip to prove it. He wanted 35k for it.
MrMoparCHP
Old Man with a Hat
Work in progress is a funny class, you'll see car that look like recent barn finds and daily drivers with no evidence of work being done to fully finished cars that you can not see what still needs to be done. I felt it was good to show the work being done and what was involved in getting there, I also had a notebook full of more pictures (still not everything).
In June there is another show that I may take it to that has a work in progress class, I didn't take it last year as I hadn't done much since the other show and many people go to both.
Alan
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