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1969 Dodge Daytona Project Car; Project Nuremberg Daytona, Part 11

We did find a very small amount of rust in the tops of both front fenders, but the repairs were no problem.

This is Part 11 of our ongoing story of the Restoration of our 1969 Dodge Nuremberg Daytona Project Car. (Start with Part 1)

Our initial inspection led us to believe the Daytona was virtually rust free. We had gone around it with a magnet and felt very confident there was no rust in the car.

Once the paint was on the floor, we found a few small areas of rust that needed attention. The first area we discovered was the front top of both front fenders. There were several pinhole rust problems that needed attention. We also found some other rust along the lower driver’s side rear fender and another on the passenger side. None of these were significant, and all were cut out and replaced with new metal. None of this rust was through the metal. It was simply rust with some surface damage, but we wanted nothing left that even resembled rust. All areas with any hint of rust were removed and replaced with newly treated metal. All the metal cut out of the car would fit on a large dinner plate.

The good news was that there was no other evidence of body damage other than what we had previously noted. The small dent in the upper driver’s side rear quarter panel was hammered out, and they needed only a skim coat of filler to finish it. Someone had previously repaired the rear tail light panel that had been damaged at a German stop light collision with a heavy layer of bondo. They had made no attempt to straighten the metal underneath.

All the bondo was removed from the panel and it was properly pulled back into place and again a small filler coat was used to smooth it out to perfection. That was pretty much the extent of the required bodywork on the Daytona shell.

At this time we also began the creation of what would become a very long and very expensive list of parts needed to build our project. Finding and selecting reproduction parts, original parts, and refurbished parts, to me, is both exciting and irritating but most of all, bank account draining! In Part 12, we will begin telling you where we sourced some of the more hard to find parts and summarize some costs involved.

Continued in Part 12

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Richard

I grew up and lived in Iowa for a good portion of my life before moving to Southern California. After 20+ years we now live outside Nashville Tennessee. I have been into cars since I was old enough to remember. I don't have a brand loyalty although I do prefer American Muscle especially the 1969/1970 NASCAR Aero Cars. (Check out our other web site at www.TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com site) As long as it has four wheels and an engine I get excited. Few men are lucky enough to be able to share their passion for cars with the woman they love. Fortunately, my wife, Katriana, is also a gear head and many of our activities revolve around the cars. We have a small collection that includes at least one car from each of the Big Three. It includes a Best of Show winner, a survivor, a driver with lots of patina and several others. Katrina prefers all original cars while I like to modify them so we have a few of each. When we aren't playing with cars we are out working with or showing our miniature donkeys. You can see more about that part of our lives at http://www.LegendaryFarms.com.

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