"Break it to me, how bad is it?" "Well, it really only needs three parts." "Oh, that's great! What parts does it need?" "The inside, the outside, and everything in between."
It’s good to know what you’re working with not just patching right beside stuff that needs to be replaced. At least you know what you have got yourself into now
I’ve owned Challengers since 1975. In 1985 I bought a rusty 71 Challenger R/T sunroof car for $1500. It had a pristine interior except the white door panels were chalky. I wound up installing the car’s original interior, including the door panels. The dash was perfect and still is. So I sent the car to a good restoration shop in MN in 1987. They recommended acid dipping it, which we did, exactly like you did. I supplied them with most of the replacement body parts, a combination of nice OEM used and NOS parts. They sold me a trunk lid and fenders. They rebuilt the body on a body jig. They replaced the entire rear clip (piece by piece) and the front clip except the left rail and rad support. Inside it got a NOS front pan. The cowl and roof were perfect. Car is still rust free 35 years later. Looking at your car, I’m not surprised at its condition given its age. It can be rebuilt. I kept looking for parts that you wouldn’t need to replace, but I didn’t see any except for the radiator support and maybe the cowl, which needs repair. Fenders look good. I don’t want to be a Debbie downer, but you better order 1 of everything for the main part of the body. You have a lot of work cut out for yourself. I look forward to watching it get rebuilt over the next several months. My advice is don’t let it set forever in case the rust inhibitor quits doing its job. Mopar to ya bro! Been there and done that!
Well that's awesome man thank you I appreciate it! It'll probably be a lot longer than a few months to get the car back in good shape but I plan on having this car be physically back on the road within 2 to 3 years
I am glad to see you are back with Kermit. I have been wondering about how the dipping went. It really is the best thing to do to get rid of the rust and filler/paint coverage. After the underside tour I see that it looks like you are working with a 318 a/c car. I have a 70 with the same setup. Looking forward to seeing what you do next with Kermit.
Thank you! Yes, it was a 318 AC car but it's going to be a little bit better once it's done lol 😎. Also yes, acid dipping is the best rust removal solution you can do for a car 👍🏻
pressure is ok but a hotsy type pressure washer has a diesel fueled burner, works great, used them in the air force for equipment and aircraft. they also got soap detergent tubes that suck thru a tube in the washer,
Seen a 67 Mustang that looked really good at first. Guy decided to take it apart before fixing some rust underneath. Still look decent until it got back from being dipped. Only part that didn't have medium/small holes in it was the roof. None of which was visible until being dipped. Basically car was junk.
Yeah its tuff to make a judgment call on cars like this, but im going to fix this car. I've talked to other Mopar restoration guys who told me it's going to be tough, but it's very doable.
Definitely jealous. I would love to be able to do this process to my vintage car someday. Costly, but it seems like the ultimate base for repair work and then a great paint job.
Looking forward to watching this build! You’ll learn a lot as you tear it down and build it back up. I’ve seen worse with Rust Buck Restos 68 Charger, and he replaced almost everything except for the roof.
Thanks man, I was pleasantly surprised as well! It did reveal a couple areas on the rear frame rails that I wasn't aware of but it'll get taken care of 👌
Yep, a lot of people just assume because it's a Rusty car going into acid, that there's not going to be anything left. Very little material ever comes off these cars, but it will show you all the areas that you thought might have been solid but really weren't.
I have a '70 Coronet and '72 (dont remember for sure) Challenger. Been restoring cars (Mopars) past 20 years. Dodge actually dipped bodies to zink bath, dip line goes from top of the rear corner( above tail lights) to lower front corner of rocker panels. If you remove rear quarter, line is clearly visible. But about acid dipping, I choose not to do that. My concern is how to paint/protect now all the clean metal inside, where you dont have good access to, inside front frame rails, trans gross member, roof frame boxed sections, flances and so on. I use to drill out spots, open all the boxes, rockers, cowls and so on, blast them and 2k epoxy them. Mig welded (w/weld through primer) the spots back, sand them nice. Painted even the frame rails from inside. Looking forward to see what will you handel this.
Well this car will be stripped down to just the bare frame, no sheet metal. Once it's there, all of the boxed in or not accessible (as a complete car) will be exposed for painting.
There's this stuff in an aerosol can available at the auto body supplier called 'cavity wax', works pretty good. And I had a really crusty 70 Coronet, the rockers for example had weep holes along the pinch weld for drainage, those work well for spraying anything that will cost the metal into to prevent rust. I did work on a Dodge truck from Ohio that was 'hot oiled' and it had a couple stubborn bumper bolts but that was about it. So whatever oil they use for that, heat it up, use a pump sprayer, whatever, just get it in there.
@@assymcgee2835 to finish bodywork, I use thin oily wax made from boiled linseed. Dryes up as a thin film, moisture cant penetrated. No need to repeat yearly. But has to be boiled, othervise will crow mold. After the body has been painted, spin it in a rotisserie and spray so it will run down in the to seam. Next day, another angle, another seam/ stack flance.
Dipping them is the way to go! So cool to see the results. (Especially when it’s not your car if it’s less than desirable results 🙃) That’s gonna be a great car!
If you can do all the metal, body work, and paint, it worth it, if you have to pay somebody depending on what state, expensive, very expensive. My car was solid, front and rear window channels pitted a little but enough that they needed replacing, trunk floor replaced, both front fenders had some body damage, passenger door and the the passenger corner panel replaced. Blasting body work, block sanded many times to get the body lines right on my 68 charger, paint, boocoo bucks. What ever you think on doing it yourself or paying someone, get and idea what you cost and times it by 3
Yeah watching that process is wild to see! The stuff that was stuck onto the car was just paint that didn't fall off when it was being taken out, there's a lot of that stuff that's sitting on the bottom of that tank I'm sure
Well, the point of dipping this car wasn't to try and save the sheet metal skins on the outside. Fenders are ok, and the deck lid was too, but everything else I knew was going to be bad. The point was that the frame of the car, aside from the front frame rails, are solid and so is the rest of the frame of the car on the B pillars, A pillars and some roof structure. Since all of that is good, it's easy to build a car off of that.
I like the idea of that slave chassis bolted to the shell. Very good idea. You could probably weld in patch panels and there may be repro panels available.
Congrats again on getting Kermit home. I wonder what is the first step as far as metal replacement goes? Will you need to do floors first to add some stability to the unibody while you work the roof or vice versa? I noticed a few small areas in the rear frame rails that will need to be addressed. Is that a fix or repalce? Its a lot of work to fix but we love these old cars and we dont always use our best judgement when we get involved in a project like this one. Thanks for the video, very informative about the dipping process.
Absolutely, so the first step is to get some bracing welded in the car to keep it from moving and shifting, then ill have to get it on some sort of a frame table and really lock it in place. Once its braced up and on a sturdy platform, ill start removing all the sheet metal and most likely replace the floor first and go from there.
I assume he knew in advance that the challenger was a complete loss, I was sure the rusted out car would break in half when lifted from cleaning tank. I enjoyed this video and thanks alot of posting it sir.
The car is not a total loss, far from it, despite all the holes. The frame and structure of the car is solid, but all the outer sheet metal is basically trash. It will be fixed and put back on the road.
The whole process gets explained at the end of the video. The car first gets dipped in the 200⁰f solvent tank and that takes off all the paint and seam sealer. Then it goes into the acid tank and the removes all the rust.
2 weeks of constant welding the ol girl will be solid. new paint polish all bright work, plant together the easy bit, job done. 4 weeks max to finish ready to drive happy days.....oh then onto the next project..
I've had two vehicles dipped. 68 F100 and 71 Mustang. It did a great job on the outside coatings but left rust between pinchweld flanges. I know most of those flanges are not water tight so I'm curious as to why this solvent doesn't penetrate and dissolve this rust. Any answers or solutions would be helpful.
I'm not sure. The acid should dissolve all the rust everywhere, but I guess if the panels are too tight, the acid might not get in between the panels as well as they should.
@@BryceCold That's what I thought too. I was pretty disappointed because those tight hidden areas are where blasting can't get to so I had high hope that the dipping would be the answer. Maybe it wasn't left in the tank long enough.
Best to trim off the sheetmetal you arent going to save before dipping or blasting. Pinchwelds and seams will need clean up when you get quarters, wheelhouses, drop offs, rad support and roof skin off the car. This process does not appear to clean everything to clean white metal either. i see a lot of dark pitting esp on the underside of rad support. Car looks rough but very buildable. I would do a full mock up w all the new panels in place--doors, hood, lid all opening and closing and panels and patch panels screwed into place. Then blow it apart and send it out for final blast. Great project.
Great advice man I appreciate that. I decided to dip the car because obviously it gets I would say 98% of the metal. Yes you're absolutely right, taking the sheet metal skin off the car would have been better but it's small potatoes when you consider how Rusty the car really was and cleaning up a few small pinch weld areas is not going to be that big of a deal in the end. But yeah I plan on doing a full fitment and mock-up check with all the new body panels once they get here and I'm at that stage.
Its a great save Bryce. In reality theres not a whole lot of difference between moderate rust and heavy rust. They seem to all need quarters, wheelhouses, drop offs, sometimes a roof skin and rockers. Good luck.@@BryceCold
I see how clean what's left of it ,at what point do you determine it's to far gone How many man hours from this point forward to produce a car worth having
That's a totally fair question. I guess it really depends on a couple of things. Is this a car you would be trying to flip or build for a customer? Or is this a car that you own yourself and are willing to put in the time and hours because it doesn't matter how long it takes, because it's something that you really want to do. For me personally, this is a car that I'm never getting rid of, and it's a rare/hard to come by Challenger year model, (71) that deserves to be put back on the road. For me, seeing that the frame was solid aside from the front frame rails was a big factor in going forward with this. If the frame was just as toast as the sheet metal is, I don't know that I would have gone ahead with fixing this car, but since the rest of the frame rails and body frame is solid, fixing the rest of the car is just a matter of getting the sheet metal and doing all the work to put them on. I like the challenge of this build, and again, I get to save another 71 Challenger that most people would have left for dead. Long story short, if the car is worth it to you to fix, and you have the means, then do so.
Sorry to dig this one up - the quarter panel / roof seam is rusted completely through. Or does the process remove the lead that was there? Was it a vinyl top?
I thought about that too but there are no air pockets that get trapped and I drilled a few holes in the roof skin because I'm replacing it anyway and that got out all of the trapped air that would have been underneath the roof skin
Our 70challenger was much worse after the dip. So bad that All we kept is the 2 front chassis rails and the front radiator support panel. Everything else is new. Should be finished by summer. Imagine that ,a brand new 70 challenger with a 572 Ray Barton hemi ❤
Yeah I'm asking myself that question every day lol. I'm going to start by bracing up the inside of the car between all of the inner structure pieces that are solid. Then get it on to some sort of a frame table and start cutting the floor out, roof skin off, getting the front frame rails and pieces off the car, and get it down to just the bare frame of the car, and go from there.
As hard as it is to believe, there are actually a few good panels left. They just might need a small patch or two. Firewall, rear package tray, all of the frame structure, aside from the front frame rails and a couple other pieces.
Yep, I plan on making one with some friends of mine. I've got all the correct measurements I need so it's just a matter of getting the materials and putting together at those measurements.
Yeah that is certainly a plus! I was expecting the bones to be good aside from the front frame rails but yes there is a couple tiny areas on the rear frame rails that will need to be patched, but other than that the bones on the car are solid!
@@BryceCold Good thing they repop near everything now, it'll cost you some pesos but in the end you'll have a quality Challenger, looking forward to the build. 👍
well, it def has the shape of a Challenger...kind of a ghost Challenger now. but for a project for the guy that enjoys the build as much as the result, it could be fun. and a 71 Challenger cannot be denied...
10000% man. Is this going to be a (no pun intended) challenge to build? Absolutely. But I enjoy a good challenge, and to put another 71 Challenger back on the road is worth it.
Glad to see you boiling that frog! Kermit's gonna turn out great. And I'll just note that nobody should consider challenging Brian at Metalworks; that dude's got the markings of a brother who knows his way around a fight.
Bottom line, with all the replacement body panels, frame rails, donar cars etc..., after done, going to be a nice car and worth a considerable alot of money. You planning on a resto-mod?
Oh yeah. I'm not a "numbers matching" guy and this car is already kinda mismatched on parts to begin with so it's going to be a completely resto-mod build, and its gonna be WILD when it's done haha.
Oh, absolutely! FJ6 Green Go is a super rare color, and from all the research that I've done on that color, roughly less than 700 71 Challengers were ever painted that color. It's super rare. So no matter how the car is going to look in the end, it will have that paint code again 🤘🏻
Difference between "worth a considerable alot of money" and a "lot of money invested". Who's going to pay bucks for a car made up almost entirely of misaligned Taiwanese panels going down the road sideways? Especially after seeing this. 'She's gone gone gone been gone so long she's been gone gone gone' Wish in one hand and shat in the other....Bottom line. Indeed!
It's not gone. And these AMD panels may be made somewhere else but if they weren't good nobody would use them. Am I going to have to do some massaging and adjusting the panels to get them right? Yes, but the car will be fixed and it will go down the road just fine.
My guy... seems that car doesn't have a panel without perforation. Maybe just get aftermarket shell and transfer the VIN plate or something??? Can't believe anyone would try to fix this
Believe it or not, there are actually a few panels that are still good and just need a couple of little patches here and there, but yes, most of the cars sheet metal skin is toast. The structural framework underneath the sheet metal skins however, is in really good shape and is worth fixing. If this car was completely cancerous everywhere, even to where the frame underneath the car itself was in jeopardy, I probably would not have touched the car.
Holy crap I’m surprised it didn’t fold-up picking it up by the roof. Sorry to say, it looks like a goner ! WOW Good luck Doors are decent LOL 😮 Not trying to be a negative TH-camr 👌I am a Mopar guy 👍👍
Yeah man the car definitely looks bad, and it legitimately is, but the frame of the car is solid aside from the front frame rails. It's all just sheet metal that can be fixed, it'll just take a lot of time and effort, but it will be done 👍🏻
It definitely would not have been my first choice to lift it that way either but apparently it's fine and the cars are structurally strong enough to handle that
Nope, just a 318 car, with the rare FJ6 paint code haha. I don't really care what a car came with as far as options go. It's a 71 Challenger that deserves to be put back on the road. Whether it was a Hemi car or a 318 car, it's still a 71 Challenger that can be saved, so I'm going to. 👍🏻
A lot of this 71 Challenger wasn't original to begin with. There was a part of the front core support and frame section that had been cut off of another car. A lot of the front grille and radiator support areas were off of another car. The two fenders are off of another car, it doesn't matter if you replace one body panel or almost all of them. Fixing the car and putting it back on the road with the original frame is what matters. Also I'm not a numbers matching all original kind of guy anyway so I don't really care how much of the original sheet metal is left. Unfortunately the car was left out in a field for most it's life and they let it get ruined, so who cares if I have to put new sheet metal on a car to get it back on the road.
@@BryceCold that's cool... Just some people think that if they replace every rotted part and every part needed to be replaced that still have an original car for some reason
Well you have to think about it like this, if you burn your arm to where you need to get skin grafts and they put new skin on your arm, is that still the same original arm? Of course it is it just has new skin on it. Cars are the same
@@BryceCold what matters is that we enjoy classic cars and trucks. But I'm more on the side of drive them and enjoy them. Not too much for put them in a garage and look at them
@billsmith360 I couldn't agree more, I am the build a car and drive it all day everyday guy. I've had my 70 Coronet since 2014 and I rescued it from the mud and dirt that it was sitting in for 15 plus years. Daily drove the car for 7 years with the original 318 and 904 and once I did the Hemi swap two years ago, after it was done, I immediately took it across the country on Hot Rod Power Tour. I believe in driving your cars not looking at them
That is rougher than 2 nights in jail. It goes to show that most of the time, buying a better example is cheaper than having to replace practically every metal part on car.
Oh for sure, and if I were smart I'd buy a better car, but to me, fixing this car car and bringing it back to life when most people would turn away from it, gets me goin and motivates the hell out of me. There's not very many of these cars left, especially the 71-year model, so could I spend less money on a better car? Sure, but I have the chance to save a 71 Challenger, and I'm going to do it. I don't do it for the amount of money it's going to take, I do it because I want to.
All I can say, I hope there,s something Real special about this challenger, 340 4 speed because if not, I would Buy the New Body for 14,000 , and change the tags. Because its going to cost the same.
It's not, and I don't care what the cost is. It's not why I do this. It's about getting another Mopar back on the road. The only really special thing about this car is that it's a real FJ6 Green Go 71 Challenger and from research that I've done, only 2.2% of cars were ever painted this color, so it's very rare. For the 71-year model, Challenger specifically, it's estimated that less than 700 cars were painted FJ6. So the build is worth it to me just on that principle alone.
Penske IMSA team had there 69 Camaro acid dipped to lighten the car Story was metal was so thin you couldn't lean up against the body panels. Won that year too. Cheat to win. Your cuda needed that. Man do you have work to do. Body work anyway. With the sealers sound deading mat new gaskets. Interior sound will be 0 when your dring it. rolls Royce quiet. Untill you stab the peddle.
Because it's not. Despite most of the outer sheet metal being trash, this car is very savable. It's just metal, It can be fixed. Not to many 71 Challengers left.
So the acid tank is very thick steel, I'm sure the acid does eat away at it little by little but there is no crazy reaction like it does with rust. The acid eats away rust very quickly but good metal it takes a lot longer for it to affect. At some point I'm sure they would have to change out the acid tank for a new one but it would take a very long time. That's just my best guess
"Break it to me, how bad is it?" "Well, it really only needs three parts." "Oh, that's great! What parts does it need?" "The inside, the outside, and everything in between."
Hahaha truth ☝🏻😅
@chiefscalpalot4696 haha thanks! I'm going for the home and garden look lol 😆
It’s good to know what you’re working with not just patching right beside stuff that needs to be replaced. At least you know what you have got yourself into now
Yeah man, exactly 💯
That is one porous car with all the rust. You've got talent unlike the rest of us so look forward to following the resto.
I appreciate that man, no crazy talent here, just willing to do the work and learn as I go 👍🏻
I’ve owned Challengers since 1975. In 1985 I bought a rusty 71 Challenger R/T sunroof car for $1500. It had a pristine interior except the white door panels were chalky. I wound up installing the car’s original interior, including the door panels. The dash was perfect and still is.
So I sent the car to a good restoration shop in MN in 1987. They recommended acid dipping it, which we did, exactly like you did. I supplied them with most of the replacement body parts, a combination of nice OEM used and NOS parts. They sold me a trunk lid and fenders. They rebuilt the body on a body jig. They replaced the entire rear clip (piece by piece) and the front clip except the left rail and rad support. Inside it got a NOS front pan. The cowl and roof were perfect. Car is still rust free 35 years later.
Looking at your car, I’m not surprised at its condition given its age. It can be rebuilt. I kept looking for parts that you wouldn’t need to replace, but I didn’t see any except for the radiator support and maybe the cowl, which needs repair. Fenders look good.
I don’t want to be a Debbie downer, but you better order 1 of everything for the main part of the body. You have a lot of work cut out for yourself. I look forward to watching it get rebuilt over the next several months. My advice is don’t let it set forever in case the rust inhibitor quits doing its job. Mopar to ya bro! Been there and done that!
Well that's awesome man thank you I appreciate it! It'll probably be a lot longer than a few months to get the car back in good shape but I plan on having this car be physically back on the road within 2 to 3 years
I am glad to see you are back with Kermit. I have been wondering about how the dipping went. It really is the best thing to do to get rid of the rust and filler/paint coverage. After the underside tour I see that it looks like you are working with a 318 a/c car. I have a 70 with the same setup. Looking forward to seeing what you do next with Kermit.
Thank you! Yes, it was a 318 AC car but it's going to be a little bit better once it's done lol 😎. Also yes, acid dipping is the best rust removal solution you can do for a car 👍🏻
Certainly we are all really happy to hear you are doing good. Life happens. We all can't wait to see any new content you come up with my friend!
Thank you!! I appreciate it 🙏🏻
pressure is ok but a hotsy type pressure washer has a diesel fueled burner, works great, used them in the air force for equipment and aircraft. they also got soap detergent tubes that suck thru a tube in the washer,
Seen a 67 Mustang that looked really good at first. Guy decided to take it apart before fixing some rust underneath. Still look decent until it got back from being dipped. Only part that didn't have medium/small holes in it was the roof. None of which was visible until being dipped. Basically car was junk.
Yeah its tuff to make a judgment call on cars like this, but im going to fix this car. I've talked to other Mopar restoration guys who told me it's going to be tough, but it's very doable.
Definitely jealous. I would love to be able to do this process to my vintage car someday. Costly, but it seems like the ultimate base for repair work and then a great paint job.
For thrle money, I feel like it's the best way to fully get a car clean and know it has been cleaned everywhere. 👌🏻
Looking forward to watching this build! You’ll learn a lot as you tear it down and build it back up. I’ve seen worse with Rust Buck Restos 68 Charger, and he replaced almost everything except for the roof.
Thanks! Yeah its defiantly going to be a ton of work, but im super excited about it 👍
Car looks way better then expected, can’t wait to see mor of this car keep up the good work!
Thanks man, I was pleasantly surprised as well! It did reveal a couple areas on the rear frame rails that I wasn't aware of but it'll get taken care of 👌
Thanks to guys like you for having the tenacity to keep this far gone American treasure alive
Great video. Good to see Kermit has a fighting chance! Good luck with the build and thanks for saving another Dodge!
Absolutely man, thank you I appreciate it! 🙏🏻
So happy to see her home dude. Love the updates and look forward to everything you have in store!
Thanks man I appreciate it! It's going to be wild and it's going to upset a lot of people LOL
I had a misunderstanding of that process. Theres a lot more good metal left than I expected there would be.
Yep, a lot of people just assume because it's a Rusty car going into acid, that there's not going to be anything left. Very little material ever comes off these cars, but it will show you all the areas that you thought might have been solid but really weren't.
Wow. Very cool. Aaaaannnnd that looks like a lot of work. Look forward to seeing progress on the Challenger.
I have a '70 Coronet and '72 (dont remember for sure) Challenger. Been restoring cars (Mopars) past 20 years. Dodge actually dipped bodies to zink bath, dip line goes from top of the rear corner( above tail lights) to lower front corner of rocker panels. If you remove rear quarter, line is clearly visible.
But about acid dipping, I choose not to do that. My concern is how to paint/protect now all the clean metal inside, where you dont have good access to, inside front frame rails, trans gross member, roof frame boxed sections, flances and so on. I use to drill out spots, open all the boxes, rockers, cowls and so on, blast them and 2k epoxy them. Mig welded (w/weld through primer) the spots back, sand them nice. Painted even the frame rails from inside.
Looking forward to see what will you handel this.
Well this car will be stripped down to just the bare frame, no sheet metal. Once it's there, all of the boxed in or not accessible (as a complete car) will be exposed for painting.
There's this stuff in an aerosol can available at the auto body supplier called 'cavity wax', works pretty good. And I had a really crusty 70 Coronet, the rockers for example had weep holes along the pinch weld for drainage, those work well for spraying anything that will cost the metal into to prevent rust. I did work on a Dodge truck from Ohio that was 'hot oiled' and it had a couple stubborn bumper bolts but that was about it. So whatever oil they use for that, heat it up, use a pump sprayer, whatever, just get it in there.
Oh right on man, I'll look into that, thanks 🤘🏻
@@assymcgee2835 to finish bodywork, I use thin oily wax made from boiled linseed. Dryes up as a thin film, moisture cant penetrated. No need to repeat yearly. But has to be boiled, othervise will crow mold. After the body has been painted, spin it in a rotisserie and spray so it will run down in the to seam. Next day, another angle, another seam/ stack flance.
My dart was in a similar condition, you are going to hate welding by the time you’re done patching all those holes lol!
Hahaha oh I know it lol, but I'm excited either way 😅👍🏻
Dipping them is the way to go! So cool to see the results. (Especially when it’s not your car if it’s less than desirable results 🙃) That’s gonna be a great car!
Yeah exactly! I can't wait to start working on it 🙌🏻
start ordering 1 of each in the amd catalog! hehe keep it going brother! looking great!
haha basically lol. I think it would be easier to tell AMD all of the parts I don't need, which is like 3 haha
If you can do all the metal, body work, and paint, it worth it, if you have to pay somebody depending on what state, expensive, very expensive. My car was solid, front and rear window channels pitted a little but enough that they needed replacing, trunk floor replaced, both front fenders had some body damage, passenger door and the the passenger corner panel replaced. Blasting body work, block sanded many times to get the body lines right on my 68 charger, paint, boocoo bucks. What ever you think on doing it yourself or paying someone, get and idea what you cost and times it by 3
Haha yeah it's gonna be expensive, but that's not why I do it, I love cars. I'm doing everything myself, no body shops.
Cool, I did the small stuff, I work two jobs and not skilled enough to do the rest and no spare time, I need a rich wife
Wow crazy to see it all bare! That paint literally melted right off😮
Yeah watching that process is wild to see! The stuff that was stuck onto the car was just paint that didn't fall off when it was being taken out, there's a lot of that stuff that's sitting on the bottom of that tank I'm sure
Got clean but it’s going to need a lot . Maybe more needs replaced than can be saved . You’ll get it done though.
Well, the point of dipping this car wasn't to try and save the sheet metal skins on the outside. Fenders are ok, and the deck lid was too, but everything else I knew was going to be bad. The point was that the frame of the car, aside from the front frame rails, are solid and so is the rest of the frame of the car on the B pillars, A pillars and some roof structure. Since all of that is good, it's easy to build a car off of that.
I like the idea of that slave chassis bolted to the shell. Very good idea. You could probably weld in patch panels and there may be repro panels available.
AMD makes all the replacement panels for the car 👍🏻
It's doable, but holy crap! I'm overwhelmed just looking at it. Can't wait to see it progress
Haha ur telling me 😅
Congrats again on getting Kermit home. I wonder what is the first step as far as metal replacement goes? Will you need to do floors first to add some stability to the unibody while you work the roof or vice versa? I noticed a few small areas in the rear frame rails that will need to be addressed. Is that a fix or repalce? Its a lot of work to fix but we love these old cars and we dont always use our best judgement when we get involved in a project like this one. Thanks for the video, very informative about the dipping process.
Absolutely, so the first step is to get some bracing welded in the car to keep it from moving and shifting, then ill have to get it on some sort of a frame table and really lock it in place. Once its braced up and on a sturdy platform, ill start removing all the sheet metal and most likely replace the floor first and go from there.
Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you, will do!
I assume he knew in advance that the challenger was a complete loss, I was sure the rusted out car would break in half when lifted from cleaning tank. I enjoyed this video and thanks alot of posting it sir.
The car is not a total loss, far from it, despite all the holes. The frame and structure of the car is solid, but all the outer sheet metal is basically trash. It will be fixed and put back on the road.
Could you explain how this whole process of melting car paint is done?. thanks

The whole process gets explained at the end of the video. The car first gets dipped in the 200⁰f solvent tank and that takes off all the paint and seam sealer. Then it goes into the acid tank and the removes all the rust.
2 weeks of constant welding the ol girl will be solid. new paint polish all bright work, plant together the easy bit, job done. 4 weeks max to finish ready to drive happy days.....oh then onto the next project..
I'd say 2 years of constant welding haha 😄
I've had two vehicles dipped. 68 F100 and 71 Mustang. It did a great job on the outside coatings but left rust between pinchweld flanges. I know most of those flanges are not water tight so I'm curious as to why this solvent doesn't penetrate and dissolve this rust. Any answers or solutions would be helpful.
I'm not sure. The acid should dissolve all the rust everywhere, but I guess if the panels are too tight, the acid might not get in between the panels as well as they should.
@@BryceCold
That's what I thought too. I was pretty disappointed because those tight hidden areas are where blasting can't get to so I had high hope that the dipping would be the answer. Maybe it wasn't left in the tank long enough.
Yeah possibly, my car was in the solvent tank for 2 days and the acid tank for another 2 days. Seemed to clean my car right up.
I need more bryce cold videos in my feed!
Best to trim off the sheetmetal you arent going to save before dipping or blasting. Pinchwelds and seams will need clean up when you get quarters, wheelhouses, drop offs, rad support and roof skin off the car. This process does not appear to clean everything to clean white metal either. i see a lot of dark pitting esp on the underside of rad support. Car looks rough but very buildable. I would do a full mock up w all the new panels in place--doors, hood, lid all opening and closing and panels and patch panels screwed into place. Then blow it apart and send it out for final blast. Great project.
Great advice man I appreciate that. I decided to dip the car because obviously it gets I would say 98% of the metal. Yes you're absolutely right, taking the sheet metal skin off the car would have been better but it's small potatoes when you consider how Rusty the car really was and cleaning up a few small pinch weld areas is not going to be that big of a deal in the end. But yeah I plan on doing a full fitment and mock-up check with all the new body panels once they get here and I'm at that stage.
Its a great save Bryce. In reality theres not a whole lot of difference between moderate rust and heavy rust. They seem to all need quarters, wheelhouses, drop offs, sometimes a roof skin and rockers. Good luck.@@BryceCold
Thank you 🙏🏻
Gotta love a fellow gearhead who still has his christmas lights on in nice warm sunny weather! Lol
😂😂😂😂 they'll be up till I die lol
I see how clean what's left of it ,at what point do you determine it's to far gone How many man hours from this point forward to produce a car worth having
That's a totally fair question. I guess it really depends on a couple of things. Is this a car you would be trying to flip or build for a customer? Or is this a car that you own yourself and are willing to put in the time and hours because it doesn't matter how long it takes, because it's something that you really want to do. For me personally, this is a car that I'm never getting rid of, and it's a rare/hard to come by Challenger year model, (71) that deserves to be put back on the road. For me, seeing that the frame was solid aside from the front frame rails was a big factor in going forward with this. If the frame was just as toast as the sheet metal is, I don't know that I would have gone ahead with fixing this car, but since the rest of the frame rails and body frame is solid, fixing the rest of the car is just a matter of getting the sheet metal and doing all the work to put them on. I like the challenge of this build, and again, I get to save another 71 Challenger that most people would have left for dead. Long story short, if the car is worth it to you to fix, and you have the means, then do so.
Not too bad...a major rebuild but all body panels are now available...AMD.
Hell yeah brother been dieing to see more of this build!
Haha right on man, I appreciate it!!
Dying to see the progress on this!
And you will! Just have had a lot going on and have not had enough time for Kermit, but I will be worked on soon!
Whoa.... Kermit went on a diet!!😁 Will you be placing a big order with AMD? Already looking forward to the next installment.
Yep! Ill be working with them to get this thing back on the road 🤘
I always think of Christine when I see the car rising from the solvent in a cloud of smoke!
This is Christine's sister, Crystal. Crystal Meth
Sorry to dig this one up - the quarter panel / roof seam is rusted completely through. Or does the process remove the lead that was there? Was it a vinyl top?
It was a vinyl top car, thats why the roof is so bad but it's just the sheet metal skins. Structure underneath is still good 👍🏻
When do they usually release the dates and route for power tour
Usually 4 to 6 months out, so that way people have time to plan
Does the car have to be rolled in the bath to remove air pockets or does that just get missed and leave rust on internal components?
I thought about that too but there are no air pockets that get trapped and I drilled a few holes in the roof skin because I'm replacing it anyway and that got out all of the trapped air that would have been underneath the roof skin
Is it possible to weigh the car before and after to see just how much was removed
Haha that would be hilarious actually lol. I can certainly try to weight it the way it sits 😄
Man oh man , that is going to take some skill.
And loads of skill will be learned during haha
Came out great i want to dip car how much does it cost are cars are about the same size
The body was $1,900
Our 70challenger was much worse after the dip. So bad that All we kept is the 2 front chassis rails and the front radiator support panel. Everything else is new. Should be finished by summer. Imagine that ,a brand new 70 challenger with a 572 Ray Barton hemi ❤
What are the EPA requirements do you have to have to do that kind of work?
Not sure, but enough for it to not be allowed in California
looks like a good solid car .
Sure lol 😅
Hot damn Kermit finally gets a bath❤😂🎉
Yeah dude! 🤘🏻
AMD is your new best friend!
Where the hell do start repairing rust on that car? The decklid looked to be the only solid piece
Yeah I'm asking myself that question every day lol. I'm going to start by bracing up the inside of the car between all of the inner structure pieces that are solid. Then get it on to some sort of a frame table and start cutting the floor out, roof skin off, getting the front frame rails and pieces off the car, and get it down to just the bare frame of the car, and go from there.
How do they neutralize the acid?
They wash it and spray it with something else afterwards
What are you planning to reuse?
As hard as it is to believe, there are actually a few good panels left. They just might need a small patch or two. Firewall, rear package tray, all of the frame structure, aside from the front frame rails and a couple other pieces.
Best get you a frame jig cause Kermit is going to need everything and the kitchen sink
Yep, I plan on making one with some friends of mine. I've got all the correct measurements I need so it's just a matter of getting the materials and putting together at those measurements.
looks like you have some lace instead of floorboards, lol, looks pretty good though
LLLLLLMMMMAAAAOOOO 😂 ☠️ 😂 ☠️ 😂 ☠️. "Lace"
Tig weld patches it little bit and move around
For sure 👌🏻
Sir, what's the cost of the dipping procedure? Always, wondered about that.
So it was $1,900 for the body, $100 for each fender, and $150 for the deck lid. All together my total was $2,250
Looks like Kermit's got good bones but the flesh will need some work, great to see you back at it Bryce.
Yeah that is certainly a plus! I was expecting the bones to be good aside from the front frame rails but yes there is a couple tiny areas on the rear frame rails that will need to be patched, but other than that the bones on the car are solid!
@@BryceCold Good thing they repop near everything now, it'll cost you some pesos but in the end you'll have a quality Challenger, looking forward to the build. 👍
Exactly man, I appreciate it 🙏🏻
well, it def has the shape of a Challenger...kind of a ghost Challenger now. but for a project for the guy that enjoys the build as much as the result, it could be fun. and a 71 Challenger cannot be denied...
10000% man. Is this going to be a (no pun intended) challenge to build? Absolutely. But I enjoy a good challenge, and to put another 71 Challenger back on the road is worth it.
Glad to see you boiling that frog! Kermit's gonna turn out great. And I'll just note that nobody should consider challenging Brian at Metalworks; that dude's got the markings of a brother who knows his way around a fight.
Haha yes sir 🙌🏻😅
Bottom line, with all the replacement body panels, frame rails, donar cars etc..., after done, going to be a nice car and worth a considerable alot of money. You planning on a resto-mod?
Oh yeah. I'm not a "numbers matching" guy and this car is already kinda mismatched on parts to begin with so it's going to be a completely resto-mod build, and its gonna be WILD when it's done haha.
@@BryceCold going back to Original Color? Hope so.
Oh, absolutely! FJ6 Green Go is a super rare color, and from all the research that I've done on that color, roughly less than 700 71 Challengers were ever painted that color. It's super rare. So no matter how the car is going to look in the end, it will have that paint code again 🤘🏻
Difference between "worth a considerable alot of money" and a "lot of money invested". Who's going to pay bucks for a car made up almost entirely of misaligned Taiwanese panels going down the road sideways? Especially after seeing this. 'She's gone gone gone been gone so long she's been gone gone gone' Wish in one hand and shat in the other....Bottom line. Indeed!
It's not gone. And these AMD panels may be made somewhere else but if they weren't good nobody would use them. Am I going to have to do some massaging and adjusting the panels to get them right? Yes, but the car will be fixed and it will go down the road just fine.
Wow is that car from upstate NY? About 80% of that car is getting new metal!
I found it in North East Texas actually 👍🏻. It had been rotting away in a field for the better part of 30 years.
Late model Chrysler C300 for a donor car, floor dash and all.
My guy... seems that car doesn't have a panel without perforation. Maybe just get aftermarket shell and transfer the VIN plate or something??? Can't believe anyone would try to fix this
Believe it or not, there are actually a few panels that are still good and just need a couple of little patches here and there, but yes, most of the cars sheet metal skin is toast. The structural framework underneath the sheet metal skins however, is in really good shape and is worth fixing. If this car was completely cancerous everywhere, even to where the frame underneath the car itself was in jeopardy, I probably would not have touched the car.
How much did this whole process cost?
The body was $1900. The 2 fenders and deck lid was another $350. $2,250 total.
Hey, cool magic trick, I saw a car go in, and a vin# come out. Man, you got your work cut out for you.
Hahaha truth! But it's all just sheet metal that can and will be fixed 👍🏻
Oh boy.... that was lot of rust 😮
Lots, but it'll be fixed 👍🏻
acetate is 5.5 ph, vinegar is 2.5, thats probably why it works better. cold vinegar in about two weeks , no rust.
Yup! I used vinegar on my other car and it worked great 👍🏻
Holy crap
I’m surprised it didn’t fold-up picking it up by the roof.
Sorry to say, it looks like a goner ! WOW
Good luck
Doors are decent LOL 😮
Not trying to be a negative TH-camr
👌I am a Mopar guy 👍👍
Yeah man the car definitely looks bad, and it legitimately is, but the frame of the car is solid aside from the front frame rails. It's all just sheet metal that can be fixed, it'll just take a lot of time and effort, but it will be done 👍🏻
whats it cost to acid dip one?
In this case, the body was $1900, the two fenders are $100 each, and the rear deck lid was $150. Bringing my total to $2,250.
Wow! Thats beyond swiss cheese lol! It'll be worth it though!
Oh its mega Swiss cheese 🧀 😅 but yeah once this car is fixed, you would never know it looks like this at one point!
Who is the genius that decided lifting it from the roof was a good idea he needs a raise
It definitely would not have been my first choice to lift it that way either but apparently it's fine and the cars are structurally strong enough to handle that
what does chem dip cost?
For this car it was $1,900 for the body, $100 each for the fenders and $150 for the deck lid. Bringing my total to $2,250
Holy... hope it's a 1 of none hemicar.
Nope, just a 318 car, with the rare FJ6 paint code haha. I don't really care what a car came with as far as options go. It's a 71 Challenger that deserves to be put back on the road. Whether it was a Hemi car or a 318 car, it's still a 71 Challenger that can be saved, so I'm going to. 👍🏻
@@BryceCold yep, glad you are - the cars are awesome.
..... So after you get done with all the metal that needs to be replaced you will have an original vin tag.
A lot of this 71 Challenger wasn't original to begin with. There was a part of the front core support and frame section that had been cut off of another car. A lot of the front grille and radiator support areas were off of another car. The two fenders are off of another car, it doesn't matter if you replace one body panel or almost all of them. Fixing the car and putting it back on the road with the original frame is what matters. Also I'm not a numbers matching all original kind of guy anyway so I don't really care how much of the original sheet metal is left. Unfortunately the car was left out in a field for most it's life and they let it get ruined, so who cares if I have to put new sheet metal on a car to get it back on the road.
@@BryceCold that's cool... Just some people think that if they replace every rotted part and every part needed to be replaced that still have an original car for some reason
Well you have to think about it like this, if you burn your arm to where you need to get skin grafts and they put new skin on your arm, is that still the same original arm? Of course it is it just has new skin on it. Cars are the same
@@BryceCold what matters is that we enjoy classic cars and trucks. But I'm more on the side of drive them and enjoy them. Not too much for put them in a garage and look at them
@billsmith360 I couldn't agree more, I am the build a car and drive it all day everyday guy. I've had my 70 Coronet since 2014 and I rescued it from the mud and dirt that it was sitting in for 15 plus years. Daily drove the car for 7 years with the original 318 and 904 and once I did the Hemi swap two years ago, after it was done, I immediately took it across the country on Hot Rod Power Tour. I believe in driving your cars not looking at them
Stripped the paint so good the hood is gone
LLLMMMAAAOOO 😂😂😂
Oy lits inspict tha dacklid❤
Ooi, G'day mate, toime to inspect de dacklid lol
That is rougher than 2 nights in jail. It goes to show that most of the time, buying a better example is cheaper than having to replace practically every metal part on car.
Oh for sure, and if I were smart I'd buy a better car, but to me, fixing this car car and bringing it back to life when most people would turn away from it, gets me goin and motivates the hell out of me. There's not very many of these cars left, especially the 71-year model, so could I spend less money on a better car? Sure, but I have the chance to save a 71 Challenger, and I'm going to do it. I don't do it for the amount of money it's going to take, I do it because I want to.
@@BryceCold Understood. Just trying to make sure others who watch understand.
Yup 👍🏻
Would you like balona or ham with that cheese sandwich 😂
Oh ham for sure, way more meat for a cheaper price lol
vinegar will eat all that rust off in about 2 weeks or so.
Woah, that looks pretty darn bad to me!. Main frame rails are even rotten..good luck! Peq
Haha yep it's a pile, but I'll bring it back to life 👍🏻
What’s the latest with Kermit?
Nothing yet but soon! Had a lot to deal with in my personal life and will be hopping back on the car shortly 🙏🏻
probably the rustiest Challenger I have ever seen. Still restorable to me as most panels are available
Yep! I'll bring it back to life.
Where all that nasty runoff end up?
I believe it drains into a special HAZMAT tank under or behind that platform.
Poor Kermit need a lot of TLC
Yep, it certainly does 🥴
All I can say, I hope there,s something Real special about this challenger, 340 4 speed because if not, I would Buy the New Body for 14,000 , and change the tags. Because its going to cost the same.
It's not, and I don't care what the cost is. It's not why I do this. It's about getting another Mopar back on the road. The only really special thing about this car is that it's a real FJ6 Green Go 71 Challenger and from research that I've done, only 2.2% of cars were ever painted this color, so it's very rare. For the 71-year model, Challenger specifically, it's estimated that less than 700 cars were painted FJ6. So the build is worth it to me just on that principle alone.
At least it has plenty of drain holes.
This is a plus lol
Hey Mopar brothers! Anyone heard from Bryce? it has been a long time since he posted anything, I really hope he and his family are doing okay
Doing good man, thanks for the support! Had a lot of stuff to deal with in my personal life, but I'll be back on the Kermit track soon!
Penske IMSA team had there 69 Camaro acid dipped to lighten the car Story was metal was so thin you couldn't lean up against the body panels. Won that year too. Cheat to win. Your cuda needed that. Man do you have work to do. Body work anyway. With the sealers sound deading mat new gaskets. Interior sound will be 0 when your dring it. rolls Royce quiet. Untill you stab the peddle.
Yup. Definitely a lot of work, but it'll be worth it in the end. 👍🏻
After being lightened, it was basically made out of paint.
QUESTION would you buy this car?
Well I did buy it sooo yes lol?
You should rename it Seabiscuit.
Why would you do this it’s destroyed
Because it's not. Despite most of the outer sheet metal being trash, this car is very savable. It's just metal, It can be fixed. Not to many 71 Challengers left.
This is just cpr before its brought back to life. Hopefully it stays "kermit".
Haha I like that 😄. It definitely will 👍🏻
Why doesn't the vat get eaten away like a car after a New York winter?
Can't we just make indestructible cars out of whatever the vat is made of?
So the acid tank is very thick steel, I'm sure the acid does eat away at it little by little but there is no crazy reaction like it does with rust. The acid eats away rust very quickly but good metal it takes a lot longer for it to affect. At some point I'm sure they would have to change out the acid tank for a new one but it would take a very long time. That's just my best guess
After rust removing,it looks like swiss cheese.
Because it is 👌🏻
I’m glad you did cause I never would’ve
Someone had to 👌🏻
Swiss cheese 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
The Swissiest of Cheese lol
God bless America home of the brave...😅
I'm very brave 😂
That looks like its in really bad shape
It is lol 👍🏻