Midnight_Rider's progress log

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:34 pm

Some simple duct seal around the bolts/holes would have cured the leak the first time. It is like a putty. We use it at work to seal holes that have been drilled in the outside wall of the building.

It may not be it's intended purpose, but there are patches out there that are still intact after 20 years of just being shoved in the hole and spread out a little. It doesn't look too pretty anymore, but it's still sealing.

It would be pretty much hidden in this case, and semi protected from the elements by the spoiler. A little scraping with a plastic scraper would remove it in the distant future, as it never really gets totally dried out and hard.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bend ... lL-mtJJPko

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... hjj61y49_e

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 8:22 pm

Or some good old fashioned silicone sealant. I got some black adhesive silicone to fix the trunk gasket with. Personally, I would take the bolts out one at a time and force a good amount of silicone into the hole, put the bolt back, and wipe off any excess. You want the silicone to get pushed as far to the other side as possible to really seal. Since the spoiler is on one side and the bolt on the other you would not even see it. The silicone then should stop any water from getting in there.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Mon Oct 07, 2013 11:26 pm

Thanks for the suggestions. I have two concerns; one is the fact that the dealership glued the spoiler back on so I worry what will happen to the paint around the spoiler gaskets on the top of the trunklid if I try to take the spoiler off, the other is that the screws/nuts that fasten the spoiler to the trunklid have rusted and I have been told that they are integral to the spoiler (i.e. they can't be removed and replaced with new ones). Also the washers have completely come apart (you can practically pull them off the spoiler screws from underneath the trunklid) so I'm going to have to start part shopping for these also.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:35 pm

^ neither of those are mopar parts... gonna be hard to convince gramps to put them on

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 3:46 pm

Hudson_Neon wrote:^ neither of those are mopar parts... gonna be hard to convince gramps to put them on

Well, he is going to install booger bushings. Once the flood gates are open....

ducktapetg · Post by **ducktapetg** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:03 pm

You could go all out and get one of these...

http://www.modernperformance.com/produc ... oodstrunks

theColonel · Post by **theColonel** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:52 pm

ducktapetg wrote:You could go all out and get one of these...

http://www.modernperformance.com/produc ... oodstrunks

Looks like an expensive way to solve the problem ... he could remove the "Chuck Norris wing", have the holes welded shut,
and have the trunk repainted for less money

ducktapetg · Post by **ducktapetg** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 5:01 pm

theColonel wrote:
ducktapetg wrote:You could go all out and get one of these...

http://www.modernperformance.com/produc ... oodstrunks
Looks like an expensive way to solve the problem ... he could remove the "Chuck Norris wing", have the holes welded shut,
and have the trunk repainted for less money

True. I would have a hard time spending that money however there has to be a couple for sale somewhere.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 6:22 pm

I have often thought about buying a wingless trunklid and just going without the wing but I would like to keep a trunklid with the wing as well. Kind of a moot issue right now since I took out a loan for the parts and have to pay that off before anything else can be done.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 11:42 pm

Taking a loan out for parts. Now thats hardcore!

hndah8r · Post by **hndah8r** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 8:48 am

Took out a loan for parts?

Not a ninja technique, but effective.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Wed Oct 09, 2013 9:03 am

I can't be the first to do that.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 1:08 am

Booger Bushings and the front and rear strut tower braces were installed at chipdogg's WI meet Saturday- check out my Garage for details. I did some of the work myself

with mucho guidance from Hudson_Neon, rtsrt4 and NickKo. A pat on the back for these gentlemen considering their patience in guiding this idiot in the art of modding.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:02 pm

removing the center counsel

working on the bushings

one side done

doing battery tray things

at this point we were all passing around the strut bars in disbelief of their light weight

and done

sorry gramps, i didn't get any of you doing the rear bar, where all the carnage happened!!!

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:33 pm

Yeah, Jake should have known better than to hand a box cutter to me!

Thanks for the pics! It looks like I was being very competent and doing everything by myself but your pics don't show how much you guys advised/worked on my car as well. I really enjoyed the twisties on WI-19 during the drive back to Madison- the strut bars really do make a difference in handling. I really was driving too fast considering it was dusk but it was so much fun that I couldn't help myself.

ducktapetg · Post by **ducktapetg** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 2:55 pm

Midnight_Rider wrote: Thanks for the pics! It looks like I was being very competent and doing everything by myself but your pics don't show how much you guys advised/worked on my car as well. :

You had me fooled. I bet that shifter felt sooo much better too

ianguilly · Post by **ianguilly** » Mon Oct 14, 2013 9:12 pm

Whoa gramps using tools. Nice work its all down hill from now, Pretty soon you'll be asking about bigger turbos, and body kits.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 12:05 am

More pics of the front strut tower brace:

And here's the one in the rear:

slaw · Post by **slaw** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 8:00 am

gramps, the valve cover and intake manifold are so friggin clean in half the pictures i couldnt tell if they were painted or just spotless, bravo good sir

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 9:15 am

Thanks! No, they aren't painted and, to be honest, I hadn't cleaned under the hood before the trip to WI. It had rained the night before the drive to chipdogg's so the pics hid the dirt pretty well.

mopar2 · Post by **mopar2** » Wed Oct 16, 2013 11:39 am

Picking up the strut bars out of the trunk was the best part. Your body prepared you to pick up some weight and BAM! Titanium! So light!

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Thu Oct 17, 2013 7:49 pm

Yeah, I was surprised at the (lack of) weight when FedEx dropped off the front one.

Stopped at Discount Tire this afternoon to have them replace the one bogus lug nut they "installed" when I bought my tires last month (they managed to substitute a lug nut that wasn't from my car and that didn't match- I don't know where the missing one went

). I still have four that came on my car from the factory (removed when the Mopar wheel locks were put on) so I had them use of those. Then I went to the body shop that worked on my car after the accident in '10 to get an estimate on replacing the DODGE and SRT-4 badges on my car's trunk. To my surprise, they did the work on the spot and no charge for labor.

I'm going back in the spring to have the beltline moldings replaced.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 5:49 pm

Car was washed today, one last time before winter. Called my insurance agent to change the coverage to storage. Battery disconnect is tomorrow.

theColonel · Post by **theColonel** » Fri Oct 18, 2013 7:29 pm

Midnight_Rider wrote:Car was washed today, one last time before winter. Called my insurance agent to change the coverage to storage. Battery disconnect is tomorrow.

Winter already ... 84 degrees here

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:10 am

Yeah, it won't be long now. It's bad enough that I had to drive in the rain while I was in WI last weekend so I definitely want to skip exposure to salt. My semi-annual insurance premium notice was in my mailbox today so it was time to change coverage anyway.

Hudson_Neon · Post by **Hudson_Neon** » Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:19 am

we're averaging 55 during the day here... yes, winter is on its way. great job jumping the gun gramps!

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:28 pm

Not jumping the gun exactly... the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of %$&* (a four-letter word in my book

) by Wednesday.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 12:54 am

Midnight_Rider wrote:Not jumping the gun exactly... the National Weather Service is calling for a chance of %$&* (a four-letter word in my book ) by Wednesday.

Struts bars are very sexy! Anyone sit in the trunk while installing the rear strut bar? Supposedly its a good idea to "load" it before install it by having a lot of weight back there.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 2:52 am

No, there wasn't any weight in the trunk during the install but I guess that I could have climbed in there (although I wouldn't have wanted to hurt the car

).

Guess what

here did? After I washed the car and parked it for the winter last Thursday, I must have left the trunk ajar... the battery is now dead. EJ, NickKo, rtsrt4- please refresh my memory and tell me what size rachet I'll need to remove the lock from the battery tray (going to take the battery to the dealership for a charge).

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Fri Oct 25, 2013 8:03 am

Since you park the car for longer periods of time it may be worthwhile to buy a battery charger to charge it yourself from a 110V outlet. They are not expensive.