Deep Cleaning for Project 68

As many who have followed the story of Project 68 know horsepower and performance has always been the focus for the ole Dodge but this is changing this offseason! After years of improving suspension, the motor, brakes, etc, it is the wiring and interior that are getting a facelift in 2025.

Starting off by stripping to bare metal what was probably the biggest mistake in the last 3-years which was installing the ‘sound reducing/heat absorbent’ tar treatment. Wow, what a mess that created for very little effectiveness.

While solid for many cars going through the restoration process and will be treated more like a daily driver, that’s far from what Project 68 will be ever utilized for. On top of this, areas where the rubber bubbled upward due to the heat from the underneath exhaust also found water in it from time to time, this created a pocket of rust that you cannot see and erodes at the floor. Thankfully, no instances of this became serious and getting the floor to bare metal while proved daunting, eventually was the solution and fix.

Let me tell you, everything was used. Flap wheel, grinder, wire wheel, solvents and just about anything possible to take this gunk out went to work. Not an easy process and what eventually became the go-to to remove it all, on cold days was the putty knife and good ole elbow grease. Due to the cold, the rubber/tar was a less like tar and more like a rubber tape being peeled up, thus being the most efficient way to removing this stuff.

While the removal of the floors nastiness was the priority, working towards a brand new aluminum dash was also on the mind. Mocking up some 1/8th stock found a 30 degree angle past 90 degrees. This will lead to creating some gauge ‘pods’ that tilt the gauges back to 100 degrees and some fabrication, more on that later.

With some mock ups done it was time for some self-etching primer and paint. Some other projects like the electrical board and shifter mount also became the focus but certainly all eyes and focus were immediately on getting the floor painted so that we can move forward with new wiring as well.

Amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do!

With paint out of the way, the next focus on Project 68 will be wiring, the dash and finishing up the shifter mount. Stay tuned!