[DML] DMC = Disassembled Motor Car

["Dave Stragand" <dave.stragand@xxxx>]

Well,

I finally got my D home last Saturday... She's VIN #5127; an '81 with
5-speed, grey interior, and a lined hood (no gas flap).

It wasn't the easiest chore to dig the car out of the shed it has been
buried in the last 9 years, but we managed. It had been stored rather
poorly... lots of the parts are damaged due to poor storage & handling.
In fact, if you are planning on storing a car, two things to avoid
putting in it are a bail of fiberglass insulation & a ten pound bag of
Puppy Chow. It was a veritable rodent resort town.

The three of us that were trying to lift the pontoon & frame up into the
body just couldn't quite get it off the ground. That posed quite a
challenge as we had to lift it up into the 24' U-Haul truck I rented to
get her home. We eventually had to use a roll-back truck to drag the
unit across the floor and up onto the rollback, then position the
rollback to slide the unit into the truck. Ouch.

Getting it out was a bit easier, as we had six people, and also noticed
that the pontoon was in fact not even bolted to the frame. Made for
pretty easy lifting when separated.

We manuevered it all into my garage and I started to work. Here's my
preliminary shopping list:

- all new lines, both fuel and brake.
- 4 new brake calipers
- all new carpets
- front and rear glass
- new headliners
- new inside rearview mirror
- all new weatherstripping

But it isn't too bad, I keep telling myself. I'm just at the initial "I
bit off more than I can chew" stage. I decided to start small by
cleaning the pontoon and organizing the interior parts inside. I then
hung the body panels on the car with a couple of bolts each just to get
them out of the way. Doing these things made me feel a bit better. I
then put the binnacle on the dash, and when I looked at the odometer, I
nearly cried.

The car has 1721 miles. And four-tenths. Now maybe that's 101,721.4 ...
I'm afraid to ask, but so far everything on the car seems to support
that the only wear & tear is that caused by poor storage. Whatever
sparked the previous owner to take the car apart that completely will
always boggle me...

Sigh... I have my work cut out for me. My first 'real' work on the car
involved climbing under the front frame to chip away broken epoxy, wire
brush, and then coat the metal with Rust Reformer. I bought several
cans of Rustoleum Machine Gray (but I need the Dark. not the light) and
plan to paint the affected areas as correctly as I can, but I realize
I'll never get them perfect. I'm on something of a timeline. I need to
have the car assembled enough to sit outside by Christmas, as I need to
get my '58 Plymouth out of the elements as soon as possible.

I realize that while under both my time and monetary constraints, I will
never have a concours-quality D. The undercarriage will have to be a
bit ugly, and I'll have to 'make do' with a lot of non-perfect pieces.
I intend to focus my energies into the car's exterior and replacing lots
of the interior. Having the car look good at least will help stop me
from panicking about the scope of this project. I had a bad spot last
night, where I just imagined myself selling the car piece by piece on
eBay... potentially making enough money to buy a car in better shape...
but I guess I'll just try to hang in there & build the best car I can
with the resources I have. I can't expect anything more of myself than
that.

-Dave Stragand
-Pittsburgh, PA
-VIN 5127