Hi everyone.
I have finally decided what I am going to do with my 70 Challenger.
I have owned it for about 10 years. In the first 2 years of owning it I had it media blasted then I set out repairing rust. I have replaced floor panels, rear quarters, repaired the roof and trunk floor and a little bit of rust on the inner front fenders. It then sat in storage until now (and suffered a little surface rust).
I was initially going to do a full and proper restoration on it. Then I thought I would go down the resto mod path but I since have come to realize that this is not really what i want either.
What i want is a running driving 1970 Challenger that I am not scared to park down the street.
I appreciate a nice shiny show quality paint job but..... I would rather a tough driving and handling Challenger with dirty shity paint than a show quality paint job that i might finish one day, and then worry every drive because of all the time and money I have tied up in it.
I know many of you will not agree with this method but I hope you can understand that it will at least become a running driving car again. If I stick to my original plan it will still be in pieces in another 10 years!
Here is a pic of what I am working with.
Everyone is working with different time constraints and goals. Glad to hear you're getting back on her and I hope to see you driving it soon! :burnout: :banana:
What ever your direction or goal, it would just be great to get it done, oh and I still wouldn't park it down the street, it will be gone quicker than sh#t, still a Challenger you know :D
I have been working on mine off and on for at least 10 year, though it is finally getting to the end, money providing!
Quote from: ksierens on September 07, 2017, 10:10:17 AM
What ever your direction or goal, it would just be great to get it done, oh and I still wouldn't park it down the street, it will be gone quicker than sh#t, still a Challenger you know :D
I have been working on mine off and on for at least 10 year, though it is finally getting to the end, money providing!
Yep it would be great to get it done.
I have had 3 other project cars jump ahead of my Challenger because they "didn't have to be done to the same standard as my Challenger". As a result my Challenger keeps getting pushed down the list.
I don't even lock the doors on my Charger when I park it down the street!
Here is a couple more pics. My little helper is getting keen too!
Here is a few pics of the work I did before it went into storage. Notice the later indicator light cutouts on the quarters. At the time i could only get the later quarter skins so after fitting the skins i later cut the inserts out of my original quarters and fitted them to the new skins.
I also had to re-work the rocker sill. The original was badly dinted and someone had slipped a replacement over the top of it! I cut it all out and fabed up a new one and fitted it.
I did a bit of panel work on the front fender today before running out of shield gas in the welder. Went down to my supplier for more but they had sold out :tired:.
After that I started work on gapping the door and fender, it still needs some work but is a heap better than the original fit up when I got it. Fairly sure it is not the original door but I think I should be able to make it work and look ok.
Looks like your work on the Challenger is progressing nicely. I feel your pain in wanting to get your car back on the road and actually drive the car.
My A66 Challenger vert has been in storage since 1984. Owned it since 1979, drove it 5 years, and bought a car to go to work and the Challenger sat.
I'm finally doing the same now, clean it up, fix the body and mechanical s, decent paint job and make a driver out of it.
Best wishes on getting your car on the road.
Quote from: 340challconvert on October 08, 2017, 05:58:51 AM
Looks like your work on the Challenger is progressing nicely. I feel your pain in wanting to get your car back on the road and actually drive the car.
My A66 Challenger vert has been in storage since 1984. Owned it since 1979, drove it 5 years, and bought a car to go to work and the Challenger sat.
I'm finally doing the same now, clean it up, fix the body and mechanical s, decent paint job and make a driver out of it.
Best wishes on getting your car on the road.
Thanks for the wishes 340, and good luck with yours. Have you got a thread on here so I can follow along?
I like it, get the paint thing too. :bigthumb:
Quote from: Cudakiller70 on October 08, 2017, 04:25:59 PM
I like it, get the paint thing too. :bigthumb:
:thankyou: thanks
Got more gas today and finished the metal work on the guard.
I got the guard and door gapped and then stripped them both back to bar metal. They were both in etch primer but have been in storage for so long that a little rust staining was showing through which is why i took them both all the way back to metal. If time permits I'll prep them tomorrow.
Notice the Aussie Mopar in the background, 67 VC Valiant in case anyone was wondering.
Dan
Good work !! Step by step .
The Valiant is cool too
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on October 13, 2017, 09:54:00 PM
Good work !! Step by step .
The Valiant is cool too
Thank you sir.
No photo worthy work on Challenger in the last couple of days. My Dad cracked the engine block on his diesel Landcruiser so my time was spent doing an engine change on it.
All in Good time !! :wrenching:
Looking good! :wrenching:
Nice work
Scored a near perfect front guard for my Challenger!
Nice! Not so easy to find there I bet.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on December 08, 2017, 05:33:30 PM
Nice! Not so easy to find there I bet.
Very hard to find good original panels. I actually got this from a Mopar restoration shop. I went there to buy a repop panel but they were out of stock. I think the guy felt sorry for me because I had traveled a fair way.
:bigthumb:
Sticking to the theme of "just getting it done" I got it in undercoat and then top coat. It won't be winning any prizes for best paint but it is sealed up and now actually has a chance of getting re-assembled.
Car is looking good. And so quickly! I'm thinking I may have to go the same route with my Cuda.... just get it painted so I can get it on the road. Parts are very expensive
:bricks:
Quote from: xx88man on November 04, 2018, 04:54:10 AM
Car is looking good. And so quickly! I'm thinking I may have to go the same route with my Cuda.... just get it painted so I can get it on the road. Parts are very expensive
:bricks:
Thanks mate, To quote David Frieburger "done is better than perfect"! it wont look completely Roadkill but I really have re-assessed what I want out of the car.
Yes totally agree with you about the parts and the costs. Just a case of doing the best you can with your budget and looking at it longer term.
Exciting time!!! :veryexcited: Keep up the good work. :ohyeah:
Thanks Cuda Cody,
Couple more pics;
Making good progress !! :twothumbsup:
Looks good and it's all sealed up now. Time to stay up nights and get it assembled.
Kids helping with the insulation install!
I had to make a applicator roller, can you believe both my local hardware places didn't have one.
I also got the heater box stripped and cleaned out. I went through the whole thing, leak tested the heater core, stripped and lubed up the blower motor, tested all the actuators and doors. My phone when flat so I didn't get any pictures of the heater box apart.
It feels good to be finally putting this back together even though it is a battle finding all the bits.
Redgum
Nice progress on the Challenger since I posted you last year.
I am just starting the cutting the quarter panel patch panels for my A66 Challenger vert
Your quarter panel replacement on your car- Came out GREAT
The car in paint looks good.
:wrenching:
Quote from: 340challconvert on November 18, 2018, 09:51:27 AM
Redgum
Nice progress on the Challenger since I posted you last year.
I am just starting the cutting the quarter panel patch panels for my A66 Challenger vert
Your quarter panel replacement on your car- Came out GREAT
The car in paint looks good.
:wrenching:
Thanks 340, slow but getting there! It is not a great paint job (probably looks better in the pictures). I just wanted to get some cover on it so it was sealed up. Yep I was really happy with the quarters and how they came up. I tried to find your car on ebodies only but I couldn't search it? I am not a member over there so maybe that is why? Do you have thread on this site that I can check it out?
Quote from: redgum78 on November 05, 2018, 12:41:54 AM
Thanks Cuda Cody,
Couple more pics;
What is the tire size on those rear tires?
Thanks!
Excellent progress. Most importantly getting the kids involved. Wishing you many years of enjoyment with the family when you "finish" it.
Quote from: nsmall on December 21, 2018, 09:56:16 PM
Excellent progress. Most importantly getting the kids involved. Wishing you many years of enjoyment with the family when you "finish" it.
Thank you :)
Quote from: timdp on December 20, 2018, 05:22:27 PM
Quote from: redgum78 on November 05, 2018, 12:41:54 AM
Thanks Cuda Cody,
Couple more pics;
What is the tire size on those rear tires?
Thanks!
Hi timdp, some pics of the rear tires as promised. They are 31x10.5 R15. 15x7 rims, not sure of the backspace but plenty of room. They are only on there as rollers to move it around the shed. The Challenger was lifted in the rear a little by the previous owner which helps. I had these wheels on my Australian Valiant Charger (pictured) when I was going to dirt drag race it. I also stuck them on my 73 Dodge Charger for a bit just to see what it looked like. Fitted fine on that as well.
Put up some pictures of your car when you get a chance.
Dan
Nice work! I just found your thread. Keep up the posts. I'm doing a similar thing with my 70 RT. Sitting ten years and rather than restore, just get it back on the road. I'm not even repainting mine. Only painting what I have to. I think my thread was named "Another RT going back on the road (finally)"
It's a race to see who gets there first!
Quote from: 70 Challenger Lover on December 22, 2018, 06:48:49 AM
Nice work! I just found your thread. Keep up the posts. I'm doing a similar thing with my 70 RT. Sitting ten years and rather than restore, just get it back on the road. I'm not even repainting mine. Only painting what I have to. I think my thread was named "Another RT going back on the road (finally)"
It's a race to see who gets there first!
Hi Challenger Lover, Thanks for the positive comments. I will search out your thread and follow along. The paint on mine is mainly rust prevention! It probably looks good in the photos but I didn't spend a lot of time on the preparation. The body is now rust free, I just wanted to get it coated so it didn't deteriorate. One day down the track I may take it off the road for a season and do a closed door body and re-spray but for now it will do the job.
That sounds like a challenge!!! I'm in, lets see who gets theirs on the road first! I better go check out your thread and see how far along you are!
Boot lid and rear lights in.
I think the paint looks great. Better than mine is going to be. I'm going to have a freshly painted front end, interior, trunk, and eng compartment with the rest of the car faded, scratched and showing old bondo repairs.
My dash cluster has been in storage for some time. When I packed it away I noticed it had some damage from rats chewing at the insulation in several places. As I new it had issues I decided to replace it with a Painless wiring kit. This was about 5 years ago. The Painless kit sat unopened on the shelf and the dash packed away until recently.
Rant warning! :pullinghair:
When I opened the Painless kit a few days ago I must say I was really disappointed. I thought I was buying a harness with all the terminations made up and it was plug and play onto the existing kit.
Nope!! Basically 3 rolls of colored wire cut roughly to length, terminated into a generic fuse block and a box of general purpose terminals. I think there was only 2 terminals that were component specific. The rest was just a box singular generic terminals that can be purchased at any store.
For this to work I would have to un-terminate 90% of the connectors on my old harness and reuse them. Part of the reason I brought a new harness was because the engine and body harness were missing from my car.
To be fair the Painless kit seems to be good quality material but really its a $500 purchase for about $150 worth of material. I was happy to pay that thinking it was saving a mountain of work but it doesn't!
Rant over- Sorry about that I had to get it off my chest!
Moving forward- The original dash and cluster wiring is in really good order other than the rat damage which I have repaired. I am going to use the original wiring up to the bulk head connector. I will cut up the Painless kit and use the engine section and the body section of it. Planning on using the original fuse block. Not sure at this stage if I will use the bulk head connector or if I will modernize this somehow. If I re-use it I will run the charging circuit separately (almost set my Charger on fire when that failed on me!).
Painless wire kits are made for Hot Rods or custom cars, not your basic restoration type vehicles... M&H wiring is truly "plug and play" for our cars...too late now for that advise I guess :headbang:
Nice looking dash setup. Sounds like your wiring is going to be fine in the end. Hard to tell in the photo but the gauge lens looks pretty decent. I used a three step plastic polish on mine and it came out like glass. Big payoff for very little effort.
Those chewed wire look real familiar. Had three inches of rat shit to clean out of my car and lots of chewed wires to replace. Some chewed in two places so that I was left with just loose pieces of wire. Took a while to tie up all the loose ends...
T
Quote from: anlauto on December 24, 2018, 07:21:38 AM
Painless wire kits are made for Hot Rods or custom cars, not your basic restoration type vehicles... M&H wiring is truly "plug and play" for our cars...too late now for that advise I guess :headbang:
I had a look at the M&H, it would have been a better choice- I should have done more homework when I purchased.
Quote from: 70 Challenger Lover on December 24, 2018, 08:29:03 AM
Nice looking dash setup. Sounds like your wiring is going to be fine in the end. Hard to tell in the photo but the gauge lens looks pretty decent. I used a three step plastic polish on mine and it came out like glass. Big payoff for very little effort.
Yeah once I got over the initial disappointment I realized I can make it all work pretty well. The Painless kit won't be completely wasted, I will use all the engine and lighting sections.
The whole dash assembly is actually really good. The Gauge lenses are fully clear and all the switches function. it would need work if going in a concourse restoration but it is perfect for my driver.
Quote from: timdp on December 24, 2018, 10:33:55 AM
Those chewed wire look real familiar. Had three inches of rat shit to clean out of my car and lots of chewed wires to replace. Some chewed in two places so that I was left with just loose pieces of wire. Took a while to tie up all the loose ends...
T
The little buggers can do some damage that's for sure. And they stink! it would be a tough job repairing that damage in the car. I was lucky they didn't go too far into the main harness, they pretty well stuck to the looses wires. I soldered in new wire anywhere they cut into the copper and then covered with heat shrink. On the wire that just the insulation was chewed I covered with heat shrink. I even color matched the heat shrink!