This is my first post here in this forum...after my introduction. I have purchased on ebay this poor 440 six pack Challenger. I already have a 70 auto car, that is built from the factory more as a luxury tourer, with cloth interior, and all power accessories. The 71 is more a street racer, and will probably add a correct spoiler and a shaker hood, not present on the build sheet. The car had been described very optimistically by the seller, so I found myself in a mess. But this is not my first restoration, so with perseverance will finish her in some time. Now the car is safe in my garage in Italy, and the long process of takeing the car apart has begun.
Here are some pics.
I look foreword to seeing your progress! I have a '71 V code 4 speed Challenger too. I've come to feel they are almost unicorns, there are so many more 70s than there are 71s. After I got mine I dug through my 25 year collection of car magazines looking for features on 71 V code Challengers and only found a couple. And I've only seen a handful other than mine and I go to lots of shows.
Do you have the fender tag?
:iagree: I agree, this will be a great one to follow. A few years back I also restored a 4 speed version in much the same condition as yours...
http://www.alangallantautomotiverestoration.com/1971-440-6-Challenger.html
I believe they all deserve to be saved :worship:
Well, it's nice to know where it ended up. Congratulations on the project!
You outbid me on the auction.
I live near where the car was, so went to look at it. So, I know the project in front of you.
Pretty rough but you can do it by the sounds of it. Sometimes if it is a little rusty it might as well be really rusty as everything has to be changed anyway. Will be a great car when done though.
That will be a great car when you get done. :banana:
Obviously a major project but a very cool project. I have a very original 71 318 car in Hemi Orange and I look forward to seeing watching it come together
Quote from: Cuda Cody on October 11, 2020, 07:04:59 PM
That will be a great car when you get done. :banana:
"KEY WORDS " cody. when its done.
Wow that's going to be a project! Cool car though!
Super neat car! Definitely worthy of a full restoration! :ohyeah:
These days I am taking the car completely apart. Heater, wipers, dashpad, fuel lines, gas tank they have been taken off. The Challenger is really wasted...rust is everywhere. Rear frame rails are gone, as are floors and part of the firewall. But doors, fenders, roof, engine bay seem to be in real good condition. Rust is everywhere, and has frozen everything. Heater cables, parking brake, brake pedal, dash screws, dash gauges, fuel lines, parking brake cables, door latches are all frozen to death. Am waiting sheetmetal from AMD, and in december she will be off to the bodyman to fix all rust troubles. Here are some pics.
Well, the car has been taken completely apart, there is an empty shell with suspension, K member and glass. Wanted to retain K member and suspension for ease of transportation. Have received all the AMD parts, and car will go to the bodyshop next week.
In the meantime, I sent the G440 engine block to the machine shop and found a 68 crank among my stuff. On ebay i scored a six pack balancer and bellhousing, while Brewer has got me a correct flywheel. The six pack rods were already there, as were the reworked heads. L2355 pistond and Comp Cam 224 will round out the package. CArbs have been restored by Scott Harms, so I am in good hands here. ALso found a date correct distributor and alternator, only missing a 959 raidator.
Will take some pics of the car tomorrow.
If you need a radiator I would recommend contacting Bob at Glenray http://www.restorationradiators.com/
He is the go to person on restoring an original or obtaining a repro.
Cool looking car but you won the car and shipped it to Italy ?
Quote from: Purepony on December 01, 2020, 07:20:05 PM
Cool looking car but you won the car and shipped it to Italy ?
He "won" the car on eBay :bigthumb:
"Won" makes me laugh!
The seller grossly misrepresented the car, not mentioning that the framerails were a nightmare. When asked for a pic, the one that he sent showed a small hole. He didnt say that everything else was absent. Well, now car is here, there is no sense in complaining...
What really distubes me is that the first owner doesnt reply to my questions about the early years of the car. He owned the car since 1978, until 3 or 4 years ago. I have his ph number, but after wring a message as a reply to me introducing myself and his old car...he never replied to other messages or ph calls. Really dont understand this behaviour. Car has always been in the Menasha, WI area. If someone remebers the car, please get in touch with me.
The picture is what the ebay seller sent me when asked about frame rails.
It could be that he doesn't want to deal with people. I don't blame him. One question leads to 123,678,094 more questions that you don't feel like answering.
I am at the point the only way I would sell one of my cars is through consignment for that same reason. The older I get the worst my opinion of people gets. By time I go I expect my living will is to order my cars crushed.
Sorry to ended up with a headache after delivery. Mine is pretty much the same thing only I was able to see the car first. Its all the shit you can't see in someone else's driveway that reared its ugly head or tiny shit you missed.
:deadhorse:
You are right...he could be annoyed by people. For myself, if someone is the owner of a car that belonged to me, I would be happy to answer his questions or tell him the story of the car. But this is me.
Sounds more like a guilty conscience to me. Hello Antonello by the way, I think we have met once.
Serpiko...when did we meet? It could be...have been into US cars since the eighties....
As for the owner, I have not been aggressive in my messages...only trying to know history of the car.
Quote from: antonellomopar on December 02, 2020, 11:27:19 AM
Serpiko...when did we meet? It could be...have been into US cars since the eighties....
As for the owner, I have not been aggressive in my messages...only trying to know history of the car.
Oesingen 2009 I believe, with the other guys from the usacarsforum.it, albeit I was there only shortly.
For now, I finished working on the car. Put it back together for transportation to the bodyshop. The metalmaster will install the new rear frame rails, fornt and rear floors, and quarters. plus will fix some assorted rust in a few portions of the car. Luckily doors, hood, fenders, engine compartment, firewall and window channels seems perfect.The car seems to have always been covered, but subjected to a lot of humidity and dampness. Seems to have rusted in only the lower parts of the body, the upper part is perfect. Cannot explain to myself why door latches were completely frozen, or gauges were heavily rusted. Had a Trans Am 76 that was submerged in a flood, and the gauges were in the same condition after a year or so...
Here are some pics of the car as is now, waiting for the tow truck tomorrow mornng
dash was a nightmare- Luckily had a nice speedo, and some tohher stuff from another gauge set. Originals was incredibily rusty
Picked up from the garage with my 2006 300 srt8 Touring...and loaded on the tow truck
Are you getting it sandblasted before metal work ?
Don't know yet, the bodyman still has to evaluete what needs to be done. All of the floors will need to be changed, quarters and extensions too, firewall is mostly good. Rest of car is in good condition.
Quote from: antonellomopar on December 09, 2020, 03:24:18 PM
dash was a nightmare- Luckily had a nice speedo, and some tohher stuff from another gauge set. Originals was incredibily rusty
Was this car in a flood at some point? Underwater?
Brad, I was never been able to talk to the old owner that had the car from 1978 to 2017, even if I have the phone number. From the look of things,expecially from the gauges, I think it was submerged sometime in the past. Or it has been stored in a very humid place. Car has always been in the Menasha, WI area.
Sorry you got burned by the seller on E-bay. With all that rust it sure looks like it went underwater at some time during it's life. But a least you have a good attitude about it and will do what is necessary to bring it back to life. Did the engine and trans come with the car or is that something you picked up elsewhere? Keep us posted on your progress. We're looking forward to seeing it come back to life.
The orogonal engine was removed early in life of the car. I got a 69 440 engine and a 23 spline trans in the deal, but have already found a 71 block. I am also trying to find a 18 splines trans. Also found all the six pack stuff, got my carbs rebuilt by Scott Smith, and am waitng for sother parts to arrive and start the machine work on the engine.
Got the restored carbs from Scott Smith today, and they are a work of art, as usual.
:lookatthat:
Always a work of art :worship: :twothumbsup:
now taking out all the glass. Found some hidden suprises in the pass A pillar, under the vinyl top, but nothing else. Have discovered that vinil was installed in window openings first. and then glass was added. My ignorance. Also found out that car had been painted black on the outer body, and then masled to cover the stripes, and then painted orange. Crazy.
Front part of the vinil roof has some markings that can be read on the metal.
Nice progress!
It looks like the ink marking on the backside of the vinyl bled, or left an impression. Likely the solvent in the adhesive helped that happen.
Work has began on the engine compartment...
Rust has been cut off the inner fender panels, and driver side firewall patch panels is being fabricated from scratch. Of course, some more rust than anticipated....
Engine compartment sheetmetal work is finished now. Roof has been cleaned and some dents fixed. Next on the agenda is repairing the driver side door hinges and fixing the damage done to the doors trying to open them with the frozen latches. Once doors are hung and new latches work properly, it will time to repair the floors
Great work! :worship: I'm always in awe of people who have the skills to tackle cars like these that need so much rust repair. :twothumbsup:
Doors have been repaired from the damage done when they were force opened...having frozen locks. Door hinge driver side repaired, and doors finally hung and centered in the door openings.
Getting serious now...front driver floor has been removed, and patch from AMD installed. Crossmembers and mounts have been cleaned and rustproofed. Floor has only been welded in some places, but ready for final welding. Next step is rear driver floor, then passenger side will be tackeled. IN the mentime, old paint gets removed. The car had already been painted in the past, with terrible results.
Grille is perfect, just needs some seriuos cleaning and repaint of center bracket
Coming right along :veryexcited:
forgot to post pic of rusted out floor
Quote from: usraptor on December 27, 2020, 03:51:36 PM
Great work! :worship: I'm always in awe of people who have the skills to tackle cars like these that need so much rust repair. :twothumbsup:
:iagree: It sure looks like you're getting the job done and done right.
Floors done...now it is time to fix the framerails....
Doors cleaned and checked against quarters...some bondo on them...
framerails dont look very good
Awesome work going on here, impressive.
Love looking at your 5 pack carbs.
Big improvements to the car. Whole framerail and trunk floor removed and discarded. Rear part of floor reapired, wheel housings rapaired, and old parts from trunk floor transferred to new trunk floor.
more pics
Looks great!
Don't forget the hole for the license plate light. It's not in the AMD panels.
Thank you !
some more pics
last pics
It's coming along nicely. Your guys is working full time on it. Too late now but this could have saved a lot of time:
https://restorationpartssource.com/store/trunk-floor-pan-1970-74-dodge-challenger-assembly-with-frame-rails-dynacorn-details.html
Had seen the complete assembly, but shipping to Italy would have cost me too much....
Ah: Got it.
work is going on...seat base is being done. Handforming, because is cheaper than transporting here the whole AMD piece
I think I would have paid for the AMD piece, but I will reserve judgement until I see the finished product. :alan2cents: :thinking:
frame rails are fully weldes, as is trunk floor. Still missing quarter extensions and rear floors, then the worst rust is fixed. All welds have to be gound off of course...but I am very happy about results
Quote from: anlauto on January 22, 2021, 09:21:13 AM
I think I would have paid for the AMD piece, but I will reserve judgement until I see the finished product. :alan2cents: :thinking:
it is just mocked up...screws are for keeping sheetmetal together before welding.
Inner fenders are finished
all floors in place and ready
rear seat back needs a lot of work...all springs are rusted . Any suggestions?
Sandblast and see if you can find springs local that will work from a different car/truck.
Mosto of the rust repair on the floors and quarters is finished. Floors are primed. Attention now will be given to all small tedious work...like installing the quarter scoops, one door corner needs work, shaker trim must match hood....trunk lid needs repaired....
In the meantime, the car doesn't look bad
some more pics
Looking pretty solid now :twothumbsup:
Thank you Alan, your cooments are very important for me....all the rear part of the floors have been hand formed, and every detail replicated from scratch. Hope you enjoy the work
Quote from: antonellomopar on February 09, 2021, 03:04:21 PM
..all the rear part of the floors have been hand formed, and every detail replicated from scratch. Hope you enjoy the work
That's crazy.
My respect to sheet metal artisan to pull that off.
That triangular license plate bracket needs to be removed from the rear valance :alan2cents: :D
will do...came with the car
found some small holes in the lower doors
before and after pics of the trunk lid....
:bigthumb:
Awesome work mate, car is looking great.
going and going ! it's moving !!! :clapping:
and it´s moving fast! :clapping:
That's a long weld on the trunk lid.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on February 14, 2021, 07:35:17 AM
That's a long weld on the trunk lid.
No other choice if I wanted to keep the original sheetmetal.
bodywork is almost finished...gaps checked...trunk lid finished...shaker hood trim mounted to the hood and hood mounted to the body...antirusr applied to the whole car. Shaker trim has been massaged to fit into the hood, it is the cheap aluminum stuff...but once adapted to the AMD hood, fit is not bad.
That's sure better than it was a few months ago. One guy working on it full time?
.yea the steady progress is very impressive :worship:
In the meantime, I am sourcing all missing parts. Joe White found me a correct dual point distributor and restored it for me. Thank you Joe, great work.
Nice distributor, but it's not 100% correct for a 1971 six pack motor. In 1971 they used a electronic retard vacuum system :alan2cents:
Alan, from what I could understand, only the single point distributors used that kind of vacuum advance. But could be wrong...you have a lot more experience and knowledge than me.
hHaving nothing to do, I have decided to work on my dashpad. It was a perfect dashpad before the seller decided to load heavy and sharp objects on the dashboard, resulting in a dent and a tear. Some days ago, I had used super glue to close the tear, but the seam was still there. Had ordered the correct paint and tried to paint the repaired area, but seam was clearly in sight. So mixed some JB Weld, and puttied the area. Then sanded it and the seam seems to be absent. Tomorrow will paint it and lets see what happens.
As for the dent on the passenger side, used some moderate heat from a heat gun, and with some patience, the dent disappeared.
Here are some pics
Good job, that's looking fine.
Quote from: antonellomopar on February 21, 2021, 11:42:59 AM
Alan, from what I could understand, only the single point distributors used that kind of vacuum advance. But could be wrong...you have a lot more experience and knowledge than me.
Alan is correct. 71 6-pack dual points got the bigger electronic vacuum advance. The 71 383-440 4bbls got them too but different part number than the 6-pack one.
Looks good, Keep up the progress
Quote from: Floyd on February 21, 2021, 12:20:45 PM
Quote from: antonellomopar on February 21, 2021, 11:42:59 AM
Alan, from what I could understand, only the single point distributors used that kind of vacuum advance. But could be wrong...you have a lot more experience and knowledge than me.
Alan is correct. 71 6-pack dual points got the bigger electronic vacuum advance. The 71 383-440 4bbls got them too but different part number than the 6-pack one.
I know that when Alan talks, he is right. I will use my distributor as is for now, and will look for the correct advance cannister.
Quote from: antonellomopar on February 21, 2021, 01:53:08 PM
Quote from: Floyd on February 21, 2021, 12:20:45 PM
Quote from: antonellomopar on February 21, 2021, 11:42:59 AM
Alan, from what I could understand, only the single point distributors used that kind of vacuum advance. But could be wrong...you have a lot more experience and knowledge than me.
Alan is correct. 71 6-pack dual points got the bigger electronic vacuum advance. The 71 383-440 4bbls got them too but different part number than the 6-pack one.
I know that when Alan talks, he is right. I will use my distributor as is for now, and will look for the correct advance cannister.
Thank you...but I'm not always right....I've learned many of things on this web site too... :twothumbsup:
I am learning everyday...here on the forum. Great knowledge to be had.
yep. this would be the one year only part.
For the time being, will keep the distributor as is now, and will look for a correct vacuum advance mechanism
Dashpad is painted and doesn't look too bad. It is not perfect, but it is the original, and dont want to change it. Now, how can I cancel the order from Year One for a repro dash?
Typically Year One takes 1 year to ship so hopefully you can cancel it.
Have sent them an email yesterday, but no reply yet
Find out your order number, call them on the phone :alan2cents:
From Moparts.com
1971 440 six pack distributor. Taken off a low mileage car many years ago and stored in heated dry space. PN 3438578 All tags in place. 595.00 401 215 0285.
Thank you...will reply to his ad.
Quote from: anlauto on February 23, 2021, 02:03:28 PM
Find out your order number, call them on the phone :alan2cents:
They refunded me ...no problems at all.
Some updates to the car. Orange antirust paint, and then sealer. Paint on the inside is next
rolled out after spraying with antirust
working on the dash ....had to assemble the gauges inside the dash. Pad repairs don't look too bad, saved a bunch of money and kept the orginal stuff. Gauges are a combination of something in my parts rafters and Ebay, with a couple of small gauges and NOS clock that should arrive this week.
some pics of after and before
HOLY COW....I can't believe the progress, that looks incredible :ohyeah:
March 3 1971....happy birthday...50 years today, and on the way to rehabilitation....
Getting the wiring done by Tommy White at http://www.partshound.net/
Have had good luck with him on many wiring job in the past, and using his services for the car. He is also restoring the neutral safety switch for me
Tommy does great work, he supplied a lot of harnesses for the sunroof cars I restored. When it comes to the main dash harness, it would have been just as easy to get a new M&H harness in my opinion. :alan2cents:
Alan, it is too easy to simply purchase a new harness :D.
I wanted to save the original stuff, even if some of it has been replaced.
Nice , You are making great progress with the the car :ohyeah:
Quote from: antonellomopar on March 19, 2021, 02:49:15 PM
Alan, it is too easy to simply purchase a new harness :D.
I wanted to save the original stuff, even if some of it has been replaced.
I agree, but I don't trust 50 year old copper wires no matter how pretty you make them look on the outside... :alan2cents:
the wires have been tested and changed if needed... :)
That's generally how I do them as well.
gaps on the hood are ok now....
Won't be long now...
YESSSS....should be painted before summer...
I have checked in for a while and all I can say is WOW! What a difference from when you started, especially with the dash and gauges! :yes: :twothumbsup: Great job! Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see her painted. :banana:
Quote from: antonellomopar on March 20, 2021, 12:13:10 PM
the wires have been tested and changed if needed... :)
I went to Tommy's shop today to pick up a harness he put together for me. While there I asked him about your harness and he had it right in front of him. :bigthumb:
I had seen pics...now he has a couple more items to do, and my car can be reassembled....oh well...still missing paint.... :D
work is going on....antirust has been applied after filler has been smoothed. Now it needs some time to completely cure, and mid may it will be time for the primer. In the meantime, have picked up the 440 from the machine shop and it is at my mechanics place for putting together. Pistons are old Mopar Performance pieces, and heads have been purchased as ready to be assembled, ported and polished. Hope the seller was correct, it was from an ad on Moparts several years ago.
picked up an almost complete shaker set up with original base, Snobar scoop and repro doors. Am looking for the wide baseplate adaptor, would prefere an original needing work rather than picking up a repro. What shall I pay a baseplate adaptor in good conditionm some rust and needing work to hide the pittings? Have found a simillar baseplate...but owner is uncertain. What is a correct price I can offer him?
Please look at the pics. The center base is not needed,,,it is for a 340. I already have the shaker seal still in original Mopar envelope
Quote from: anlauto on March 18, 2021, 04:08:07 PM
Tommy does great work, he supplied a lot of harnesses for the sunroof cars I restored. When it comes to the main dash harness, it would have been just as easy to get a new M&H harness in my opinion. :alan2cents:
His work is okay. But, by now, he should have learned how to do proper chemical plating. His rattle can techniques diminish his finished products.
Time to update this thread. Car has finally been painted, and is now back in my garage. Reassembly has began.
reassemby. Fitted ET2 wheels....
Looking great !
You have done a hell of a lot of work from the rust bucket shown in the original pictures!
time to do some dirt work...taking the k member off the car and taking completely apart. Paint and refinish all the parts...and weep everything movable. K Member and all susspension parts are going to be cleaned of and replaced...until the completed 440 4 speed assembly will be installed in the car...from the bottom. The body will fall on the assembled K members...as in producion cars
Looks like how just spent my weekend. Stripping down a K frame and front suspension for a rebuild.
The hard part was taking off the rusty torsion bars...the fun part begins now...taking everything apart....
Wow that paint looks amazing! :perfect10: In some pictures it looks red and in others orange?? Dash also looks great! The re-assembly is the fun part. Keep up the good work! :twothumbsup:
Time for some updates....car is now being put back together.
going to the mechanics...
Installed engine and trans on the K member, and dropped the body on it. Sandblasted all front end components
engine and all front end components installed
exhaust fitted
parking brake fitted
clutch assy ok
put wheels back on and for the first time I can see the car with wheels on and at correct stance.
trial fitted the shaker scoop
Will probably start engine in the next couple of days.
Quote from: usraptor on October 24, 2021, 04:29:26 PM
Wow that paint looks amazing! :perfect10: In some pictures it looks red and in others orange?? Dash also looks great! The re-assembly is the fun part. Keep up the good work! :twothumbsup:
Maybe it was the shade or the flash...but color is EV2.... :)
Looks fantastic, I can't believe how quick it's coming together :twothumbsup:
Beautiful Challenger, although I'm partial to Cuda's!
Is this what you bought the Shaker adapter for?
Yessss....
I am in love with Cudas...as I have three, but was missing a 71 Challenger six pack four speed. My collection is now finished.
All I can say is WOW . I do not think that you sleep . With your process on this car its incredible . Keep up the FAST work coming along very nicely .cheers :australia:
almost ready to start the 440 for the first time. The interior is the reason I bought the car...
nice and fast !! let us enjoy the sound of it when you ll have it running !! :ohyeah:
You might want to recover the seats :alan2cents: :haha: :haha: :haha:
Alan....order has a six month waiting time from Legendary.
Had placed the order in august...so by february the seat covers should be here. In the meantime...I am sandblasting and power coating the seat frames
Back home today...
Does the car get black stripes ? Hopefully NOT like the ones that were on it :haha:
Those stripes were actually painted on the sides...and then orange paint was applied over the black. I already have a set of Dale's Cuda Shop stripes ready to be put on the car....
Glass installation...at the body shop now
short video...but unable to load it
lets see if I can load the video....
The Challenger is looking great. Looking forward to seeing more of it.
Your shaker pic is awesome.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Got the stripes, vinyl top and glass installed.
Finally got my Legendary seat covers, after a six month wait, and have to say they are wonderful.
ALso did a short road tst, and I am very happy about the outcome of the project. Bodywork has been done in a short 6 months, and results are impressive. PAint is still in need of sanding and plishing, but nice. Interior is breathtaking, and am particulary happy about it. The interior was the main reason I bought the cr.
On the road, the car runbs very nic, is powerful but not excessive...and seems very easy to drive, a lot easier than the Hemicuda. More resonsive in my opinion. Still have to correctly set up the front end, and waiting for 245 60 15 tires for the vack, in place of the 255.
Hope you enjoy the results
Wow that interior looks fantastic. Nice job all round chow :australia:
Great to see this car properly saved, can't believe how quick you were able to turn it around too, GREAT JOB :worship: :twothumbsup:
The car looks great!
:clapping:GOOD JOB !!
Outstanding job! :clapping: Love the interior. It was well worth the wait. :twothumbsup:
Thank you all for the kind words. Really have loved this project, still have to take a good drive with her. Have just some garage plates that I can use to drive near my place...but need some real plats issued from the DMV to feel safe. In the next months will try to get italian registration for the car. In the meanwhile, I am replacing the radiator core...it was clogged and temperature was too high for my liking.