1970 A66 Go Mango Challenger Dealer Demo! Current pics!

[benlavigne]

A couple weeks back, we tried to confirm the rear axle ratio that was actually on the car, as the speedo reads wrong, and it's too slow to have the 3.55's that are supposed to be there as part of the A36 Performance axle package... Turns out the rear hand has been changed somewhere by one of the many flippers who had the car, and it now has an open one, a 741 with probably 2.76's...
A good friend happened to have a correct 489 with a 1970 date code and rebuilt it with Sure Grip and 3.23, which should be much better at accelerating while still highway-friendly... Can't wait for Spring to try them!

Ben

[benlavigne]

A couple months ago, my Challenger was featured in a local magazine, I wrote the article, actually... I titled it ''Dealer's Choice'' In it, I described how this young man happened to be in charge of a small Dodge dealership in 1970 and could choose any car as a demo, had decided to order a loaded A66, my car... Unfortunately, that gentleman got ill at about the same time the article came out, and passed away in January without seeing it.
I managed to get a hold of one of his sons a little later to offer my condoleances, and he told me the family had appreciated the article very much... He assured me that he'd get me access to the old dealership records, like his dad had promised. He offered an interesting tidbit, When going through his father's old document and pictures, he found a pic of his dad in front of the dealership, in 1970... with my Challenger in the background! It was actually the picture they used at the funeral home...
And get this, @anlauto , even when it was brand new, the spoiler seems to be backwards... He's supposed to send me a copy soon...
Oh, and another detail, when the A66 was sold after three months as a demo, another Challenger was ordered, a convertible 71 model, and that one is still with the family!
In the meantime, as usual, what started as a simple task, repainting part of the engine to get the bypass hose engine color, snowballed a bit... since I emptied the cooling system, I could remove and detail the rad, replace the shroud, and put a correct clutch fan on (Thanks @MoparDave !). Then, at the other end, since it was empty, I could also remove the heater box and look at the blower motor, since it had been painted black, and did ot look very good once the paint was of... Once the box was out, I decided to bring some parts to Stephan to get restored... so the whole thing ended up better than new, repaired core, proper finishes, refinished motor (Thanks @SF-Resto !)... More to come, I guess, as I removed the front seats and console to get better access to the dash, and noticed the carpets did not fit very well, and were a bit faded... ;-)

Ben

[Mr Lee]

Beautiful car and awesome story.  What a colorful life this car has had (literally).  thanks for sharing.  I just read this from the beginning.  You are really doing a nice job with it.  Love the photos of all the changes to the car and how you connected with the family and recreated the old photo scenes.  Thats awesome.
Question.  I saw on the options list - N25 Engine block heater.  I've never heard of that. Is that like what they have on diesel engines where you plug it in to an extension cord for start ups  in cold weather?


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[anlauto]

After finding out the other day that some 1970 Cudas didn't get belt moldings, I'm not surprised your rear spoiler was put on backwards....

Heater box looks fantastic

[benlavigne]

Beautiful car and awesome story.  What a colorful life this car has had (literally).  thanks for sharing.  I just read this from the beginning.  You are really doing a nice job with it.  Love the photos of all the changes to the car and how you connected with the family and recreated the old photo scenes.  Thats awesome.
Question.  I saw on the options list - N25 Engine block heater.  I've never heard of that. Is that like what they have on diesel engines where you plug it in to an extension cord for start ups  in cold weather?


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Thanks for the comments! Yes, this car is special to a lot of people, and it's fun trying to get it back to day one shapeand connecting the dots in it's timeline!
On the factory block heater, there were two small heating elements that replaced the freeze plugs. A wire went from them to a 120V plug. This was usually dealer-installed, but mine was ordered with it.

Ben

[Mr Lee]

Pretty cool.  Thanks for the photos. I bet that came in handy for a cold climate car. Smart.


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[340challconvert]

Beautiful car and awesome story.  What a colorful life this car has had (literally).  thanks for sharing.  I just read this from the beginning.  You are really doing a nice job with it.  Love the photos of all the changes to the car and how you connected with the family and recreated the old photo scenes.  Thats awesome.
Question.  I saw on the options list - N25 Engine block heater.  I've never heard of that. Is that like what they have on diesel engines where you plug it in to an extension cord for start ups  in cold weather?


Interesting pic of an engine oil heater.  Never saw one before
Cool






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the comments! Yes, this car is special to a lot of people, and it's fun trying to get it back to day one shapeand connecting the dots in it's timeline!
On the factory block heater, there were two small heating elements that replaced the freeze plugs. A wire went from them to a 120V plug. This was usually dealer-installed, but mine was ordered with it.

Ben

[benlavigne]

Well, I just got some fantastic pictures from the dealer owner's son yesterday, looks like a pro photographer was on hand while they were doing some kind of presentation. As stated before, it was a very small dealer, not even a one-car showroom, but it seems they had good taste in cars, they had my Challenger, a T/A, two Chargers, three Darts (two 340's) and a Coronet. There was a question on the spoiler being backwards on the 1973 pictures I already had, but these were taken right after delivery to the dealer!
I have a few more, but I hesitate to post them, sorry for the watermark on these two...
So what's everyone's take on the spoiler? ;-)
And no, it was not put together on a Friday PM, according to Dan @6bblgt , it was actually put together on a Wednesday!

Ben

[anlauto]

It's hard to argue with those pictures Ben  Even harder to imagine it left the factory that way....but I guess quality control was not their top priority back then...to avoid constant questioning, I still think you're better off correcting that when restoring the car

[RUNCHARGER]

My brother was a mechanic at the dealer from 1965 to 1971. Sometimes the stripes weren't even fully glued on, they didn't deliver the cars that way. It took at least a day to PDI them back then.

[JS29]

I would leave the spoiler as it was. When restoring something you want to duplicate everything, including the mistakes. 

[benlavigne]

My theory is that they might have forgotten to put the spoiler on at the factory (it is on the broadcast sheets) and that it was added by the dealer... More chances of making a mistake there than at Hamtramck...
Even though it's documented, I would not put it back on backwards, simply because it looks weird!

Ben

[anlauto]

Ben...I figured out the second picture for you...

[jeff968]

Awesome story. The eighties custom version is just something that can't be described without photos. All I can say is wow. Of all the mods, it is hard to believe they added the rear antenna. They had a good technical reason to do that on the T/A but a later mod??? Car looks great.

[benlavigne]

Happy 50th Birthday to my Challenger, today!
SPD was 521, but @6bblgt determined actual in-process date was 527.
It's been through alot of changes, but now back as close to factory-stock as possible (No, @anlauto , I will NOT put the spoiler back on backwards!)
Even though most car shows are off for the Summer (No Carlisle this time), the car will be at MCACN as part of a 1970 Challenger Anniversary display in November...

Ben