1974 Challenger Restomod

[daaboots]

Sweet work man! I'm plugging away on a 74 Challenger as well. I started on the rear section of the car first so I'll likely use some of your pics as a reference when I make my way to the front.

Would love to hear more about the Megasquirt EFI system. I plan on building up the 440 I have with EFI once I get the body finished.

[Dmod1974]

It's coming along, coming along. I think you made the right call as to where you bonded your 1/4 and you don't have to worry too much as to it's setting up. As you know, it's 2K and it'll be harder than Chinese arithmetic inside a couple of hours. As for the 1/4 to rear valance gap, welcome to E body-land! I've seen gaps in factory cars that are 1/2" all the way to an 1/8th". If you can't get to split the difference on the rt 1/4 then you may be into sectioning the valance and I'd do it in the slot for the bmpr grd, it's shorter and virtually flat. Hell, you'll be able to get a part time job in a bodyshop by the time you're done!     

LOL, I'm not sure I'd ever do this again, at least not on a car from the Midwest!  I don't know how some of you guys do this day in and day out, on multiple cars no less!

[Dmod1974]

Sweet work man! I'm plugging away on a 74 Challenger as well. I started on the rear section of the car first so I'll likely use some of your pics as a reference when I make my way to the front.

Would love to hear more about the Megasquirt EFI system. I plan on building up the 440 I have with EFI once I get the body finished.

Thanks!  I've watched your videos and it's great seeing someone else in a similar boat.  Misery enjoys company!   

Megasquirt is awesome.  It can support the most basic of installs and it can also do anything the high end ones can.  The customization and flexibility is amazing.  I'm using more features and functions than most muscle car guys, and yet still barely tapping into its capabilities.  One caveat is that you will likely have to do all of the tuning on your own.  There are very few MS proficient tuners out there, and many shops get really uneasy about using it.  For things that require dyno tuning, expect to do some hunting or find a friend at a speed shop that is willing to use something different.

If you have any specific questions, lemme know and I'll do my best to answer them.

[jimynick]

It's coming along, coming along. I think you made the right call as to where you bonded your 1/4 and you don't have to worry too much as to it's setting up. As you know, it's 2K and it'll be harder than Chinese arithmetic inside a couple of hours. As for the 1/4 to rear valance gap, welcome to E body-land! I've seen gaps in factory cars that are 1/2" all the way to an 1/8th". If you can't get to split the difference on the rt 1/4 then you may be into sectioning the valance and I'd do it in the slot for the bmpr grd, it's shorter and virtually flat. Hell, you'll be able to get a part time job in a bodyshop by the time you're done!     

LOL, I'm not sure I'd ever do this again, at least not on a car from the Midwest!  I don't know how some of you guys do this day in and day out, on multiple cars no less!

Ha! Then think of us dumb schmucks working on Canadian cars! On my 74, I changed both full 1/4's, both inner and outer wheelhouses, the trunk floor (1pc), deck lid and both gutters. I salvaged the rear upper and lower body panels. Did I mention the front full floor, firewall, cowl, lft and rt door hinge pillars and frt inner aprons as well as the rt frt rail? Believe me brother, you're in a rather large club and we all seem to have the same mental deficiency that causes us to fix these rust buckets!     

[YellowThumper]

Wow look at all these 74s coming out of the woodwork.

[Dmod1974]

Ripped out the passenger side floor pans today.  Had I know I'd be in this deep I would have gone with a one piece front floor, but oh well.  The torsion bar crossmember is in great shape on this side too, as is the back end of the front rail. 

You can't see it in this pic but the rear inner rocker was so rotten that I could not weld the leaf spring hangers on the rear frame assembly on that side when I initially installed it a few months ago.  The shell was so light and the back end so stiff that the body casters still worked ok on that corner.  I now have the car leveled back out and that corner is being supported by a jack stand under a solid part of the rocker, for now.





The new AMD front pan fits like a glove so far.



The rear pan fits so so, just like on the other side.  The back part that mates up to the rear seat area doesn't follow the bends the same way.  I'm hoping I can get it to conform as I screw it down, otherwise I'll have to cut and reform it.



The reason I'm doing the right floor pans now is because I want to weld in the other subframe connector and lock the structural parts of this chassis together before I start on the inner and outer rocker panel next. 

My plan is to sheet metal screw the new pans into the rocker ledge temporarily for now and weld/bond them permanently to the firewall, rails, crossmember, and each other.  That way I can support the body by the subframe connector, frame rail, and crossmember since that will all be a structurally sound assembly.  I'll also keep the existing bracing inside the car to keep everything from moving. 

I'll then replace the inner and outer rockers and index them to everything else which should make it easy to locate them properly.  Thoughts on that approach?

[jimynick]

Hang the door and check your door/ rocker gaps before you weld it up. This is your chance to out-do the factory in their alleged panel fitting. 

[dodj]

Wow look at all these 74s coming out of the woodwork.

The rarest ebodies!
Unlike those run - of-the - mill '70s......seems like everybody has one of those..... 

[jimynick]

Wow look at all these 74s coming out of the woodwork.

The rarest ebodies!
Unlike those run - of-the - mill '70s......seems like everybody has one of those..... 

LOL! Yowsir! If you ever get down to the Cambridge area, let me know and I'll buy you a few beers for stating that fabulous truth!   

[YellowThumper]

Haha the few and the proud.
Mine is even more rare with the 3 spd option. Obviously an option no one wanted. 4spd now though.

[jimynick]

Haha the few and the proud.
Mine is even more rare with the 3 spd option. Obviously an option no one wanted. 4spd now though.

[dodj]

Wow look at all these 74s coming out of the woodwork.

The rarest ebodies!
Unlike those run - of-the - mill '70s......seems like everybody has one of those..... 

LOL! Yowsir! If you ever get down to the Cambridge area, let me know and I'll buy you a few beers for stating that fabulous truth!   

I will be taking you up on that sir...   

Not sure if your idea of 'a few' is the same as mine.....   

[Dmod1974]

Managed to find some time to strip the RH front frame rail further.  Overall, it's in pretty good shape.  It does have a few areas that need repairing up front though.  What gauge steel are the rails made out of?

This passed the pick hammer test, but it's pitted pretty badly so I plan on patching it.  Pretty sure the factory 1974 bumper brackets covered this area and explain the rust damage.



Crush damage from overtightening the Alterktion subframe supports, and probably thin as well from rust forming behind the factory bumpstop.  I'll patch it and sleeve the bolt holes.



Engine bay side right behind the shock tower.  Don't ask me why it rusted bad here, and only here in this small area!  Completely solid all the way around it...



Weird pinhole that formed behind where the bumpstop must have been and trapped water/debris.



I also managed to get the inside of the exposed rail and crossmember rust encapsulated and epoxy primed, along with priming the new panels and newly installed splash panel.  AMD shipped me 2 LH support brackets for the splash panels. but I was able to rebend and fabricate a RH bracket out of the extra LH one.  I learned some tricks after doing the driver side pans, and this side only took a fraction of the time as a result so far.  I should have the new floor pans welded in this weekend if I get time. 

[YellowThumper]

Wow you are really moving along on this.
Thanks for updates.

[soundcontrol]

Nice to get inside the frame rails! I sand blasted and used 2k epoxy where I could get to them, (under the trunk floor) and the ones where I did not get to I found a great hard wirebrush with a long shaft, made for chimneys, fit the frame rails perfectly, then I used Eastwoods internal frame coating there. Got perfect coverage with their 360 nozzle, checked inside with a USB camera.