1974 Challenger Restomod

[Dmod1974]

Nice! Makes me wanna take my doors apart just to get them like that.

Thanks!  Be careful what you wish for; if they're anything like mine were after being stripped down to bare metal you'll be kicking yourself, LOL.  Mine required a lot of rust repairs on the bottom of the shell and flange.  The AMD skin fit PERFECT though.  I have the driver side door and fender on and the work to make the gaps perfect isn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Hopefully the passenger side is no different.

[Dmod1974]

It has been a HOT week, but I managed to knock out the passenger door frame repairs and reskinning along with initial mock up of the front end.  Most of the panels and trim are fitting up ok so far.

The passenger frame required extensive rust repair; much more than the driver's side.  I used the same process as the other to epoxy prime everything, undercoat the skin, and mount the door to the body to hammer the flanges and glue the bottom.  I removed it via the pins to finish hammering the hinge side and do the plug welds.  I will say, trying to get the pins lined back up while fighting the rollers and spring was a PITA; I don't think I saved any time doing it that way.







I'll have to do some minor gap tweaking on the 1/4 side, but not much.  The fender side will need minor grinding since I'm a little too close.






The grille and headlight buckets fit ok; I definitely need to tweak the way the buckets fit the AMD fenders though.  I have to enlarge the rear grille mounting slots too; not sure if the issue is the grille or fenders, but I suspect the fenders.






The front valance needs some work too.  I can get everything lined up and fitting EXCEPT for the two mounting points to the inner rails.  I suspect the issue is the center mounting to the hood latch support not being right and preventing the back of the valance from rotating upward enough.  I'll probably need to modify the AMD valance bracket since the hood latch and hood gaps are spot on now.

I do have an issue with the fender body lines matching the door skins on both sides too, and I'm certain it is the fenders.  My 1/4 lines fit great, the rocker gaps are even, and there is no taper on the fender gaps either.  I mocked up all of the trim and seals with no drama too.  I'm thinking I'll try loosening the fender to rocker nuts and using a jack to force the fender up so the body lines match?  If that doesn't work I think I'll be cutting and rewelding the fenders, which I'd really rather not do!

I've got final fitting and leading of the seams to do before I move to the interior to strip/prime/seal/Lizard Skin.

[cudamadd]

Great work I love it when owners can do a lot of the work them selfs .  Most people who have plenty of money and palm out most of the work  ,or in a position to pay large sums of dollars for cars ,never really under stand how much work and time that  goes into these old cars .  But on the other hand some people don't care .  You can always see the labor of love for our beloved vehicles  ,well done keep up the good work 

[JonH]

There should be a bracket/mount just in front of the doors on each front fender. You might be able to pull the fenders up there. I think you replaced that part of the pillar. Are the brackets there?

[YellowThumper]

You should add some weight to the doors before final acceptance of your gaps. IIRC it is something like 50 lbs per door.
Hopefully someone can chime in if this is correct.

Get a bag of sand and lay it on door for the check.

Looking great though.

[Dmod1974]

There should be a bracket/mount just in front of the doors on each front fender. You might be able to pull the fenders up there. I think you replaced that part of the pillar. Are the brackets there?

Yup, both are in place.  If I understand how those work, it'll change the height of the entire top of the fender too.  Right now, they are both level with the hood so changing it would throw the alignment off.  I also need to raise the body line of the fender up, that's why I was thinking I could force the bottom of it up more with a jack or blocks while tightening the rocker nuts down.

[Dmod1974]

You should add some weight to the doors before final acceptance of your gaps. IIRC it is something like 50 lbs per door.
Hopefully someone can chime in if this is correct.

Get a bag of sand and lay it on door for the check.

Looking great though.

Since the doors and panels will ultimately come off again for final paint, is that still necessary?  Will the weight really affect the door gaps when fully latched, or just when open?  I'll definitely do it if it'll make a difference.  I thought it was just to compensate for the sag that a fully loaded door would have so you don't bang the door on the strikers or rub anything when opening.

[YellowThumper]

You should add some weight to the doors before final acceptance of your gaps. IIRC it is something like 50 lbs per door.
Hopefully someone can chime in if this is correct.

Get a bag of sand and lay it on door for the check.

Looking great though.

Since the doors and panels will ultimately come off again for final paint, is that still necessary?  Will the weight really affect the door gaps when fully latched, or just when open?  I'll definitely do it if it'll make a difference.  I thought it was just to compensate for the sag that a fully loaded door would have so you don't bang the door on the strikers or rub anything when opening.

Never repaired as extensive as you but have heard numerous times it does.
Maybe @Cuda Cody can chime in for guidance.
Good luck.

[Cuda Cody]

Yes, you need to add weight during the body work and alignment stages.  It will make a huge different in the final results regardless if you paint them off the car. 

Put the weight in the doors now and see what I'm talking about.  You can use chain and spread it along the bottom or any other weight you have.  Don't put it all at one end, spread it evenly at the bottom of the inside of the door.

[Dmod1974]

Ok then, I'll get 50lbs of chain and recheck everything before worrying about the fender body line alignment.  Thanks!

[Dmod1974]

After entirely too much time, I'm wrapping up the last bit of metal restoration on this car!  No more rust for hopefully a very long time!  After spending entirely too much time trying to patch and form compound bends near the rear window, fix a partially sagged roof near the right upper area of the rear window from somebody probably sitting on it, and trying to get dynamat extreme off I decided to just replace the damn roof skin like I probably should have done in the first place.

I ordered a new roof skin from Jegs (Goldstar brand) and it honestly fits like a glove for the most part.  The only areas that needed work were the very front corners that mate up with the A pillars.  This was seriously one of the easiest panels to fit on the car.

I got all of the roof frame rust stripped and repaired and everything primed.  I should have it installed later this week.  After that, trans tunnel and crossmember mods for the T56 Magnum before I epoxy prime and Lizard skin sound/thermal barrier the interior.  Then she's getting shipped out to get painted and final fitted.  Finally moving onto some fun stuff!

[anlauto]

Some serious progress there, and more importantly , another one saved

[YellowThumper]

Great update there.
Was wondering because you had previously set the update frequency.
Must be great feeling to be so much closer.

[soundcontrol]

Nice work! 

[Dmod1974]

Some serious progress there, and more importantly , another one saved

More or less, LOL.  Lot's and lot's of new metal on it.  But, it has sentimental value so it's worth it to me.