'71 R/T, fixing a parts car

[Flatdad]

He double check your deck filler.  I have seen repos that are way to long.  The one I had fit OVER an BOS piece I have. 

Do you remember what brand your repro filler panel was? Mine is from Goodmark, my quarter and trunk gutter is from AMD. While test fitting the original trunk lid, I did notice the gap had opened up substantially on the side with the new panels. Maybe my filler panel is the culprit.

I received a package in the mail yesterday, a used Performer 383 intake. I plan on replacing the TM6 single plane with it. The center divider is milled out though. Not sure if I should try to add it back in or not...

[Morty426]

He double check your deck filler.  I have seen repos that are way to long.  The one I had fit OVER an BOS piece I have. 

Do you remember what brand your repro filler panel was? Mine is from Goodmark, my quarter and trunk gutter is from AMD. While test fitting the original trunk lid, I did notice the gap had opened up substantially on the side with the new panels. Maybe my filler panel is the culprit.

I'm 99% sure it's a Goodmark piece.  I measured it and it's 56 1/2" across.  The NOS filler measures 56 1/4".

So see what you have

[Ric]

wow, that is an awesome build, I won't know where to begin...

[redgum78]

Hi Flatdad,

I just spotted you post now. Great work you are doing! I am fully onboard with your plans to put it on the road. I wanted to restore mine originally but time and money both helped me make the choice to get it running and on the road instead (not there yet). The alternative was looking like 10 plus years.
Many would disagree but I think we are doing these cars a favor just making them usable again. Arguably it makes them a more likely to be fully restored at some point in the future as well.

If you havn't already, take a look at my thread when you get a moment, lots of similarities.

Dan

[Flatdad]

Again, apologies for lacking pictures.

First off, a HUGE THANKS to Morty426, he found my window brackets I was needing. THEN, he clued me in on a width discrepancy in my Goodmark deck filler panel. I definitely have an extra 1/4" or so that needs addressed.

Update: I had a rare weekend to myself and spent most of it in the garage. I had the welder humming and the heat rolling!

The repair work doesn't look like a whole lot, but it was time consuming for sure. I made about 7 different small patch pieces for the rear door jam and FINALLY got it pieced back together. The door closes like it should, and the new quarter lines up. A BIG win. I can't wait to post before and after shots.

The passenger trunk drop off and rear cross-member extension was clamped in for the umpteenth time. I reshaped the rear flange to meet the tail panel, marked and drilled spot-weld holes for all the pieces, then prepped and primed. Time consuming steps that will never show, but had to be done.

The last couple things that were done involved starting on the outer wheel-house & making a plan for replacing the roof. Not looking forward to these, but they gotta be done.

Here's an old pic so there's something to look at:

[71-440]

I love reading through threads like this. You guys that do this to what most people would call a junker is amazing.
A lot time, money, skill and love of Mopars!   

[70 Challenger Lover]

I love doing that kind of stuff. With so many items reproduced, there are almost no cars that can't be saved. What kills them is when you have a car that needs all new metal but the seller thinks it's worth 30k. Obviously those cars won't get restored simply because the initial sale can't happen.

[Flatdad]

Wow this thread really fell by the wayside. I've been pretty excited about my junk Hemi build lately, & other priorities of life have taken attention away from this project.

It isn't a dead project though! I socked new metal into the passenger outer wheelhouse, and it needs just 4 small spots fixed or addressed before I can call it good. I think the next step for this car should be resizing that deck filler to take out the extra 1/4 inch. Then maybe I can finally weld in the trunk drop-off extension on that side!

A couple weeks back I spied front floor pans for sale on ebay $252 so I grabbed them too.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Wow this thread really fell by the wayside. I've been pretty excited about my junk Hemi build lately, & other priorities of life have taken attention away from this project.

It isn't a dead project though! I socked new metal into the passenger outer wheelhouse, and it needs just 4 small spots fixed or addressed before I can call it good. I think the next step for this car should be resizing that deck filler to take out the extra 1/4 inch. Then maybe I can finally weld in the trunk drop-off extension on that side!

A couple weeks back I spied front floor pans for sale on ebay $252 so I grabbed them too.

Let's see some more pics! That should reignite the thread.

[Chryco Psycho]

The Performer 383 is not nearly as bad as the Performer 440 , the stock intake makes a lot more power than the 440 perf
Anyway anything you can do to increase airflow in the Performer 383 will help , of course if you can find a low deck Holley Street Dominator intake it will make a lot better power

[Flatdad]

I tried to buy a cheap digital camera over my lunch hour yesterday, but I couldn't find a sales associate to take my money! Oh, well. I hope to get a camera sooner rather than later so all of you can share in my butchery adventures!

Last night, I decided I would work on the car no matter what. I figured, there just isn't going to be time for me to work on it unless I burn some midnight oil. So, at about 10pm, I chugged myself full of caffeine drinks, cranked up the radio until it was blaring loud, and attacked the car!

I wired rust, threw sparks, cut steel, & set the undercoating on fire a few times.

What did it accomplish? A few patch pieces fitted & mostly welded on my passenger outer wheelhouse. To look at it, it doesn't look like much, but it sure was time consuming. Had to call it quits at 2am for safety sake.

Progress is Progress!

[70 Challenger Lover]

Sounds great. Looking forward to seeing some pics!

Depending on the location, I will sometimes apply a coating to encapsulate any remaining rust residue like Rust Stop from KBS coatings. Unless you sandblast, it can be hard to get every last speck of old corrosion off and this process is a good way to create a strong barrier. It can be sanded afterward along with other repairs and covered with a good epoxy primer before final body work and top coats. I did this after stripping off a roof skin. The roof bracing will never be accessible again with the new skin and headliner in so I wanted to give as much protection as I could even though it was an extra step.

[Flatdad]

I tried out my new camera today, & promptly found out it only stores two pictures without an SD card. Anyway, last night I re-organized the garage and managed to find time to work on the Challenger.

The center deck filler brace looked kinda thin, so I went on a fact finding mission with the wire wheel. It was more holes than steel, in the bottom 'trough' area, so I fabbed up a patch piece. The upper part of the passenger quarter that we cut off was still good factory steel, I lopped off a hunk & went to work. It didn't turn out too bad & it fit great. I was able to chop out the tab for the trunk spring with a BMF hammer & a sharp, cold chisel.

[Flatdad]

Monster Mopar Swap Meet was this weekend, I bought parts!

1 full set of window felts/fuzzies $25
1 passenger door $50

The door isn't rusted through anywhere, but it does have a couple complex dents to deal with.

Progress!

[70 Challenger Lover]

You sure scored on the window felts. Those are around $160 for a new set. I need to find some for my doors but hesitant to spend that much on a car I'm gonna try to sell.