72 Challenger Is Back

[71vert340]

 As promised, I'll start a build on the 72 Challenger I put into my shop yesterday. This is the second time I've owned this car. The car was in my shop in 2005 the first time I owned it. A good friend owned the car before me and sold it. I had the car in my shop and had started on a street restoration to use as a cruiser. He decided he wanted it back and I had sold my 74 Charger Rallye and wanted it back. In 2005, He purchased my Charger from the teenager who was selling it and we did a swap so he had his Challenger back and I had my Charger back. I had removed the body side moldings and the vinyl top moldings and welded up all the holes in 2005.  My friend decided to strip the Challenger down to get the front frame rails straightened at a collision shop and had started gathering parts for the car. The front 72 clip was damaged and sold off. He was going to install a 70 front end on it. Time marches on and the car sat outside for years in our dry climate in eastern Washington state. He bought a Challenger Hellcat Redeye and decided he would never get to the 72. He agreed to sell it to me to get the car back together, so this is where I'm at. I hadn't planned on doing another Challenger but my grandson is excited about it since we completed (are they ever really done?) the 74 Charger a couple of months ago. He wants to change it to a 4 speed. I have the pistol grip shifter, floor hump, shifter rods, 833 OD transmission and that's about it. I sold off all my small block bellhousings last year, so... The car was originally a plain Jane 318 auto car. No A/C. The friend will give me a complete running 360 and all the parts I gave him. I have a complete and very nice 70 Challenger front clip. I would need to change the rear side markers and rear tail panel to complete it to a 70. If my grandson loses interest in this project, I'm not sure what I'll do. It needs metal replaced in the drivers side hood hinge area as seen in photo. It needs a 2 inch rear quarter patch and some body dent work on passenger side rear quarter. Rest of the car is free of rust. I'd like to put a fuel injection kit in it. Basically, leave it with the stock look, ie. flat hood. I'm going to try to keep the cost below $10K, so we'll do all the work ourselves including paint. Here's a couple of photos.
Terry W.

[71vert340]

A few more photos. The floor pans and trunk floor have light surface rust. Only surface rust in battery area.
Terry W.

[71vert340]

 I cleaned the car up some. More photos
Terry W.

[RUNCHARGER]

That's a dream project for most of us. I'd be tempted to make it a 71 FY1, T/A clone. You should have the rust repair done in about 10 minutes!

[anlauto]

Wow, that's a solid car, but $10K ??? Seriously ???  I want to see the spread sheet on how that pans out

[Rich G.]

Keep it under 10k 🤣🤣🤣 That ain't gonna happen! LOL. That's what I tell my wife every time I start a new project.

[Brads70]

Wow , nice solid car to start out with!    A 71 T/A of what could have been would be super cool! 

[71vert340]

Wow, that's a solid car, but $10K ??? Seriously ???  I want to see the spread sheet on how that pans out

Do I have to include the cost of the car and the parts I bought years ago and the cost of the complete front clip in the $10k?
For the interior, it needs carpet and headliner. For the exterior, it needs the side marker patch panels ($90), one side marker light ($100), window and door seals and sweeps ($500), a windshield ($450). I already bought the paint. Oh, and after-market front seats ($500). If I go with the 70 taillights, I need the lenses (used $300), tail light panel (Dynacorn $300), Mechanicals ($4k with auto transmission which I have, instead of a 4 speed setup). I may be optimistic, but I like a challenge. This is just going to be a nice street driver, not a show car.
I would like to install a 71 taillight panel as I have 3 complete sets of 71 taillights for a 71 T/A look but finding the tail panel to weld in is difficult. I had one but I sold it a few years ago. I could leave the 72 taillight panel in but... it would look strange.
We'll see how it goes.
Terry W.

[RUNCHARGER]

I would investigate if you can do a few simple mods to use 71 tail lights in a 70 panel. Perhaps just move a few of the little tabs that go behind the taillights. I have never investigated the difference but Have always been curious about it.

[71vert340]

 Here's something interesting I have never noticed on other cars I've done. Orange paint on the top of passenger side cowl.
Terry W.

[71vert340]

 VIN stampings are good.
Terry W.

[71vert340]

Door VIN decal is still on the door.
Terry W.

[Blowout]

Thanks for sharing this build. It'll be fun to follow along.

[YellowThumper]

Cool on the next build.
In for watching the progress.

[71vert340]

 I have patched the driver's side inner fender where the hood hinge bolts on. This area to me seems like a weak area. I was considering weld tacking the capture nut plate for the front hinge bolt in place and also bolting it in with 5/16 bolts/nuts. I've drilled 6 holes in the capture nut plate that I was going to weld in to simulate spot welds but I may now bolt through instead and tack weld along outer edge of plate. I'm also considering adding an additional 18 gauge steel plate on the wheel side of that area for additional strength that is much larger than the captured nut plate. As you can see in the photo, the nuts for the rear hinge bolts are gone. I'm considering in that area to use steel flat bar drilled and tapped with the correct size and spacing for the hinge rear bolts which would be stronger. Remember, this is not a show restoration but a driver. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Terry W.