Another R/T going back on the road (finally)

[70 Challenger Lover]

Because of the rust around then lower edge of the rear window, water got in and caused the trunk floor to get pretty bad. It was fairly solid but there was some heavy pitting and a few pin holes. I considered a new floor but I really don't want this to become a restoration project so I choose to repair in place. It came out nice in the end and it should be a lasting repair but if I keep it and later restore the car, I can always replace it then.

Basically, I dug out all old body sealer and sandblasted it to bare steel. Then I acid washed it and painted on KBS Rust Seal paint followed by epoxy primer to seal it all up. Then I used filler to smooth out the pitting followed by more epoxy sealer. Lastly, it got covered by color. I think it came out pretty nice but it turned out to be quite a bit of work. Might have been easier to just replace the floor after all.

[70 Challenger Lover]

On the inside, it was pretty much rust free with a bit of surface rust here and there. Took forever but I dug out ever bit of body sealer and sandblasted the whole inside including the firewall and hinge pillars. I even used a power sander to smooth out all the rough welds the factory left behind. New body sealer followed by epoxy primer. Lastly, color. I'm super happy with how good it turned out.

I think Go Mango has to be the coolest color ever! Really impressed how well the paint shop got the factory color. Had to order it from a place in San Diego as my local shop couldn't find a paint code so old.

[Shoooter]

looks good. Do you do all your own painting as well?

[70 Challenger Lover]

looks good. Do you do all your own painting as well?

I'm very much amateur. I painted my other car and it looks awesome....at 10 feet or more. That was my first attempt though and I used two stage metallic. On this car, my thought was it's not a restoration so why not practice on interior, trunk, engine compartment, and the roof which will eventually be hidden for the most part. I'm using a single stage acrylic urethane and it is surprisingly easy. If I could be certain of a great result, I'd go ahead and paint the whole car. That fresh orange paint is tempting me.

Soon, I will move on to the front end. Need to replace inner fender panels and redo the radiator supports. While I'm there I will double check frame rail measurements. Eventually, I will clean up the fenders and hood and probably repaint them just so the car isn't multi colored. Since they are external, I will put a lot of attention into the prep work. If I can get the paint down right, that will be my cue to do the rest of the car.

[70 Challenger Lover]

I finally found the old video I made years ago of the car running. The motor had been rebuilt and was barely broken in before sitting for a while. After I got the car home, I got it running but it is still going to need some final tuning before I start driving it around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rd5ssIrsck&feature=share

[70 Challenger Lover]

So I finished cleaning up the trunk and popped in new plugs. Got everything back in including an extra set of really nice tail lights I had lying around. The original trunk seal was in perfect condition so I just left it alone. Not like I'll be leaving it out in the rain anyway.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Forgot my pics

[70 Challenger Lover]

On the inside, added new floor plugs. I cleaned and painted the e brake assembly and got that back in. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the shifter handle out so I just cleaned the old boot in place. Surprisingly not ripped but I might spray some dye on it to give it a crisper darker black look. The chrome turned out really nice. No pits at all and polished right up. Need to probably spring for a decent looking set of handles though. The rear windows had been removed by someone so I cleaned everything up really nice and got them back in the car. They roll up and down like new again. The door windows have never been out. Rather than pull them, I just greased and oiled everything in place. They work pretty well but may have to break down and rebuild them right someday.

Everything on the firewall (heater box, dash, gauges, pedals, column, etc) are restored waiting to go back in. I'm dying to put it all together but I need to get the front end fixed up so I can paint the engine compartment.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Busy day today. Time to tackle the front end. It had been stuffed at some point in it's life and badly repaired. The hood hinges pushed back into the upper cowl (which was the big reason I replaced it). The inner fenders were wrinkled and straightened forward of the shock towers. Doors open and close nicely, column shaft had never been collapsed, alignment was good and all sheet metal fit good. I did not see any evidence that energy transferred beyond the engine compartment. Nevertheless, I've always worried that the front rails could be bent up or to one side slightly.

I started by taking tons of measurements and the rails were just right in height. I ran a string down both sides and they checked out perfect. Next I braced the car so I could cut out front metal without fear of anything sagging.

The front 10 inches or so of both rails look like hell. I'm going to carefully cut away botched repairs and spend some time making them right. The radiator support came from another car and they didn't even trim off the extra metal. They just tack welded it on and added screws. Looks awful but that's gonna change fast.

[70 Challenger Lover]

So right after posting this, wife got a Facebook memory from eight years ago when I bought the car.

[70 Challenger Lover]

First frame rail repaired. Not perfect but I think it came out pretty nice overall. Important thing is it's nice and straight and plenty strong again.

[redgum78]

Looks terrific Challenger Lover! I will be following great interest.
I am not sure who is closest to driving their RT?
Yours looks closer with an assembled engine and drive train and looks like you have your brakes and suspension sorted as well. But you have a bit of work in the front end.

We can keep each other motivated

Cheers

Dan

[70 Challenger Lover]

Yeah for some reason the owner before me rebuilt the engine, brakes and suspension. After I picked it up eight years ago, I drove it around town one day. It actually drove nice. No pulling or odd noises.

I should have the other frame rail repaired tomorrow and then I can start welding in the radiator support and inner fender panels followed by more paint. Going out of town right after Christmas so it will have to wait a couple weeks.

Nice thing for me is I already have my seats, dash, steering column, heater box etc. all restored and ready to install. I'm going to attempt putting on my own vinyl top and headliner. It will be a first for me but I like trying new restoration things.

[redgum78]

Yeah for some reason the owner before me rebuilt the engine, brakes and suspension.
Nice thing for me is I already have my seats, dash, steering column, heater box etc. all restored and ready to install. I'm going to attempt putting on my own vinyl top and headliner. It will be a first for me but I like trying new restoration things.

It should go back together pretty fast once you have your front end sorted out. I am going to do my headliner as well, no vinyl top on mine though. You sound a bit like me, learning new skills is part of the journey.
The other good thing about doing it yourself is how well you get to know the car. it gives you the confidence to jump in and drive it anywhere because you know you can fix it if necessary.

I look forward to more pictures and updates after Christmas.

[70 Challenger Lover]

There's a certain satisfaction in doing the stuff yourself. When you're out talking with other car people showing off the cars, it's nice to be able to say you did it yourself even if it isn't show car perfection. I think most other car people appreciate that kind of stuff. We also see bad repairs either in our cars or others so we know that paying a shop to do the work is no guarantee that it will be done right. I'm certain that the mess I'm fixing now on this car was from some body shop in the 70s. What they did worked in that the car was straight and held together but it sure wasn't pretty.

I'm looking forward to seeing your car move forward too. How's the parts situation over there? Must cost a fortune to get big stuff shipped over?