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

[70 Challenger Lover]

Bought a cool RT years ago but didn't really have time to play with it so it sat while I messed around with other projects. Lately I've been wanting to get it back on the road though not sure if I eventually would sell it or keep it. For now, any work I do will be with the assumption I'm never getting rid of it so I'm making sure whatever I do won't ever need attention again at some point.

It's a 70 RT with the original 383 and four speed. It's an original Go Mango car with black interior and a black vinyl top.

When I got it, it had suffered moderate front end damage that was poorly repaired. Here's some of the pics from the original purchase and I'll post more of the work I've done.

[Cuda Cody]

   Very cool car!      

[70 Challenger Lover]

  Very cool car!      

So Cody, been using some of your excellent videos over the years but for this car, I redid the steering column last week since it was already out. That series of four was quite helpful. It came out awesome!

[70 Challenger Lover]

So the car had been off the highway since around 2000. The guy I bought it from decided that the first step should be to rebuild the original engine, the brakes, and the suspension. Not sure why he started there since there was front end sheet metal work that was in desperate need of attention. No matter though as it saved me some money in the end. It runs incredibly strong.

The original hood and fenders were gone so I assumed they got crumpled and tossed. The inner fender walls had some crinkles that had been straightened and the radiator support was switched out with one from a donor car. Badly installed though so at some point soon, it will be fixed.

The first area I choose to deal with was the upper cowl. It got some crinkling from the hood hinges and also was poorly fixed. While the car was mostly rust free, it did have some rust along the lower edges of the front and rear window that I wanted to fix at the same time.

[70 Challenger Lover]

Once the cowl top was off, I carefully grafted the Sequence number onto the new top and smoothed in out nicely inside and out. The lower cowl was checked for alignment and rust but turned out fine. I sprayed the inside with a nice epoxy primer and couple coats of black for protection since I'll never have it apart again. I spent some time cutting out any rust I found in the front and back window openings, welding in new metal. The new cowl top fit perfect and all the measurements came out great. I even test fit the new windshield and it fit just right.

[xx88man]

I love your Challenger.... nice work! I'm looking forward to this one! 

[70 Challenger Lover]

I decided to section repairs at the rear window rather than replace the entire panel. The trunk lid aligned perfectly and I didn't want to chance screwing it all up. After repairs were welded in and smoothed out, I sandblasted only the roof in and out, along with the interior, just to get rid of any surface rust. I skim coated my repairs with a metal to metal filler. Eventually, it will all get epoxy primed and painted orange just for added protection.

[Cuda Cody]

Pretty clean starting point too.   

[js27]

Nice work looking forward to more photo's.
JS27

[70 Challenger Lover]

Nice work looking forward to more photo's.
JS27

Been working on this on my days off for the past two months. Have lots more to post but I really want to make some progress on the car today so I'll put more up tonight.

[anlauto]

Nice to see another one being saved

Odd choice to want several patches, and filler in the rear deck panel, then to replace as one whole part with no filler  but whatever works best for you is what's important and it's nice to see you're handling all the work yourself 

[Chryco Psycho]

Great to see another one being restored correctly 

[70 Challenger Lover]

Nice to see another one being saved

Odd choice to want several patches, and filler in the rear deck panel, then to replace as one whole part with no filler  but whatever works best for you is what's important and it's nice to see you're handling all the work yourself 

Yeah I really went back and forth on that. The filler is merely a skim coat to make sure any pinholes and imperfections were covered. All seams were welded though and ground smooth so I probably could have got away with no metal to metal filler since a vinyl top will be covering it all anyway. Because the trunk lid had hinges, And because everything already lined up beautifully, I didn't want to be in a situation where I regretted removing it after the fact. I've had those 'project creep' issues before.

[usraptor]

Looks like a great solid, for the most part, project.  Great work so far.  I admire your skills. 

[autoxcuda]

I'm just over in Simi and work in Saticoy.

I have lots of 70 trim and small parts, side windows...