restomod ragtop

[CincyCuda]

Hey everybody, I'm new to this and not very computer literate , so please bear with me.....I started a project several years ago. I will try to get you caught up to the present time little by little......It started out as a '71 CHALLENGER CONVERTIBLE plum crazy 318 auto. It had been abused and changed many times over the years [note the triple white]...........How I got it is a story in itself........As you know, these are not real easy to find,especially here in RUSTY ohio. I told my cousin in austin texas to search for me , he found many good cars, but not a '71 VERT. After a year he told me he found one on a trailer in a truckstop. The driver said he was making a delivery to sacramento california, so he attached his business card to it.Months later , he got a call ,then called me. Turns out he bought it from RUSTY michigan to ship to sunny cali.[what was he smoking ? ]  So this car traveled thousands of miles just to end up a few hundred miles down I-75 in ohio  So I made a deal that included delivery and I was the proud owner of a rusty JH27 ...........It needed almost everything, but I wanted to build a restomod, so it was perfect.

[JS29]

You have your work cut out for you.     What color and what drive are you planing to go with? 

[CincyCuda]

FC7 paint  XV motorsports level 2 suspen. I am already well into that,pics upcoming

[JS29]

Engine, transmission, rear end, gears. Inquiring minds want to know! 

[CincyCuda]

Late model 392 scatpack,I have a brewers rebuilt A-833 with a gearvendors unit on it. american powertrain hydralic clutch using a stock 340 bellhousing. 8 3/4 rear sure-grip with 3:55......gearvenders unit was built for trans and rear gearing .XV kit uses corvette control arms , spindles and brakes up front,wilwood on the rear

[soundcontrol]

Nice! Following.
Doing a restomod with my G-code 70 Convertible also.

[usraptor]

Nice project.  Very ambitious.     Keep us posted on your progress. 

[anlauto]

Nice to see any convertible get save, and the resto-mod idea is great way to go with a rusty 318 car.

[YellowThumper]

Wow that is a full project there.
Keep us posted for sure.

[CincyCuda]

A few more pics from the early stages

[CincyCuda]

getting into the heavy metal work, adding frame connecters and stiffeners , convertibles need all the help they can get . The quarters were on and off many times to get the outer wheelhouses positioned right.It now becomes a manual shift car . I do not move this fast , just trying to get you up to speed. My goal is to hear it run in 2020...

[soundcontrol]

Great work! Did you get the quarters on there without major mods to the outer wheelhouses? I had to make a cut in mine (driver side), didn't get to the passenger side yet. Didn't seem to fit well, different curve? and I cut it with the old wheelhouse as a reference.
How are you solving the top of the quarters, towards the top, see you removed everything there, seems difficult. I used skins.

[CincyCuda]

Good to see another convertible being saved ! I used AMD panels, the outer wheelhouse and quarters fit together nicely . I cut the wheelhouse to match  what was left of the original, put it in place with one clamp to hold it inside the trunk, then hung the quarter. Then released the clamp so I could move wheelhouse up/down ...in/out or rotate it slightly forward or back. Do what you have to do to get a good fit to the quarter, then clamp securely at wheel lip.......From inside the trunk and in wheelwell use cleco clips ,screws,clamps or even tack welds to make sure it will not move.........remove quarter and weld wheelhouse......test fit as you go if you think something may have moved.       My quarters were rusted at the top flange ,so it was unusable. I used full hardtop quarters and upper body panel at decklid.....I rough cut them within a few inches of the flange, after they were installed I trimmed and used a hand flanger while test fitting the stainless trim...........hope this helps,good luck

[soundcontrol]

Yep, that what I did also to make it fit, hopefully my passenger side fits better. Do you have pictures of the work you did around the decklid/conertible top, just curious how you did it, seems difficult. Thinking about using panel bond on the quarter to wheelhouse edge, seems like a good spot for it, since it can be clamped down good, and it will never rust if I do.

[CincyCuda]

Panel bond is excellent if preped and used properly, I use it all the time, and on this car. You don't need this but I have a resistance welder at my disposal, it welds right thru wet panelbond,giving the factory type spot welds around the wheelwell. Like you said this is the best sealing you can get.  Building the upper flange was slow and tedious . It is not as pretty as the factory but my trim fits over it nicely. I am going thru old files trying to find more pictures, I will post as I find them