1968 Charger: Budget bomber build

[showard]

It looks like you don't have any major rust. Looking good!

 

[wasco]

What was the story on the other Chargers sitting around where you got that one?

 

[70B5Cuda]

What was the story on the other Chargers sitting around where you got that one?

Most are gone. The only two he has left are the two he is keeping/restoring.

 

[whayden2003]

Damn. I got to get one of those needle scalers..
Perfect research topic while I watch this tropical storm drift by.

 

[70B5Cuda]

Before I cut out the trunk floor, both rear frame rail needed patched near the top of the arch. Before aftermarket parts were available for these cars, someone had stripped this car. Apparently they really needed the shock absorber mount/crossmember, but instead of grinding welds to remove it, they used a torch. In the process they cut out sections of the frame rail. I didn't want to replace the whole frame rails so some sections were traced/cut and butt welded in.

Before...

After

 

[showard]

Nice neat job!

 

[whayden2003]

Very good looking work.

 

[70B5Cuda]

I've been trying to find/buy a used rotisserie for the last 3 months and I can't get to one before its sold. I've emailed the seller within 2 hours of listing and it's always already sold. I told a friend and he said "why don't you just use mine?". I didn't even know he had one! So I picked it up and got the Charger mounted. Now I can cut out the trunk floor pan and remove the last of the undercoating from the rear frame rails.

 

[NoCar2023]

Sweet garage!
Oh, nice work on your car.

 

[whayden2003]

I don't think that hospital is going to like you welding and throwing sparks everywhere. Lol

 

[70B5Cuda]

I don't think that hospital is going to like you welding and throwing sparks everywhere. Lol

Thanks but It's not as clean as it looks! Good lighting and shiny painted floors presents well in pictures...

Now that the rear frame rails are patched, the next task is trunk floor pan removal. A previous owner used an acetylene torch to cut out pieces of both passenger side wheel houses in order to scavenge patches for another charger. Again, this car was parted out before aftermarket sheetmetal was available...but it's still a bummer considering how solid the driver's side wheel houses are.

I fired up the compressor and got out the sheetmetal trimmer. I use it to trim around both sides of every frame rail edge. This leaves just a thin piece of sheetmetal along the lip of each frame lip. It took me about 3 hours to get the big pieces out and get to this point...

And the pieces/debris that came out...

 

[Stephen Hotz]

Makes you want to slap them upside the head and ask what they were thinking, but looks like your putting the love back in it.

 

[70B5Cuda]

I spent about 4 hours grinding spot welds and peeling ip the remaining strips of sheetmetal. It doesn't look too different...

 

[Slantscamp]

Looks good. Prepping the frame rails for the new pans is the time consuming part.

 

[70B5Cuda]

I spent about three hours knocking undercoating out of the wheel wheels and from the hump above the rear axle. I think I have about 3-4 more hours until it is completely finished.

 

[70B5Cuda]

Finally found the time to remove the every last bit of the undercoating...

 

[70B5Cuda]

I finally got back to this Charger. I sent it out to the media blaster...

 

[1968rt]

Is that originally TT1 medium green paint code or FF1 light green? your not going original?

 

[70B5Cuda]

I think its TT1...

The day after I got it back, it got sealed in epoxy. First three pics are bare metal. Last two are in primer

 

[70B5Cuda]

New rear crossmember and rear valance...

New one piece trunk floor...

fitting a lower patch...