1969 Charger R/T resurrection

[Propwash]

Cool Beans.......Thanks for the report on the fix with the AMD rockers. Glad to hear they got them sorted out. I won't cringe as much anymore when the words "rocker replacement" comes up down the road. Progress is looking great! Keep up the good work.

 

[hunt2elk]

The day job has been cutting into the time allowed for the play time on the car, but we have gotten some more accomplished. Made a couple of patches for the lower door jamb area. They were not terrible, but I figure as long as I am this far, they might as well be shiney metal again. Just have to clean up the welds.



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The next area we are moving to is the outer wheelwells. These seem to be spot welded every 1/2 inch and then some kind of special crimp. I'm not certain if I would go this route again, or just leave about an inch of the original and then butt weld to it. We spent alot of time removing the old one.

 

[Ron 73]

Looking good Elk, and solid!

 

[MoparMitch]

WOW!! I need to learn how to weld better. It's obvious from looking at your work and that of others around here. Great job . Great project.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Those area's look great. I don't think even the factory could even tell that you welded in the pieces.

 

[hunt2elk]

Those area's look great. I don't think even the factory could even tell that you welded in the pieces.

I think after the final grinding is done they won't be noticable - I'm hoping so anyway.

 

[hunt2elk]

Made some headway this weekend. Got the drivers side wheelhouse welded in. It fit in perfectly. I also removed the passenger side, but instead of drilling all the welds I cut it off close and then used a grinder to remove the remainder. This seemed to be an easier way to go about it at least for me.



Had to take a picture of a previous rust repair in the trunk drop. Fiberglass matting painted right over. This must have been done in the late 70's and still holding strong. lol

 

[moparlee]

That is mighty fine work there hunt2elk! Like how you are attacking one piece of sheetmetal at a time.

 

[hunt2elk]

One or two pieces at a time and all the bracing is making it alot easier to get everything put back in the correct spot. We align the new up with the old that is left and so far all is going well. Next step is the rear quarters.

 

[hunt2elk]

We got the passenger side outer wheelhouse finished up tonight.

Then got started on the left quarter, trunk drop, and corner piece. I have read most everybody rebuilding the rear of a 2nd. generation Charger is having issues with the corner fitment. After alot of measuring and comparing the new stuff to the originals, we found that the rear valance and corner are built correct. The problem is the quarter. We cut along the bend and will fill in the gap with a triangle piece.

 

[747mopar]

Awesome job your doing. Those corners where probably one of the biggest problems I had with fitment on mine (mine where ABS brand). I ended up doing the same thing your doing except "everybody plug your ears I mean eyes" I welded mine in solid and smoothed them out. Lookin good

 

[Propwash]

That's what i'm talking about! Adapt and move on.

 

[hunt2elk]

That's what i'm talking about! Adapt and move on.

That's my theory also. I'm in too deep to turn back now.

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Awesome job your doing. Those corners where probably one of the biggest problems I had with fitment on mine (mine where ABS brand). I ended up doing the same thing your doing except "everybody plug your ears I mean eyes" I welded mine in solid and smoothed them out. Lookin good

I would be willing to bet alot of them get done like that. Or welded and then a seam ground in. And really - whats the difference? It's not like you will be changing the quarters again anytime soon.

 

[hunt2elk]

Went out and shot a picture of the quarter temporily set in place. We will make the top cut tonight and hopefully start welding it in. The rear corner piece to rear valance fit really nice, and the rough triangle welded in. We will clean up this weld when the quarter comes off for the last time. If I would change quarters on a Charger again, I may look at the other brands available. These AMD parts are horrible as far as waviness and ripples go. There are even areas on the body lines that will need to be reworked as well as about a 10 inch spot behind the wheelwell that is pushed out. And this is the better of the two sides. These entire quarters will end up with a skim of filler.

 

[Basket case]

fantastic job!
I got my 1/4s from Year One. Body guy is really pleased with them. fit really nice, just a few dings from hanging around for 5 years. My AMD trunk extensions lined up perfectly. sucks about the Charger 1/4s.

 

[Propwash]

From what i've seen here, moparts, dodgecharger.com and other sites, those Charger AMD quarters really do give folks a lot of headache's..especially the full quarters. Don't feel bad, the hazy body lines, ripples, dings and warps kept me busy sanding skim coat for hours on end with my birds quarters as well. Even enough spoon, file, body hammer work to keep a guy happy. It was the only time during the resto when I was thinking maybe black wasn't such a good idea. Great work on the wheelhouses. The quality of the work is outstanding. Would rival any high end body shop out there and then some. Turned out nice!

 

[hunt2elk]

Crazy minds must think alike. My exact words last night were "there is no way I would consider painting this car black after using these quarters". They are that bad. My better half has had her heart set on a triple black 69 Charger 4-speed since she was 10. And sorry to say, but she is not going to get to live the dream with this car.

 

[roadrunnerman]

That sucks the shape you got the quarters but i'm glad you were able to work with them and make them look decent. Don't sell yourself too short yet. The work you have done on the car, you might still be able to paint it black yet. Right now you're just put out cause of the quarters. Sit back and reform your game plan and it will come back into place.

 

[747mopar]

Wow, there seems to be allot of issues with the AMD stuff. I bought AMD full quarters for mine and the fit was great, only requiring a little filler where I welded the side markers in and one spot on each side right behind the doors. Other than that they blocked out with only primer and I used a long block on them. Makes me wonder if I was lucky or if they are getting damaged in shipping or just wearing out the tooling. Propwash gave me hell for saying how good they where "I'm starting to see why". If you try another brand I will tell you the ABS stuff I bought was horrible, the inner fender required a BFH to make fit. Keep up the good work

 

[hunt2elk]

You may have got lucky, or maybe the full quarters are far better than the skins. Mine do fit nice except where they meet the rear corner piece, and I knew that was to be expected before I bought them. The problems seem to be right in the stampings. Maybe the dies are just getting worn out. The kid helping me says they are the worst quarters he has ever seen including some Chevies he has done. He claims there are grinder marks in the metal leading him to believe the factory tried to make them look better. I don't want to waste the time and money getting another set at this point. And I have confidence in his body finishing skills.
As far as painting it black, this is a good excuse for me to tell her it may not look the best. While I do like black Chargers, there seems to be alot of them around and I want a color that stands out a little more.