'69 charger r/t-se: Building my dream car

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Thanks for the kind words Ron :icon_thumleft: And oh yeah you definitely have to, they're a lot of fun to keep track of your progress

And Elk, yeah your thread had some helpful pictures seeing how you did things. Your rear window area especially, helped me know I was at least on the right track. Hopefully I can knock it out as well as you did

- - - Updated - - -

Well last weekend went well, waiting to borrow a friend's mig but I cut out and shaped up my patch for the rot in the corner of the trunk.

Mike was nice enough to give me what was left of a complete floorpan from a Superbird he built, didn't have the spot I needed but I was able to cut shape a section to make a pretty damn perfect match, I don't have much experience with metalwork but I'm really happy how it came out, can't wait to weld it into the car ccasion14:

What was left of the Superbird pan with the section outlined I decided to use to make my patch

 

[747mopar]

Man that roof looks just like mine did, mine was pretty bad in the front as well (vinyl top as well). I cheated, I found a super clean non vinyl top Charger and cut the whole roof off (don't worry, the bottom of the car was shot). I cut the whole thing off frame and all at the factory spot welds, really didn't take very long but you have to find a donor. Progress is looking good, keep up the good work.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Damn you got lucky then! Luckily the front windshield surround and the roofskin itself are both really nice so all I have to do is re-piece together that rear section.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Got a couple other things done last weekend, too. The drivers side rear wheel opening had been pulled by someone at some point, so Mike and I grabbed the nearest pine 4x4 and the biggest hammer I had laying around and persuaded it lol. Came out almost perfectly straight so that was cool

Also finished cleaning up and painting my brake booster/master cylinder and power steering pump which both came out nice. Pretty cool before and after shots







Also sanded the old Mickey Thompson valve covers and hit them with black wrinkle finish. I'll get some pics of that up after I sand and polish the fins and lettering.

 

[tallhair]

Thanks for the updates MSF .. FYI the links in you last post are broke'd

 

[747mopar]

If you have any use for a really nice vacuum canister let me know. My dad made me a stainless one that mounts under the fender so I won't be using it.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Whoops, there we go those pictures should show up now.

If you have any use for a really nice vacuum canister let me know. My dad made me a stainless one that mounts under the fender so I won't be using it.

Oh that's cool, a stainless one would look great. I actually just restored mine last week

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

In case I wasn't already in mad scientist mode doing metal surgery on the Charger, the lightning helped lol :chain saw:
[video=youtube;Ofj7FWYpUYw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofj7FWYpUYw&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/video]

 

[747mopar]

Looks good. I actually have a 1975 Ford Gran Torino that came from there, my cousin grew up in Eugene and drove it back hear. It's the car that got me hooked on muscle cars so when the oppurtunity came up I snatched it. It's not a Mopar but I love it and plan on doing it pro street style with a 460.

 

[Ron 73]

Mr. Speed Freak your getting things looking great! I watched your video there i remember once we had a bad one hear that it was raining and storming so bad i couldn't get back inside, i was getting ready to paint a car and measured my stripes while the wind howled and rain fell, spooky nights with that flashing and thundering especially spooky cause it wasn't a MOPAR!

 

[roadrunnerman]

Everything is looking good.Those will look real sharp when you get them back on.

 

[ChargerRTguy]

Starsky & Hutch

Looks good. I actually have a 1975 Ford Gran Torino that came from there, my cousin grew up in Eugene and drove it back hear. It's the car that got me hooked on muscle cars so when the oppurtunity came up I snatched it. It's not a Mopar but I love it and plan on doing it pro street style with a 460.

If that was mine, would turn it into a Starsky and Hutch...lol.

 

[Basket case]

Great looking Torino. I had one in High School. biggest POS on the planet. But it helped me learn how to work on cars. Everytime I hit junkyard I hoped to see it there.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Well it was a long weekend but luckily no emergency tetanus shots. A friend of mine came over Saturday and we ended spending most of the day just getting the old rotted trunk extension out and chopping out the rest of the cancer we could find. (turns out the infamous body shop just threw the passenger side lower quarter patch right overthe top of the rotted quarter) :banghead:

So then came a solid few hours cleaning up that and the rest of the crappy areas around there and getting the new trunk extension fitted. But as it stands now everything is stripped, sealed, fitted and prepped so the surgery can get wrapped up this week. ccasion14:

Fits like a glove.


First rough cut made on the drivers side quarter, bodyline taped and final cut line marked. Also stripped and sealed the trunk extension on that side to keep future rust from having me tear everything apart again.



And used the random hole in the tail panel behind the rear bumper as a spot to get the welder settings dialed in and ended up patching it pretty nicely.

 

[northerndave]

Lookin really good man keep it up!!

 

[daytona kid]

Lookin good dude! Watching how you repair some things to help me do mine. Thnx for your pics.!

 

[Ron 73]

Looking really good bud! Your coming along great on this Charger its going to be a envy thing with your buddy's soon...

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Thanks guys, I've been lucky to have friends that are down to help out and it's awesome making so much progress

Lookin good dude! Watching how you repair some things to help me do mine. Thnx for your pics.!

Glad to help dude! I'll have some more pictures coming tomorrow when I actually repair something instead of spending all day tearing it apart lol. And if you have any questions on anything feel free to ask

Didn't get much done yesterday because of it but made a pretty fun trip to a town about 45 min away and paid a visit to a friend of mine that used to make mopar reproduction parts, really nice guy and knows these cars inside and out. (same guy I bought the spindles and brakes off his '70 hemi challenger) He still has original parts laying around and can get basically anything I could need, so I picked up a couple parts for a really killer deal ccasion14:

Leafspring bushings, new gauge face decals and finally an awesome pair of reverse lights. Luckily he has a drivetrain-less General Lee on display in his front yard and was nice enough to make a template off it for me to mark and cut the reverse light holes on my car.
:headbang:


And another awesome score, an almost perfect center grille section he had laying around. Haven't decided yet if I'll repair this piece or my original one, but a good find either way


So tomorrow I'm hoping to have the quarter, trunk, and trunk extension all buttoned up. And this weekend will be fun with the rear window rot. Let the good times roll
ccasion14:

 

[hunt2elk]

Didn't get much done yesterday because of it but made a pretty fun trip to a town about 45 min away and paid a visit to a friend of mine that used to make mopar reproduction parts, really nice guy and knows these cars inside and out. (same guy I bought the spindles and brakes off his '70 hemi challenger) He still has original parts laying around and can get basically anything I could need, so I picked up a couple parts for a really killer deal ccasion14:

Leafspring bushings, new gauge face decals and finally an awesome pair of reverse lights. Luckily he has a drivetrain-less General Lee on display in his front yard and was nice enough to make a template off it for me to mark and cut the reverse light holes on my car.
:headbang:

So tomorrow I'm hoping to have the quarter, trunk, and trunk extension all buttoned up. And this weekend will be fun with the rear window rot. Let the good times roll
ccasion14:

Weren't the reverse light holes already stamped in yours? Does your friend sell the gauge face decals?

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Weren't the reverse light holes already stamped in yours? Does your friend sell the gauge face decals?

Nope, the car took some kind of hit to the rear drivers side quarter early in its life (new quarter was brazed on) but they used a '68 quarter and tail panel as replacements so no reverse light holes and that stupid *** plasma-cut marker light hole I'm dealing with fixing. lol

And yeah I think so, you need a set?