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

[mopar4don]

I could use a set myself.... Sounds like a group buy!

 

[hunt2elk]

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?

I will need to do something with mine. What does he get for them - I would need the set with the tic-toc-tac. I guess I have been putting off thinking about the gauges. Are doing some sort of amp to volt meter conversion on yours? I haven't decided if I am yet. Every wire will be new, so I am not sure if it is necessary.

 

[Budnicks]

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?

The Chargers looken' great with your progress, It's alway a daunting job to attack a full on restoration/rust repairs, panel replacements/sheet metal/rust repairs when you haven't done it before, good luck with the rest of the build, I will be looken' in from time to time, just to see how your doing & the progress....

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Elk and don, I got them from him for $60 but I'm pretty sure they're from these guys. Probably be the same price just to order from their website
http://www.performancecargraphics.com/Dash_Stuff/Gauge_Faces/68-70_B-body_Clock-Tach.htm

And I know what you mean, I was hesitant to tear apart my cluster but figured I might as well as long as it's already out of the car. I'll be doing the new faces and replacing the stock lightbulbs with LED's so hopefully it'll come out nice.

As for the ammeter I don't have any plans on converting to a voltmeter right now. If anything I'll just wire an under-dash unit or something to my ignition or another keyed 12 volt but I'm not really worried about it. Everything forward of the firewall will be new wiring and the rest is in great condition so like you said I'm not really sure if it's necessary

And thanks bud! Yeah it was a little daunting but the more I get done the better I feel about it :icon_thumleft: I consider myself lucky with the amount of metalwork I've seen a lot of the guys on here have had to do

 

[747mopar]

Regarding the Ammeter, just a few things I thought I'd mention. For an Ammeter to function properly 100% of the current used by the car has to flow threw it for it to be accurate so if you plan to step up to a bigger alternator and add accessories you'll want to give it some thought (they weren't designed for high amps). The bulkhead connector is where the majority of the problem is (amps and loose connections = heat). You can drill threw the connector and run the wire directly threw to eliminate that problem and keep the stock look. Since your putting all new wire in it you will likely be fine as long as the connector is tight and your not adding allot to the draw. The Voltmeter is definetly a much better option, not only do you not have to run all of the amps threw it but it tells you ahead of time that there's a problem. Looking good, I've been watching your progress anticipating the final product "it will be sweet".

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Wasn't able to get a lot done last weekend but my buddy and I started welding the patches in on the trunk pan. I was pretty worried about it just burning off with any kind of weld thrown at it but got the mig dialed in perfect and turned out pretty damn decent. :icon_thumleft:

It ain't pretty yet but it's strong as hell and beats the swiss cheese that was in that corner. Pretty happy with how perfect it matches the other side too, considering I made the patch out of a totally different section of reproduction trunk pan. Feels good when improvising actually works lol


Also did a little more chopping on what was left of the old quarter, to get the final cut line marked and check my patch fit. Got the rest of the quarter-to-tailpanel connection cut out, held the patch as close as I could to it's final position and scribed my final cut line. Hopefully weld that up in the next couple days.


And when I trimmed the excess metal I didn't need off the top of my quarter patch, the two strips I got were perfect length to patch the upper sections of the rear window surround, go figure. :icon_thumleft:


Then I marked a piece of cardboard to use to make a metal template, then I'll match the final strips to it when I have them bent.


I'll post some more pictures as I get more done but it's getting there
ccasion14:

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

And thanks 747, that's a good summary on the ammeter vs voltmeter thing. I did a lot of research online but from what I can figure my ammeter should be fine since I'll have brand new bulkhead connections.

 

[daytona kid]

Nice work! I will be watching your rear window redo, since mine needs the same.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Improvising is good. With these older cars, you have to be on your game sometimes. Trunk floor turned out great and i'm sure the window channel will turn out good as well.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Nice work! I will be watching your rear window redo, since mine needs the same.

Thanks man, I'll be getting some more work done on that section in the next couple days. Gonna use a friend's press brake tomorrow to bend up the patches I made, then it should move pretty quick from there.

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Well the trunk pan is finally completely welded up! Burned some midnight oil last night getting everything sorted and had a couple roadblocks, but it wasn't a big deal and I'm really happy with how it came out.
ccasion14:


So next up for the trunk is re-stripping, grinding the welds, a light skim of Allmetal, and it should look a lot nicer after some paint. On top of all the welding I have left to do, looks like I need to stock up on some caffeine for the weekend epsi1:

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Tonight's victory, trunk extension welded in ccasion14:

 

[tallhair]

I love the smell of Mopar progress in the morning ... smells like Victory. Good job Mr. Speedfreak

 

[Basket case]

nice job!

 

[cdr]

very awesome job,lookin great!!!!!!

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Thanks guys! Hopefully I can get the quarter all sorted out and start on the rear window tomorrow, and maybe start smoothing out the trunk. Can't wait to have all the metalwork done and out of the way

 

[cdr]

if you look close you can see the upper window channel i cut out,then i made a piece to fit up behind the roof & welded,keep a wet rag to cool the roof!!!! it will warp.

DONE

 

[mopar4don]

if you look close you can see the upper window channel i cut out,then i made a piece to fit up behind the roof & welded,keep a wet rag to cool the roof!!!! it will warp.

DONE

So what did you use to cut it out? Die grinder with a slitting wheel?
After you cut it out, you formed the bend in a brake right? Is there any curvature? If so how did you form this?

You say "i made a piece to fit up behind the roof " you mean you replaced what you cut out right? I mean there is nothing behind what you cut out right?

Do you have any more pictures? Sorry for all the questions but I will be doing this to my car at some point and need all the help I can get!

 

[cdr]

i used a piece from my old dutchman panel that almost had the correct arc ,so i slit the bottom every 6in to get the arc,yes on the cut off wheel & i left 1/8 of the 90 deg from the roof side going down,i cut the new piece to go up behind what i left of the original 90 deg,it also helped support the roof edge while welding

 

[Mr.SpeedFreak]

Thanks Charles, exactly what I was planning on doing! Glad to see some pics and how well it worked for you :icon_thumleft:

And don yep I'll be using a die grinder with a cutoff wheel, in my case cutting all the way along the very edge of the roofline and along the edge of the window shelf to take out the rot and do just like cdr except I'll have to bend up my patches on a brake like you mentioned. I'll put up a step by step on how I make my patches from scratch, but that's awesome you could use the piece of your dutchman panel Charles!