My 1971 Road runner

[71Beeper]

Moving on, it's time to get the front bumper assembly together.
I have my grille mounting kit ready.

Next, get the bumper on the table and get some reference info ready.

As I'm taking inventory of the grille brackets I find out I'm one short.
I'm in need of the short one.

I did put in a posting in the WTB section.

Moving on lets get the brackets I do have on the bumper.

 

[71Beeper]

Since the stainless mounting fasteners are a little too long, I used my trusty Dremel with a mini death wheel on it to trim them up.

Next, I put on the bumper brackets.

Hopefully I'll be able to find the grille mounting bracket I need and get it put on before the whole assembly goes on the car.

 

[ct71rr]

Very nice! You’re almost there! Good idea to paint the backside of the bumper. I’ve used my dremel with the mini wheel of death about a thousand times working on my car. It’s been worth its weight in gold.

 

[71Beeper]

Thanks Chad, I used white paint on it but it's not as white as the paint that's on the car.
No worries tho as you'll see very little of it once it's on the car.

Yes, a Dremel tool is a good thing to have when doing a restoration project.

 

[Coelacanth]

Nice work, I put in pretty much all the same work restoring my '70 Charger bumper and grille. It may be the black sheep of second-gen Chargers, but you gotta love those one-piece loop bumpers! I personally love these designs more than the ho-hum straight chin bumpers. They're heavy-as-hell to install, though...

 

[71Beeper]

The loop bumpers is one of the reasons I love this style of B-body.

So after finding the missing grille bracket locally, I got it cleaned up and painted and installed.
Now its time to prep the car to accept the front bumper.
Step 1 - put down some tape.

Next, get the bumper mounted and aligned.

Now install the headlight shields...

Finally, install the grille pieces.

And Voila! she has a face!!!

I think I can officially say that I'm done putting pieces on the car!
Now I do have a coupe of things left to put on like the shoulder belts and parking brake cable, but that stuff can wait and be winter time work.
The next step.....order some exhaust pipes!

 

[71dodgechargerrt]

That looks nice.

 

[moparsaver]

Really, Really, Really Nice!!

 

[71Beeper]

Thanks guys - its been a long ride from day one when I got started.

 

[ct71rr]

Very nice!! You've got to be very excited and proud!

 

[71Beeper]

I sure am Chad.
As much as she's fought me every step of the way, it feels great to see her in one piece and together.
Once the exhaust is on it and I start driving it to make sure it's reliable will be the next bit o fun...

 

[71Beeper]

I have made arrangements with a local exhaust shop to get the exhaust done on the car.
I bought a universal X-pipe setup and B-body tailpipes from this company.

The box of pipes came in and I got the mufflers and header collectors and exhaust machine-gun tips ready.

My appointment to get it done will be Thursday July 18th.
Now I just have to get the car there.

 

[71Beeper]

So yesterday, I pushed the car outside. It hasn't seen the light of day since it came here all painted in when......ah 2022?

I need to get it from my big garage in my backyard to my front garage at the house if I'm going to have our Auto club tow it over to the exhaust shop.

So in order to do that I got my wife to tow it with our Jeep and a strap - Easy Peezy.

The hard part was pushing the slug back into the front garage...

Geez, a long time ago since it was in the front garage when it first came home.

- you forget how big she is..... and how heavy.

 

[Rennkafer]

Scary part is they're 1000lbs lighter than their modern brothers. Good luck with the exhaust, that setup ought to sound great.

 

[T2R9]

That hitch would have scared the heck out of me!

Car looks great!

 

[71Beeper]

So last Thursday July 18th was the big day. Time to get the exhaust installed.
So the local tow company shows up bright and early (6a.m.) to my house to load up the car.

Then it's off to the exhaust shop which is located next to my work place and about 20 blocks from my house.
Here's the name of the business.....M&R Auto.

Marko and Ryan are the owners and they do great work.
Marko is the one who does the exhaust work.
So, unload the car as we are a little early....

I sit outside and have a coffee while I wait for the boys to show up.
I dropped off the pipes and mufflers and machine-gun tips the day before.
Here is the boxes inside one of the bay doors.

 

[71Beeper]

About 8a.m. the big bay doors start to open up.
Lets get the car inside and start to unpack the pipes and lay them out.

Also, get a shot of the underside while it is up on the hoist.

Next Marko starts at the front and get's started on the x-pipe.

 

[71Beeper]

Next - start the mid-pipe and muffler on the passenger side.

Then fit the two piece tail pipe.

Then the tip.

By the way, my muffler choice is this.

Next, now to finish the drivers side....

 

[71Beeper]

More pics of the drivers side.

And she's done!!

My buddy Frank showed up to see the car.
This is his pride and joy.

Now to take the car home.

Frank gave me a ride home in his Duster - what a great day!
Next will be to get the car prepped to start it and break in the cam and lifters.

 

[68sprtsat383]

Nice looking RR. Exhaust looks great to.