My 68’ Rustic Charger Resto

[Deere842]

I know the feeling I'm 27 and "weird" or harsher names for believing that we should NOT LS swap the world.

Keep it up! We are the people to bring this hobby into the future. The last of a dying breed.

You have a good point, it’s sad to see that the passion for building things with your hands is going by the way side.

Advantages to LS swaps is that there is plenty of small/big blocks available now!

Keep it up! its awesome! Love watching what folks can do that are not scared and have the skills to do this work in our hobby. Especially in our garages......

Thank you! I know what you mean there, I definitely look forward to running out to the garage after work!

 

[Deere842]

Great work!
I really enjoy watching how you are doing this work.

Thank you, Likewise! I stumbled across your build thread the other day and you’ve done a killer job as well.

 

[JackGTX440]

Excellent job. Keep up the good work, man.

 

[Deere842]

Alrighty, now onto the passenger side rocker section. I already did the drivers side.

Man.....Getting that old rocker removed was a 12 beer job! I had to weld in two patches in the inner rocker where the seat supports were spot welded on. I didn’t want to get into replacing the inner rocker over two small sections. After that a Painted the inner rocker with Eastwood rust encapsulator.

After some tweaking, the rocker fit pretty good. I used self tappers to hold the rocker on until I get the door, quarters and fenders on to make sure the alignment is correct.

 

[DaveO]

Awesome work man.very inspirational for all of us thanks for sharing love this kind of work

 

[Deere842]

Awesome work man.very inspirational for all of us thanks for sharing love this kind of work

I appreciate the compliment, you all motivate me to keep the progress rolling!

 

[Deere842]

The next thing to tackle is the C Pillar supports. The drivers side is worse than the passenger rust wise. Luckily the donor coronet I picked up had a perfect set! Here it goes, drivers side.

Cut out the rotted section behind the roof support.

Welded in the good section from the donor car. Not the prettiest but, turned out decent.

After that, I sanded down the area and painted the metal with rust encapsulator and weld through primer.

Just as an added precaution, I thought it was a good idea to spot weld this plate behind my weld seam for added support.

Welding her up!

Little patch where the drip rail was. The roof on this car is perfect and don’t want to remove the only good panel on the car. Besides this area, the rest of the roof structure seems to be in good shape.

All done

 

[Deere842]

Onto the passenger side. This side was in better shape.

The next step (I believe) would be to replace the inner/outer wheel wells then, cut out the floor & rear frame rails. I added some bracing to hold the rear of the car up while I work on the rear section.

I’d anyone has any input on if I should start on the wheel tubs first then frame/floor or opposite, that would be appreciated.

 

[dadsbee]

Wheel wells, trunk extensions and then rear hump and trunk pan. At least that's the way we put mine back together..

 

[Deere842]

Wheel wells, trunk extensions and then rear hump and trunk pan. At least that's the way we put mine back together..
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That looks great, sounds like a good method to follow. Thank you

 

[hanks73340]

The next thing to tackle is the C Pillar supports. The drivers side is worse than the passenger rust wise. Luckily the donor coronet I picked up had a perfect set! Here it goes, drivers side.


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Cut out the rotted section behind the roof support.

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Welded in the good section from the donor car. Not the prettiest but, turned out decent.

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After that, I sanded down the area and painted the metal with rust encapsulator and weld through primer.

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Just as an added precaution, I thought it was a good idea to spot weld this plate behind my weld seam for added support.

View attachment 899022

Welding her up!

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Little patch where the drip rail was. The roof on this car is perfect and don’t want to remove the only good panel on the car. Besides this area, the rest of the roof structure seems to be in good shape.

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All done

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NICELY DONE! Great work you're doing....

 

[Deere842]

It’s like Christmas all over again. Placed a order with AMD for all of the metal I need to get it looking like a car again!

Cut out the inner wheel tubs.

Then the rest of the floor and frame rail assembly.

 

[vintage chromoly]

Fantastic work!

 

[Jim 68cuda]

Looks like you've made alot of progress in just a few short months. I'm 40 minutes away from you in Virginia, and I'm a bit farther along on my 68 Charger project. The new vinyl top just went on last week. But, my 68 was a long time getting to this point. Every exterior sheet metal panel (including the roof skin) had to be replaced. It was in the body shop for several years. Hoping to have mine on the road in time for Carlisle in July. I love that you're getting so much done on yours already.

 

[Deere842]

Looks like you've made alot of progress in just a few short months. I'm 40 minutes away from you in Virginia, and I'm a bit farther along on my 68 Charger project. The new vinyl top just went on last week. But, my 68 was a long time getting to this point. Every exterior sheet metal panel (including the roof skin) had to be replaced. It was in the body shop for several years. Hoping to have mine on the road in time for Carlisle in July. I love that you're getting so much done on yours already.

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That’s awesome Jim, She looks perfect! Wow, I guess what they aren’t lying when they call it “Body Shop Jail” haha. Did you use mostly AMD metal for all of your rust repair? I’m about 5 mins from Lovettsville VA.

I plan on going to Carlisle this year, I’ve only been to the Spring swap meet and Ford national. Look forward to going to the Chrysler nationals this year, I’d love to see your 68’ there!

 

[Jim 68cuda]

That’s awesome Jim, She looks perfect! Wow, I guess what they aren’t lying when they call it “Body Shop Jail” haha. Did you use mostly AMD metal for all of your rust repair? I’m about 5 mins from Lovettsville VA.

I plan on going to Carlisle this year, I’ve only been to the Spring swap meet and Ford national. Look forward to going to the Chrysler nationals this year, I’d love to see your 68’ there!

Yes. A combination of AMD, NOS, and good used parts. When my project started, there wasn't the vast amount of reproduction parts available. I'm about 25 minutes from Lovettsville, and in the spring and summer I often do the Friday evening cruise in at Charles Town/Ranson, WV (which is 20 minutes drive for me).

 

[hemi john]

Awesome work man, it's fun and one's you are done you will be proud proud with all your hard work.

 

[Deere842]

Now that most of the rusted rear section of the car is removed, it’s time to start fitting up the rear frame rails.

The frame mounting plates were in rough shape and bubbles out from the rust but, the donor frame has some decent plates to harvest.

New plate cleaned up and welded in.

Set the rear frame on the jig, it fit pretty decent.

Set the rear floor in place as a test fit.

Squared up the frame and got it within a 1/16” of an inch from the factory diagram. Then, I clamped on the rear crossmember and self tapped it in place.

Fitting up the inner and outer wheel houses. These were definitely a treat to get in place. The passenger outer wheel house doesn’t fit all that great, I may have to modify it slightly. They are just screwed in place for now.

 

[Deere842]

I decided to try setting in the trunk floor and seeing how it fits. Everything looks decent besides the very back where the rear crossmember meets the back lip of the trunk pan. I’ll have to dig further into this. It appears that the trunk floor pan itself is off.

Would anyone have a 68-70 Charger that could help me with this measurement? From the wheelhouse to the trunk 90° lip.

 

[Jim 68cuda]

My 68 has had every exterior panel and part of the trunk floor replaced. It may not be the best one to measure, and its a bit difficult to get a good measurement. But, I measured the edge of the trunk floor from the wheel house to the rear along the seam for the trunk extension. I got 31" or maybe a fraction under that. The trunk extension doesn't extend all the way back as far. Still working on assembling my 68. You aren't far from me if you need to come take a closer look.