My 68 Charger - A Work In Progress

[The Rebel]

Nope, it's an actual live battery. I just pulled off the NAPA stickers, cleaned it up with Windex to remove any grease & applied the caps & stickers. Also he's in France so it took a month to get here due to the Corona virus and mail/flight delays.

https://www.ebay.com/str/weskcar

I assume from the cost its a display battery?

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Here's the final result. Nice day to do a small project as it's raining outside today.

View attachment 937989 View attachment 937990 View attachment 937991 View attachment 937992 View attachment 937993 View attachment 937994 View attachment 937995

That is a tall battery, like stock. Please tell which NAPA battery that is . And maybe its application or group size? Looks ideal for the sticker and cap treatment you did.................MO

 

[The Rebel]

Hey Mo. Here you go. Measures10.25 x 6.25 x 8.25.

That is a tall battery, like stock. Please tell which NAPA battery that is . And maybe its application or group size? Looks ideal for the sticker and cap treatment you did.................MO

 

[Cornpatch MO]

Hey Mo. Here you go. Measures10.25 x 6.25 x 8.25.View attachment 938385 View attachment 938387

Perfect ! Thank you ! ..This will look good in my Sport Satty.............MO

 

[The Rebel]

Your quite welcome, MO. I will add that the 3M tape on the Caps might not be the best for adhering to the battery. I think epoxy might be better to ensure they don't pop off.

Perfect ! Thank you ! ..This will look good in my Sport Satty.............MO

 

[The Rebel]

Got my heater hoses in today from Richard (68bfan). Can't wait to get these installed.

 

[The Rebel]

Was a nice sunny day today (62*) to put in my new heater hoses after a 2hr hike this am with my wife along an old abandoned RR that's now a Rails To Trails. What's nice about this trail it's also a bridal trail so it's not paved.

Took awhile to get it done but thankfully no leaks, so took her out for a nice drive after I was all done. Now just waiting for the upper & lower radiator hoses to come in. I'm in luck as well as both of my old hoses have the anti-collapse springs in them. Looks like the old hoses I took out were from 1994 based on the date on the side of them.

When I was installing one of the hoses I wondered why the adjuster clamp was used. I figured that out as the alternator bracket does not allow me to use the clips, so I just reused that one & replaced the old clamps with he new ones that came with my kit.

 

[The Rebel]

My upper & lower radiator hoses came in today form Mega Parts. Very happy to see that the lower came with the anti-collapse coil in it. Looking forward to installing them this weekend.

As far as installing them does the upper get installed with the part marked end installed to the radiator or the thermostat?

Also I'm assuming the lower hose end with the bulge gets installed to the water pump but need confirmation.

Thanks in advance!

 

[dadsbee]

UMMM.. they both say Rad End on them and that's the way they go. The formed "bump" is to keep it from popping off the radiator spout.

 

[Billccm]

Rad End is radiator end

 

[The Rebel]

thanks guys. I was kind of thinking that but didn't trust where the stamp was so needed your input.

 

[The Rebel]

Is the lower radiator supposed to be tapered. Not sure if mine is but looks like it.

 

[Fran Blacker]

The taper is normal on lower tube. Would think the bump in upper hose would match up flared in hose connection on tank. Doesn't look like it's cut square.

 

[66ChargerHI-PO]

Hi Roger,

Great to see you have a build thread up here for your car too, I just saw it today and didn't even know it existed until now! Thanks @Fran Blacker, you're the man. I would of never saw this until your last post, but I have to start at the beginning as I just jumped to this page for now. Great job on the hoses as well by the way too Roger, I remember you told me you were looking for them. Please add me to the "now following" list, looking forward to seeing more.

Best, 66ChargerHI-PO (Eric)

 

[The Rebel]

Hey all, long *** day today getting the radiator hoses in. The upper one was easy but the lower was a BITCH. Probably put in 5hrs - 6hrs. Reused the anti-collapse coil that was in my old upper hose which I cleaned off with a wire brush.

One thing I noticed was the new clamps didn't fit the lower hose as they were smaller than my old ones so I cleaned up the old ones & gave them a quick hit with some gold metallic flake spray paint to simulate the coating.

The issue I had with the lower was I couldn't get a decent angle to loosen up the upper clamp attached to the water pump, so I had to detach the power steering unit & belt. Once I got the lower hose off, I flushed the radiator out with a garden hose. Was a brownish color coming out and I continued to flush until the water came out clean. I let it site for a bit & then re-flushed again until it came out clear again. Once that was all done I attached the lower hose & power steering unit back into position.

I was feeling pretty good with my work until I started refilling the radiator, drip, drip, drip....

No matter what I did I couldn't get the damn thing fixed, so I had to take the power steering unit off AGAIN and start over. This time I got the clamp into a better position. What I decided to do was to start filling the radiator again without the power steering unit in place. This time no drips THANK GOD so reassembled the power steering unit back in place after I was all done refilling the radiator.

After everything was all buttoned up I hosed off the engine bay & used my leaf blower to blow the water off and took her out for a test drive. No leaks except a slight drip from the upper hose due to pressure that is connected to the radiator. I readjusted that and I think I fixed it but I was dead tired so tucked her in for the night.

One thing I learned it was a helluva lot easer to adjust the lower clamp with the pins facing the ground so I was on the ground looking up rather than reaching all the way down.​

 

[The Rebel]

More

 

[Deanfitz27]

Hey all, been a while since I've done any real work. Saw this on ebay & liked it much better than the cheap plastic toppers or the really expensive repro battery, so I opted for this @ $23.95.

Got all brand new heater & radiator hoses on order as well.

View attachment 937596

Hey all, been a while since I've done any real work. Saw this on ebay & liked it much better than the cheap plastic toppers or the really expensive repro battery, so I opted for this @ $23.95.

Got all brand new heater & radiator hoses on order as well.

View attachment 937596

Your battery looks great, what did you use to glue on the caps

 

[The Rebel]

Thanks! The caps come with 3M Tape. All you do is peal the backer off & affix to the battery. The instructions say it takes a while for the glue to set but a hot engine bay helps with that. I have tape on them for now until the warmer temps set in. I'd advise some type of epoxy to ensure they don't come off.

Your battery looks great, what did you use to glue on the caps

 

[Deanfitz27]

Thanks! The caps come with 3M Tape. All you do is peal the backer off & affix to the battery. The instructions say it takes a while for the glue to set but a hot engine bay helps with that. I have tape on them for now until the warmer temps set in. I'd advise some type of epoxy to ensure they don't come off.

Thanks

 

[66ChargerHI-PO]

Looking good now Roger, awesome work. I see what you mean with the clamps being too small. It sucks you had to take the power steering off again, and redo it . Just glad you got it done and it is fixed. . Keep the updates comin' if you got em brother. Our Charger has been coming together too lately, got the head gaskets on, the heads on and torqued, and the headers are on now, and the mini starter is in too. HOPEFULLY I will get an update up tonight or tomorrow