RT68440
Well-Known Member
Hey guys, I am a long time lurker of the site so I figured it was about time that I join. My name is Chris and I have a '68 Charger R/T that I am restoring. Im also a member of dodgecharger.com. Ive been working on the Charger for the last few years on and off. So far I have replaced the rear frame rails, rear crossmember, one piece trunk pan, trank pan extensions, CBD full quarters, and rear valance. Its my first restoration and Im having a blast. The wife and I bought a house a couple years ago so I recently moved the Charger to my garage and have begun the process of replacing the front rails, torsion bar crossmember and floor pans. The car is a factory black R/T with a dark green interior and green vinyl top and a white rear stripe. Its a 440/727 column car with manual steering and manual drums. Other than the R/T package and light group package, its a pretty bare bones car. I will be restoring it back to original for my dad. He bought the car as a father and son project back in 1998 when I was a freshman in high school. We tinkered with it over the years and he taught me basic mechanics. I went to WyoTech when I was 22 and learned how to weld and do body work. My dad wanted me to restore the car, and after graduating and working at a hot rod shop, I finally worked up the nerve to start cutting the car up.
Here are a few pics of the last month of process. I have a ton of pics from the rear sheet metal replacement, but they are all on my dads computer. Once I get them I will post them up. For now, here is some of the pics of how I braced the front end to remove the front rails:
This was loading it up from my parents one car garage on to my bosses trailer to go to my house. This was just after New Years of this year
Unloaded in to my garage:
Front fixture up and core support and aprons coming out:
Front of the floor removed and cutting torsion bar cross member out:
Crusty inner rockers:
Passenger section of inner rocker cut out and prepped:
Fabbed up a new piece on my lunch break at work:
Welded in and ground:
Drivers side rocker cut out, patch made and welded in the same as the first side:
So that's where Im at right now. I bought an AMD torsion bar cross member but I am not impressed with it to say the least. I have modified just about every piece of sheet metal that Ive installed so far to get it to fit how I want, but with the amount of work that I would have to do to the cross member to make it "good enough", Id rather find a clean original like I did with the front and rear frame rails. I emailed Mopar Mark but haven't heard back yet. I will create a build thread and update that as I continue progress...
Here are a few pics of the last month of process. I have a ton of pics from the rear sheet metal replacement, but they are all on my dads computer. Once I get them I will post them up. For now, here is some of the pics of how I braced the front end to remove the front rails:
This was loading it up from my parents one car garage on to my bosses trailer to go to my house. This was just after New Years of this year
Unloaded in to my garage:
Front fixture up and core support and aprons coming out:
Front of the floor removed and cutting torsion bar cross member out:
Crusty inner rockers:
Passenger section of inner rocker cut out and prepped:
Fabbed up a new piece on my lunch break at work:
Welded in and ground:
Drivers side rocker cut out, patch made and welded in the same as the first side:
So that's where Im at right now. I bought an AMD torsion bar cross member but I am not impressed with it to say the least. I have modified just about every piece of sheet metal that Ive installed so far to get it to fit how I want, but with the amount of work that I would have to do to the cross member to make it "good enough", Id rather find a clean original like I did with the front and rear frame rails. I emailed Mopar Mark but haven't heard back yet. I will create a build thread and update that as I continue progress...
aboard Chris!
