1971 Charger - Project "Needs-A-Name"

Hello fellow Mopar fans.

I've been here for awhile and thought I would start a log of sorts here. So long story short back in July 2009 I purchased a 1970 Mustang Grande' Coupe with a 302 that had been worked over with an Edelbrock upper, 351 heads, Carter AFB, LTs and side pipes. Unfortunately The car's body was shot and had been rigged for drag racing. It was an electrical and vacuum nightmare as well. Someone had also gutted the factory A/C.

Decided to sell it and instead ended up trading a guy in Vermont for a 1971 Dodge Charger with a 318 under the hood. Almost completely original except for the wheels, valve covers and speakers. Build sheet was included as was the user's manual.

Seeing as how I can't stand concourse shows I'm building the car the way I want it. Little things here and there to make it mine. I bought the car to enjoy it and drive it. Not lock it up in a garage every night, trailer it everywhere, and have a heart attack if so much as a bird _____ on it. I am however going to save EVERYTHING I can and store it in a box - that way if and when I sell it and the next guy or gal to get it wants to do an OEM resto on it they have all the factory parts to do so.

Anyway enough about that. Onto the pictures!

The old tired RUSTang - I'm a Ford guy and it was a bit painful to see this go. For me the '70 was the last good year of the first generation. In '71 they started to look weird and everyone tries to forget the Mustang II:




Most of the pictures of the Charger can be found at the link below. This is when I first brought it back from Vermont and stashed it at a friend's house Saturday night.
http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/showthread.php?t=12650

Vermont fresh Sunday morning - Sunday - Oct. 3, 2010:

By Sunday night my friend and I had started to sand the paint down (a lot of surface rust) and primed over everything to keep it from flash rusting. I also went at all the panels with a screw driver to find out just how bad my rust problems were going to be. We also got the car fired up and verified it would at least run for a bit - no oddball noises so we gave it a clean bill of health. Only problem found was that the car didn't have reverse, but Mark (the PO) had warned me of that.

Sunday Oct. 10, 2010:

More sanding and priming. It was over the previous week that I decided I wanted to paint the car a deep metallic blue. You can see where I test sprayed a few spots.











I also stripped off some of the exterior and interior parts:






It was after this Sunday that the car began to sit. Weather was starting to get cold and time schedules began to shift. It was also at this time my friend was forced to move. Ended up taking off work one day to trailer the car to his new place further west and north of me. Ambitions of cleaning out the garage at the house to work on it in there never came to be. The car was now almost impossible to get time to work on as it was a good 30 to 45 mins away from me. It sat at his newer house until mid May 2011 when a falling out with his landlord forced me to bring it home to my house. Dad was cool with it as he owned a '74 Charger SE Brougham back in the day he bought new. Mom on the other hand was none too pleased.


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Saturday - May 14, 2011:

Brought the car home. Dad came with me and it's a good thing because I'm not so great at driving with a trailer. Nor would I have been able to put a 2 ton dead car on a trailer by myself. I sent a text message to my mother before we came home but she never read it. Then she came home and I expected a hollering - instead she's talking to me like nothing is wrong. She honestly didn't see the car in the back yard until I pointed it out after she asked why I was holding my lower back (twisted funny winching the car onto the trailer). She's currently ignoring the fact the car is there and refuses to even accept it exists in teh back yard.


Sunday - May 15, 2011:

I got more done today IN THE RAIN than I have the entire time I've owned the car.

• New Champion copper spark plugs
• New Summit Racing spark cables
• New Summit Racing cap
• New Summit Racing rotor
• New battery
• New negative battery lead cable
• New positive battery lead terminal
• Moved all the spare parts to the trunk so it's out of sight giving the interior a slightly better appearance
• Used steel wool to clean the over spray off any chrome parts
• Reinstalled door panels
• Painted roof black
• Finished the primer more or less
• Reinstalled the OEM 2bbl. Carter carb
• Got the Charger fired up and running

Photo op with my Dad's '07 Charger SXT:

May 17 - 22, 2011:

I go on vacation to Georgia to visit my Silver Mustang bretheren and then to Florida to visit a buddy that moved there. I drove the entire way and logged over 2500 miles on my truck which held up perfectly. I get home around 12:30 am Tuesday the 22. Pass out in bed and wake up around 10am. Go outside and find my brother hanging around the patio. He informs me dad's been busy all weekend grinding, cutting, and painting. He zipped out quite a few bad spots and rebuilt the spots with fiberglass and Bondo. Driver's side looks so much better now.


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May 29 -31, 2011:

Got some small things done here and there.

• New Carter fuel pump was installed (a first for me).
• Disassembled the driver's front brake hub. Shoes have life but will be replaced as will the hubs themselves. Surprisingly clean inside with all parts present and unbroken. One out of four done.
• Took the _______ Carter BBD off for the 100th time to find out why it guzzles and pisses gas everywhere :angry4:
• Tested several colors all up and down th eside of the car before going back with a newer Chrysler color called "Deep Sapphire Blue". Ran out of paint before before I could finish covering some of the failed colors. Two small cans went far though.

cool score,
i wish i could find someone to trade me a mopar for my 1970 camaro SS LT1