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Lookie what $5000 buys you....

1 Wild R/T said:
One thing to make clear to the frame shop... The car will be fixed... Back in the 90's a friend took a Roadrunner into a local shop & had them pull the frame "Straight" well when he picked the car up it visually was much better but things didn't seem to line up... I told him we needed to remeasure everything.. He insisted professionals had taken care of it... When the car was finished, painted & beautiful but wouldn't sit level no matter how make sets of springs he changed I convinced him he needed to take measurements.... The drivers rail was still about 3/4" high....

Of course the frame shop denied any responsibility, "It was right when it left here"...

I guarantee they saw an old car that they figured would never be fixed or if it was it would be a beater.... They were wrong... But he had to eat the repair which wound up being extensive...
Click to expand...
Why measure these cars are all by eyeball.
 
Thanks, Pete. That is exactly what I did!

15 x 8 1.jpg


S W 11.jpg


15 x 8 2.jpg


S W 12.jpg


I'm going to brag a bit and say that the steel wheels look a whole lot better than those aluminum ones!
The car still looks like a turd but it is MY turd!
 
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Thanks, Amigo! I like telling this story and I appreciate that others care to pop in to comment.
I know that many members here have beautiful cars and don't care to ride around in a car that looks as bad as this one does. For some reason, I sort of enjoy the freedom that a ratty, fast car gives you. When my red car was green and all crappy looking, I got all sorts of people waving, giving me the Thumbs Up and coming up to me to talk about it. Beater cars are a great conversation starter because they are far more affordable than a finished one.

3 2000 H.JPG


2 XH E.jpg
 
Kern Dog said:
Thanks, Amigo! I like telling this story and I appreciate that others care to pop in to comment.
I know that many members here have beautiful cars and don't care to ride around in a car that looks as bad as this one does. For some reason, I sort of enjoy the freedom that a ratty, fast car gives you. When my red car was green and all crappy looking, I got all sorts of people waving, giving me the Thumbs Up and coming up to me to talk about it. Beater cars are a great conversation starter because they are far more affordable than a finished one.
Click to expand...
Besides you can drive this car in the way it was intended, Hard and heavy, post some videos when you do, thank you for the idea of the sway bar that's something am going to do.
 
Thanks, man!
The front seat though....

XH 99 A.jpg


I am so tempted to just bolt in the original bucket seats that I took out of my red car:
(The one on the RIGHT)

SRT 4 VS 1970.JPG
 
They look great KD! I used to have black Police wheels with chrome lugnuts and white lettered tires on my A12 Superbee! I loved the look!
 
440 Charger said:
Why measure these cars are all by eyeball.
Click to expand...
An add on to what 1 Wild RT mentions about frame pulls. At the body shop I managed awhile back the tech's would get the frame squared away better than factory tolerances. But one thing they did before getting it off the clamps was to put all the bolt on sheetmetal back on. The computer readings of the laser targets would show that all was cool but once the parts were on, say hood/fenders/light/bumper etc, they didn't line up worth a poo. What they did then was do some upper structure pulls to get everyone lined up. You can have a straight frame but if the parts attached to it are off, it will affect the alignment of your panels. Another thing they would do if it was a heavy hit, say in the back and panels needed replacing, it went on the rack first for pulls before panel removal. From there before the panel got welded on, other pieces around it were put back on to make sure all was good before welding. There was one job I heard of from our glass supplier about another shop that had put a quarter panel onto a PT Cruiser. After paint was done, the tech started putting it back together. The glass company came to reinstall the original quarter window. It didn't fit. It was too large for the hole. The glass company ended up having to grind it down till it fit.
 
KD, next thing I would do to the car would be to give the body a once over and fix the obvious areas then give it a fresh coat of hot rod black satin paint. Nothing looks more sinister than a black Charger!
 
I did originally plan to have the existing frame rails pulled into spec before removal. Eldubb440 talked me out of it. In theory, I still like the idea but his suggestion worked too.
 
Spraying this car all one color defeats the goal. I want the car to look like what we used to see in the early 80s....a wrecked and half-*** repaired hot rod that runs strong but looks worn out.
 
My yellow 70 Charger R/T SE in 1985,sprayed black with the words"Back in Black " with lighting bolts on the back edge of the trunk lid. The last picture is the car after being restored in 1989,parked next to my A12 Super Bee. My daughter in the picture just turned 33. Black primer was in in the eighties I lived it lol!
20200823_112549.jpg
20200823_112606.jpg
20200823_130537.jpg
 
Kern Dog said:
The sale included a nice grille and front bumper and an 8 3/4" axle without a 3rd member or brakes. I got a nice hood, fair fenders and a beat up valance panel.
The car still sits at my buddy's place until he can clear a path to get it out. He has 2 non running cars blocking the way out of his yard. Once I get it home, I'll need to inventory what is there and what I'll need. I might use some "Hand-me-downs" from my red car...That is a good excuse to make upgrades to the car I'm keeping, right?

I had to use a floor jack to rotate in 90 degrees so it can be pushed out of the yard.View attachment 824475
View attachment 824476
Do the wheels look familiar?

View attachment 824479
Click to expand...

bery nice score

what size are the rear tires ? They look cool !
 
Way back when I put the rear axle in, I also put in a freshly rebuilt 3.23 clutch SG 3rd member. I didn't know what cam or converter I was going to use so the gear choice was not really optimal for a higher stall converter or a rowdy cam.
The converter is from my other Charger. It was built to be approx 3000 stall with the 493 and 3.91 gears. This Charger has about 100 cubes LESS. The cam I have is the Mopar Performance 280-474. It idles nice with a slight lope. The car feels sluggish from a start though. I suspected that I needed more gear to get it moving. The Sure Grip is sort of loose too. It spins both tires in a straight line but in turns, the inside wheel is the only one spinning. That really blows.

1 blow me.jpg


I have a 3.55 SG and a 3.91 SG so.....I went with the 3.91. I reused the gear oil since the oil was new when I put the axle together and it has maybe 2 miles on it, total.
I slipped in a 38 tooth speedo gear. I have no idea if that is correct but the tires are 27" tall. I need to go get some gas then drive this dude around the neighborhood to see if the gears woke it up....

XH ZZ4.jpg



jiggy F 14.JPG
 
Should definitely wake it up... 383's love 3.91's.... They aren't even that bad on the highway since a 383 likes to rev some...
 
Has the guy you got the car from been keeping track of your progress? After him letting it sit for years it's good you have it terrorizing the streets again..
 
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