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Chris' '68 Charger R/T restoration

Been busy lately. I got the passenger side inner apron patched, ground, and reinstalled in the car:

IMG_20160920_184020344_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160921_201707458 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160922_174806912 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160922_190106585 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160925_172558449_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160925_172609741 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160925_172617130 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

With the aprons done, I pulled the fixture out from under the car, put the dollies back on, and rolled it out of the garage to clean. First time out of the garage sine January.

IMG_20160925_184428603_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160925_184440242 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160927_180658860 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160927_180725798_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160927_180733261 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

The next area that needed fixing was a spot on the drivers side of the firewall. The windshield leaked and soaked the firewall insulation rusting the firewall from the inside out:

IMG_20160929_175545079 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160929_175552166 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20160929_175637851_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161001_185550131 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161001_185807147_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161001_193328170 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161001_202111389 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161002_144649817 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr
 
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Speaking of windshield leaking, the lower windshield channel is shot. There are holes at the ends and some pretty heavy pitting across the channel. My dad and I ended up buying a clean upper cowl at Carlisle this year to fix ours. I stripped the paint off of the donor cowl and cut the channel off of the cowl:

Rust damage to our cowl:

IMG_20161003_194925537 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161003_194845746 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161002_164324437 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161002_164338862 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Donor cowl:

IMG_20161002_164102307_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161002_164108918_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161003_183943180 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Underside cleaned up:

IMG_20161003_185438725 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161003_191242425 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161003_192056171 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161003_192103688 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Melted the lead out of the factory seams on the cowl:

IMG_20161003_194804266_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161003_194836885_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Everything was going great, then the next day I went out to the garage to cut my windshield channel out of the car and my air compressor wouldn't start. So I pulled the motor off of it and it seems that the motor starter is shot. I'm glad its only that because a Craftsman replacement motor is $650.00! SO, I'm still getting that situation taken care of. In the meantime I decided to restore the wiper motor. I separated the case and cleaned all of the nasty grease out of it. I cleaned up the gears and brushes. Everything looks good inside and the motor worked perfectly before. Years ago I blasted the housing and painted it gloss black. The paint was chipped up and there was sand inside of the motor, so to stay busy I'm freshening it up:

Everything disassembled:

IMG_20161008_175521488 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Glass beaded the ballast resistor and wire wheeled the screws.

IMG_20161014_125137809_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

I took the parts of the case to work and blasted the pieces. Then I sprayed the pieces with etching primer and finally painted them. I ran up to the Eastwood store and bought a can of their new 2K Underhood black. It has ceramic in the paint that you activate when youre ready to spray. Once you activate it, it only has a 48 hour pot life, so make sure you use it all because at $23 a can, you don't want to waste any more than you have to. I like the durability of the paint, however I wish that it layed down a little smoother. The sheen seems correct with the original finish and I'm ok with a slight rough texture because some of the original motors that Ive seen have a slight texture to them.

IMG_20161015_131703190 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161015_131735219 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161015_131711260 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

As many of you know, the 2 speed wipers are riveted together, so when this thing goes back tagether, I want it to look somewhat stock, so I bought some 6-32 rivet head screws that will mimic the factory rivets. The heads are slightly larger than the rivets, but once they are installed I don't think it will be too noticeable.

IMG_20161015_131716636 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

That brings me up to date. Thanks for looking!
 
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This is a wonderful thread! I really like cruising thru and observing! These Chargers just look so darn good even today! I gotta admire the window guts refurbishment. I have NO idea how I'm going to proceed on my many Door window mechanisms on my cars!
 
You are doing an amazing job on your car. I will be watching but there is one piece of metal in your shop that looks like it still needs some work.
I noticed just above you tool box on the back wall, there is a misspelled word on that blue and white sign?? :rolleyes: :poke:
 
PlagueOfBadgers said:
You are doing an amazing job on your car. I will be watching but there is one piece of metal in your shop that looks like it still needs some work.
I noticed just above you tool box on the back wall, there is a misspelled word on that blue and white sign?? :rolleyes: :poke:
Click to expand...

Haha, yea that's a shout out to my late father in law. I'm a Mopar and a Ford guy and he was a hardcore Chevy guy. He was always giving me grief about the Charger and offering to help me drop in a big block Chevy. We had fun going back and forth. After he died unexpectedly, I took that sign from his garage and hung it up here. I think he would enjoy seeing it hanging there.
 
RT68440 said:
Haha, yea that's a shout out to my late father in law. I'm a Mopar and a Ford guy and he was a hardcore Chevy guy. He was always giving me grief about the Charger and offering to help me drop in a big block Chevy. We had fun going back and forth. After he died unexpectedly, I took that sign from his garage and hung it up here. I think he would enjoy seeing it hanging there.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the loss of him so early and could not think of a better place for that sign.
I have to admit I like Ford's to. Here is a pic of my 85 T-Bird from many years ago.
1020160833.jpg

Loved this car, wish I never got rid of it.
 
I didn't get a whole bunch done lately due to the compressor being down. I did get it fixed though, so Ill have more updates soon. In the meantime, I tinkered around with some engine bay pieces. I painted the orange box black so it will blend in a little better, and I cleaned the washer bottle. I also am restoring the vacuum canister. The canister had a few dents in it, so I did some body work to it and have it sitting in high build primer. I'm going to let it dry for a few days then wet sand it, seal it and paint it. Ive also started working on the other quarter window regulator...

IMG_20161017_171032671 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161017_171351362 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161022_202440573 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161022_202446443 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161023_125958490 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161023_130007558_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr
 
Chris,

Great photos - looks like you are doing a great job with the Charger. I am going through a similar process with my '68 Coronet, though I don't have as much rust to deal with.

Here's my question - when you install your new frame sections & crossmembers, what do you paint/coat them with on the inner surfaces? I plan to use weld through primer under the weld flanges, but am keen to use the right stuff to protect the hidden interiors of things like the torsion bar crossmember.

Your suggestions/advice are appreciated.
 
EngineerDoug said:
Chris,

Great photos - looks like you are doing a great job with the Charger. I am going through a similar process with my '68 Coronet, though I don't have as much rust to deal with.

Here's my question - when you install your new frame sections & crossmembers, what do you paint/coat them with on the inner surfaces? I plan to use weld through primer under the weld flanges, but am keen to use the right stuff to protect the hidden interiors of things like the torsion bar crossmember.

Your suggestions/advice are appreciated.
Click to expand...

I've been using U POL copper weld through primer on the flanges to be safe, however, I have not done any coating inside of the rails because the car is going to get acid dipped and e coated. If I wasn't going that route, I would use something like POR 15 to coat the areas that I could get at. Eastwood has an internal frame coating that comes with a flexible wand to get into places that can't be reached by hand...
 
Time for another update. While I was waiting for my compressor motor starter to come in, I decided to finish up some of the engine bay components while the weather was cooperating for me to paint. I finished restoring the headlight vacuum canister, the other quarter window regulator and detailed my new master cylinder.

I put a few coats of high build primer on the canister and dry blocked it with 150. I hit the areas that I bonded with another couple coats and blocked them just to be safe. Then I put another couple heavy coats on and wet sanded it with 400. After that I did a light coat of sealer primer and 3 coats of Eastwood Under Hood black

IMG_20161029_130918910 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161029_130909157 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161029_133004560_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161030_150719499 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161030_150744713 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161030_154701850 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161031_190411064 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161031_190434517_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161031_190633522_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

With the canister done, I detailed my new master cylinder. I cleaned and flat cleared the body to keep it natural looking and I blasted and phosphate the lid hold down and bolt to make it correct. I removed the studs from the M/C that was on the car, blasted them and cleared them. Then I blasted and cleared the pushrod retainer, blasted and phosphated the retainer bolts and push rod and cleaned the boot, then assembled it.

IMG_20161107_202128951 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161108_181931001 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161109_190020525 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161115_193702381 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161115_193802585 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161115_193837849 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Then I restored the other quarter window regulator.

IMG_20161030_155922410 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161122_173500876 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161122_173532634 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161122_173553358 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr
 
I took a small detour from the Charger pieces and did a small project for my uncle. He has a '69 Shelby GT350 that he had restored a few years back. He asked me to help him remove his steering box so he could have it sent out and rebuilt. While I was disassembling it, I noticed that his power steering control valve was kinda ratty looking. The shop just sprayed grey paint over the rusty body and I figured since we're in there, I would freshen it up for him. I disassembled it, blasted everything, bought a rebuild kit and rebuilt it for him. It was my first time ever messing with one of these things, so hopefully it works well in the spring.

Before removal

IMG_20161111_163433617 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161111_163644669 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161112_151551842 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161112_163934049 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161114_122441973_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161116_184324852 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161116_184344842 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161116_184408285 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161116_184839954 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr
 
With the little projects done and my air compressor up and running, I continued working on the lower windshield channel. I got the old section removed, fitted my replacement piece, and welded it in.

Drilling out the spot welds

IMG_20161129_181822894 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161129_181828132 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Old piece out

IMG_20161129_183550853 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161129_183613183 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Test fitting the replacement

IMG_20161129_184215363 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161129_184207227 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161130_184108917 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Then I welded up my spot weld cutter marks and ground them and sprayed my weld thru primer

IMG_20161130_194556660_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161130_194619222 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161130_194711266 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161130_194841818 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

Tacking it in place

IMG_20161130_200649968 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161130_200657336 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

And welded

IMG_20161201_194947849 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161201_194955828 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161201_195012557 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161201_195046219 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161201_195631778 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161201_195650518 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

That's where I'm at right now. I'm planning on grinding my welds this weekend and wrapping that area up
 
Headed out to the garage tonight to start grinding my windshield channel. The wife and I were going to decorate the Christmas tree this evening, but neither one of us was feeling it, so I decided to get a head start on the grinding. I'm now out of grinding discs, so Ill run up to Summit in the morning and grab another box and hopefully have the rest of it ground sometime tomorrow

IMG_20161203_200002120 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161203_205058223 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161203_200047618_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161203_202223456 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161203_205011707_HDR by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161203_205033548 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr

IMG_20161203_205051153 by Chris Campbell, on Flickr
 
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