Hello from Manila!

[sombrero]

I'm a relative new mopar owner and have had the luck and opportunity to own 2 mopars from it's previous owners who had made them garage queens- a 68 440 charger and a 71 340 challenger. I've been in a long journey into restoring these beautiful cars and through the years, I have only been a Google lurker as I do a lot of research in restoring my cars. FBBO and FEBO are my two bibles. The amount of sharing and learning in these forums are absolutely invaluable.

Thank you for accepting me as a new member.

 

[Mopar Hunter]

Welcome to FBBO!

 

[Kern Dog]

Welcome, man...
How well do cars hold up in the Philippines? Is it really humid and do cars rust out easily?
I was blown away when I read this:

7,641 islands

The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises 7,641 islands, and with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), it is the world's fifth largest island country. The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area.

 

[kiwigtx]

The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises 7,641 islands, and with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), it is the world's fifth largest island country. The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area.

Thanks Bing.

Welcome to FBBO @sombrero from New Zealand....a nation comprising three main islands, and more than 600 smaller islands scattered around the ocean.

Pictures of the cars would be nice, and I'm sure others will ask.

 

[sombrero]

thanks everyone for the warm welcome! We had for a time, a strong US military base presence and this is how these cars would end up here. Some people have been surprised how these American cars would get here. Being said, good restored cars are getting far and few between. Those that get restored get hidden in some hidden garage and you get to see them from time to time. I guess you really have to enjoy the whole process/lifestyle to get them running because it's not cheap getting parts here. These cars are in particular are in pretty good condition. The chally being the first one that I've had the chance to really restore but the list to daily driver was long and here was my list of "to do":

1. chassis restoration- rust being a garage queen took it's toll.
2. good thing body work, and body panel had no rust
3. full under coat
4. engine rebuild - put voodoo 10200703, resleeve pistons down to 0.020" (pistons got overbored 0.060")
5.edelbrock heads
6. 26" Champion radiator replacement
7. full front end restoration PST
8. revert back to Borgeson from Unisteer
9. full US Car tool stiffening except wheel tubbing
10. Full TTI long headers, H-pipe exhaust
11. wheels were already Yearone 17" when I got it with full disc brakes
12. the whole thing (don't kill me) is in Ridetech.
13. Lights and grill were incorrectly restored to 70. This is an engine matching 340 1971 A833 4 speed.

After doing this on the ebody, I will have to go the main things on the 68 as well (rinse repeat)


thank you all.

 

[ckessel]

Welcome from the central coast of Cal. Sounds like you have similar challenges to Cuba with cars.

 

[69Bee]

Welcome from AZ...

 

[68gtxman]

thanks everyone for the warm welcome! We had for a time, a strong US military base presence and this is how these cars would end up here. Some people have been surprised how these American cars would get here. Being said, good restored cars are getting far and few between. Those that get restored get hidden in some hidden garage and you get to see them from time to time. I guess you really have to enjoy the whole process/lifestyle to get them running because it's not cheap getting parts here. These cars are in particular are in pretty good condition. The chally being the first one that I've had the chance to really restore but the list to daily driver was long and here was my list of "to do":

1. chassis restoration- rust being a garage queen took it's toll.
2. good thing body work, and body panel had no rust
3. full under coat
4. engine rebuild - put voodoo 10200703, resleeve pistons down to 0.020" (pistons got overbored 0.060")
5.edelbrock heads
6. 26" Champion radiator replacement
7. full front end restoration PST
8. revert back to Borgeson from Unisteer
9. full US Car tool stiffening except wheel tubbing
10. Full TTI long headers, H-pipe exhaust
11. wheels were already Yearone 17" when I got it with full disc brakes
12. the whole thing (don't kill me) is in Ridetech.
13. Lights and grill were incorrectly restored to 70. This is an engine matching 340 1971 A833 4 speed.

After doing this on the ebody, I will have to go the main things on the 68 as well (rinse repeat)


thank you all.

View attachment 1647426

View attachment 1647427

Welcome from NJ! Nice cars!

 

[Budnicks]

Welcome to FBBO

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Welcome! Couple nice cars.. especially knowing how hard it is here in the US, dealing with the added difficulties of restoring cars in the Philippines only increases the difficulty factor by around 4-5.... Forty years ago there was a surprising number of these cars & the parts floating around distant military bases but as the years went by what didn't get scrapped got hoarded.....

 

[WileERobby]

Welcome ! Awesome cars you got there. But.. I got a question. Do they really make envelopes in Manila ?

 

[sombrero]

Welcome ! Awesome cars you got there. But.. I got a question. Do they really make envelopes in Manila ?

hahaha I've been asking the same question for decades. I have still yet to find where in Manila those are made!

 

[Billccm]

Welcome. My brother lives in Cebu and I hope to visit someday.

 

[71RRHI]

Welcome, nice pair of Mopars you have there. Went to Subic Bay several times back when I was in the Navy. I was there when Mount Pinatubo erupted.

 

[polywideblock]

G'day from Australia

 

[HD539]

Welcome from Washington State.

 

[68 Sport Satellite]

welcome from San Jose, California. Your black Charger looks amazing and we appreciate you sharing that photo. We need some engine shots!

Are you actually driving your cars in Manila or did you just list Manila since it's a known location in the Philippines and you actually live elsewhere in the country? Are you an expat that is/was stationed there or a native filipino?

The reason I ask is that I've visited the Philippines for vacation 10 times since my wife's family lives there. We have bad traffic in northern California and even worse in Los Angeles and New York City, but out of hundreds of cities and 15 countries I've visited, Manila Philippines has the absolute WORST congested traffic I've ever seen in my life. Taking a taxi sometimes has taken me 2 hrs to drive 2 miles. We often make use of the trike sidecar motorbikes for hire or the jeepneys, which are cheaper, but can sometimes take just as long depending on the route. I don't think I would ever advise to drive a classic car there. Aside from the traffic, unless you're on the major skyway there are potholes and rutted roads everywhere.

 

[ACME A12]

thanks everyone for the warm welcome! We had for a time, a strong US military base presence and this is how these cars would end up here.

Welcome. My dad was stationed at Clark AB in 1976 & 1977 so I lived there as a young teenager. There were a quite a few American muscle cars on the base and a few that were owned by locals (I remember a sinister looking black '68 GTO in particular) at that time. The local car club called themselves "Road Runners" and it was not exclusive to any makes or models of cars. When I was there the highway between Angeles City (Clark) and Manila was unfinished and not in service so the car club used to drag race on a nice stretch near the base. My dad and his buddy would take me out there. Saw my first '73 Road Runner GTX race out there - and had no idea why it had both RR & GTX badging. Saw an LS6 Chevelle break an axle on launch and destroy the driver's quarter panel when the tire came out from under it. That place was really my first exposure to any drag racing in person. I have very fond memories - and wish I had some pictures...

 

[Don Frelier]

Welcome from NY

 

[Jerry Hall]

Welcome from Alabama, awesome cars.