Project Unicorn - 1968 Charger Restoration
- Thread starter Twalker
- Start date
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the kind words! Took a look at your 69, beauty! Mind sharing your tire and rim sizes and offset?
Fronts are 15x7 4 1/8" backspace with 245/60/15 tires. Rears are 15x10 5 1/8" backspace with 295/50/15.
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Well it’s been too long since I’ve updated my thread. Work and life slowed me down a bit over the fall but I’m back in full swing. Lots of updates to share. All the body, finishing work is done underneath the car now and it’s ready for a final coat of high build and sand before colour top coat.
Car is now off the rotisserie and on its wheels so I can put all the panels on and work on my gaps.
So I’ve got all the panels on now and know what gaps I have to address, fortunately things look pretty good, but some work ahead of me.
First picture update - was test fitting the hood that came with this project car, the hood is not original to the car and was a little beat up, thankfully no rust though. It’s been media blasted and epoxy primed.
So when after I installed it I noticed bad height issues that you’ll see in the pictures on both sides where the hood meets the left and right fenders. The front and back were at the right height, the hood was sunk a little in the middle - so not something I could fix by raising the hood up overall with the hinges, etc. Stumped at how to fix at first, after staring at it for a while with a couple beers I realized I could drill out the spot welds and adjust the height of the top skin to match the profile of the new AMD fenders. Worked great!!
More updates later.
Before
After
Car is now off the rotisserie and on its wheels so I can put all the panels on and work on my gaps.
So I’ve got all the panels on now and know what gaps I have to address, fortunately things look pretty good, but some work ahead of me.
First picture update - was test fitting the hood that came with this project car, the hood is not original to the car and was a little beat up, thankfully no rust though. It’s been media blasted and epoxy primed.
So when after I installed it I noticed bad height issues that you’ll see in the pictures on both sides where the hood meets the left and right fenders. The front and back were at the right height, the hood was sunk a little in the middle - so not something I could fix by raising the hood up overall with the hinges, etc. Stumped at how to fix at first, after staring at it for a while with a couple beers I realized I could drill out the spot welds and adjust the height of the top skin to match the profile of the new AMD fenders. Worked great!!
More updates later.
Before
After
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Twalker
Well-Known Member
My youngest son helping me out again, love it when he takes an interest.
JB400
69 Charger
Looks like it's coming along nicely
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Picking away at body gaps and the initial straightening of the panels with filler.
showard
Well-Known Member
Body lines are looking good!
7necharger
Well-Known Member
Beautiful job on the car.
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Like many of these cars, the rear sail panels and window channels needed a lot of work. Somebody along the way did quite a hack job on the passenger side you’ll see in the pictures. I could of used a shrinker / stretcher on this but didn’t have one - the irony is I have one now...
Here are a few shots from work done on the drivers side.
Here are a few shots from work done on the drivers side.
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Twalker
Well-Known Member
Driver side Continued ....
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Passenger side...
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Continued...
Twalker
Well-Known Member
And and body work and high build primer for final sanding. Stainless trim seems to fit great.
Jeff Brundage
Well-Known Member
Who’s paint product do you use? Im looking to switch brands from sherwin to something else.
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Hi Jeff, I use the DuPont Nason line of products, purchase from Napa. I don’t have experience with other products, except a little with PPG. The Nason line works great for me.
Twalker
Well-Known Member
With the driver side gaps all good I’ve begun to tackle the nightmare that is the passenger side. Fender to cowl and door all good, but door to quarter was a disaster. Haven’t got it all welded back up yet, but you can see the improvement.
I couldn’t even close the door...
Nice 3/16 gap now, just a touch of filler and I’m rockin...
Think I’m good on the main lateral body line too.
I couldn’t even close the door...
Nice 3/16 gap now, just a touch of filler and I’m rockin...
Think I’m good on the main lateral body line too.
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Also working on creating a new quarter lip in the door jam on the passenger side. The person who installed this quarter did a sloppy job.
How it should look from the factory, driver side
Creating a template
Metal piece, reverse for the passenger side
Welded in with rosettes and a seam weld. Just a little filler and it’ll be mint
Top done, now working on the vertical edge which was also a mess.
How it should look from the factory, driver side
Creating a template
Metal piece, reverse for the passenger side
Welded in with rosettes and a seam weld. Just a little filler and it’ll be mint
Top done, now working on the vertical edge which was also a mess.
Twalker
Well-Known Member
Created the vertical inner lip and have started to put the quarter back together.
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