This is a 68 Charger resto thread, there are many like it, but this one is mine...

[morrow_jacob]

Here is my project, it may take years, but I have to start somewhere. I'd like to thank everyone in advance for the help I am undoubtedly going to need.

She is a real 440 R/T Charger, originally Gold on black, with auto and A/C. She spent most her life on the track, and has a surprising amount of rust/rot for being a Texas car. But I'm learning, even on an episode of GEARZ it was said that "Mopars were shipped from the factory with rust in the trunks." Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy the pics.

Dont be fooled by the black, its fresh rattle can over horrible bodywork.





View attachment 225030(first lesson learned, but a trunk pan that comes in 2 pieces)





Maybe someone could possibly give me some suggestions on how to fix this roof support without pulling off the roof? Its bent down on the passenger side. This is not going to be a high dollar build, however I am going to address all rust rot, make it sold and safe and make it a driver. The roof itself has a few dents and surface rust but its otherwise salvageable. Any thoughts? Thanks again

 

[eldubb440]

remove the support, straighten it, and put it back....... or simply replace it

 

[morrow_jacob]

remove the support, straighten it, and put it back....... or simply replace it

I wasent sure it could be removed without the roof too. What is holding it to the roof? Glued with seam sealer? I see the spot welds on the outside, none in the middle.

 

[Rodney]

I wasent sure it could be removed without the roof too. What is holding it to the roof? Glued with seam sealer? I see the spot welds on the outside, none in the middle.

you won't {or shouldn't} see any spot welds from the brace to the roof panel and shouldn't when you put it back in after you straighten it.
I've removed many supports re-bowed then and welded them back in, should be an easy fix. also have never seen any sealer or glue between the support and roof panel but have seen a paper type material between the support and roof on some cars. you really want the support to float under the roof panel so it won't distort the roof due to temperature change and other conditions.
that floor panel sure reminds me of what someone did to my RR. why would anyone do that!?
On rust areas where the integrity of the metal is still ok I use rust-mort by SEM then paint. There are other rust converters also which work well.
good luck with the Charger

 

[Donny]

What's your skill level, tool availability, and, money you're willing to spend on this? Is there any part of this process that you envision farming out to perhaps a specialist? FYI, the only so called Rust Converter you should even be considering is getting it blasted, period. Read my thread here called Media Blasting. Remember, doing this yourself will likely end up making many areas worse due to lack of skill or good subcontractors in your area. I just finished a Javelin for a fellow down in Houston who tried to do his own welding -- which, ended up costing him 8 thousand dollars to hire me to unfix his fixes and make it right. I tell you this because it appears you're right in the beginning stages of this process. Best of luck!

 

[morrow_jacob]

Much appreciated. I am skilled with cars and welding, but I've never done body work, and I have to start somewhere. I plan on starting with replacing the front floor and crossmember and get some practice with welding butted sheet metal before I move on to the outside. I learned to weld stick and TIG in the Navy, and I'd consider myself a fairly proficient welder. I am also smart enough to know when I should hire out, case in point, a few days ago I hired someone to remove the windshield (never done it or seen it done, so I watched and learned ;)

Really my vision for this is a driver car, I'm not striving for perfect, as in zero bumps on any panel. I'm striving for new floors, solid and painted/protected frame rails, any rot cut out and replaced with new metal, and surface rust sanded away. Currently I'm thinking flat Hot Rodz British racing green paint with flat black hood (maybe a hemi scoop), but that could change of course, long time till that happens.

Im not going to modify anything from the original car, since its an RT. I want stock interior, and little lowered suspension, kind of a rough-ish exterior with the flat green and black hood/scoop, good sounding engine... sounds like my dream car.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm also going to be leaving off some of the amenities for some time in the distant future, such as the a/c. Its going to be a sunny day driver car, so maybe some things can wait.

I'm hoping to stay around 20K-25k for the entire project.

 

[showard]

Great to see your car. I love the 68 chargers. I think that they have the best looking tail lights (I also like the grill, dash, doors, body lines ............). I will be looking forward to your progress. I am also working on a 68 charger so keep us posted on your progress. It looks like you are getting a good start. I think that you have some good ideas, make it what you want.

 

[Rodney]

(first lesson learned, but a trunk pan that comes in 2 pieces)

when I replaced the trunk floor in one of my RR projects I cut the back {taillight} panel out by drilling the spot welds with a cutter then the complete trunk floor will slide in from the rear. this method should work with your Charger study it too see.
there are may types of cutters to choose from I've used blair with good success just use a small drill so you don't explode the cutter. I use a a small air drill which when it hangs up it just stops rather than breaking the bit.

 

[morrow_jacob]

when I replaced the trunk floor in one of my RR projects I cut the back {taillight} panel out by drilling the spot welds with a cutter then the complete trunk floor will slide in from the rear. this method should work with your Charger study it too see.
there are may types of cutters to choose from I've used blair with good success just use a small drill so you don't explode the cutter. I use a a small air drill which when it hangs up it just stops rather than breaking the bit.

Thank you so much for this, I was thinking this or maybe taking out both wheelwells when doing to quarters. Thats also a great tip I didnt think about with the drill, those little suckers arent cheap, I also saw someone said to use cutting oil.

I'm thinking the very first thing I need to do is the door alignment. The pass quarter was horribly replaced at sometime, the drivers side was cut in half and slapped on and tack literally over the original. The fenders were also replaced and then new doors were slapped on...So long story, the only prealigning I can accomplish is the door to rocker (which are both original). I think I need to do that before anything else.

Thanks again for the reply!

 

[morrow_jacob]

Dash is out, thats about it on the car. But I did finish my hack sandblast cabinet, and got some parts in :headbang:

My 30 Ford is now a table...

I didnt want to spend a ton on a cabinet, and I wanted one that I could store easily in the attic...

 

[kiwigtx]

Wow, that Charger looks familiar Good to see that you are going to fix 'er up real good now. Looking forward to seeing how the rebuild goes. :headbang:

 

[Donny]

Wow, Now I've seen it all respective of Blasting Cabinets! Bravo on your determination! Again, send your car out to get Blasted, it will be the smartest and (for the long term) best money you can spend! You're just guessing if a panel is good until it's Media Blasted. Feel free to peruse my site www.drblast dot com to get an idea of what your car will look like after media blasted. Look at the White 68 Charger I have there, also, you tube has some cool vids I put up -- to give you an idea of why you should do this. Remember, it really matters nothing to say 'Daily Driver' thus affording yourself a break from doing it right the first time. If things are done correctly, it will develop as something far better than the daily driver.

 

[morrow_jacob]

I would send it out, but I'm going to end up probably replacing most of these panels anyway. Also, I'm going to have young kids around for many years, and with my genes they'll probably ride their bikes right into it.

Also, I like the rougher looking cars, currently I want it a very dark flat green with a black hood and hemi scoop. I'm going to do my best with the dents, and I will not use Bondo, if there are a few small dings or a little off on a panel here and there I'm not going to stress about it. I've got enough stress, and not enough money to make a perfect car. I just want a fun, solid, driver without holes :0

But I very much appreciate all tips and suggestions! Thanks!

 

[verdelaw]

I support your desire to make it a driver and not mind the random dents/dings. Don't worry about judgy people and their "do it right the first time". Do it like you want to do it and enjoy it. I'll do the same. I'd rather have a badass charger that looks like it runs on children's tears and not worry about a stupid scratch in the paint. Looking forward to more posts!

 

[morrow_jacob]

It's been slow, turns out getting snipped puts a hamper on working on the car. But where there's a will there's a way.

My goodness the steering column was hard to remove...

Getting her leveled took way more time than I'd like to admit...


I once had a car that had a nice and shiny paint job. I fretted over it like you wouldnt believe, my Chevelle was a beauty...

This is how she ending up, taken out by a lady pulling out of a dunkin doughnuts. Never again will I care so much about paint.

 

[verdelaw]

I hear ya man. I used to have an M3 that I was always afraid of getting scratched...


Never again. I sold her prior to a big deployment and it was almost a big sigh of relief even though I loved driving it. Now I drive a 10 year old sedan and I'll be keeping my Charger nice and rough for a long time. No stress, no worries.

 

[morrow_jacob]

I hear ya man. I used to have an M3 that I was always afraid of getting scratched...
View attachment 228045

Never again. I sold her prior to a big deployment and it was almost a big sigh of relief even though I loved driving it. Now I drive a 10 year old sedan and I'll be keeping my Charger nice and rough for a long time. No stress, no worries.

Exactly. And fortunately I have no more deployments! Also, I keep thinking that my Charger won't see rain again. If it does it will be rare at best. It wont ever have the rust problems like it did when it was new, because as long as I own it it wont be in the elements. I will probably not even wash it often either, I dont want water seeping into the nooks and crannies, I want a very dark flat green, and a little dirt on the outside never hurt anything. I want to drive it, have fun with it, not wash and wax it at every show.

 

[verdelaw]

It looks like you've made a big dent in deconstruction in a fairly short (relatively) amount of time. May I ask if you're still working full time and if so is it something other than auto work? Because if so and this is done in your spare time, that is some dedication (especially if your garage is as cold as mine in the winter).

That looks like it was a nice '67! I like the color too. I was toying with getting a '66 for a while but ultimately came back to MoPar. Interesting how only the front end was mangled; was it a T-bone hit? What speed? Everyone okay in the passenger compartment? Because it looks pretty intact.

Thanks for the pics and comments on your Charger work, please keep them coming because I'll probably be following in your footsteps soon.

 

[morrow_jacob]

It looks like you've made a big dent in deconstruction in a fairly short (relatively) amount of time. May I ask if you're still working full time and if so is it something other than auto work? Because if so and this is done in your spare time, that is some dedication (especially if your garage is as cold as mine in the winter).

That looks like it was a nice '67! I like the color too. I was toying with getting a '66 for a while but ultimately came back to MoPar. Interesting how only the front end was mangled; was it a T-bone hit? What speed? Everyone okay in the passenger compartment? Because it looks pretty intact.

Thanks for the pics and comments on your Charger work, please keep them coming because I'll probably be following in your footsteps soon.

Fortunately/Unfortunately it came with no engine, seats unbolted, no carpet or headliner. It didnt take too long to get the windshield and dash out, and cleaned up. I work rotating shiftwork at a power plant, some weeks have more time than others, so as the wife and kids allow I sneak away into the garage... I'm in Texas, so not too cold, I lived in Green Bay for some time, so 50's is shorts weather.

Thank you, I like 66 too, but I like the nose better on a 67. That maroon was my favorite. I was doing about 35mph, a lady in a mustang waved a lady in a volvo out into my lane. The mustang lady was stopped in traffic going the same way as me, waiting to turn right, my lane was clear and I was heading toward the same light. She waved her out to cross traffic and go the opposite way. She nosed out before I could even brake. Everything was bent on the car, you can even see the exhaust touching the ground. I was getting out of the military and couldnt take it with me. The place it was taken to bought it. 2 years later after suing her insurance, I finally broke even on the car after paying my lawyer. Turned out okay, patience helped. They offered way low, so I did what I had to do. Luckily it wasn't a daily driver.

It was just me thankfully. I was just really bruised, I was lucky for being younger and more resilient than now a days.

 

[cdr]

cool project !!!! as you can tell i like 68 chargers