WHAT DO YOU THINK: WHAT´S THE PERFECT ORDER TO RESTORE MY 70´ CHARGER RT?

[jluisfelipe]

Hello friends, I´m very excited about beggining the restoration of my 70´Dodge Charger. It´s a dream came true and I have worked very hard to achieve it, but I have got some doubts about how to do it, so any help is appreciated...
The project idea is to do a mild restomod. Now, I´ve got some money to start, near 20k (not the total amount I would need to finish it), so I´m deciding what to do and in what order...
I would like to paint it at the end, but I don´t want to spend inncesary money doing things twice...
I already bought all what I need to rebuild the engine, so I was wondering to do this:

1) Do all the metal work, repairing all the oxid. Paint the interior, underside of the car and the engine bay in black.
2) Install Hotchkis TVS Sport Suspension kit (http://www.hotchkis.net/product/197...sport-suspension/?mk=40&yr=1970&md=287&sm=295)
3) Upgrade brake system
4) Rebuild the engine

And in the second "stage", I would do:

4) Exhaust system and transmission.
5) Windshield, glasses, lights, electrical system and interior.
6) Paint the car.
7) Any other remaining things...

The big question is...do you thinks that´s the right order? would you do it that way? Any advice is more than welcome.

First picture is what I have in mind... The rest are actual photos of the car.
Thanks in advance!!

 

[dieseldazzle]

After learning from mistakes, I've began to put them on rotisserie. Strip completely and go from there. If you are building to keep and not sell, it's the best way to start. No regrets

 

[dieseldazzle]

Waiting

 

[jluisfelipe]

Thanks for the reply, dieseldazzle. Would you paint the whole car then from the beginning?
I probably will sell it in a future (and continue with another project) and budject is very tight, but it´s a great car and it deserves to be restored properly...
Do you think that if I do it as I said I will find many surprises on the way?

 

[bschomske]

Rotisserie is the only way to really go and get that car to bare metal before you paint.Paint first then put back together.Thats the way mine was done. Came out great but takes alot of time...

 

[jluisfelipe]

Ok! Two votes for rotisserie and full paint...lol
The thing is that the car will come to Spain. That´s why I want to do all the technical and mechanical works in USA and then, after bringing the car home, do the appareance works here (interior and paint job). Do you thinks it´s a mistake to do it so?

 

[dieseldazzle]

If you plan to sell then just throw half *** paint on it make it run and such otherwise you'll never get your money out of it even if it's a 68-70 r/t its expensive and even if you can do it all yourself you lose money when you take up all your time. I do it cuz I love it and it keeps me sane.

 

[dieseldazzle]

Looks to be rt 4 speed car if Dana scoops and such belong there

 

[jluisfelipe]

Yes, it is. Matching numbers 70 RT, manual trans, DANA 60, 3:54

 

[moparnation74]

Shipping parts to Spain will be $$$$$. One idea may be to get all the metal/rust repair work done in the US. Then do the finish work in Spain. Load the car up with all the new parts for installation after the car is painted. That way you can save tons on shipping cost. Also, you do not have to worry about a nice paint job getting scratched/dinged/etc during transport.

So do the mechanical and rust repair here and finish the rest in Spain....

 

[Superb Bee]

Everyone does it different, I even do it different depending on the project.

With that car, if I had a resto mod in mind, I would...

First get it on a spinner like others have said, spend $1200 of that budget on a derek weaver rotisserie, you can sell it for an easy $1000 when you are done with it if you don't cover it in overspray.

Strip it on a 2 post lift, and move it from that lift on the spinner, while you strip is take pictures of everything, catalog the bolts, every part, make lists of everything you need and want to do to the car.

Then once the car is stripped and spinning, it blasted, dipped, or start wire and paper stripping by hand, what ever you are comfortable with, get the car to bare metal. If your doing a protouring car.

I recommend at this time making as much room as you can in them rear quarters for some big rubber. (mini tub is pretty easy in these cars. US Car tool makes mini tub kits that are really nice and easy to install, plus they cost like $225, I have done 4 of them, comes with templates and everything.

Next repair/replace any damage or rot.

Next Jamb it all in body color, trunk, passenger compartment, engine bay, underneath.

While all this is going on, rebuild what you need to rebuild, source all the parts you will need, great time to figure out you air condition and heat.

by then that should be the end of your $20K lol...


Since you are doing a retro rod, I would sell off the parts that you have and will not use, if you are doing a custom dash, seats, console, etc all them parts are worth something.

The interior is important in a retro rod, Finding a set of racaro seats on ebay for $500 is easy (heated seat pads are cheap too, and if you are having them covered thats the time to do it, although you are in florida), keep your rear seat and have some covers made to match the recaros or have all 3 covered custom. I have done the custom consoles 3 different ways, carpet covered wood was the first one, we used MDX and sanded it all round, it weighed a ton, the next one I did with aluminum to match the aluminum dash, wasnt happy with it, first one I did with fiberglass came shoddy and weak, then we made a hybrid, aluminum frame with fiberglass, around it.

The next one I do I am going to do 4 buckets with a aluminum / fiberglass console front to back with a speedometer molded in the back to the rear passengers can see the speed, lol.. Thats the fun part of a prot touring car, its all what is in your head and its easy to make it happen, just takes time. I was terrible with the fiberglass, but I am old school, someone may be able to do it faster and get it on the first shot, but I can do it just as good, may take me a while and a few trys, but it will get done and right, now I can do it in my sleep.

I like speedhut for the gauges, and with the dash the sky is the limit, metal frame, fiberglass overlayed and cover that in vinyl to match the door panels, console, seat, etc.

1 piece glass is a nice touch for a pro touring car, takes some doing though, nice to get rid of the vent windows.

Suspension is also important with pro touring cars, if your not going all out with coil overs and you are keeping the leafs and torsion bars, then at least use poly bushings, 4 wheel power disc, front and rear sway bars, get the plates for your control arms welded in, strut rods, spc control arms, welding in some extra frame connection is never a bad idea also. You can get these cars to handle pretty good and keep the torsion bar/leaf spring suspension with some meaty tires on there.
Getting rid of the body roll is important, I know some guys say "i have hardly any body roll" and then I pass them on the on ramp when they are jumping out of the throttle and Im still on the floor. You put some meaty tire with no sidewall on there, be prepared to feel what body roll is, the sway bars and some hotchkis goodies fix it right up, get that long sled taking corners at a good clip.

Air bags are another option BUT $$$$$$$, I did it for a friend of mine, and it worked well, but cost a bit more than I think it should.


That will be a good start, when I think retro rod / pro touring I have a list that pops in my head.

power doors, nice stereo, big wheels, lotza tire, 4 wheel disc brakes, tight suspension, custom interior, Fuel injection, air conditioning, tinted glass, trim either shaved or painted (not much chrome), overdrive or 5+ speeds, low stance.

If you start chopping away at that list and dont go all the way, you end up with a car with fancy wheels that looks like you didnt have the drive or money to go all the way with. I see a bunch of cars on line that guys throw some 18" wheels on, camaro seats in, hack in some autometer gauges in the dash and on the pillar, and call it protouring.


hope this helps, good luck, it looks like you are starting with a nice car. 70 charger R/T is special

 

[jluisfelipe]

WOW!! Thank you so much for the comment. It has been very helpfull.
My idea is a mild restomod: visually classic (wide 15" American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels, painted black with red stripes) but with new technology (air conditioning, good audio system...) and modern driving behavior (upgrade brakes, suspension...)
I will also do little customization in lots of parts: seats, lights...For example, I would like to transform the original seats into sport ones, modificating them and adding harnesses...

 

[snakeoil24]

The very last step is install front glass. Invert the screws that hold dash panel. Make sure you drive the car around locally with glass out to check for leaks, squeaks or wiring issues. The very last is the glass.

 

[Car Nut]

Like this?

 

[jluisfelipe]

Yes!! Like that one, but with other wheels and a few changes in the rear: I will use modify the tail lights, using one of a 70´Challenger instead of the round original ones; bumpers will also change a little bit (no gap between the body and the chromed bumper) and its name will be "The Beast".
Summarizing, something like this...

 

[GetX'd]

You've got a good plan - some great ideas from the FBBO crew and a beautiful car to start your project with. I like your pics of what you expect to end up with. It will definitely be a "Beast". Good luck and keep us in the loop with a progress thread.

One question - are you from Spain - is that why the car will be going there?

 

[jluisfelipe]

Yes, sir. I am from Spain (Canary Islands) and car is now in Miami, in the shop of a friend.

 

[dieseldazzle]

Oh god. Please don't do that to a real 70 rt 4 speed car.

 

[1967coronet440]

Me personally if it needs metal and body work that gets done first.

 

[wantahemi]

Document every single aspect of your car!!!!
Step one: buy a rotisserie
Step Two: disassemble car / mount on rotisserie
Step Three: body and paint
From here you can deal with suspension, engine, tranny, rear, interior in any order.

My vote is always do the metal work first. Sometimes looks are deceiving. If you cant get it blasted, even chemical stripping will do. You mentioned being on a tight budget. You are better off knowing what metal work is really needed. You might strip it and find that floor pans, trunk pan, quarters, sail panel, trunk lip , etc may be rotted. Body work can easily blow that budget if you find lots of pinholes, rust, hidden damage.

Since you are going to be dealing with shipping internationally, cheaper to ship a cylinder head, than a roof panel. I'd do as much as you can while car is in US. Not sure many Mopar Junkyards overseas.

That's a sweet ride and if it ends up being too much work I am sure you can find a buyer on here quickly.