Don's 69 Charger Rust Belt restoration

[cdr]

 

[Cncguy]

Looking good! You keep me motivated on my project. By the that's a very interesting circuit you have running off the electrical panel.

[cdr]

be sure & test fit the 1/4 panel end caps.

[mopar4don]

Looking good! You keep me motivated on my project. By the that's a very interesting circuit you have running off the electrical panel.

You like that? That was so I could have light at the panel when I was working on my overhead lights

[mopar4don]

be sure & test fit the 1/4 panel end caps.

Yeah I did that and they will need a little massaging. I figured that could be done after the back was nailed down.
How did you do yours?

[timmycharger]

be sure & test fit the 1/4 panel end caps.

Yeah I did that and they will need a little massaging. I figured that could be done after the back was nailed down.
How did you do yours?

Yes! this was the mistake I made 10 years ago on mine. I wished I got them perfect before tacking the quarter skin in place.

[keepat]

Don, nice progress! Rear panel fit looks great!
Pat

[Stevearino]

Bet you feel inspired with that new sheet metal hung on there even if it was only temporary. After all that time dealing with all the little repairs all over the sub structure it is now time to reap the rewards.  You certainly deserve it.

[mopar4don]

Bet you feel inspired with that new sheet metal hung on there even if it was only temporary. After all that time dealing with all the little repairs all over the sub structure it is now time to reap the rewards.  You certainly deserve it.

You are to kind, thank you.

[hemi-hampton]

Nice Work.   LEON.

[Lennard]

Great work!  Another one saved 

[mopar4don]

Here is my dilemma

I welded the passenger side rocker in and now I find that it is out of level by 1/4"- 3/8" in a 4 foot distance.
The rear of the car was completely mocked up (assembled using screws) including the rockers. (look back the last couple of pages)
So nothing has moved, its right back were it was during mock up.

I knew the rockers were out of level a bit but figured it was ok because everything else came out good
So now I am second guessing myself and wondering if I really messed up!
And maybe I am a bit paranoid, but I just would like to know what to do or if there are other things I can check.

I have adjusted the door to get a consistent gap on the bottom, and with the window up the gap looks ok, but I don't know for sure until I get the drip rail and door seal installed.
The car is on a chassis jig, and the torsion bar crossmember and rear frame rails are in the correct location (they are level front to back as per the frame diagram)

So any help or advice is appreciated

[mopar4don]

more pics of the door gaps

[Dino]

1/4" off? Congratulations, you are within acceptable range and will be offered a position at Chrysler.   

Seriously, they are not all that precise so take a deep breath, everything will be fine. As long as the door lines up well with the quarter and you can get the fender to align decent you'll be halfway there. And they'll line up just fine. They may require tweaking to get them closer to modern car specs but that is to be expected on any old mopar. The glass can be tweaked in any direction easily and the roof seal and trim don't change how the glass fits now. Don't worry about that.

So all that is left really is cosmetic. If the unlevel rocker bothers you then simply cut, tweak, and weld. You could fix it with lead but splicing it is going to be much easier. Just don't start cutting until you have all the panels in place.

[mopar4don]

1/4" off? Congratulations, you are within acceptable range and will be offered a position at Chrysler.   

Seriously, they are not all that precise so take a deep breath, everything will be fine. As long as the door lines up well with the quarter and you can get the fender to align decent you'll be halfway there. And they'll line up just fine. They may require tweaking to get them closer to modern car specs but that is to be expected on any old mopar. The glass can be tweaked in any direction easily and the roof seal and trim don't change how the glass fits now. Don't worry about that.

So all that is left really is cosmetic. If the unlevel rocker bothers you then simply cut, tweak, and weld. You could fix it with lead but splicing it is going to be much easier. Just don't start cutting until you have all the panels in place.

Thanks Dino, you make me feel better.
Unlevel rockers do not bother me at all. In fact when I ever get it done it will have the back raked up a bit anyway.
I never did fit the fenders. I was so worried about the back that I never even thought about the front fenders

[Dino]

As long as you respect the order of installing panels, you'll breeze through this. And frankly, a little cut and paste here and there would not be much of a deal, especially on something as straightforward as a rocker. No pun intended.   

Line up the door with the quarter and only the quarter. Disregard the rocker for now. Just make the door with with the top and side of the rocker, and make the gap between the two as nice as you can. It won't be a perfect gap so don't let it throw you off and don't compromise the fit of the dor with the top and side of the quarter. Now mount the fender and do the same. When the skins all fit well then you essentially are on the home stretch. Even if the gaps are off and the rockers are off, they can be tweaked without to much effort. Tweaking skins to fit is a pita.

Do both sides and get the hood in place. When all that is done get the bumper and front valance on. Those are your last pieces to possibly tweak. The grille is more forgiving to move around but if you have it stick it in there. Take your time, go slow and step away from it often. Once you get through the fitment stuff life gets better.   

[mopar4don]

So it's time for an update....
While fitting the quarter panel I realized I needed to fix a small detail.
At the bottom corner of the lock jam pillar is a small extension of metal that should wrap under the mating area of the quarter panel.

[mopar4don]

Since the lip of the quarter is really short I decided to fix this area

[mopar4don]

This is a lot better

[mopar4don]

Same fix on the drivers side......
And my 1-1/2 year old grand son approves

[Baldwinvette77]

Awww 

[VegasCharger]

 

[Pat1973charger]

Stellar work as usual Don. Cute little grandson, my little guy is almost 2 1/2 now and he loves going in the gaage (garage) and helping daddy work on stuff. I figure if I can get him into cars when he's young, when he's a teenager he will be home tinkering instead of getting into trouble. Looking forward to the next update!

[keepat]

Very nice job! I'm sure your grandson would love to drive your Charger in 15 years ;-)
Pat

[mopar4don]

Stellar work as usual Don. Cute little grandson, my little guy is almost 2 1/2 now and he loves going in the gaage (garage) and helping daddy work on stuff. I figure if I can get him into cars when he's young, when he's a teenager he will be home tinkering instead of getting into trouble. Looking forward to the next update!

Thanks Pat, I'm hoping when he gets a little older he will want to to come over and tinker.

Very nice job! I'm sure your grandson would love to drive your Charger in 15 years ;-)
Pat

Thanks Pat, That would be awesome!