1968 Dodge Charger R/T Restoration Build

[ThomasTedder]

I don't know what you call this fiberglass panel under the glove box, but I am really surprised at how well it turned out.

[ThomasTedder]

One of the vacuum cans. The other one is too dented and will have to be replaced.

[ThomasTedder]

Almost finished the windshield wiper motor. I still need to untape and repair the wiring. I had a fairly productive afternoon, though. I got the underdash panel, horn, vacuum can, and wiper motor in about 3 hours.

[JB400]

Glad to see you're making some lee way

[ThomasTedder]

Well, a little over a year ago, I began to realize the the person who sold me the car was lying through his teeth about the title so I had to halt all progress. I could not justify building a car that may never get a title.

Thankfully, I FINALLY got a title last week after a year and a half. And no thanks to the guy that sold me the car.  Here's a little background about what happened. When I called the guy about the car he swore to me that he had a clear title that was in his name. Then, when I got there, he claimed that he realized the title had not been changed over to his name and that he sent it off to the State of Washington and it should be back in about 10 days. Now, normally, I would have walked away right there, but I let my emotions get in the way. Plus, he had couple dozen really nice muscle cars (some of which were beautifully restored) and a really nice house so I took the guy at his word. He then claimed that the title was lost by the state and he was working on getting a replacement title. This went on for months and months. Overtime I called, he had a new story about how he was having trouble tracking down the previous owner, but the details were getting mixed around each time so I knew he was lying. Then, he tried to get me to get a title through the state of Vermont with some paperwork that conveniently didn't have his name anywhere on it (only mine). At that point, I gave up on him ever getting a title, but it turns out that my state has a way of retitling old vehicles if many hoops are jumped through. The PO wouldn't even sign a certified letter for me saying when and how much I paid for it. I had to dig up old bank records to prove that I bought it from him. Thank god I paid with a bank wire transfer. Proof will always exist that I put money in his bank account. The state police and state motor vehicle departments ran all kinds of background checks on it among other things. The title will be branded for a few years, but I can eventually convert it to a normal title. I truly believe it wasn't stolen or anything, that the title was lost along the way somewhere, but the way the PO lied to me is a really crappy thing to do. I'm mad as hell about being lied to for a year and a half.

I was going to post his name and address, but I've decided to take the high road here. However, if you ever want to buy a Mopar for sale in Spokane Washington, PM me first to make sure you're not getting it from the same guy. He sells lots on Craigslist.

[ThomasTedder]

After waiting over a year ... THE BUILD RESUMES!

Now it's off to the sandblaster and then paint. As much of the original trim as possible will be saved/refinished. The seats are intact enough to get great patterns for new leather.

I'm hoping to have everything back in 4 to 6 months. There won't be much else happening while that is going on, but I'll try to update with pics as progress is made. In the mean time, I'll be building the 440 and then stuffing a new 5.0 Coyote and Tremec 6 speed in a 68 fastback Mustang.

[ThomasTedder]

Progress. After sandblasting, this thing was very beat up. I had to replace the trunk pan and drivers quarter.

It was hit in the front left at some point in it's life so I went ahead and had it put it on a frame machine to make sure everything was straight as an arrow.

[hemi68charger]

Progress. After sandblasting, this thing was very beat up. I had to replace the trunk pan and drivers quarter.

It was hit in the front left at some point in it's life so I went ahead and had it put it on a frame machine to make sure everything was straight as an arrow.

[ThomasTedder]

Primering is all done. All of the gaps look great!

[ThomasTedder]

And.... some paint starting to go down. Engine bay and underneath. No clear yet, though.

[ThomasTedder]

The engine bay was torn up pretty bad. Someone had cut and drilled holes to change spark plugs, I presume. And there was some damage from a small collision. Everything is straightened out now and there is some seam sealer making all of the gaps and transitions look great.

[qwick68]

Looks great!

[ThomasTedder]

Looks great!

Thanks. It'll look close to yours when done.

[ThomasTedder]

The axle and hood are almost ready for paint.

[ThomasTedder]

Here is the engine bay with some clear applied.

[ThomasTedder]

Here, the primer has been sanded and paint is about to be applied

[ThomasTedder]

Got some paint on the car now. It looks so good without the clear that I might have to do my next car with matte paint.

[ThomasTedder]

And here is some clear on the body. I can't wait to see it after they have it sanded and buffed.

[ThomasTedder]

Here's a couple more.

[cavemanno1]

 

That is beautiful!You are right,that matte finish looks really cool,something different!Have to say after the black that colour is my favourite now!!

[forsy1979]

Looks great!!  Love the color.  Is that the QQ1?   I restoring a 68 Rt.myself.  what did you use to strip the rust off your parts?   I need to start doing mine.

[JB400]

 

[tan top]

And here is some clear on the body. I can't wait to see it after they have it sanded and buffed.

   nice job 

[keepat]

That looks so sexy!!
Pat

[ThomasTedder]

Looks great!!  Love the color.  Is that the QQ1?   I restoring a 68 Rt.myself.  what did you use to strip the rust off your parts?   I need to start doing mine.

It's the original medium blue metallic. It's the year before medium blue metallic was called b5 and I  can't remember the code. The shop doing the work has books with the original paint chips so it is an exact match. Well, the paint is a little different in today's high quality base/clear, but about as close as you can get.