Sov's 1970 Charger Build Record

[SovereignZuul]

Hey all, going to keep track of my build here, with plenty of pics and info.  Hope you enjoy the read as it goes along.  I fully expect at least a full year for this thing to be complete, but I'm just glad to be fired up and getting it started.  I've got some experience building/working on old cars.  Going to be picking up new skills and plenty of new equipment as I go along with this.

I was a member here I think, a long time ago.  I thought the site was dodge-charger.com, maybe I'm wrong.  I have some old t-shirts with the site logo/url on it I should dig out.  

I'm pretty sure I first found the car in the for sale section of this very site, but about 12-13 years ago if I gauge correctly.  Maybe the gentleman I purchased it from will remember the car or sale since any of that info about the sale I had is probably long gone by now.

I bought this car in Connecticut, damn if I remember the town.  I recall seeing the car with it's original bumper and grill when selling, but those parts were taken off the car maybe a week before it sold to me.  I think I paid $1,300 for the car back in 2001-2002.  The owner threw in a non-original 318 and 904 trans when I got the car, which are also both long gone.  I rebuilt the 904 as practice and sold it dirt cheap and the 318, who knows, I think it went to scrap.  

I was 17-18 years old when I bought the car.  I had previously build a 1979 Z-28 from the ground up and thought I could tackle a better car after that.  Boy was I wrong.  I dragged this car around with me in four different homes since then in my home town and did buy parts over the years but could never afford (or was stupidly spending on other things) rather than fix the car.  Dare I become one of those, "I'll fix it someday" kind of people; I'm really fixing the car now.  It took me to age 30 to be able to afford it and have the drive (and skills) to do it.

Over the years I've had a bumper and grill delivery by crate, what a surprise that was to find boxed up in a wooden crate in my driveway on delivery day.  I've picked up a good 727 trans from Carlisle, and a 383 BB local which I tore down, cleaned, oiled and packaged for a rebuild one day.  More recently I've acquired a 440, which I have posted about identifying in the questions section of these forums with pics.

I tore down some of the car too, interior, lights, that kind of stuff, boxed up or stuffed in the car.  Car still needs some tear down before resto work begins.

Long story but the point is, specifically a 1970 Charger is my dream car.  No other car on this Earth I find more desirable.  While I may have had a brief time as a Chevy guy in my teens it didn't take me long to grow up and learn Mopar is the way.  I've had mostly Dodge and Plymouth cars over the years: a 66' Valiant, 84 Gran Fury, nothing with the prestige of a muscle car.  A few years ago I bought a 1969 Dart as a daily driver (with all the parts I needed for a resto of the car) but it was unfortunately hit and damaged, now sitting awaiting repair as well.

Without further wait, here is the Charger, some pics from a few years ago when it sat on a fresh pavement driveway, covered before I moved it to a barn rental.  the rest of the pics are from a couple weeks ago, specifically of what I needed to start the body, damaged areas of the car.








I'll have to get the vin/fender tag pics again.  I decoded it years ago.  If I recall it's nothing too special.  Was a white car with green interior, with a bench seat and air conditioned with a towing package. 318/auto.  I could be wrong but this is going off a memory years ago.  I'll get tag pics asap.

[SovereignZuul]

Just for fun, my Dart.






My Daily Driver. A very rare Caliber SRT4.




All the newer pics, mostly of rust/damage I'll need to tackle.

The 440:



The cancer:

That valance has seen better decades... ouch.






Once upon a time someone tried welding this area... very poorly.




One of the worst spots, quarter is disintegrated quite a bit here.




Bondo is showing but over-all the fenders aren't bad.




You can see those bondo holes drilled here.  Hood is trash at this point but I want a glass hood anyway.  Valance is pretty rough, could be fixed but probably replaced anyway.




Gotta be thankful for the little things at this point.  Wheel wells look great all around.




This view is a little scary.  I'm hoping those pits on the frame rail don't run too deep.




Weather sealing falling off, I'm praying for good luck when I get the car lifted and stripped.  I know the trunk floor is shot.




The worst of it all, rear window frame.  The sails are pretty much trash and the lower window edge is a joke.  This whole area is being replaced.





Here is the whole album of pics, a lot more I didn't post because I don't want to clog this thread too bad with pics to load.

http://imgur.com/a/Z39IG

[twodko]

Welcome to the party.

[JB400]

Looks like a fun project.   Best of luck

[tan top]

    looking forward to seeing , progress pictures & up dates & stuff 

[moparnation74]

Welcome!  Thank you for saving two Mopars!  If you need any 70 parts in the future drop me an email through this site.

[SovereignZuul]

Looking for an assload of sheetmetal.  MoparSal has a bunch but he's about 5 hours away from my pop, who would be transporting the stuff.

Today I did buy from Sal a bunch of the lights I need, reverse lights, side markers, parking lights and also some inner sail panels to replace my rusted ones.  My first sheet metal will be on the way soon.

I'm leaning away from Goodmark and below and looking for AMD or original stuff only.  I can buy AMD local to me which I probably will soon.  Got a base line price of about $2,800 for the metal.  Anyone in Northern CT want to buy a boat or a well kept first gen Neon?  Funding and making space at the same time...

I hit the barn again today after work for more pics.

Here's my vin and decode:



http://www.stockmopar.com/mopar-vin-decoder.php?VIN=XH29G00136424

Just what I recall looking up years ago, a weak 318 car from the factory, nothing special here.

Fender Tag, I probably got this wrong by at least a bit.



Decode says:

XH29:
Dodge Charger
High
2 Door Sports Hardtop

G06: 318 230HP 1-2BBL 8 CYL
1970
Newark, DE, USA

:   Sequence number

E44:    318 cid 2 barrel V8 230hp
D32:    Heavy Duty Automatic Transmission
EW1:    White Exterior Color
62F8:    Trim - Unknown, Vinyl Bench Seat, Green
EF8:    Dark Green Metallic (Dodge), Ivy Green Metallic (Plymouth) Int. Door Frames
A02:    Build Date: October 02

EWD:    Unknown Top Color
A73: 70 only    Special Value Package - XH29 Charger
G33:    LH Remote Racing Mirror
H51:    Air Conditioning with Heater
M24:    Unknown
M31:    Belt Moldings

R11:    Radio Solid State AM (2 Watts)
26:    26in Radiator
END:    End of Sales Codes

This looks less like rust and more like someone went to town with a tool who knows when.  Should be an easy fix, no need for a whole inner fender.

http://i.imgur.com/AGpSA55.jpg



My grill looks pretty great.  Only one damaged area that seems fixable.  The other headlight door is off, stored in the car, I do have the whole thing plus bumper supports.




This must be the Charger's Third Life.  Someone really went over this car ages ago.  A white car with a green interior converted to a black car with black interior.  Hmmm... and the deck lid must have belonged to a blue charger at some point upon closer inspection.




... Awesome....




Things to come?





Here's the whole album, more pictures I took today:
http://imgur.com/a/cbdYh



I'm securing exactly where to work on the car now.  Most likely my girlfriend's driveway.  However, she is having her driveway repaved this coming Tuesday!  So the car won't be pulled out of storage for work quite yet.

I've got a new sandblaster as well, thinking about investing in a rotisserie as well but that might be a bigger plunge on a tool than I need, we'll see.  Also need to find a compressor strong enough to handle the grit blasting.  I was formerly employed as a grit blast worker blasting saw blades and was the mechanic for those machines when they broke down (all the time).

[Baldwinvette77]

Woot Blown black 70   

[Stevearino]

And so it begins. Good luck.

[Challenger340]

It'll be worth the effort, and when done you will KNOW what you have ! 

[SovereignZuul]

Thanks for the best wishes of luck all.

I took the plunge Friday and ordered most of the sheet metal I know I need from the local dealer, all AMD metal.  Couple weeks I'll pick it up and take pics.  A hair under $2,500 after taxes, no delivery as I'll be picking it all up.

Just found the old build sheet and it definitely doesn't match my car.  Even found a home owner's insurance policy from 1990.  Other than that there was nothing else as far as paper work goes in the car.  No sheet under the floor, and the only one I found was in the rear seat frame and is in very poor shape. 

Any way I can track down the owner of this build sheet to see if the car still lives?  I hope I can make a very happy gift to someone. 

Build sheet looks like this:  1X S2 9 L 8 B36119
I assume this means the vin is:  XS29L8B036119

Model:    Dodge Charger    X
Price Class:    Special    S
Body Type:    2 door sports hardtop    29
Engine:    440ci V8 4bbl HP (RB motor)    L
Year:    1968    8
Assembly Plant:    Hamtramck, MI    B
Sequence Number:    036119    036119

What an awesome car, wish it was mine.

I recall seeing sites that helped owner's reconnect with old build sheets but I can't find it in google searches.  Maybe I can find my own, or deliver this one to an owner?  If you know of this site please share a link.

Given the year difference between my car and this build sheet and the fact that I'm carrying the interior from that other car I have a feeling it was stripped and scrapped to build mine in the late 80s or early 90s.  This feels like archeology, haha.

I can see that happening, I stripped a late 70's Firebird to build my Camaro too when I was a (younger) kid.   Still a kid anyways, lol.  Maybe it was a similar situation that someone built a hot rod from this body when they were a kid?  Maybe this could even mean my Charger's previous installed motor was also a 440.  The history may not impress anyone, but knowing how this car lived it's life (or lives) feels special to me.

When I looked up the info on the home owner's insurance the owner apparently still lives there 24 years later.  Even more, the plot thickens.  The other name on the policy is also a resident of my state and a now different address and apparently 44 years old.  He would have been around 20 years old at the time of this paperwork signing.  Should I given them a call Monday and ask about the car's history or is that too intrusive?

[SovereignZuul]

The first goodies have arrived.

Thanks MoparSal!



Photocopy of that old build sheet I have.
http://i.imgur.com/Kz57zXq.jpg

[SovereignZuul]

Sheet metal pickup day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX5tfRdkoY0

Edit: Additionally, I managed to sell both the prior mentioned Boat and Neon, doesn't quite pay for all the sheet metal but covered the bulk of the payment and makes a lot more space.

I made a mistake though.  I ordered the wrong quarter skin! Had the wrong part number saved.  Woops...  I called the guys at Auto Body Specialties here in CT and explained my mistake.  They helped me "fix" that error on my part.  A proper AMD quarter is on it's way in, should have it in a few weeks.

You can really feel the difference between the AMD and Goodmark metal.  The AMD stuff is so much more solid, and thick!

I don't know yet if I'll be able to start the body work this year as badly as I want to jump on it right this moment.  It's already getting colder fast here in CT and it might not be worth pulling the car from the barn and towing it home just to stick it back in before it gets too cold to work on it.  We'll see what I can work out in the next couple of weeks, I may have a place to do it....  I might at least be able to strip the body of every little bit before Winter and have a nice empty shell to work on come next year's warm weather.  I can work on restoring the smaller parts in my basement during the winter as well and at least get the transmission rebuilt too.













Full album:
http://imgur.com/lcYaV1a,uUZ5lXR,wavqTDu,oBwTfRX,Zv1rWCr,GC9M1DB,VQk5BNg,OvR4ioB,B0mG7RX,tB9O3FZ,fOi3ces,le1jVdi,YCByErp#12

[moparnation74]

Looks like Christmas came early!  How exciting.  During the winter is a good time to coordinate and restore all the individual parts.  For example, restore the heater box and once completed include all attaching hardware and insulation/firewall gaskets.  Do that for every part.  So when the body gets finished and painted and you move to the assembly phase you just grab and install.  Eliminates, running around for hardware, gaskets, insulation and other parts.  Basically, your own assembly line, right at your house.

[BananaDan]

Welcome!  Don't forget to stop by the 1970 Charger Registry site and say hi on the message board! 

[70Charger500]

Welcome!  Don't forget to stop by the 1970 Charger Registry site and say hi on the message board! 

Looks like you have a great project, and lots of enthusiasm! You're off to a great start.

[SovereignZuul]

During the winter is a good time to coordinate and restore all the individual parts.

Best advice yet, set my head straight.    Going to wait until spring to start the body.  I'll be restoring as much as I can this winter indoors.

Going to make multiple trips out there to remove as much as I can from the core shell before it gets too cold and bring the parts back to my hobby bench for resto.  

The digging today uncovered some parts I thought I was missing.  The Charger actually feels more complete than I first thought, if not needing every single piece of the car restored...  The only thing missing I could tell was the carpet, which I may have thrown away myself on account of how bad it was when I first got the car.  Maybe there is a missing trim piece or something else.  Time will tell these things.


Ordered some more Charger goodies, waiting for them to arrive....

Started cleaning out the car and going through what I've got.  More archeology!

Trunk was full of stuff!  



Glad I bought an AMD trunk floor!  This is beyond saving.  It's worse than I remember even.



Arm rests, interior panels, and a bunch of hub caps.  Huh, I don't even remember seeing those hub caps before, they must have come with the car and are long forgotten, not sure where else they could have come from.  I wonder if they are worth anything?



Interior is packed.  Seats, lots of trim pieces, some missing lights and other assorted, all buried here.



Mostly empty, glad I have fresh floors to put in too!



Such amazing wiring, I will re-use every bit....  nope.



I read today that column shifters were not available on 1970 Chargers?  The car was born a automatic, I wonder if someone swapped in a 3 on the tree or if that info about no column shift in '70 was wrong?  I saw the horn button on the passenger floor.  



These metal rods must be part of the headliner?  You can also see the green paint on the driver's door, the Charger's original color.
http://i.imgur.com/2U4Fjgi.jpg


My tail lights look excellent at a glance.  A nice cleaning and polish and good as new perhaps!



Poor quality photo, but that's all the trim I found inside.



An oddity.  The original keys?  They were in the column still.  The tag reads:  RECORD NUMBER & DESTROY TAG






HD Album of latest pics including some extras not posted:
http://imgur.com/a/SvJAr

[comet_666]

good luck!

[SovereignZuul]

Despite the 10+ hours of work so far I end up smashing my head so many times (figuratively) on the disassembly that I haven't gotten as far as I wish.  I don't even know if I'll get the car stripped before winter at this rate.

Dear god, getting the window crank assembly out of the body seems impossible.  
You can see it sticking up in the pic below.  Any tips are welcome!

Fenders are almost off, but I've got some broken bolts that I need to cut off and there is no power in this barn.  Going to have a go with a hacksaw and maybe I can break them with a hammer to free them!

The upper door hinge bolts are under the dash?  I'll worry about those once the dash is off!

All the front, rear, and driver's side trim is off.  Put air in the driver's side tires and they remarkably held air while I was there.  Both passenger tires don't seem to hold any air.

I've forgotten the headache of working on old rusty cars!  It's been too long.

Charger's birthday was Oct 2, 1969.  Just celebrated it's 45th.

More new parts: Fender brace, core brace, torque boxes.  The subframe braces are on the way, thanks IndyGeneral!

These are some seriously heavy duty parts.  Thick steel!



The car is starting to get naked.  I bet the doors haven't been off since 1969.  The hinges are shot, more play in them than I've ever seen on cars this old.

[Indygenerallee]

Gonna be lots of blood, sweat and tears just keep your eye on driving that baby down the road (and maybe getting it a little sideways!) 

[fy469rtse]

Lots of sideways 

[six-tee-nine]

The rear window regulator is a mind cracker isnt it......

I took mine apart as far as I could in the car and then took it out from the trunk side. (Slide it over the wheel well trough the quarter towards the trunk).

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Good luck

You're going to need it. That and a bottomless wallet.

[Ghoste]

Keep that tag with the keys, most of them did get destroyed.

[SovereignZuul]

The rear window regulator is a mind cracker isnt it......

I took mine apart as far as I could in the car and then took it out from the trunk side. (Slide it over the wheel well trough the quarter towards the trunk).

Will give that a try next time I'm out there, maybe today weather providing.  Thanks.

---
You ain't kidding Mytur.  Not counting everything I've already purchased my shopping list is up to 11.5k and that doesn't include anything for the engine or interior yet.
This car will suck me dry, no way I'm going to afford everything to finish it to my standards in a single year. I'm aiming for sometime mid-2016 but we all know how how project timelines never meet expectations....