My '68 Charger resto/build!

[MxRacer855]

Hey guys,

So I've said that I was going to start a thread to document my build (which is consuming my life right now ) for quite some time. I think today I have found the time to finally get it started. I had uploaded a lot of the pictures onto a laptop that contracted a virus developing some significant issues. That really kept me from being able to get this going sooner, but here we go!

So, where do I start. I'll tell you where the car is currently and then take it from the top. Currently I'm waiting to get my car back from a reputable, high end shop outside of Chicago. I have a buddy who is part owner and was really looking forward to the project. I brought them a clean, sandblasted, all metal replaced, rolling chassis to get the body work done and painted black. It's going on 4 months (something I'm NOT the happiest with), but I within the next few weeks.

I always wanted a '68. I saved from January of '13 until about mid July when I came across one on Craigslist in Kentucky for a very reasonable price. This was my first time really buying an antique car so I wasn't fully aware of what to look for. I tried to bring a few friends that would have been helpful, but obligations and short notice had kept them from tagging along and I only had a limited timeframe since the owners were moving to Arizona within the week and were willing to take the car with them. In retrospect, I think I was so happy with finally getting the car of my dreams that I overlooked the great amount of imperfections and issues it had. I just rationalized them as all things I would fix later. The car looked good on the outside and most of the interior was redone (something that I was very happy with). The very nice couple that sold me the car (who I am friends with now) didn't know a lot about the body work and mechanical stuff that was done when they rebuilt it. They gave it to some local guy and they rebuilt the car on a budget. The owners really just wanted a nice looking car that they could pull out every once in a while to go to a show with. Turns out, when I started learning about the car fast, and fixing those imperfections... one thing led to another (something we all seem to have in common ). I had a semi-lame job at the time and I was budgeting what I was doing. the direction I wanted to go wasn't too clear. I was fortunate enough to get a union job with the IBEW and can now fund my project much better and get it done quicker. Obviously the direction changed a bit, so here we are... my build, my way. So far...

Jeff

[MxRacer855]

I guess I'll start here.. with the pics of the car that the previous owners took before they had it restored by a butcher who was a bondo artist.

[MxRacer855]

 

[MxRacer855]

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[MxRacer855]

 

[fy469rtse]

Not what i was expecting at, actually dont know what i was expecting Jeff
but keep going , been waiting for this ,
been picking up on watch you have been doing and planning by all your posts for the last year,
will be good to see you plan and car come together

[MxRacer855]

I'll get it all on here.. just bare with me. For some reason, I'm having a lot of technical issues with uploading the pictures. File sizes are too big despite pictures being resized to quarters. Haha. I've got a lot of stuff to get to! Thanks for the interest!

[Canadian1968]

I know you had a lot of questions when I did the rear end on mine , l hope to see how yours turned out !

Easy way to fix pictures. Open in "paint" ( default program for anything Microsoft ) go up to image - resize/skew the change height and width to 25% this shrinks all my photos to about 80kb. Save and rename the file . Should be good to go

[fy469rtse]

Actually your build will be good , a lot of pre knowledge on these cars helps with the build plan

I've stopped posting photos , got out of practice and frustrating to say the least

[1974dodgecharger]

AZ car does that mean your in AZ?

[tan top]

 

[MxRacer855]

No guys, Aurora (south of Chicago). The original owners purchased the car in AZ. Remember, this is the way they got it before they did their rebuild.

Got some time to get this going again!

[MxRacer855]

You've got to love how they sprayed the orange over everything! Maybe even rattle canned?

[MxRacer855]

Actually your build will be good , a lot of pre knowledge on these cars helps with the build plan

I've stopped posting photos , got out of practice and frustrating to say the least

Yes! I couldn't agree more. I'm willing to do it though to share the build with you guys! I'm going to need a lot of help with it as it goes since this is my first run through!

[MxRacer855]

 

[MxRacer855]

Inside

[MxRacer855]

Front view

[MxRacer855]

This is the car when I bought it. Remember, the nice older couple that I got it from did it on a budget and it had a shitload of bondo and problems! At 26 (last year), I was just so happy to be in the position to get a running, good looking version of my dream car that I was willing to take on any problems it had! Performance and structural integrity was out the window... but they did make it look nice for what it was!

[MxRacer855]

Inside

[MxRacer855]

These pics are from a week or two after I purchased the car and cleaned it up! She looked nice!   

[MxRacer855]

Rear seat

[MxRacer855]

I liked the Vinyl top at first, but I'm going to go without it on my build.

[MxRacer855]

 

[MxRacer855]

I think I only threw 500 miles at the most on the car before I started fixing the problems it had resulting in an unexpected full rebuild! 

[fy469rtse]

Good looking car, good starting point
At least it's complete and good stock of parts ,
got my popcorn , it's going to be good
Yo going to leave vinyl top trim or weld holes up ?