Timmycharger's 68 Resto

[Charger-Bodie]

Looks great!

[garner7555]

Can't beat a 2nd gen with fresh paint     Looks good! 

[hemi-hampton]

Looks good. Congrats   LEON.

[TPR]

Looking good Timmy. I'll have a drink for you too.

TPR

[keepat]

Looks great! congrats!
Pat

[timmycharger]

Thank you guys  I am so happy with how it came out, I will post up some pics when I get it back and outside in the sun.

Can't wait to get all of the trim on and finish it off.  Still lots of $ ahead as I have to get my bumpers re chromed, restore the grille, buy some door glass, door panels, seatbelts and some wheels and tires.

I think I am more excited about having my clean garage back, going to dismantle the paint booth very soon, just need to spray the grille support frame first.  No more tracking white foot prints all over the driveway. 

[tan top]

    looks good !!  great stuff 

[phantom]

Nice! Looking forward to seeing it done with trim, bumpers and lights 

[Lennard]

Great color and great job!

[timmycharger]

Thank you guys!  


Did some work while the car was at the shop, restored and re finished the grille support frame. It had tons of tiny craters, like acne scars all over it, and a little waviness from where it was welded together.  A tiny skim coat with some body filler did the trick, primed it and painted it with SEM trim black paint, came out great.  I am not ready to bolt it in yet as the grille should be done first, so I will put it in the garage loft in a big blanket to keep it safe.

Finally was able to take down most of the paint booth and do some cleaning so when the car comes back, it wont immediately be filthy again.  My wife was happy that she has her entire spot in the garage back, no more do the kids have to shimmy into the car because the booth is 2 inches from it haha.  

[timmycharger]

Brought it home from the shop today, of course during a rain storm. I only had to go around the block but it was still a bit sketchy.  This color is impossible to capture with a picture, it seems to constantly change. With my eyes, it looks almost bluish/greeen but through the camera its bright blue.

[Dino]

You'll need to have it out in daylight and possible need a different camera.

Are you happy with the color? That's all that counts.

[timmycharger]

Yes! more than happy with the color, I agree that once its outside, it will make a difference. B7 is always tricky to get an accurate picture of. I must have 10 pictures of cars that are supposedly 1969 B7 and many of them are slightly different.

[Dino]

I'm sure even brand new B7 cars would have variables in color. Not too strict on the whole tolerances thing back then!   

Alright enough drooling over it; get that thing done!   

[BLK 68 R/T]

Very nice  Congrats on getting it painted, it looks fantastic   

....now move that aluminum ladder 

[hemi-hampton]

I'm sure even brand new B7 cars would have variables in color. Not too strict on the whole tolerances thing back then!   

Alright enough drooling over it; get that thing done!   

I bet the B7's back then all matched better then they do now. LEON.

[VegasCharger]

Awesome Timmy 

What a difference from 2001 when I first spotted your Charger on-line.

[68pplcharger]

Looks awesome Congratulations

[timmycharger]

Awesome Timmy  2thumbs 2thumbs 2thumbs

What a difference from 2001 when I first spotted your Charger on-line.

cheers cheers cheers


Yes! what a different 15 years makes!!


Very nice  coolgleamA Congrats on getting it painted, it looks fantastic  drool5  

....now move that aluminum ladder  icon_smile_big

Haha! yes, I know, its still there, I have to clean the garage  


Thanks guys, got to bring it out in the sun for a few pics, you can see in one of them what a difference the shade makes, its like 2 different colors.

First order of business is to correct a small run in the tail panel. I could bring it back to the shop but Its a huge hassle for me right now, It is right where the chrome trim separates the body color and the black in the tail panel and is hard to notice.  I will wet sand it down using my round sanding block, tape all around it first. I will then polish it out and should hopefully disappear.

[keepat]

All your block sand looks like it paid off, body lines look great!!
Pat

[timmycharger]

Did some work on the motor yesterday as I had a loud ticking sound that was driving me crazy. I was also leaking oil out of both valve covers and had 2 damaged sight plugs on my holley carbs that  were temporarily fixed last year.  Last year,  I bought the clear sight plugs to make float adjustments easier, but they immediatedly melted and left the threads in the bowls.  I took off the bowls, and thinking they were in there tight, I went to drill out the remaining plastic threads but they just pushed in and I ended up stabbing the rear float with the drill bit making a little hole  ...

I replaced the lifters that I shouldn't have re used before as they motor sat 13 years with new comp cams ones. Set the appropriate pre load and bolted it back together.

The good news is that the ticking noise is gone, the motor is still noisy with the Hughes adjustable rockers but that is what it sounded like before I took the car apart so I am going to go with it.  The bad news is that on my rear carb, I had fuel spraying 3 inches out of the fuel vent tube.. guess floats don't work well with holes in them  .  I picked up a new float last night.  

So I could let the car get to temp and break in the lifters, I blocked off the rear carb/fuel line and just ran it on the center carb.  Brought the motor up to temp, let the fan click on and made sure no more valve cover leaks.  

Overall, I am happy with the motor so far, this is the longest I had it running since putting it back together. Oil pressure is good, it got to about 200 degrees or so, but the timing is very advanced, not sure if that and the fact that the motor was just rebuilt is causing it to run hotter than I remember.   Also, I have a rear main seal leak that I already knew about, Ill address that in the future as its not a big deal right now.

Concerned about the charging system however. Its all over the place, around 14.5 to 16.9 V while at idle, I will check the field wires on the alt, and possible re check the ground on the Voltage regulator.  

Below is a clip of the motor with the tick, and after when the lifters replaced..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFh6mxFDMrE


and after:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1JwHCEvy7k

[68pplcharger]

Sounds good man coming together nice.

[timmycharger]

Thanks!

I think I solved my charging problem today after a little trial and error. First I scraped the paint off of the back of the voltage regulator as well as around the mounting hole on the firewall. I used a star washer with the bolt for some added bite.  That didn't fix it so I ended up digging through my parts and found a couple of parts store regulators. 1 is a Filco, the other Wells. I used the Wells one and it seems to have cured my problem. Using my meter on the battery, its charging consistently at 14.1 to 13.75V range at idle with the electic fuel pump and dual electric fans on.  I kicked the blower motor and wipers on to boot, it stayed steady.

I also pulled the rear carb off and inspected the float. I think it was just sticky, as it didn't drop a few times when I flipped it upside down. The one I punctured still floats actually, its the foam looking one, not brass.   I wasted a few bucks on the float I bought but its good to have a spare.  I will clean it all up and bolt it back on, making sure the float is nice and free, should cure that problem too.

It needs to be tuned a bit more with a vacuum gauge and timing light which I will do this weekend, then I may take it for a quick spin  


Next I have to address my leak. I think its the rear main seal, but its not dripping just on the bottom, it looks spread out as if it were the rear of the pan, possibly a pan gasket, I will crawl under there and take a better look.  I may just have to re position the rear main seal, dunno, but I know its going to suck as I am running a Lakewood Bellhousing and motor plate.  

[timmycharger]

I have been slowly picking away at some small things on the car.  I had the runs in the clear coat removed by the painter, I still have to go back to have him finish some of the small ones way down low on the rocker but those can wait.

I had the car registered and insured, I was able to use a 1968 license plate so now I only have to run 1 plate and the blue lettering on the Mass plates are pretty cool and different.  Had some fun driving around the neighborhood albeit no bumpers, grille, lights, hood  

The valve train noise is still there, but not nearly as loud as it was prior to changing out the lifters, and the carbs need a bit more adjustment as they seem to be running very rich (eyes watering)

I put on the gas cap and ring, glad to see it fit perfectly since we had to completely fabricate that area by hand. Installed the exhaust tips and I have been working on the trim, using as much of my original trim as possible, getting better with the buffing wheel.  I am not too happy with the aftermarket windshield trim, it doesn't fit as nice as my originals that are bent to hell, particularly on the bottom corners where it covers the A pillar, it looks like dog crap, big gap, its like its not the right shape. I will look for an original set and polish it out, but for now I am going to run it.

[68pplcharger]

looking awesome