1969 1/2 Dodge Charger resto build

[GeneralLee440]

Well the journey began on July 10th 2015, I found my dream car...well sort of. Like many people I love the 69 Dodge Charger (General Lee)well I found a 70 and after 20 years of searching and never having enough money or never the right object to trade I traded a 1972 Plymouth Scamp for my 70 Charger. I went to Piedmont, OK to trade for the Charger. The PO had installed over $6,000 in new sheet metal and had a rebuilt .30 over 440 to eventually put in once finished.

Just to let everyone know this restoration will be slow and drug out because of money and time, so just hang in there and I will update when I can. Best of all labor is free so at least something is affordable for this old Mopar. I have been a Mopar fan all of my 31 years, yea Im a young gun. This is what I am starting with...




So once I got it home I started going thru boxes to see what I had what I didnt have etc. and made a list of what I needed. In a pic the PO sent me of when he got it and everything looked to be there but somewhere between him tearing it apart and me picking it up he lost pieces or broke them.

[GeneralLee440]

So my now Im learning what has to be changed to look correct for a 69 Charger, I have a 69 rally dash coming now. Seeing how a correct General Lee wasnt a 70 I sold the front clip and bucket seats to a guy in Kansas.

So now the car looks like this for now, I have slowly started buying the small things that Im missing like belt molding trim, sun visors, 68-69 hood latch assy. I also bought a new upper cowl from AMD to replace my cracked bent cowl and be able to fix the underneath the cowl. So yesterday morning after I got off of work I started tackling the upper cowl removal. There were alot of spot welds and seam sealer to deal with but it finally came off.


I am buying a rotisserie in next week or so so I can get it where I can work on it and start the underneath side of the car I hope you guys enjoy this thread as much as I enjoy doing it. This is my 1st complete restoration and I want to do it to the best of my ability and do it right the 1st time. Like I said this resto will be slow going but keep checking back periodically for new updates

[Cncguy]

Looking good can't wait to see more.

[JB400]

This thread needs some popcorn

Anyone else?

[BLK 68 R/T]

  I'll take some. Looks like a good project. Congrats on the find and looking forward to following along.

[GeneralLee440]

Thanks guys
I also scraped all the under coating out of the inner fender well on the driver side today before I went to work. Little elbow grease, scraper and a heat gun.

The new sheet metal that the PO installed included
Full 1/4's
Trunk floor
Trunk floor extensions
Tailight panel
Rear valance
Roof skin
1 piece floor pan
Rear deck filler
So most of the hard work in replacing those panels is done.

My thought on replacing the rest of the sheet metal that is in need of replacing is if I can replace it with new metal I and its available I will replace it. Because if you think about it by the time I find original sheet metal and and I will have to spend time and money fixing it, I couldve just bought new for the price. Now I understand aftermarket stuff doesnt fit like OEM and I understand that and if the new metal needs massaging thats ok too because I know Ma Mopar wasnt worried about how big the gaps were to begin with, so I will do my best in trying to get the gaps all the same. Because I have OCD when it comes to stuff like this.

[tan top]

 

[GeneralLee440]

 My buddy and I hadnt been to bed in over 24 hours since the start of the road trip so we decided to unload it until later that day and get some sleep. When I got up I started unhooking all the straps and figured being just a shell it shouldnt be too heavy to unload by myself so I preceded to unload it. I got the back half off the trailer and the come along got slack so i unhooked the come along.....Big mistake!!!!! Now mind you the Charger was aimed directly toward my open garage door, so I put down an 8ft long 6x6 a ways back from the back tire as a stop well as it started to come off I had ahold of the cars A pillar on the driver side and steering wheel as came down the ramps some how the wheels turned on the ramps, ripped the wheel outta my hand and came off the trailer, bounced over the 6x6 and smashed right into the corner of the opening of the garage door!!!!! It smashed the tail light panel and rear valance.... So now I have to fix these brand new panels and if I cant them, replace them!
An $800 boo boo!!!!

[Mopar Nut]

 

Looking good, thanks for sharing!

[JB400]

The tail light panel you should be able to hammer and dolly.

Don't feel too bad.  We all make mistakes.   

[GeneralLee440]

The tail light panel you should be able to hammer and dolly.

Don't feel too bad.  We all make mistakes.   

Oh I know its just sucks now I have to fix a brand new panel

[GeneralLee440]

Well I have scraped all the undercoating off both inner fenders finally. I recently got the A/C heater box out and then my mom passed away this last monday so I have been trying to keep my mind off of that and I got everything else taken off the firewall and got the firewall stripped this morning. I am going to try and get the front end out from underneath it soon so I can get the the whole front end stripped and exopy primed. The rotisserie I was gonna buy fell through so now I have got to figure out what to work on until I can find another rotisserie that I can afford.

[Dino]

My sincere condolences on your loss my friend.  I wish there was something I could say to cheer you up. 

If you can weld then it won't cost too much to get all the metal and build your own rotisserie.  Also place some local ads as there are bound to be people who're done with theirs andno longer have use for it.  They are easily adapted to work on other cars.

I've done to my car what you're doing now so hit me up with any questions you might have, I'll be glad to help if I can.

If you remove the torsion bars, the shocks, and the cam bolts from the upper control arms then you can drop the K member with everything else attached to it making it easy to access the individual parts.

I took my k member to a chem stripper who dipped it for $30.  I then reinforced it and soon I'll have them dip it again and e-coat it for $75.  Not a bad deal considering there's no way to get it all covered with a paint gun.

[GeneralLee440]

My sincere condolences on your loss my friend.  I wish there was something I could say to cheer you up. 

If you can weld then it won't cost too much to get all the metal and build your own rotisserie.  Also place some local ads as there are bound to be people who're done with theirs andno longer have use for it.  They are easily adapted to work on other cars.

I've done to my car what you're doing now so hit me up with any questions you might have, I'll be glad to help if I can.

If you remove the torsion bars, the shocks, and the cam bolts from the upper control arms then you can drop the K member with everything else attached to it making it easy to access the individual parts.

I took my k member to a chem stripper who dipped it for $30.  I then reinforced it and soon I'll have them dip it again and e-coat it for $75.  Not a bad deal considering there's no way to get it all covered with a paint gun.

Thank you, yea I will hit you up if I have any questions.  Do I need a special tool to get the torsion bars out?  I plan to powder coat my front end parts for years of durability.

The rotisserie I plan on getting some plans and pricing the metal to make my own

[Dino]

There is a tool that clamps onto the torsion bar so you can whack it with a hammer to get it out, but you won't need it if you're removing the K member.  First loosen the bolt in the lower control arm to relieve tension on the torsion bar.  Then remove the clips at the back of the torsion bars.  Sometimes this is all you need to slide the bar out, didn't work for me though so remove or loosen the nut holding the lower control arm to the K member.  Now you should be able to slide the torsion bar out.  If not, take two pieces of wood and clamp them on the bar, whack the wood.  You do not want to put pliers on the bar as any scoring will weaken them.  If you plan on replacing the bars then forget all I said, put some big vice grips on the bar and hammer away.   

There's a rubber boot at the end of the torsion bar, save them if they're in good shape.  They're $30 for the pair with the clips if they're shot like mine were.

[RallyeMike]

If my math is right, you have been looking for a Charger since you were eleven? (31-20 years of looking). Now there is a kid with a dream fulfilled!

Good luck on you project.

[GeneralLee440]

If my math is right, you have been looking for a Charger since you were eleven? (31-20 years of looking). Now there is a kid with a dream fulfilled!

Good luck on you project.

Yes sir!, I had the Daisy Duke Satellite it was my 1st legal car, I got it when I was 13. It was a 72 Roadrunner and I also had a 74 Roadrunner and a 71 Satellite later. It only had me wanting the GL even more and I always came up a day late or a dollar short everytime I found a Charger. So yes it is definately a dream that has been fulfilled.

[GeneralLee440]

Well I started tinkering on the Charger again to get it on the rotisserie so I removed the front end and rear end last weekend and I removed the taillight panel, rear valance to get the rotted rear cross member that the PO didn't replace while he was replacing everything else and clean all the old crusty metal up.

[GeneralLee440]

[matrout76]

Well I started tinkering on the Charger again to get it on the rotisserie so I removed the front end and rear end last weekend and I removed the taillight panel, rear valance to get the rotted rear cross member that the PO didn't replace while he was replacing everything else and clean all the old crusty metal up.

I need to replace the rear valance and rear crossmember on my Charger as well.  Would it be possible to remove the rear valance but leave the tail light panel in place?  My tail light panel is in good condition and i'd rather not touch it if possible.

Any other photos of disassembling the rear of the car would be appreciated!!!

Thanks!
Matt