70 Charger - Panther Pink New Member

[TTG]

Hello everyone - Just wanted to say hello, ask some questions and tell my story : )
Two years ago I bought a 1970 Charger 500, #'s matching 383 Magnum, 4 barrel, 4 speed pistol grip, Dana 60 Rear...unbelievable story how I acquired the car in my own town where I have lived f0r 48 years...the car was a pale red but upon decoding the fender tag, the car was originally "Panther Pink" (Paint Code: FM3), white vinyl top, black guts, etc...So I contacted some really nice people that pointed me in the direction of the 70 Charger Registry owner to find out more about this Panther Pink thing. Here is his response:

"The car was already in the Registry database as it was seen at a car show
in New Jersey and someone sent us a picture of the fender tag. No info on
who had owned it. Just a car show find. I have no other info or
documentation on the car.

The car was built on the last day of production. There were a bunch
produced that day...all ordered by Chrysler (not a sale order through
dealer). These Sales Bank cars got put on dealer lots for sale, likely
looking to get rid of the panther pink paint supply. I see the same thing
with white cars and six pack cars...an unusual number got produced on July
10th 1970 (last day) to use up inventory in assembly plant.

In any event we know based on Chrysler sales reports that there were 54
FM3 70 Charger 500s built with a V8. So it is one of 54.

Unfortunately there is no way to know for sure how many 383-4bbl 4 speed
FM3 cars were built.

As a rough estimate we do know that 25.8% of Charger 500 V8 cars came with
a 383-4bbl....so assuming all things are equal (they never are) that would
suggest that there may have been around 14 FM3 383-4bbl 500s built. Also
we know that 4.9% of 500s 383-4bbl cars came with the D21 4 speed....so
again if all things were equal that would reduce the number to 1 of
1....however proving that "not all things are equal", I have 4 cars like
this (including yours) registered. So we know it is 1 of 4 known

I know all our members would love to hear the story on this car. I'd
recommend joining the message board and introduce yourself...a great bunch
of guys"

So I could not do it a dis-service and have it painted anything other than the original "Panther Pink"...yet I did have to make some upgrades to my liking because I will be keeping it forever...I had the original #'s matching drive train pulled and preserved and have had a brand new from scratch, professionally built 572 Hemi dual throttle body installed with a 6 speed Tranzilla (yes, with the pistol grip!)Moser Dana 60 rear...wheels, etc

So I am coming down the home stretch and I am hopeful to get it completed with a month...wish me luck and looking forward to chatting with you!

[birdsandbees]

Welcome! We like pictures....   

[Lennard]

Welcome

[JB400]

Welcome to the group   Looks good from what I can see.

[JR]

Welcome to the board.

I love panther pink, post more pics!

[darbgnik]

Agreed, need more pics. Awesome car. What kind of shape was it in when you found it?

[TTG]

Agreed, need more pics. Awesome car. What kind of shape was it in when you found it?

Here's how it looked when I bought it

[BIGBLCK11]

Welcome and congrats on finding that!   

Did you know of the car at all prior to purchase?  Sounds like it was a surprise in your own town. 

[Harper]

what a cool find.
congrats and welcome!

[69rtse4spd]

Yes welcome, use to have a 70 383 S.E. 4-spd Charger many years ago, traded it off, . Mine was red, black guts, & black top. Had a purple drivers fender I put on plus another drivers door, cause someone sideswiped something on that side. Driver side quarter was still messed up when I got rid of it. As stated before, more Pict's.   

[Mopar Nut]

Welcome aboard!

[TTG]

Welcome aboard!

[TTG]

I am really not good at posting pics (they're either too big, post sideways, etc), replying, etc...everything seems to be difficult to me...hopefully it will get easier soon!

[TTG]

Here's how I cam across the car...I was chatting with my older brother friend that I haven't seen in a long while that I have been searching for a couple of my favorite muscle cars to buy and we were reminiscing about the cool cars that some people had in town when we were 17-18 years old...anyway he says to me, "you always LOVED that one kid's charger"...and I said, "that thing was so friggin cool with that giant pistol grip 4 speed, white top and stripe on the deck lid, hideaway headlights, etc"...and he says, "what a shame he (the owner of the car) got killed in the war...his dad still has that charger under a cover in his garage all these years since 1983"...the rest is history.

I feel pretty fortunate to know the entire history of the car and promised the brother, father and mother of their late son that I will rotisserie restore the car 1000% in honor of him and make them all proud

[dual fours]

 

[VegasCharger]

Here's how it looked when I bought it

There, fixed it for you.

Welcome aboard. 

[TTG]

Thank you!

[TTG]

Here's how it looked when I bought it

There, fixed it for you.

Welcome aboard. 

Thank you sir!

[TTG]

So as I near completion I am trying to think of things that I want done before the interior, dash, etc gets put back in the car. So far I have only told the restoration shop to upgrade all the light related components to LED and install parking sensors so that I will hear the loud beeping sound as well as a hidden flashing blinking light from the rear view mirror as I get closer and closer to an object while parking.

1. Any other ideas?

2. Also, was wondering if there were any recommended upgrades to the original operating hideaway headlights...the original hideaway headlights are electric and before I had the car restored, they just didn't seem to open and close gracefully. It is what it is or is there a "go to" upgrade?

3. The stainless steel exhaust is also going in this week or next and need to decide how I want the tailpipe to look out the rear...been doing some research and here are a bunch of options:

http://www.speedhunters.com/2015/12/muscle-car-meets-hypercar-tantrum-charger/

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1970-DODGE-CHARGER-CUSTOM-COUPE-PUNISHMENT-210366

Hidden:

https://dealeraccelerate-all.s3.amazonaws.com/fusion/images/2/6/4/264/9679_72dfd7c52ac99b4a1957.jpg
https://dncache-mauganscorp.netdna-ssl.com/thumbseg/2336/2336391-bigthumbnail.jpg

Seems to be the standard:
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?topic=89369.0

Not a fan:
http://www.streetmusclemag.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/12/1970-dodge-charger-r-t_248839_low_res.jpg

Tips:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/92/ce/9a92ce2ddbeb52b41635f0e2438a5d63.jpg

Customized through back panel:
https://myclassicgarage.com/social/posts/84771-1969-dodge-charger

Couple of options:
http://www.visokioktani.mk/?p=12683#prettyPhoto

What do you guys like best? I like a couple of them

Thanks!

TTG

[Kern Dog]

While I can appreciate the rarity of the car, PINK is by far my least favorite color on these cars, followed by Sublime.
There was a 70 R/T in FM3 in Las Vegas in 2003. Stunning build, looked to be perfectly restored but that color just ruined it for me.
It does draw attention though. Good luck.

[70 sublime]

Have you seen the 70 Charger site ?

http://www.1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?PHPSESSID=faaee65c0a066b11ff0c9fbdf6e04d0a;www

My last Charger was a 70

Nothing wrong with the factory headlight door motor setup
Sounds like you might just need to rebuild it because there are some white plastic gears inside that the teeth break off some times

[XH29N0G]

Re exhaust.  I have the rectangular tips that came with the larger engines, but my 383 4 bbl came with slightly turned down exhaust.  After some time, I have decided I like the turned down exhaust better because they are more understated.  

re headlight doors, and at the risk of drawing ire across the board, I use zip tie loops.  I don't usually need the doors open because it is a daytime driver and when I need the doors up, I just loop these things to hold them open.  

PS, I'd like to see the full car in all its color glory when done.   

[Charger_Fan]

TTG, congrats on landing your Charger! I'm not a big fan of pink either, but I am glad you are restoring it back to the original color. Do you know what year is was sprayed red? Looks like it was in pretty decent shape when you got it.

Looking forward to your updates & pics! 

re headlight doors, and at the risk of drawing ire across the board, I use zip tie loops.  I don't usually need the doors open because it is a daytime driver and when I need the doors up, I just loop these things to hold them open.  

Have you removed your headlight motor?

[Alaskan_TA]

The car was built on the last day of production. There were a bunch
produced that day

This defies logic.

The St. Louis plant did apparently use 710 as a year end SPD, but.....

The SPD is not an actual build date, it is the date that they hoped to build the car when the order was first entered into the system.

But the year end SPD became 'catch alls' so instead of going day by day, they used one SPD for a week or three.

IF someone were to assume that the St. Louis cars were built in VIN order or at least all built on their SPD, then by looking at data I have for cars from there (which is limited, since it is not my plant of study) my numbers show that at least 3,794 cars were scheduled for 710 at this plant.

There is no way they built that many cars in a day, it would have been impossible.

The Hamtramck plant produced the most cars per day & they were running about 1300-1400 a day for the 1970 model year BUT they had two assembly lines while all the other, smaller plants had only one.

[darbgnik]

I personally wouldn't rock a new Mustang or the like in Pink, or Lime Green for that matter. But on a bad ass ride like a classic Charger, it takes it to a whole 'nother level of cool. 

Takes a real man to drive a pink car! I can't wait to see the finished product.