70 Charger Restoration Soup Sandwich

[Philm85]

So this is my first post on the forum and if it's viewed as complaining please feel free to remove. I'm mainly looking for the right place to start and a little bit of encouragement.

A little over 2 years ago I purchased a 70 Charger 500 4 speed with a 440, car was originally a 383 and the previous owner swapped it out for a 440. I can't remember if I found it on here or not but the car seemed like the perfect project for me due to the owner stating that it was getting new sheet metal and would be in primer when I was able to get it. Where I probably screwed up is I was overseas at the time and had a buddy go look at the car since it was in my home state of Illinois. I had also did a little research on where the car was coming from, Old School Classics in Monee, IL. Had heard good things about this place as well as family and friends back home concurred and said they did great work...boy was I fooled.

Fast forward to a few months ago and I finally was able to start working on the car. As of right now I have the car almost tore down completely except for the doors and windows. I've went back and forth so many times already on what to start on first and after reading different posts I keep changing my mind. Not to mention, every time I tear into one area of the car I find botched work from either the first hackjob of a resto or the wonderful work of Old School Classics and their hide it with body filler tricks. So a short laundry list of what's wrong: passenger front frame rail rotted out on both sides near K member, driver side floor pan pinholes and rot everywhere(haven't stripped it entirely yet, covered in body filler), outer and inner rocker panel rot(covered extensively with body filler), both rear frame rails severely rusted past axle, rear crossmember might as well be missing, and rear valance corners are pretty much random pieces of sheet metal that were covered up by a HALF INCH of body filler. Only thing that it appears Old School Classics replaced was the rear quarter which in my opinion looks like a total hack job when you take off the nice thick layer of body filler.

So my plan now is to fix all of the frame rails and get the car in solid enough to put on a rotisserie and get it media blasted locally. Two problems I have is one we all have: funds and the second being that I'll probably be up for orders and moving next summer. I know for a fact that I wont have the car done by next summer but my goal is to have it at least back on it's own wheels(I know you guys probably think I'm high but I'm not married and don't have any kids). With all that being said, any guidance or pointers would be greatly appreciated from you experienced guys on here. I've already learned a lot from browsing through forums and I'm really looking forward to seeing how my restoration goes. I'll attach some pics of what I'm working with below.

[Philm85]

Pics of what was sent to me when I purchased the car and then a pic in primer is what it looked like when I finally saw it in person. Looks pretty nice huh?

[Philm85]

A few more pics showing what I'm working with. Don't have any of under the car yet, need to take a few.

[Kern Dog]

Welcome to the madness here!
Looks like a big project but I have seen far worse brought back. Maybe look around for storage facilities and pricing before you actually need one, just in case you do get shipped out.

[Philm85]

Welcome to the madness here!
Looks like a big project but I have seen far worse brought back. Maybe look around for storage facilities and pricing before you actually need one, just in case you do get shipped out.

Thanks and it's nice to hear that it's not as bad as it could be. I would consider looking at storage but when I leave I know I won't be stationed out here again anytime soon, from the looks of it I'll more than likely be going to Japan for 2 years.

[dual fours]

Welcome to DC.com. Persistence  and determination, I feel you have. Philm85, I like your Badge, Thank you for your Service.
Now you get to control your Charger being brought back to life the correct way.  There will be help on this site and elsewhere . I will enjoy watching your progress as you 'Burn the Midnight Oil.'   Elsewhere   http://1970chargerregistry.com/index.html
I spy a can of PB Blaster.

[tan top]

Hello &  welcome   

[CDN72SE]

Hello and welcome to the site, good luck with the resto.

[Lennard]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your service.

[Philm85]

Welcome to DC.com. Persistence  and determination, I feel you have. Philm85, I like your Badge, Thank you for your Service.
Now you get to control your Charger being brought back to life the correct way.  There will be help on this site and elsewhere . I will enjoy watching your progress as you 'Burn the Midnight Oil.'   Elsewhere   http://1970chargerregistry.com/index.html
I spy a can of PB Blaster.

Really appreciate the support and hopefully I can get it done the right way this time around. I'll head over to the registry and get my info submitted, thanks for the link. No garage is complete without a can or two of the good ole PB Blaster! 

And a big thank you to everyone else for the warm welcome and support. I look forward to learning a lot from all the seasoned Charger guys on here.

[Simonic]

Welcome Sir, good luck with your resto and Thank You for your service

[69rtse4spd]

 Welcome to the site, a lot of good info here on the site & the 70 Registry also. A big thank you for your service. .

[VegasCharger]

Hello and welcome aboard.  

Sorry to hear about your situation with mis-leading facts on your Charger's structural condition.

Hopefully joining this community will at least steer you in the right direction, put you on a path of hope that one day your Charger will see the road.

We're here to help.  

[green69rt]

Welcome to the site and to the world of old Mopars.   Sounds like you're in the same situation as me a few years back, although I didn't have to worry about moving around.  Sounds like you have a good plan, get the frame rails solid, and the floors and the rockers.  The rockers are important to the strength of the body.  Then brace up the shell with some angle iron and get it on the rotisserie.  Your car is in better shape than mine was (I think) so it is possible to get it in shape.

Here's a link to my metal work so yu can see what others have gone thru .....
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,54582.msg605735.html#msg605735

[Philm85]

Really appreciate it guys. green69rt, I took a quick look at your thread, definitely will be using your pictures as a reference. I do believe you are right that yours was in worse shape than mine, I'll just continue to try and take it one piece at a time and not get overwhelmed.