My 68 R/T build

[68CarlRT]

I bought my Charger for my 18th birthday for $500. Towed it home because the driveshaft was in the trunk and the brakes were questionable. My parents were not pleased at all. But they were proud parents after I got the car running and rebuilt the brakes. My Dad and I would argue when we worked on ANY car together, but with the Charger we started to work together 
I know now that the previous owners removed all the R/T parts,  Engine, Trans and 8 3/4 diff. Fender tag was also not there, I did not learn about the importance until years later. I also think they swapped the black  interior to green. But the serial number is XS29L8B3XXXX0. So it is an R/T. the SO number I found on the rad cradle I removed and trunk sill have the same number B8XAxxxxx.
I have only had Red oxide primer for paint but the original color was the spring color charger red. It has all the chrome for the vinyl top, but I don't know if it was black or white.
So since it is not a numbers matching car. I decided to build a Bengal charger tribute. So it will be orange, with black top, and black r/t stripes.
Back around 1990 I found a 1970 440 HP with 727 for $75.00 in a scrap yard.
My Dad and I rebuilt that motor and removed the 400 that was in the car when I bought it. The motor was in great shape, back then I could not get 10 over pistons so we had to go 30 over. Rebuilt the stock heads. The motor only had less than 5000 miles on it before the car was stolen.
Here are some more pictures of my parents backyard in the early 90s

The last picture is from 2011 when I finally finished building my garage.

[Dans 68]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

Dan

[303 Mopar]

Great story, can't wait to watch this one come back together!

[68RT440]

Very cool. You don't see many Bengal builds, original or tributes. I'll be checking in...

[JB400]

Popcorn for everyone

[cdr]

You said car was stolen? you got it back ?

[68CarlRT]

Yes, I got the car back, I did not take the offer from the insurance, since it did not cover the cost of the cragar s/s ,radial t/a 's  and the rebuilt 440 that were installed. At the time I was looking for another car to put the 440 in but did not find one. I let my brother use the wheels, to install on his superbee, which he did the lost control of the car one night and damaged half the set. That is the car beside the Charger in the backyard. So now I am left with one 15x7 and 15x8 unilug Cragars.
Hope to add more pictures as soon as I get them resized.

[68CarlRT]

This is a pic from 2012 while my car was waiting at a frame shop to verify the frame was not bent.
I wanted to make sure it was straight before I started

[68CarlRT]

Once I got the car back from the frame shop and everything was within specs.  Bodywork on the Charger was something I always wanted to do but was always afraid to cut out metal.
I taped out where I wanted to cut then there was no turning back.

[68CarlRT]

This outer wheel well was in not to bad of shape the rear of the outerlip was gone but the front was ok. I made some patches for the back. Which was a good lesson on creating a patch and welding it in. Then I spent way to many hours fix that wheel lip

[68CarlRT]

And here is my grandson/helper.
I can't believe this was 5 years ago
He was 4 when this was taken.
Last weekend he changed the summer tires to winter on his grandma 's 2017 elantra. We will post a video of that on his youtube channel soon.

[VegasCharger]

And here is my grandson/helper.....Last weekend he changed the summer tires to winter on his grandma 's 2017 elantra.

[Mopar Nut]

 

Glad to hear you got it back.

[68CarlRT]

Thanks. Mopar Nut I consider my self lucky.
Here are some more pics of the passenger fender install.
This was my first time I replaced mostly full rear quarter panel
Only took almost 2 years. But since I only get to work on the car from October to May and usually only weekends.

[tan top]

hello & welcome      , thanks for sharing your story ,  & your charger pictures & stuff , keep them coming 

[69rtse4spd]

 , ditto on the Pict's. & welcome.

[68CarlRT]

Off topic, I apologize here is the video my 9 year old grandson changing a tire on his grandmother elantra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93Ho1F_8n6A&feature=youtu.be

Ok off to resize some more pictures.

[68CarlRT]

Here is the driver side taped and ready to cut
and then it is off.
A month later the replacement panel coleco d on. Gotta love those colecos.
The last picture is the box the fenders came in.
I was so happy to regain the space that box took up. 

[68CarlRT]

When I got the fender cut out there was a pile of broken glass. So much that I had to patch.
This outer wheel well was worse then the passenger side so I bought a replacement and welded that in.
And lastly my helper.

[nchrome]

l too had to do the same thing as you get the quarter off and find more to do only difference is at one time mine was hit and was not repaired properly But l got her back together and waiting for a little warmer weather to apply a skim coat to the weld and smooth out then try to get the corners rite

[Kern Dog]

Thanks for those pictures. I just used them to show the Wife why my rear tires rub.....The strange design of the outer wheel tub! It does not follow the path of the quarter panel, instead it goes up at an angle before it turns vertical.

[orange383]

Great to see your grandson getting involved but you need to invest in a decent full face sheild for him. If a disc was to shatter it could cause serious harm.
Also an old disc and incorrect storage can make a disc more prone to breaking up!

[68CarlRT]

Good advice on the face shield. Picked one up yesterday.

I thought I had more pictures of the valance and those frustrating corner caps. But oh well

The passenger side corner was trashed , so I left the driver side on for reference to line up the valance.
The year one fenders really did not line up with the corner caps. There is a lot of good info and pics in this forum for dealing with the corners.
And the last picture of the valance and corners tacked in.
The trunk floor was still solid but the extensions where rusted beyond repair. So I replaced both of those.

Those pictures span from 2013 to 2017 wow does time fly.
But starting to get close to recent pictures 

[68CarlRT]

Wow I can't believe how time flies. It has been since November I have updated. It has been extremely cold here though. Two weeks ago a week of -30C last week -20C and hopefully this week some -10C to -20C, and Snow running out of places to pile the stuff. 
My neighbor who had is 65 Barracuda in my garage for several years, Was blowing snow with the 10hp snowblower and it decided it had enough and threw a rod into the side of the block making a large hole. He found another 10 hp Tecumseh for $140 Cdn and it bolt right in.
While watching some tv one sunday night I hear a funning noise from the laundry room. Rush investigate and the heating element has started sparking. Turned it off unplugged it and went searching for manuals. I was lucky to find a manual, and a online parts store with videos on how to replace the element. So the grandson and I, well mostly Dawson slowly dismantled the dryer while watching the video and sure enough the element was in several pieces. Ordered an new element $107 Cdn wait 3 days for it to be delivered. Then Dawson put the dryer back together, tested it.
Back in Jan 2018 I started on the deck lid. The only rust was on the rear lip, So instead of buying and AMD replacement I am attempting to repair. If I mess it up too much I can always buy the AMD lid.
You can also see in some pictures that my neighbor wanted to do some body work and paint his Jeep. One day I may have the full garage to work on the Charger.

[68CarlRT]

More pictures of the Decklid. The repair turned out very good. I have to keep reminding myself I am building a weekend driver not a 100 point showcar, 
Next post the Jeep has been painted and moved.