The Next Chapter: My Chargers

[69bronzeT5]

Did some car shuffling the other day and thought I'd post up some photos. This is going to be a bit long winded so my apologies ahead of time....it's the writer in me LOL.

Since bringing my '71 Charger R/T home in summer 2016, I've had it stored at a "friend's" place who is a local Mopar guy as I didn't have room at home. Long story short, over the past 6 months, we've had a bit of a falling out which led me to look into alternative storage options. Since purchasing my house in summer 2015, I've always noticed the 2 car garage had an over height ceiling (the only one in the neighbourhood with one!) so the idea of a four post hoist was always in my mind. When things started getting tense recently with my "friend", I decided to really put some thought into the hoist. After doing some research, I ended up having to raise my garage door to the ceiling and put in a side mount opener as well as have my father-in-law who's an electrician add a separate upgraded circuit to power it. With that done, I was finally able to purchase a hoist and with the help of some good friends and my boss, we installed it over the past week or so.

Originally I was going to put my '71 R/T at home but decided a different path for now. As most of you know, I've had my '69 Charger for 20 years now (man, time flies!) and have never driven it. I moved quite a few times from 2009-2011 and never had a real spot to work on it. In 2011, I moved it to my grandparent's garage where it has sat since. As some may remember, I put the car together in 2014 and brought it to my local Mopar show. Because of the tight space in my grandparent's garage, I wasn't able to get the car running or moving under it's own power so it had to be pushed on and off a trailer at the show. Their driveway is also steep so pushing it out to work on it wasn't an option either.

In early 2016, I decided to start the restoration so I started taking it apart while working with the tight space. I removed the front fenders, grille, bumpers, tail lights etc. In summer 2016, I bought my '71 R/T and the plan changed. I decided I wanted to fully restore the '71 R/T first when funds would permit and get the '69 running and driving as-is. The '71 R/T got put into storage and the '69 continued to sit half torn apart. Last year at this time, my now estranged father had offered to bring the '69 to the shop he was working at to get it running. I bought a bunch of parts needed to do so and was getting ready to bring it there. Then he made some bad decisions (which is no surprise with him) and got fired and locked up; we'll just leave it at that. I ended up putting the boxes of parts I bought for it in the trunk of the car and put the cover back on it.

When I made the decision to put the hoist in my garage, I decided I'd bring the '69 home to start working on it and put the '71 R/T in it's space at my grandparent's. For the past number of years, I've always said I wanted to get the '69 running and on the road but never have due to the lack of working space. While the space in my garage is kind of tight, I do have room to work on the car as well as I have a long flat driveway to easily push the car out to work on it so it's totally manageable. We are planning to buy a bigger house with a large shop over the next year so I can have all my junk in one spot but with my current set-up, I can at least do a bunch of work in the mean time. This past weekend I moved the cars around and now everything is tucked away nicely. With the '69 finally home, I can get to work 

[cdr]

VERY COOL !!!!! 

[69bronzeT5]

The first step was pulling the '71 R/T out of the old storage spot at my "friend's".

[69bronzeT5]

Then I brought it over to my grandparent's and did the switch. It's the first time I've ever had my two Chargers together in one spot. I tucked the '71 R/T away and loaded up the '69.

[69bronzeT5]

The '69 came home and was put into it's new spot in my garage 

[chargervert]

Cody,I have been in the same Mopar rut that you are in. Too many projects and not enough money or time to get them all. I finally had to accept that there were some of them that I just wasn't going to get to. I have had to prioritize them,and start selling off the ones that I knew that I wasn't going to get too. I  still have the sickness and bought three more Mopar projects while still trying to downsize.  I  had 28 of them two years ago.  I got twenty now. Take my advice and prioritize them now while you can still get the most desirable of them done! It's better to have three or four that you can drive and enjoy, then twenty project cars that don't run and you have to store, and spread the restoration funds too thin!

[kent]

Tight quarters. So how high is your ceiling? Lift height? I have been wondering about one of those also.

[69bronzeT5]

Cody,I have been in the same Mopar rut that you are in. Too many projects and not enough money or time to get them all. I finally had to accept that there were some of them that I just wasn't going to get to. I have had to prioritize them,and start selling off the ones that I knew that I wasn't going to get too. I  still have the sickness and bought three more Mopar projects while still trying to downsize.  I  had 28 of them two years ago.  I got twenty now. Take my advice and prioritize them now while you can still get the most desirable of them done! It's better to have three or four that you can drive and enjoy, then twenty project cars that don't run and you have to store, and spread the restoration funds too thin!

Definitely. The Chargers are the priority. The game plan is to get the '69 running and driving and enjoy it while I do a full restoration on the '71 R/T then the '69 will be next. The '71 Road Runner is a project for down the road and the '70 Coronet 500 was pulled off the project list quite a while ago; it's just a parts donor for the '69 Charger now.

[69bronzeT5]

Tight quarters. So how high is your ceiling? Lift height? I have been wondering about one of those also.

My ceiling is 11 ft 3 inches. I have 4 inches or so between the lift and the roof of the Charger and at least another 10 inches between the ceiling and the roof of the Challenger. I could easily go up one more lock height on the hoist and still have ceiling room.

[kent]

Thanks Cody! I guess no lift for me, at least not for stacking of vehicles anyway.  But I'm still looking at them for maintenance purposes. Learn to work off a stool.  Nine foot ceiling. 


So what's first with her?

[stripedelete]

Chargervert speaks much truth.

[JB400]

Hope it works out for you

[69rtse4spd]

 , How do you like your lifts.

[VegasCharger]

Way to go bronze! 

Nothing worse than having your Charger compromised at the hands of an insecure situation.

[CDN72SE]

Sounds like you have a plan, I get overwhelmed and discouraged with just one car. Good luck with everything.

[hemi68charger]

With the cars in one place at your house, hopefully things will more forward and if they stall, you will have less stress knowing you aren't at the mercy of someone else........ 

[6pkrtse]

I would have both the 69' and 71' at home with one up on the hoist to work on them. The newer Challenger can just sit out in the driveway. That is what I have to do with my 2012. It's just a used car now.

[RallyeMike]

I would have both the 69' and 71' at home with one up on the hoist to work on them. The newer Challenger can just sit out in the driveway.

New cars are for outside. You need some elbow room!

[69bronzeT5]

I like the Challenger too much 

[wingcar]

I think part of your problem, may just be the new Challenger.....

I purchased an SRT Challenger a few years back and was having so much fun with it that I stopped working on my two projects.

After a while I got tried of seeing my two old Chargers just sitting and collecting dust.....decided that if I was ever

going to actually drive and enjoy them that I had to stop putting money into the Challenger (upgrades) and pour that

money into the Chargers. 

Do I regent buying the Challenger...no way, just have to change my "Car Dream" direction...........

Good luck with your dreams...........