HEMI68CHARGER Press Release #614 426 HEMI Charger 500 Restoration

[tan top]

 

[mopar346]

What does the underside of the 500 "dutchman" panel look like? is it just the regular Charger with Sheetmetal over it and a new trunk gutter or did the cut some of it away? I know the original lower window channel is still in place under the interior package tray.

[aerolith]

Great work Troy!

Most of my Mopar mates are over 6 feet tall and 300lbs, NO CHANCE!
Me, I'm 5-1/2 feet and 150lbs, doing a C500 trunk floor was real easy for me lol  

The worst part is the interior paint!
Getting up into the inner quarter cavities was a mare.
Been washing F8 off my body/clothes/spraygun/eyeballs, for years now..

[hemi68charger]

What does the underside of the 500 "dutchman" panel look like? is it just the regular Charger with Sheetmetal over it and a new trunk gutter or did the cut some of it away? I know the original lower window channel is still in place under the interior package tray.

All the original 69 Charger sheetmetal is still there.. The plug was placed on top of the existing rear window pillar and at the intersection of the plug to the waterfall drain channel along the sides, a section of the original channel was cut away so the plug could fit in... Then welded all up...

[Highbanked Hauler]

 Looking good Troy, with all the interest now I wish I had taken pictures when I did mine back in the late 80'S..

[hemi68charger]

Well, the shop is full bore.. Whew..

[hemi68charger]

Went and checked on the progress of the 500, took them my freshly restored hood hinges by RestoRick and go over some items that were discovered during the working (to be expected). Thanks to Robert and Bill Crabtree at AMD for the sheetmetal parts I've needed.. Took the ole Daytona to check it out. The passenger side isn't going to need that much, was just positioned for mocking. It'll just need the bottom surface below the reflector.

[chargervert]

They are really making progress Troy!

[C500]

Ahh yes, I remember those days fondly!

[hemi68charger]

some more progress.....

Keeping as much of the original sheetmetal as possible, hence the floor pan patches..... we did however decide to swap out the taillamp panel since AMD's are really nice.. The lower valance corners are going to be the challenge......

[mopar346]

Nice

[chargervert]

Troy, the taillight inner pieces may need to be removed from the taillight panel and repositioned for the taillights to be centered correctly.  Tell the body man to test fit the taillights in the tailpanel to make sure they are positioned correctly.  You don't want to find out that they are off after the car is painted.

[hemi68charger]

Troy, the taillight inner pieces may need to be removed from the taillight panel and repositioned for the taillights to be centered correctly.  Tell the body man to test fit the taillights in the tailpanel to make sure they are positioned correctly.  You don't want to find out that they are off after the car is painted.

Hey Pete..
I mentioned that to him, I believe we chatted about that in the past.... You are referring to the lens housing fitting properly in the taillamp opening of the panel, correct? We have the original still and another '70 for reference..

[chargervert]

Yes Troy, I have installed a couple of the AMD tailpanels and they are a very nice piece, and they fit well,but one that I did, I had to remove the inner pieces and reweld them to properly align the taillights and taillight housings in the openings for the taillights in the tailpanel. Better to find out now,than to find out after the car is in paint.

[hemi68charger]

Yes Troy, I have installed a couple of the AMD tailpanels and they are a very nice piece, and they fit well,but one that I did, I had to remove the inner pieces and reweld them to properly align the taillights and taillight housings in the openings for the taillights in the tailpanel. Better to find out now,than to find out after the car is in paint.

Brian, the body man will be checking... The young man seems very talented........... 500's coming along....

[chargervert]

Its looking good Troy, I can't wait to see it in color!

[hemi68charger]

Operation 500 wheel covers;
Just got a real nice set of proper wheel covers for my 500. The first patch were slated with W23 "Recall Wheels", but none left with them.. Since all 426 Hemi cars had the 15" wheels, these had steelie replacements with full wheel covers from Monoco/Polara models. Here is a picture of what my car would look like in the Bud Lindermann video in 69 and the wheel covers.. Thanks David 👍

[C500]

Good score! I have 2 NOS ones and 2 very tidy one waiting to get on my wheels 

[69 500]

I really find it hard to believe that no car left the factory with the "W23" option, there are not a lot out there for sure, but enough sets out there in circulation that are well used. I personally have a set of the "Kelsey Hayes - recall wheels " that are date coded around the same time as my car. My Charger 500 is number 11 on the list to be manufactured.

[odcics2]

I personally bought a mint set from an original owner of a Charger R/T.
He was called by the dealer several times, wanting him to come back and swap them out.
He declined, but decided to put Cragar mags on the car.
The Kelsey wheels had late July date codes.
They were the best set I have ever seen.
Had the centers, correct 4 clip trim rings and lug nuts.

There is data out there for build quantities.
C bodies got over 800 sets installed!!!

Now, how many remained in the publics hands is the question.

[69_500]

I really find it hard to believe that no car left the factory with the "W23" option, there are not a lot out there for sure, but enough sets out there in circulation that are well used. I personally have a set of the "Kelsey Hayes - recall wheels " that are date coded around the same time as my car. My Charger 500 is number 11 on the list to be manufactured.

The W23 rims were recalled before the the 500's would have been being converted at Creative. The cars slated for build on 907 (September 7), now factor in conversion time and you are well past the recall date.

[odcics2]

Recall letters were dated September 13th.
Add a few days to disperse the info and you
have a week's production plus.

[69_500]

Recall letters were dated September 13th.
Add a few days to disperse the info and you
have a week's production plus.

If the cars were actually done at the plant on the 7th, they would have still been at Creative 3-4 weeks later at a minimum.

[odcics2]

Recall letters were dated September 13th.
Add a few days to disperse the info and you
have a week's production plus.

If the cars were actually done at the plant on the 7th, they would have still been at Creative 3-4 weeks later at a minimum.

Where?  I've been to the Creative Plant.  The parking lot wasn't that large to pile up 3-4 weeks of production.   
And stack up the incoming cars!

BUT -  The cars would have been produced with W-23 wheels, but probably removed prior to shipment to the dealers.
As usual, what would help is an original vintage photo of a production car WITH the wheels!   

[Ghoste]

I typically think of early production cars as being pretty close to schedule.