Re: Restoration of my B5 Blue 4Spd Charger 500... Blue Thunder debuts...Finally!

[sound5262]

it appears to me that the stock market is not the best place to put $. barrett jackson and meckum is proving that everytime i see an auction. i retired in june of '08 and cloning a superbird that i have wanted since i was 8 years old. the saying is so true......you only live once. go for it. steve

[hemi68charger]

I hear ya Allen.. Mine was in the ballpark of $23,000 !!!!!! I'm broke....   

I saw Brandon's, man,, that's a handful to say the least...................  The updated pictures look encouraging..  You should have it ready for the Talledega Meet !!!!

I assume that is what you have spent on the restoration so far, not your "wasted" money on Smitty's work...

Talladega Meet? ...

Allen

NO, that's how much it cost me just to fix his screw up and then paint it the correct way.... Just paint... Not parts, not engine rebuild, not all the NOS parts I've accumulated, etc... Just the dang paint job AFTER I already gave him the $5000 up front as a business investment for HIM....


Ah Oh,, I feel my blood pressure starting to raise again.... 

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Excellent progress is being made on the recovery plan for the Charger 500, even with more old body shop problems being uncovered... more on that subject in a later post.

The next month should have a lot of progress being made on the C500.  Last week the underside surface rust areas not removed by the plastic media blasting a year ago were cleaned up using a more abrasive media.  Other small areas like on the rear window plug were also spot cleaned.  All the primers and other materials to immediately seal the bare metal have been purchased so the next week should have everything well protected.

New blasting pictures attached below...

Allen

[69bronzeT5]

Awesome Allen! All you C500 progress makes me want to work on my car.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

More blasting pictures...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Awesome Allen! All you C500 progress makes me want to work on my car.

Thanks Cody... but learn from my mistakes too.

More pictures...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Last of the blasting pictures...

[xs29j8Bullitt]

More problems with the work done by the original bodyshop are being uncovered.  It is not that the work was totally un-useable, rather just sub-standard for restoration work.  For a $600 repair on a Kia it would have been fine...

The latest example is the body line matching between the passenger side door and quarter panel.  The aft edge of the door had a thin coat of body filler, and the body line was moved from the original location.  Why?... Who knows, probably just carelessness.  With the mounting amount of rework being required, its beginning to look like little useable work was done for the massive amount spent at the first bodyshop... its worse than I knew when I pulled the car out.

With the increasingly clear evidence of mistakes and sub-standard performance by the first bodyshop, I have had a nagging concern about trying to use any of the body shop material (base coat paint, clear coat, reducer, etc)recovered from the first shop.  I am concerned about contamination, accidental or otherwise.  So, I have decided not to use the remaining $450 worth of material on the C500... I will try to use it on another car I suppose.  So about $2400 of materials now written off...  It might just be paranoia on my part, but if something happened with the new paint the cost would be a lot more than $450... and I would always wonder about the cause!  Its just more hard earned $$$ down the tubes.

The two pictures below show where the body line problem was discovered... BTW, these pictures were taken before the media blasting shown above.

Allen

[69_500]

Well at least know you can rest easier knowing that what work will be done on the car, will only have to be done 1 time. And in all honesty will probably be the last time that the car is ever back apart. I mean what are the odds of it being torn down and completely gone through again? Not high.

Car will be absolutely stunning once completed.

[tan top]

Well at least know you can rest easier knowing that what work will be done on the car, will only have to be done 1 time. And in all honesty will probably be the last time that the car is ever back apart. I mean what are the odds of it being torn down and completely gone through again? Not high.

Car will be absolutely stunning once completed.

  good to see the work going ahead again  looking forward to seeing more progress pictures as & when

[BB1]

"$ Going down the tube" I guess it's a normal thing these days. 

Get -R- done.

[watt340]

Allen, with paint materials being very expensive and the extent of your restoration, I think in the long run you'll have a better piece of mind to let the current body shop order all new paint and avoid a possible problem later. Paints, activators, hardeners, solvents, are all a science these days, it only takes a little contamination to ruin the whole job. If you read fine print on some hardeners, they are only good for 14 days after opening. this may have been what happened to me when I was restoring my Road Runner. I painted the interior, door jams, engine compartment, trunk area, and underbelly. Had to put the car in storage for about 18 months. When I went to pick it up, there were primed and painted areas peeling off in chunks. I had the whole car blasted down to bare metal again and started over. There was no way I would have chanced trying to blend in the bad areas. 

[426HemiCharger]

That car is HOT AS HELL great work man. I almost bought a Charger 500 for $6400.  This one was special, it WAS THE PROTOTYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm really  that I couldn't afford it.

[Troy]

That car is HOT AS HELL great work man. I almost bought a Charger 500 for $6400.  This one was special, it WAS THE PROTOTYPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm really  that I couldn't afford it.

I really hope you had some documentation for that as I do believe that's a known car - and certainly can't be had for anything close to that amount.

Troy

[Ghoste]

Especially at 15 years old. 

[426HemiCharger]

The thing was in a barn and the guy claimed it was just a 1969 Charger 500.  It was in 3 feet of grass and weeds and believe me it was B5 with a white interior, had 68 side markers and a set of delux wheel covers.

[hemigeno]

The thing was in a barn and the guy claimed it was just a 1969 Charger 500.  It was in 3 feet of grass and weeds and believe me it was B5 with a white interior, had 68 side markers and a set of delux wheel covers.

OOHH!  That must make this Daytona with '68 marker lights the long-lost Daytona prototype!

[hemigeno]

The thing was in a barn and the guy claimed it was just a 1969 Charger 500.  It was in 3 feet of grass and weeds and believe me it was B5 with a white interior, had 68 side markers and a set of delux wheel covers.

Just out of curiosity, how does 3 feet of grass and weeds grow inside a barn?

[426HemiCharger]

hemigeno, no more sarcasm please, click on this link http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/gallery/press/pr_photo_69_charger_500 and you'll see want I'm talking about.

[FLG]

It still around?

Im sure guys on here would gladly take it!

I HIGHLY doubt it was a 500

[moparstuart]

hemigeno, no more sarcasm please, click on this link http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/gallery/press/pr_photo_69_charger_500 and you'll see want I'm talking about.

that would be the jerry service car that is well known and would never have been forsale at such a low price

   pictures of it here in 1980   
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,52395.160.html   

[hemi68charger]

hemigeno, no more sarcasm please, click on this link http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/gallery/press/pr_photo_69_charger_500 and you'll see want I'm talking about.

The Prototype was red if I'm not mistaken, R4 red, not B5..........

[Troy]

hemigeno, no more sarcasm please, click on this link http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/gallery/press/pr_photo_69_charger_500 and you'll see want I'm talking about.

that would be the jerry service car that is well known and would never have been forsale at such a low price

   pictures of it here in 1980   
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,52395.160.html   

That's what I was hinting at.

Troy

[hemigeno]

hemigeno, no more sarcasm please, click on this link http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/gallery/press/pr_photo_69_charger_500 and you'll see want I'm talking about.

Yes, I know the car and know exactly what it is.  Thanks for the tip anyway though.

That particular car was originally RR1 burgundy, but has spent a lot of years wearing a red paintjob.  It is a really neat car, but it was never B5 Blue, and NEVER recently for sale to a 15 year old kid at $6400.  Jerry (the car's current owner since 1972) would probably get a kick out of hearing your "story" though...

[69_500]

Hey Gene, you forgot to add that the previous owner of the before Jerry bought it, is also available for comment. I can put ya in contact with him if ya wanted to chat, and I think that the $6,400 price might have been the asking price in the late 70's if someone was wanting to buy the car from Jerry then, but definitely not now. I believe the price it was purchased from Chrysler was somewhere around $3,200.

Side note, I don't know of any 500's that are B5 that are very early in the production run though. Seems all of the first ones are either R4 red, F8 green, or T5 bronze.