Rebuild of my 68 after crash ************IT'S BACK HOME****PICS*************

[aone415]

good work so far... keep us posted to your progress

BTW what type of wheels are those

[dkn1997]

I just ordered a stock arm from tony's parts.  I called and only said what my name was and he says "let me guess, you need a lower control arm for a 68 charger"  now that's cusotomer svc!! you don't even have to tell them what you need and they guess it!  seriousely, though, he was looking at the thread and that's how he knew, but I thought it was pretty funny.  I have only heard good things and it was all confirmed on my first transaction with him.   

  for Tony's parts!

[dkn1997]

lost the drivers' side hood hinge also...got a used set from member "A34"  When I got them, they had some minor surface rust, which I knew before I bought them, so I went to work:

started with:

[dkn1997]

blasted:

[dkn1997]

painted

[firefighter3931]

Excellent progress Kevin 

The 'ole 68 is gonna be all freshened up by spring. 


Ron

[dkn1997]

That's the plan, Ron!  The final plan for the suspension is to keep my stock parts for now, but I will get the moog offset upper control arm bushings so I can get some more caster out of it and some either qa1 or edelbrock Ias shocks. 

[The70RT]

I agree with Doug. The frame rail will never be as strong as before and may cause problems with alignment later, steering and body wise. I know it's a done deal but I would hate to see it if it took another hit in the same place later down the road 

[Highbanked Hauler]

 Looks like your headlight mounting panel took a beating also. Did you go with a used one or is somebody reproducing them?

[Aero426]

I agree with Doug. The frame rail will never be as strong as before and may cause problems with alignment later, steering and body wise. I know it's a done deal but I would hate to see it if it took another hit in the same place later down the road 

My background is in unibody repair.   The general rule is that if a structural rail has a hard kink in it, you should replace it.    The other issue is that where that kink and tear was, the upper control arm mount is directly above it.   So you are going to have road forces working on that rail right where it was damaged.    So time will tell how good the repair truly is.  It may turn out to be fine even though it's not what I would do.   How well that rail repair was done is the most important part of the entire job.   Any excitement over pretty paint, trick suspension and new AMD parts is lipstick by comparison. 

[dkn1997]

Looks like your headlight mounting panel took a beating also. Did you go with a used one or is somebody reproducing them?

looked a lot worse than it was.  I assume you are talking about the grill frame.  That is actually a pretty flimsy piece and it was easy to bend that back into shape.  when I put the plastic grill back in it, I will tweak it some more.  It was more bent than smashed if you can picture that...next to nothing is currently being reproduced

As far as the frame repair, I am satisfied with the way the repair is being done. 

[dkn1997]

Dropped off my lower control arm, hood hinge, and bumper (thanks Mike aka NYCmille)  The frame is done, and the panels are on the car.  The hood is pretty much laying on there since they needed the hinge and the fender is bolted on loosely, but the shop owner said flat out that he was "amazed at the way they fit"  I took some pretty close up pics and the gaps are real good, even that radius where the back of the hood meets the cowl. 

[dkn1997]

front view, the detail is exact in the stamping as far as I can tell when compared to the original pass fender.

[dkn1997]

gaps.  fender front edge may need some work, but it's looking really good.

[dkn1997]

hood to cowl

[dkn1997]

Frame welded.  The  put the tire back on to move the car around, so I had to stick the camera in the wheel well and blindly shoot it. not the clearest pics.  The plan is to paint the car, then grind weld down and undecoat the frame. 

[69*F5*SE]

Things are looking good     Ted

[tan top]

    good progress going on there ............

[autodynamics]

what about the grill??? did you get one ?

[dkn1997]

what about the grill??? did you get one ?

I'm fixing mine.  I bought a driver's side bucket with door, one of the plates that holds the vacuum pod for headlights, and a new trim kit from gunslinger.   I'm done with the plastic work. I  have to blast the metal frame (which was bent, but I bent it back into shape) blast the hardware, paint and reassemble.  I'm going to do another thread for that.  I've been taking pics of that as I go.  When it's all said and done, I will be into it for about 900.00.  I could have gotten one already restored for 2200, so I did save some money.  It was more than that, though.  I like doing it. it's been a lot of work, though...  even the plastic parts that were not totally smashed had broken pieces.  I did a lot of fixing, sanding, wetsanding, etc..  I had to make my own fins which isn't fun when you have big meaty paws instead of hands,....lol.. 

Even though I'm not done, I will probably start a thread on that. 

[b5blue]

WOW!!! It's GREAT to her coming back!Your thread was one of the first I read and it really hit home.My car is a driver and I'm glad you didn't get screwed by insurance!GOOD LUCK!

[dkn1997]

UPDATE!!! 
Since the whole car is getting painted, of course there are some surprises lurking under there.  I knew there was some previose (missed by guy who painted the car years ago) rot on the dutchman panel (panel between trunklid and rear window) and some on the doors.  Nothing major like michigan rust...but rust nonetheless..  It's been cut out and fixed already but of course it highlights new problems like the interior window trim for the back window is shot (window was removed by glass shop for repair)  also since it's a apart, I am having another shop put a headliner in it.  I had leaned on it and put a hole in it last year removing the back seat, it was dryrotted.....and the package tray will be replaced since it's been trash since I got the car.      and while the headliner and package tray are out, I am going to start sound deadening.  I ordered a couple of rolls of Raamat from Raam audio. it's butyl based and I will do the roof, package trray/trunk divider, and inside of doors for now.

car is mostly sanded down and will be in primer this week. then it will be blocked.  of course there is some more spots on the drivers door. he's looking at paint by march, then more work on suspension, etc... on the road by april. 

decided to take care of the windshield too, pitted and delaminating,.  Ordered a bunch of stuff from year one to take advantage of their weekend 20% sale.  order came to 508 and final price was 400 so it's no joke.  ordered package tray, trunk weather strip, interior rear window trim set, door weather strip, roofrail weatherstrip, glove box liner, dome light lense, door end seals, windshield gasket, fillerneck trunkfloor seal..... 

when I get the car back, I will pull the seats and carpet out to install my uscartool subframe connectors and then i will raamat the floor. 

[hemi-hampton]

Thanks for update, Was wondering what happened to it LEON.

[dkn1997]

Where do I begin...ok, needs a driver's door skin     the bodyshop told me that If I could get one that I should. there was 1/4 inch of bondo on the door.  the corners where they all rot was previousely repaired, and they did good job, the patches welded in were fine.  but the middle bottom of the door was littered with pin holes.  He could have patched them, but he said your'e here once, lets just reskin it.  I bought one from ron at CBD and It arrives next week.   I spoke to Ron directly and so far, it's been a pleasant transaction. 

The car is in primer...and these are the pics they sent me.  I bought a set of 18" boyd's for it and I'm psyched! 
check the pics. 

[aone415]

Looking good... so if you're buying 18" Boyds, what are your plans for the wheels currently on the car