Mitch's 69 Charger restoration -sheet metal

[green69rt]

I've just acquired a 69 charger that I want to restore so I thought I would start a thread to describe the stages and details of that work.  This is my first restoration so a lot of you will recognize old problems, mistakes and steps.  I will post whatever is going on at the time an will try to put a lot of detail in the thread.

So here goes.

I bought this 69 Charger from a guy near Chicago that advertised is fairly clearly.  First problem is that one man's description is another man's problem (more later!!) I've had the car about two years and have spent the time tearing in down and figuring out what I need to do.  I will add more notes and pictures as I get time.  

All comments are welcome.  There is such a hugh amount if knowledge out there that I am overloaded.

Here is a picture of it on arrival.  It is a SE car with a 383 2bbl auto, 273 no sure grip rear end.

All I can say is it was in much worse shape than I hoped.  More later

[69*F5*SE]

Is that car F5 green?  Can't really tell by the pic.    Ted

[green69rt]

Build sheet says F3 but I want F5.

[green69rt]

Second try to add more detail.

The car came with a bunch of parts.  Evidently the guy I bought it from had hopes of restoring it but backed out.  The package deal included a new interior, bumpers, floor pan, and a bunch of other parts.  The car did run and we actually drove it into the garage, where it sets now. Brakes didn't work and it had no exhaust system ( cut off after the stock exhaust manifold. )

I will skip the dissassembly.  First section will talk about the rear section of the car.  Frame rails had seen a bumper hitch (I think) come and go. Lots of repairs for rust.  The rust was not stopped, it was everywhere!!  Hand made rear cross member (behind the rear valence.)

So here are a couple of pictures.

[The70RT]

Nice car, good luck on the resto. I had a 69 the same color back 30 years ago.

[skip68]

   Welcome to the site green69rt.    What are the plans for the car ?  Keep it stock or pump it up with some more power ?   

[FlatbackFanatic]

Welcome! Looks like you got alot of work ahead of you.Good luck, and keep us posted, there is alot of info you can get here.

[mopar_nut_440_6]

Good luck with your project. they are a lot of work but well worth it in the end!

Looks lie a great start.

Welcome

[tan top]

hello & welcome    looks a good project  , keep the pictures coming 

[1969chargerrtse]

Hey there and welcome to the site.  I did the same thing with my car which is post my slow restoration as I moved along.  The plan is to print out every page for a book to keep for memory lane.  Beautiful car and I know what you mean by " All I can say is it was in much worse shape than I hoped. ".  Looking forward to further pictures and progress.  Rob.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Good luck with the resto & welcome to the site

F3 green is a really nice color when its fresh & not a common color in the sea of reds & darker greens.

Please take the time to register the car is you haven't already..
www.1969chargerregistry.com


Some F3 examples

[Charger_Fan]

Welcome to the site.
Looks like you got a good project on your hands, despite it's rust ailments. The good part is that your timing was excellent, as far as parts availability. With all the new repop stuff that's been coming along, the job has been made quite a bit easier.

Looking forward to progress updates.

[Davtona]

Looks like it is a vinyl top car. Curious what color was the vinyl top? Are you going to put it back on or not. Also wondering what color the interior is.   

[vancamp]

Best of luck with it, keep pictures posted

[green69rt]

Good luck with the resto & welcome to the site

F3 green is a really nice color when its fresh & not a common color in the sea of reds & darker greens.

Please take the time to register the car is you haven't already..
www.1969chargerregistry.com


Some F3 examples

I actually had a new 69RT in my younger and more foolish days,  Drove it around up north for 10 years and it literally fell apart in my driveway.  I ended up parting it out to some hot rodders in 1981 (they just wanted the engine and tranmission.

My intent is to make the car F5 green which is between the two cars you show ( I think).

[green69rt]

  Welcome to the site green69rt.    What are the plans for the car ?  Keep it stock or pump it up with some more power ?   

Car came with a 383 2bbl.  I want to put a 440 stroker in it.  There is a local place near here called DiamondBack motors.  They build a wide selection of Mopar engines.  Anybody got any news on them??

[Sublime/Sixpack]

F5 should look good on your car.   A stroker will be fun.  P.S. I'd hang on to the 383 if its the original mill.  Good luck with your resto.

[hemigeno]

There is a local place near here called DiamondBack motors.  They build a wide selection of Mopar engines.  Anybody got any news on them??

Diamondback used to be owned by Dave Schultz (a/k/a Big Kahuna) from MoparStyle.com.  I thought he still owned it, but when I visited 'Style just now to confirm that fact I found a thread where he said back in January of this year that he no longer owns Diamondback and was liquidating a bunch of parts. 

Are you sure Diamondback is still in business?  Could be that he just sold off to someone else, I dunno.

BTW, welcome to the site.  F3 Green is a good color, a friend of mine has a F3 Green '69 HemiCharger that I like the looks of quite a bit.  Good luck with the resto!

[bsakal]

Keep it F3! I like F3, that's what color mine is. But it's your car, I'm sure any color you pick will be cool.

[green69rt]

Can anyone give me a hint on how to add pictures inside of a note rather than as an attachment?

[hemigeno]

Can anyone give me a hint on how to add pictures inside of a note rather than as an attachment?

If the pictures are hosted somewhere -- including pictures already posted on this site --, simply copy and paste the link to the desired picture inside [img][/img ] brackets (without the space inserted before the last bracket).

Lots of information about posting pictures in the Help section too.

[426HemiCharger]

Keep her all stock - Restoration guideline: If you are not happy with the car and you modify it it wasn't the right car to buy first of all.

[PocketThunder]

Keep her all stock - Restoration guideline: If you are not happy with the car and you modify it it wasn't the right car to buy first of all.

What?   

Maybe the guy can build his car the way he wants.   

[Charger_Fan]

Keep her all stock - Restoration guideline: If you are not happy with the car and you modify it it wasn't the right car to buy first of all.

What?   

Maybe the guy can build his car the way he wants.   

This car isn't a 1 of 6 HEMI car or something, it's not even an R/T. Building it the way he wants will not make it any less valuable & will make it more fun for him, the owner to drive.

[426HemiCharger]

Keeping it stock is not the same as #s matching so that STILL means he can build it the way he wants.