Finally have the motivation to start working on the car again :) (lots of pics)

[jc_is_the_man]

Just wanted to introduce myself and say hello. I'm looking forward to learning all I can from this site.

If you're up for a read I 'll give you alittle background of what has been going on since owning my car.

I'll start by this. Growing up, my father was a mopar guy and pretty much got me hooked hard. When I was 15 he and I set out to find my "first" car. Originally I loved the look of e-bodies but something just kept pushing me towards a b-body, more specifically a 2nd gen Charger. I loved the lines and the idea of a big block at such a young age. We looked for a few months and came across an ad in the special interest: 1969 Charger, 318, good cond, etc. Car was located about 2 hours away in PA and had been sitting in storage for about 8 years due to the owned being deployed. I remember the next day getting a call in class asking me to come downstairs and my Dad was there to pull me out of school to go pick it up. Let me tell you at that very moment getting called down, I knew exactly what it was about and I could not wipe the smile off my face!

When we arrived to PA, The car was sitting in a storage facility with tags that expired in '95 on it. As soon as I sat in the driver seat I was in love. I didn't even ask to start it up or test drive it. I knew this was the one. I hadn't had this feeling from the various other cars we checked out. Just there was something about this particular one. 2 days late the car was in the driveway and we got to work on it.

The 318 was left in for a few months and it was a nice driver. Only taking it out a couple times because I was not of age to drive legally. I felt like I was king driving it. When I turned 16 and after sinking about all the money I had into it and constantly trying to make it better and better, I came across a 72 New Yorker with 60k miles and 440 motor. I knew I wanted to eventually put a 440 in it and I couldn't pass up the deal on the New Yorker. So that's when the motor swap began. I learned alot from the swap but to be honest it has never really run right since.

When I was old enough to finally drive, I used this as my daily driver to school and work. It got alot of attention and thumbs up everywhere I went. However I constantly kept running into problems with the electrical aspect of things and I was became very paranoid leaving it in parking lots unattended. That's when I decided to buy something alittle more practical...an 84 Monte Carlo SS that I picked up for $800 with bad paint (nothing a quick shot of flat black couldn't fix). Then the charger was put into the garage and taken out rarely. However it still ran into charging problems so I stress "rarely."

Now fast forward to another year, I'm 18, and a few daily drivers later the car just pretty much sat and sat. My parents were separated and my mom was getting ready to move to FL (I live in NY). There goes the garage space not to mention my mother, sister,and brother. When they moved I decided to live with my aunt and finish up school here and moved the car over to there. Now I'm lacking in any interest to work on it due to time, money, space, etc. The car sat on the side of her house for another 2 years with a cover on it till I turned 20. That is when my other aunt told me I could have her garage as long as I cleaned it out for her. Jackpot. The car was now moved there and there it would sit. I will admit had a lack of interest in the old muscle car, as I became fond of DSM's and that's where all my time/money went to for a couple of years but that is another story.

All though I was asked countless times if I wanted to sell it, I knew I could never because one day I wanted to make into a mean machine once I had the stability to do so. I also forgot to mention my grandfather was the one who bought the car for me and he has since past away so it means alot to me. As I say to all the people who ask if I'll sell..."I will be buried in this thing."

I am 21 now and finally got the "itch" back so to speak. I'm going to be devoting all my time into this project. I'm still going to keep building my DSM's but my main focus is going to be on this car. Here are some pics I took today and I have my work cut out for me. I remember back when I was 15 becoming a member of this site...my first post was something to the tune of "How can I run 12's" "or 11's"? something along those lines. Haha. I have since matured and grew up alot. I understand the responsibilities, time, dedication and research needed to do something right. So I'm looking forward to making the charger into something I can be really proud of. And although I do not plan on turning this into a full resto RIGHT NOW, I plan on doing what I can to make it a nice driver...for now, and giving it her the attention she deserves.

Thanks for reading if you did.
John



(Power steering fluid everywhere...nice!)

(This car is NOT a real R/T)

(295/50/15 tires)

[richard pettys 73]

welcome to the forum    and  great pics   

[WingCharger]

Welcome aboard. Good to see a car being restored. Are those '68 Charger seats?

[Finn]

Looks like a great project, good luck and keep the pics coming!

[69bronzeT5]

Is it the way the shadow is or is there a big dent in the driver's quarter? Great pictures and story!

[jc_is_the_man]

Thanks for the encouraging words everyone.

T5, there are no dent, I 'm thinking its just the angle/light. I've saw some progress pics of your car...great job so far!

Wing, the seats were in teh car when it was purchased. I knew they weren't 69's but I wasn't sure what car they came out of... A '68 you say?

Thanks Again Everyone

[69bronzeT5]

Thank you The backseat is a '69 seat. I'm thinking the fronts are '69s and somebody got them re-covered. However, the front seats don't have the '69 pattern on them like the back one.

[WingCharger]

Thank you The backseat is a '69 seat. I'm thinking the fronts are '69s and somebody got them re-covered. However, the front seats don't have the '69 pattern on them like the back one.

No headrest...
Maybe a recover with headrest removal?

[jc_is_the_man]

Thank you The backseat is a '69 seat. I'm thinking the fronts are '69s and somebody got them re-covered. However, the front seats don't have the '69 pattern on them like the back one.

No headrest...
Maybe a recover with headrest removal?

I remeber asking the guy I bought the car from what the seats were out of. He informed me that to his knowledge they were original. I knew they didn't have the 69 pattern but figured they were swapped in from something else at one time, because the interior wasn't really in to great of shape besides those 2 front seats. No matter, they are the least of my worries lol