Rustymuscle's Street/Strip '69 R/T

[Rustymuscle]

Inspired by many of your own "Build Threads," I thought I'd share a little bit of the progress being made on my own '69 Charger project.

Part I: The Set Up

Starting Off


Purchased for $1200 on my 23rd birthday in 2001, landing this B-Body was surprisingly easy (I've always been tired of people saying the "good stuff" is all gone, I've found two more 69's since just as easily). Having grown up in a GM family, it was expected that after the sale of my high school '73 RS Camaro and post-high school 454-powered '70 Nova, that my next car would be another Bow Tie.

Rather, having harbored a love of the sleek, angular Coke-bottle shape of the Second Gen (68-70) Chargers (thanks to an early viewing of Bullitt at age nine or so), I went about trying to purchase my first Mopar. I even test drove a rusted-out triple green '68 with a bench seat, A/C, 8-track, and column-mounted automatic, but the $6,600 price tag was ludicrous in my opinion.



Instead, my older brother put me on the trail of a fabled '69 Charger up in Bakersfield, California. Tucked underneath an oak tree, the Charger in question sat on four deflated tires with a rusted out trunk pan, Dutchman panel, and cancerous lower right-hand quarter. The story goes that Brandon, the second owner, purchased the Charger from a neighborhood kid's father who bought it new. Brandon, hopelessly blasted on Grad Night, ran into a motorcyclist. The biker, climbed off the hood, pulled Brandon from the car and beat the inebriated teenager senseless. Bruised and embarrassed, Brandon limped the Charger home and left it to sit for 15 years...

Getting to Work


First to go was all the cancer-riddled steel. A new trunk pan, gas tank, lower quarter and Dutchman panel were ordered and installed. With an aircraft-grade sand blaster, I stripped the patchwork paint job (the previous owner drunkenly spray-painted Chevrolet Hugger Orange on 2/3 of the body - including chrome, glass, etc.) and applied a coat of Rustoleum Red. Additionally, I coated the interior floor and the underside of the trunk pan (before painting it black) with POR15 rust inhibitor.

Due to the Charger's size, wanting to get the big B-Body to run 10's on the motor would require some work and I knew that the right wheel/tire set up was imperative. To my recollection, I had never seen a street/strip Second Generation Charger that was set up (at least in my opinion) "right," meaning enough wheel and tire to fill up the Charger's wheel wells. Wanting to eliminate the "elephant on ice skates" look, I went as big as I could before any tire swell would rub the well lip.



A pair of Weld Racing 90 Draglites 15x8s fitted with Hoosier 30x9 slicks filled the factory wells perfectly. Turning to the master, Dick Landy, for inspiration, a pair of 15x4 Pro Competition skinnies in front kept the 60's-era height.



Without a frame, I knew that my goal of mid-10 second passes on pump gas would twist the unibody like a pretzel. A call to Competition Engineering landed me a six-point cage, sub-frame connectors and boxes. Additionally, with the A/C out, I patched the firewall, and blended it to look factory flat (sans heater hoses). Since I have this moronic idea of driving the Charger with my kids in the backseat, I opted to make the cross bar removable, allowing access to the rear bench.



Also non-NHRA legal were the bent rear supports. The idea was to keep the cage as tucked and hidden as possible. The center pillars are hidden by the chrome strips when the windows are rolled up. I even painted the cage in semi-gloss flat black, all in the hopes that people 30 feet away would think, "Hey, that's a pretty nice looking Charger" until they got closer and realized that it really was.

I'll continue on this thread with Part II shortly. Stay tuned!

[aone415]

WELCOME to the Board...

Great project!!! And let me be the first to say... "MORE PICS!"

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Welcome & register it if you havent already

www.1969chargerregistry.com

[dodgecharger-fan]

Nice project and great narrative.   

[FlatbackFanatic]

Welcome!! Nice project! Great story...We'll be waiting for part II.....

[tan top]

Welcome!! Nice project! Great story...We'll be waiting for part II.....

      ..................................

[Rustymuscle]

Great project!!! And let me be the first to say... "MORE PICS!"

You're right, Aone! Let me show some greater detail...

Step II: The Devil's in the Details


Setting up shop in an unused corner of a warehouse (of a previous job), I commandeered the use of an electric/pneumatic lift, a rolling work bench, and some empty shelving, I began the step-by-step process of eviscerating the Charger. Artists don't typically start with a used canvas, so stripping the car down to barely nothing seemed like a logical step (not that I'm calling myself an artist by any means). Fenders, doors, the deck lid, basically anything hanging on hinges or bolted to the body came off.



Gutting a Fish


While the majority of my interior was already removed (I purchased new Camel Tan bucket and rear bench seat covers, headliner, and package tray two years earlier), it was necessary that all of the delicate electronics be removed and/or bagged. First to go was the steering wheel (I had the good fortune of finding an R/T wheel in the right color as well as a 9-way adjustable driver-side seat track from a Charger 500). Then came the dash itself. Since the big stroker wedge 540 will be using aluminum rods (on the street, no less), I'll be winging it pretty high, needing a good eye on my rpms. Eventually, the gauge cluster will be sent out for "refreshing" (re-screened gauge faces, re-chromed trimming).





Not wanting to hack up the factory dash, I removed the back, removed the giant clock (this Charger didn't have the tic-toc-tach) and installed a black-faced Auto Meter tachometer with an adjustable, internal shift light. Surprisingly, the Auto Meter monster tach slid in perfectly, needing only a small bracket to be fabricated to hold it in place. To dampen any potential vibration, I wrapped the tach's outer jacket in a single-sided adhesive rubber strip.



Since the A/C is gone the way of the dodo, I pulled all the A/C vents and A/C-friendly dash padding. Although I haven't purchased the A/C block off plates for the sides nor the front dash padding, any evidence of the factory "Airtemp" air conditioning will all be erased (if any of you guys know of anyone looking to sell any of these items, let me know!).





Additionally, since 3-inch pipes cut off before the differential won't lend themselves to listening to tunes while driving (a 650-700 hp motor is all the rock 'n roll I need), I removed the factory AM radio and speakers. I too, am going to replace the radio plate with a smooth block off plate. (I'm looking for one of those too!)

Getting Stripped
The idea was cleaning years of built-up grime, dirt, rust, etc. from the car (no matter how much prep I did before sand blasting, I kept finding sand in crevasses and corners). I used a couple of spray bottles of Ospho Rust Treatment and muriatic acid to strip glue, rubber and weather coating from the panels. Then, with the acid eating at the contaminated panels, I used a gentle power washer to blast off everything and neutralize the corrosive chemicals.







Put a Coat On


While the final result looks terrifying, you can rest assured that the metal in question is cancer-free, and as clean as you can get besides acid dipping the car. I then went over all of the virgin surfaces with sand paper, and green and red Scotch Brite pads (differing grades). Scrubbed clean (almost shiny), I could then attack everything with several Rustoleum and Semi-gloss rattle cans.







Up Against a Wall


I mentioned it before, but filling in the firewall was key to erasing evidence of the A/C. Cutting out the panel was easy. Welding in the patch wasn't too hard, as long as I spaced out my welds enough to keep the panel's temperature steady enough not to shrink. Well, it shrank, and therefore, distorted. I spent a couple days filling, blocking, and sanding the firewall, just to make it look right.



OK, that's enough for today. I'll pick up where I left off in Step III

[BigBlockSam]

it's looking great 

[Rolling_Thunder]

Isnt that the "Brazen Charger" from Mopar Muscle ?

[Blakcharger440]

Isnt that the "Brazen Charger" from Mopar Muscle ?

Thats what I was thinking also! It seems i have seen that car or one alot like it in one of the car mags.

[69*F5*SE]

Welcome to the site.  Nice build you've got going on.   

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Just an FYI...the A/C & non-A/C dash frames are totally different....you cant just take out the side vents & pop on the block off plates, they wont fit....

[Rustymuscle]

Isnt that the "Brazen Charger" from Mopar Muscle ?

Actually, yes. Good eye. I'm Kevin Shaw, former Associate Editor of Mopar Muscle.

[69bronzeT5]

Isnt that the "Brazen Charger" from Mopar Muscle ?

Actually, yes. Good eye. I'm Kevin Shaw, former Associate Editor of Mopar Muscle.

Do you still work for Mopar Muscle or?

[Rustymuscle]

Do you still work for Mopar Muscle or?

Nope. I left Mopar Muscle in March of 2007. Working with MM was a lot of fun which lasted just a little over two years. My wife and I chose to move back to Southern California where I am now the Editor for Personal Watercraft Illustrated, America's leading PWC enthusiast publication (think Jet Skis and Sea-Doos).

When asked why I left Mopar Muscle, Tech Editor (and very good friend), Dave Young, defended, "Listen, would you rather spend your day sweating under the Florida sun at the race track with a bunch of dudes choking down stale nachos and warm beer, or on the water with a bunch of chicks in bikinis? Kevin made the right choice."

Here's some sample covers:

[Rustymuscle]

Just an FYI...the A/C & non-A/C dash frames are totally different....you cant just take out the side vents & pop on the block off plates, they wont fit....

Really? I can't just do this:


And replace it with one of these?

[69bronzeT5]

That's cool. Good luck with the new magazine I actually submitted myself for the Young Gun section twice with no reply

[Rolling_Thunder]

Nice to see another Southern CA guy on the boards...     I am in Torrance, CA myself   

You ever need a hand let me know.   

[jaak]

Isnt that the "Brazen Charger" from Mopar Muscle ?

Actually, yes. Good eye. I'm Kevin Shaw, former Associate Editor of Mopar Muscle.

I thought it looked alot like the "Brazen Charger" also.... I was wondering what happened to it no more articles on it, I guess thats why when you left, Brazen Charger did also. Well anyways welcome to the site, now we can keep up with the progress here.

Jason

[SeattleCharger]

 

[Hemidog]

This is a very interesting thread with lots of pictures and info! 

[tan top]

good  progress  pictures    love looking at stuff like this  keep the pictures coming 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Just an FYI...the A/C & non-A/C dash frames are totally different....you cant just take out the side vents & pop on the block off plates, they wont fit....

Really? I can't just do this:


And replace it with one of these?

Nope....hole is bigger for the vent....try it and you'll see.  They are 2 totally different frames

I have done half of what you are trying to do as well to my car as well

[Rustymuscle]

I was wondering what happened to it no more articles on it, I guess that's why when you left, Brazen Charger did also.

Actually, Jason, it's the other way around. When the articles were stopped was the moment when I decided to leave.

Nope....hole is bigger for the vent....try it and you'll see.  They are 2 totally different frames

And doing some quick homework, I discovered that you're right, 6T9 (which really sucks). You know, it's surprising that nobody is making these block offs for people with A/C adapted dash frames. You'd think they'd make their money rather quickly. Oh well, right?

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Whats cool about this site.....learn something new every day