Finally done! Showing off my '68. (Warning - Lots of pics!)

Corellian Corvette · September 28, 2009, 01:15:14 AM

On June 29th, 2006 I posted for the first time on this forum, asking questions about a 68 Charger I was considering. The car looked great, with new paint and bodywork, and the seller claimed it only needed a couple things but was a good driver.

I was SO excited to get one of my dream cars, and although it was not my first classic car purchase, I make the horrible mistake of buying it from an online ad without inspecting the car in person.

While not QUITE as bad as the "BK AUTO special" that's been posted here – it was close. The car was a horrible, horrible mess. The ad was a complete lie, and the "new paint" was covering several hundred pounds of bondo. The car had been hit, was totally crooked, and instead of using sheet metal to repair the damage, and the seller had used TIN CANS, chicken wire, latex gloves and duct tape, covered over in bondo. The rear window channel was completely rotted out, with the windshield held in place by plastic T-molding and body bonding glue.

Long story short – the full restoration began. The car was at my friends paint shop from July 2006 until February 2009 – nearly 50% of the metal on the car is new. The Floorpans, Roof, Doors, Cowl, Rear deck lid and rocker panels are the only exterior sheet metal that was not replaced. Nothing in the interior was kept except the dash frame, seat frames, and the shifter. Everything else had to be re-sourced.

Even the engine and transmission had internal damage beyond repair, and had to be replaced. The only part I was able to keep from the original engine was the (thankfully) very nice HP exhaust manifolds and the original
A/C Air Cleaner.

It came home in Feb, and took several more months to get back together.

With so much that had to be changed – I got to make the car exactly what I wanted. I was able to drive the car a little over the summer, working out the kinks.
A little about the changes
Engine: 71 400 Block, Stroked to 470ci. Edelbrock heads, Hydraulic Roller Cam, Mopar Perf. Aluminum Intake. MSD R2R Billet Dizzy, MSD High Vibration Coil. All painted the correct factory Blue with as much branding removed a possible to make it a sleeper! Dynoed at 470HP, 540TQ with the cast-iron exhaust manifolds!
Suspension: Firm Feel Front and Rear Sway Bars, Stage 2 Steering Box and Fast-Ratio Pitman Arm. Tubular Upper control arms, Aluminum Strut Rods.
Brakes: M/P Brakes 4-Wheel Discs with drilled/slotted rotors
Transmission and Rear: Rebuilt 727 with B&M Shift Kit, 2400 Stall Convertor and 3:55 rear gears, HD pinion and custom balanced driveshaft
Exhaust: Accurate Exhaust w/ Hemi Mufflers (sounds AMAZING!)
Interior: XV 3-point seatbelts and Power Windows, Pioneer BT700 stereo with hidden Infinity speakers (subwoofer coming!) and Bluetooth (I can do conference calls in the car!)

Classic Auto Air rebuilt a factory box, with their engine-side Sanden kit and custom bent hard-lines to approximate the factory look.

Of course, I have the Wolo Dixie horn, and the American Racing Vector wheels, 15x7 in front, 15x8.5 in the rear. My nod to the General!

I want to thank everyone on the forum for all the help and advice as I fumbled my way through this. I want to send a special thanks to Rod at GSW Restorations for doing an AMAZING job rebuilding my Grille. Stunning work!

It was a beautiful (and cool) fall weekend so I waxed the car and had my wife take some pictures. I've never posted the finished car here – so I guess this is his "coming out" party. Thanks for listening to my story!

CB · September 28, 2009, 01:54:25 AM

you did a good job!
CB

tan top · September 28, 2009, 02:17:10 AM

wow thats a awesome looking 68

nice job

JT01 · September 28, 2009, 03:00:59 AM

SWEEEEET

1969chargerrtse · September 28, 2009, 05:13:17 AM

That is one sweet ride.

The70RT · September 28, 2009, 05:37:16 AM

Quote from: 1969chargerrtse on September 28, 2009, 05:13:17 AM
That is one sweet ride.

...........awsome

Magnumcharger · September 28, 2009, 07:30:33 AM

Totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Charger-Bodie · September 28, 2009, 07:49:45 AM

Its great to see another one saved.

Looks Really nice!!

Dans 68 · September 28, 2009, 09:14:07 AM

Very nice....

Did the original dual snorkel air cleaner have a magnum pie tin, or did you add it? I'm always looking for good examples of original '68 factory equipment.

Did I say nice car? Nice is an understatement....

Dan

FlatbackFanatic · September 28, 2009, 09:14:35 AM

BEAUTIFUL!!!

Love the black stripe too. Congrats.

Hemidog · September 28, 2009, 09:34:23 AM

That thing is BEAUTIFUL!

Brock Samson · September 28, 2009, 09:43:03 AM

very -very -very nice!
I love that last photo

A really tasty choice of the few mods there... What is the front seat cover pattern from and is the rear done to match?... I bet your glad you didn't go with the '69 tail lights now huh?

Can I get a ride?...

I reread your inital posts and that car looks about twenty times better then when ya' bought it. At least!

congradulations on a job well done! BEAUTIFUL!

I'd love to see a Video...

miamivice · September 28, 2009, 09:51:47 AM

sweet ride...congrats! were you parked up on the hill at spring roundup this year? was my favorite car at the show

Go Hogs Go · September 28, 2009, 10:36:06 AM

Awesome, love the flat black stripes!

Tilar · September 28, 2009, 10:52:48 AM

Gorgeous! Man that is like what I want to do to mine plus a black vinyl top. That paint sure has a nice shine to it.

Corellian Corvette · September 28, 2009, 12:34:28 PM

Wow! Thanks for the kind words eveyone. It's certainly been a labor of love and I really appreciate the comments!

Brock - the seat covers are a generic pattern and yes, the rear bench matches. It's funny where you decide to save money when $$ are tight. I bought a set of generic Seat Covers off ebay and both seats + the bench were less then just the bench seat covers from Legendary/PUI. So I decided to pocket the cash for now. A some point in the future, I'll probably spring for the correct covers.

Dan - I'm pretty sure the air cleaner tin is incorrect. It's too small for the base and I suspect they changed it since it's originally a 2bbl car, and they swapped to a 4bbl manifold/carb and I'm pretty sure the correct 4bbl AC bases are pretty rare. If anyone has one - I'd love to buy it!

miamivice - yes, that was me. The car wasn't done yet, and I had JUST got it running, so I drove it to the roundup but didn't show it. Thanks for the compliment!

ACUDANUT · September 28, 2009, 12:41:57 PM

OMG that is car is Awesome.

Just 6T9 CHGR · September 28, 2009, 03:47:10 PM

Love it!!! It has a great stance.

Can I offer some constructive criticism? Loose the dukes horns in front of the rad!
If you must have 'em hide 'em in the trunk

Brock Samson · September 28, 2009, 03:51:12 PM

I like them!

they go good with the Vectors...

NYCMille · September 28, 2009, 04:03:40 PM

Nuthin' meaner than a black '68...

nelson_audet · September 28, 2009, 04:40:11 PM

verry verry verry nice car!

1970Moparmann · September 28, 2009, 05:08:26 PM

Very cool.... Where did you put your speakers??

Charger440RDN · September 28, 2009, 05:49:53 PM

Wow!! I dream of having a charger this nice one day!! Nice job, best year too 1968!!

Back N Black · September 28, 2009, 06:23:09 PM

Beautiful!

love the rims.

BB1 · September 28, 2009, 06:33:05 PM

Oh power windows, neat.

Corellian Corvette · September 28, 2009, 06:36:21 PM

Thanks again!

The front speakers are installed in place of the original dash speaker, per this string:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,28517.msg562450.html#msg562450

For the rears, I installed Infintiy Kappa speakers in the rear package tray. I re-located the rear window defroster blower motor and cut a hole to circulate the air. That's why if you look at the rear package tray you will see this single speaker grille - it's not a speaker it's actually a blower motor vent..

Since I'm using a modern aftermarket radio, it's got a great amp and the speakers sound GREAT. It only lacks a deep bass which I will rectify soon with a moderate sub.

RD · September 28, 2009, 07:06:38 PM

Albert,

You are one proud daddy!!! Glad you got her done and you can enjoy her now. She is absolutely gorgeous!!!

Jamey

Shakey · September 28, 2009, 07:12:31 PM

The car looks awesome - well done!

SnoPro440 · September 28, 2009, 08:43:25 PM

Sweet ride! Gotta love those black 68's!!

472 R/T SE · September 28, 2009, 08:59:41 PM

I really like that black on black. Looks sharp.

Were you at one of the DC.com meets?

teamroth · September 28, 2009, 09:15:26 PM

Me likey! Nice work man!

BBKNARF · September 28, 2009, 11:19:01 PM

AWSOME ! go show it off

PocketThunder · September 29, 2009, 07:29:33 AM

Nice job! I remember when you bought that car...

TexasStroker · September 29, 2009, 11:09:58 AM

Looks great...can't go wrong with black on black

jb666 · September 29, 2009, 11:43:23 AM

That is gorgeous!! GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A few of those are desktop material!!!

hemi68charger · September 29, 2009, 01:22:29 PM

That is a great looking '68 !!!

WHITE AND RED 69 · September 29, 2009, 02:58:13 PM

Damn that is a beauty!

love the look with the vecters. great job!

CurtisC · September 29, 2009, 03:06:00 PM

Stunning job! Hope you have a great time with it.

Purple68 · September 29, 2009, 06:58:32 PM

Very hot car, makes me wanna paint mine black!

News:

Finally done! Showing off my '68. (Warning - Lots of pics!)