ZSmithersCharges Torture... I mean resto! (Video added page 5 5/12/2010)

[ZSmithersCharges]

The body looks so good and straight it almost looks like you could scuff and paint it   Forget the long restoration thing  

Thats not a bad Idea, I suppose I could fill the hole in the trunk with packing peanuts and stiffin it up with some fiberglass resin while I'm at it?   Just kidding, thank you though the outside looks pretty straight the trunk is really my main concern along with misc other things I will definitely be going over as well, but HEY we all have our problems  

[Armudster]

WOW, what a deal you had right there, congrats man, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ZSmithersCharges]

WOW, what a deal you had right there, congrats man, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you bro, so July is it? 

[ACUDANUT]

 How long do you think since that 383 ran ? I was just curious what you did to "prep the engine"
Thanks

[Tilar]

That's gotta make you feel good. 

[Armudster]

WOW, what a deal you had right there, congrats man, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you bro, so July is it?  

Yep, that´s the plan, altough I´m planing an early visit to sort some things out, I need to see housing prices, do a college tour, start some paperwork and stuff like that, and maybe even go Charger Huntin!!!! I´ll let you know as soon as I get the updates.  
PS: Did you check the message I sent you about rebuilding parts?

[Charger440RDN]

The body looks so good and straight it almost looks like you could scuff and paint it   Forget the long restoration thing  

Thats not a bad Idea, I suppose I could fill the hole in the trunk with packing peanuts and stiffin it up with some fiberglass resin while I'm at it?   Just kidding, thank you though the outside looks pretty straight the trunk is really my main concern along with misc other things I will definitely be going over as well, but HEY we all have our problems  

Hey, a rusted trunk and floors never stopped HLPAG back in their heyday! Just slap some fiberglass in the trunk, a coat of orange paint, 69 grill, general decals, and sell it for $20,000  

[ZSmithersCharges]

How long do you think since that 383 ran ? I was just curious what you did to "prep the engine"
Thanks

I can't be too sure the guy I bought it from said he had briefly fired it up but so does every seller.

The first thing I did was get the starter working.  I took it to pep boys and had them run a free test first to make sure I was trying to make a junk starter not junk.  After that I started thinking about spark.  The first distributor I had was junk so I went to NAPA and the Mopar guy there(go figure they're everywhere  ) ordered me in a distributor.  Remember this though if you have to order one, new distributors DO NOT come with a cap and rotor so you have to order those as well(atleast the ones from the auto stores).  Fortunately, I had both of those pieces from my broken distributor otherwhise I would have been pretty bumbed.  I went through the regular distributor install procedures at this point and matched the timing mark up with 8-9 degrees. After this I looked at my carb for a good 10 seconds to see if it was even worth trying, it wasnt.  The valves were seized shut and no matter how much lube and pounding I did the most I could get it to do was bend a valve  .  After this I went on craigslist found a new(er) carb from a guy who said it had been sitting in his garage for 2 yrs so he sold it to me cheap.  I got a new carb gasket, went home, put it on.  After this I rerouted the fuel line as my gas tank is no more.  You should do this anyways because if it has been sitting it will suck gunk into the pump if it still works and leave you with something else to buy.  You can use a gas can for this just make sure it is nowhere a spark could get to it.
After all of this I cranked her over for atleast a minute to prime the carb and wet the cylinders a bit and then she fired right up when I was just about to cut it off and scared the crap out of me  Make sure to hold the choke down on the carb when cranking or else you can crank it for as long as you like it won't get enough gas to start.

I hope this helps you! Also, the only problem I ran into was that the starter wouldn't stop cranking.  This was on me as I haden't tightened the bolts on the starter tight enough so the wires ran into eachother leaving me with a completely open circuit whenever the battery wires were put on the terminals

[ZSmithersCharges]

That's gotta make you feel good. 

You betcha but I wasn't going to stop untill it worked anyways, she had no choice but to give in to my swooning 

[ZSmithersCharges]

The body looks so good and straight it almost looks like you could scuff and paint it   Forget the long restoration thing  

Thats not a bad Idea, I suppose I could fill the hole in the trunk with packing peanuts and stiffin it up with some fiberglass resin while I'm at it?   Just kidding, thank you though the outside looks pretty straight the trunk is really my main concern along with misc other things I will definitely be going over as well, but HEY we all have our problems  

Hey, a rusted trunk and floors never stopped HLPAG back in their heyday! Just slap some fiberglass in the trunk, a coat of orange paint, 69 grill, general decals, and sell it for $20,000  

Also a great idea! I'm beginning to think we should go into business together, we will have DC.com members lining up around the block to get a piece of what we have to offer!  And I literally mean "piece" you see we will sell the cars for $20,000 but when customers buy them they will be so rusted they will be lucky to have a piece of the car to clame ownership to, the rest will disintigrate in the parking lot  

P.S. Dont forget the edy stickers!

[ZSmithersCharges]

WOW, what a deal you had right there, congrats man, congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you bro, so July is it?  

Yep, that´s the plan, altough I´m planing an early visit to sort some things out, I need to see housing prices, do a college tour, start some paperwork and stuff like that, and maybe even go Charger Huntin!!!! I´ll let you know as soon as I get the updates.  
PS: Did you check the message I sent you about rebuilding parts?

Yep check your inbox 

[The70RT]

Have you looked under the car yet. The trunk floor scares me....did you check at the frame rails?

[teamroth]

Congrats Zsmithers! She is a promising beauty. 

[ZSmithersCharges]

Have you looked under the car yet. The trunk floor scares me....did you check at the frame rails?

You think I flew all the way out to Oregon to chat?   Just kidding yea I have looked they still for the most part have the factory undercoating on and are very solid. None of them have rust or I wouldn't have bought it.  I have had the car jacked up oh, probably 10 times already today making various adjustments to get it driving so I have seen them quite a few times.  Wherever it was it wasn't in a place where it got too much water because the original wheel well extensions only have surface rust but for some reason the trunk got it the worst.  I have personally crawled underneath all of the floors of the car as well because you can only see so much from the interior.  The holes in the front of the floorboards are no worse than expected and I have got to say, thus far, I think I have gotten a good deal.  Again, I can't tell you enough how of a stand up guy Mike the seller was he didn't spare me any details and wouldn't sell it to me unless I flew out and looked at it.  With other purchases when someone is trying to hide something they rush the crap out of you, he went inside and left me alone outside for like 30 minutes so I wouldn't feel ackward looking in every place I could imagine, and I did    Like I said I will take more pictures when I get in an area with more space and I will put it on jack stands and take pictures of every nook and cranny, not for you guys but for me, because I wan't to have the pictures to be able to know what I started with.  I will share them with you guys however, for 2.50 a copy... I kid I kid 5 dollars and thats final!

[ZSmithersCharges]

Congrats Zsmithers! She is a promising beauty. 

Thank you!  She whispers sweet nothings in my ear when I am working on her, it keeps me motivated 

[Charger440RDN]

Have you looked under the car yet. The trunk floor scares me....did you check at the frame rails?

  Wherever it was it wasn't in a place where it got too much water because the original wheel well extensions only have surface rust but for some reason the trunk got it the worst. inal!

I can almost guarantee your problem is with rust around the back window, water leaks down from that window into the trunk pan. The window frame is a much easier fix than if the frame rails were rotten. I think you got a GREAT  deal. 

[rt green]

i was pretty excited when i got mine too. had one in high school and didnt know what i had. later in years, that bit me pretty hard. had to have one. got a hell of a deal and here i sit. happy. congrats.  now the the work starts.....

[ZSmithersCharges]

Have you looked under the car yet. The trunk floor scares me....did you check at the frame rails?

  Wherever it was it wasn't in a place where it got too much water because the original wheel well extensions only have surface rust but for some reason the trunk got it the worst. inal!

I can almost guarantee your problem is with rust around the back window, water leaks down from that window into the trunk pan. The window frame is a much easier fix than if the frame rails were rotten. I think you got a GREAT  deal. 

Thats exactly what it is you can't see it well from the pics I have put up so far but there is rust around the back window that I'm assuming is letting the water in.  Have a car cover for now but you hit the nail on the head

[ZSmithersCharges]

i was pretty excited when i got mine too. had one in high school and didnt know what i had. later in years, that bit me pretty hard. had to have one. got a hell of a deal and here i sit. happy. congrats.  now the the work starts.....

That always happens, thats why I kept my car from high school Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo.  She's my other baby, I think the two cars get jealous of each other because the Z's been acting up lately now that the Chargers around

[Johnny SixPack]

Man, makes me want to post a video.

Congrats on the start up. 

[ZSmithersCharges]

Man, makes me want to post a video.

Congrats on the start up. 

Do it! Just disable ratings and screen comments so no tards comment asking when the V-tec kicks in 

[The70RT]

Have you looked under the car yet. The trunk floor scares me....did you check at the frame rails?

  Wherever it was it wasn't in a place where it got too much water because the original wheel well extensions only have surface rust but for some reason the trunk got it the worst. inal!

I can almost guarantee your problem is with rust around the back window, water leaks down from that window into the trunk pan. The window frame is a much easier fix than if the frame rails were rotten. I think you got a GREAT  deal. 

Sorry, I didn't read all of your other thread. I was just noticing in the trunk pic that it looked like the frame rail lip you weld the trunk floor is gone? Not bashing on your car just stating what it looks like. I guess you will know when the trunk comes out.

[ZSmithersCharges]

Sorry, I didn't read all of your other thread. I was just noticing in the trunk pic that it looked like the frame rail lip you weld the trunk floor is gone? Not bashing on your car just stating what it looks like. I guess you will know when the trunk comes out.

Are you talking about the cross member?  Theres a little bit left of it underneath the latch but it needs to be replaced yes.  It makes sense the water went into the trunk and pooled over the gas tank because that is the only area in the trunk that is slightly lower than the rest. Luckily that area is in between the frame rails so they sit on slighly higher ground so they dont appear to be affected and if they are it is not badly I just went out and pounded them with a screw driver and a hammer to see if there is any play in the metal, there is not.  Who knows though, if I open it up and sand blast it and I don't like what I see I will have a new section made, everything is possible nowadays.  I dont take your comments as bashing were all family here, I would expect you to point it out if I came home with a girl that looked like sasquatch just as well

[The70RT]

What I am talking about is the frame rails it's self . Look in your pic where the center trunk brace connects to the rail. The frame rails have a lip (see my pic below yours) you have a lip there where the brace is but as you go back towards the rear it appears to be rusted and gone. The rails have approx. a 5/8" lip which is essential to attach the floors to, Your pic does show the rail in that area right?

[ZSmithersCharges]

I'll go look again to see what your talking about the picture its hard to tell its not the full trunk shot because there is stuff in it 1 sec.