My Dad's Chargers

[Dadscharger]

I'm a member of the 66-67 Charger site and just found this site recently. I figured I would show everyone here my Dad's 66 Chargers and the really cool story that goes with 1 of them.

This story starts along time ago my Dad's first car was a 67 he sold it when my parent's got married back in 1973 because they needed a family car and Dad's hot rod wasn't going to cut it because I was about to be born. He got a another 66 when I was about 6 years old and my sister was 4yrs old I remember him driving us around our neighborhood it wasn't registered so he couldn't drive it very far but never had the money back then to do anything with it so he sold it. As a little kid I remember him telling me story's about when he would street race the 67 in South Jersey where I grew up. Wouldn't you know I would be into cars and street racing too. Dad went along time without a car of his own but he did help me work on my cars (help means standing around telling me what to do) Well in 2003 my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer so in May of 2005 my Aunts and Uncles came out to Arizona to visit us. While they were here my Uncle Lenny was telling my Dad about the 66 Charger he has in his storage area that quit running 10 years prior. It was pretty rusted out but complete and my Uncle would sell it to him after that moment my Dad would make little joke about how cool it would be to have another Charger but declined to buy the car because of Mom's cancer and medical bills he didn't have the money to restore the car. My Mom on the other hand had other ideas and and started talking to my Uncle about getting the car for Dad. My Mom told me and my sister her plan to surprise my Dad by getting the car for his birthday. Well on Oct 6th 2005 my Mom passed away from cancer that night I told my Dad about her plans to get the car for him. At my Mom's funeral my Uncle handed my Dad the title to the car and said they will help get the car to him. My Mom never had a chance to get the car for him before she passed so me and my sister decide to finish what she started by trying to get the car here for his birthday. So around Christmas 2005 we started calling transport company's to get the car shipped to us and we would surprise him with it just like my Mom wanted to do. Long story short none of the company would guarantee the car could be delivered on time so kidding around my sister said my brother in law and I should go get it. So that night Jan 2nd 2006 at 11 pm we hooked my trailer up to my truck and head for New Jersey 36 hours later we were at my Uncle's house to get the car. We loaded the car on the trailer gave my Uncle $1 which is what my Mom was going to pay for the car and headed back 35 hours later the car was in my backyard.

Here is a Picture of me and the car in NJ.


Well we surprised my Dad just EXACTLY like my Mom had planned it.

Well several months later I was looking for Charger body panel because of the amount of rust in the car and wouldn't you know I found a completely rust free 66 Charger down in Tuscon for $4000 so I told my Dad about it and we when and bought it. I figured we would cut up the rust free car and use the steel metal to fix the first car but after we got it home Dad decided lets built 2 car. The AZ car was a A/C car and the NJ wasn't an A/C and in Arizona we need air conditioning.

Here is the AZ car in Dad's garage


So the plan was to built 2 identical car 1 with a/c 1 without. About 8 months ago the plan changed a little after I saw this picture of a model car built by a member of this site and the 66-67 site that passed away.




So now the non a/c car with be pro street. The AZ car is the first one being built because it will cost the least to get it redone.    



 

[jaak]

Welcome to the site! Sorry to hear about your Mother's passing. That is a great story about your Father getting a Charger after all those years. Look foward to seeing the progress....keep us posted.

Jason

[Dadscharger]

My Dad isn't a computer person so I do all his computer work looking for parts, ordering part.

Here is the build up of the first car that started 2 years ago.

It started out Barney Purple with Gold interior which will be changed to Red with Black interior.




The engine is a big block 400 when we got the car it didn't run and the engine was lime green.




The first thing I did was repaint the engine.



Then we started adding parts.




I got it running this is what the engine looks like.




I've gutted the interior




We're changing the interior color from gold to black




I had to thank my wife for letting car parts over take our living room


I repainted the doors and jams the color is called spanish red

[4cruzin]

Looks like its coming along nicely!  Welcome to the site!   

[Dadscharger]

I sent the dash bezel and glove box door to C.V. Plating. I'm very very happy with the results they did an great job bring them back to life.

This is a before picture



and the after



Because this car isn't being restored back to original I decided to do Autometer Sport Comp gauge plus the fact that the original gauges even after being completely restored are not very accurate I have been told and would cost a thousand dollars to refurbish. After talking with another guy with a 1st gen Charger about the way he did his gauges I decided I would do the same thing just a little differently.

This is what the original gauges are suppose to look like



This is the dash I got my ideas from




but I wanted to do mine so it would still have some of the same characteristics as the original like the silver ring around the gauges and the black faces with white numbers and orange pointers plus the gauges are in the same position as the original one were.









The interior is pretty much done I'm really happy with the way it turned out especially when I did most of the work myself. All that is left to do is a new steering wheel, the stereo system and clean it all up.

This is what I started with





Here's some after pictures













Here is a picture of a front door panel before I put it on the car.




I rolled it outside and took a couple more pictures.

[Dadscharger]

The trunk is painted








We got the trunk area completed I think it came out really well.






I have managed to get rid of the drum brakes on the front of the car and paint the inner wheelwells. The paint has a little more shine to it then I had originally wanted but overtime and the more I drive it the shine will dull down some. I got in a hurry and forgot to get some before pictures.







I got the rear axle repainted gloss black. It has 3.23 gear and a Sure Grip in it.



I was going to put disc brakes on the rear also but changed my mind and decided to stick with drums on the rear.

[Dadscharger]

The rear suspension and brakes are done. We were going to put rear disc brakes on it but money is way too tight for that plus with the disc on the front drums will stop just fine. With the wheels I chose and the fact that were trying to keep the classic looks and style of a 60's muscle car rear disc brakes wouldn't really fit the theme we were going with.

Before shots





Now after with everything replaced and painted. The exhaust is getting replaced so I wasn't too worried about masking it off.







 



The engine and tranny were pulled out

The Engine is completely repainted and new brass freeze plugs are installed.




The exhaust manifolds have been cleared up and painted with hi temp exhaust paint.



The transmission crossmember get cleaned up and paint along with driveshaft which got all new U-joints.




I painted the tranny kickdown bracket, the horns and the steering box painted





I got some color on the lower radiator splash shield



I know it doesn't show very well but this color looks great in the sun.

[Dadscharger]

We started doing the grill on my Charger I got in a hurry and didn't take any before pictures nor did I get any picture of the center part of the grill. These are the turn signal covers

I cleaning all the pieces up then taped all the chrome off





and painted everything semi gloss black.





Here is the finished product





I started working on the engine compartment.

Here is what it looked like after I pulled the engine.







First I welded up all the unnecessary screw and bolt hole and patched the driver side inner fender where 40+ years of battery acid rotted a hole in it. Sorry no pictures of that part. Then I degrease and washed all the dirt off it. I removed everything I could and masked off everything I couldn't take off then sanded everything and sprayed 2 coats of primer.







After the primer was dry I sprayed 3 coats of color on it.









I unmasked everything but the wiring it's still in the trash bag hanging from my garage door.

[Dadscharger]

Well now you all are up to speed. My Dad got to drive the car around the neighborhood right after we got the car running about 1 1/2 years ago. I hadn't seen a smile that big out of him in forever. He even did a small burnout in front of the house before we put the car back in the garage to continue working on it.

[skip68]

     I love that red.   Welcome to the site.       Keep the pictures coming and great job.

[The70RT]

 ...keep up the momentum.

[tan top]

 good story       , sorry to hear about your mum   ,   some intresting stuff going on there  , keep the pictures & updates coming 

[john.v]

Nice car, keep the pictures coming......

[Ghoste]

Another fastback getting the attention it deserves!

[bull]

Excellent work. Nice to see someone who's not afraid to do the paint himself (like I am).

[Brock Samson]

  Great Thread!!  W@elcome! Love that color and your doing it your self too! 
what was all that condensor stuff on the green Motor about?.. 

[moparstuart]

  welcome and keep the pictures coming   

[jb666]

Nice!! I'm lovin' the job your doing!! 

[dodgecharger-fan]

Great work! 

Awesome colour, too. That would rip some eyes out on a bright sunny day.
(Where's the bulging eyes/WoW! smiley? )

[Dadscharger]

Thanks Guy it has been a fun learning experience having to do it all on our own. I owe a lot of thanks to all the people on the 66-67 site for the info that has been provided to me. I have never been much of a Charger person I really like the 69 Roadrunners, Coronets and Super Bees but I got to tell ya the Chargers have really grown on me. 

I recovered all the seats myself. I had never done any upholstery work before so for my first try I'm super happy with the way they turned out. 

This is back seats I started with





Now with the new black covers and foam padding on







Here's the front seats

Before



After

[RD]

wow... stunning.. totally anticipating the final product... great job and congratulations on a beauty.

[Silver R/T]

welcome to the site and very well done resto on Charger

[BBKNARF]

WOW... great transformation  its keeping you busy keep up the good work.

[Dadscharger]

Well I got the K-member painted and the front frame rails. At first yesterday  I painted the frame rails black to match the K-member and the under side of the car. But I didn't like the way it looks so this morning I lightly sanded the frame rails masked off the K-member and front suspension and painted the rails to match the inner fenders I like it alot better it looks 100 times better this way.









Next up is to rebuilt the steering coupler and start putting everything back in the engine compartment. Then put some gas in it and let Dad take it for a ride around the block again.

[tan top]

 good decision painting the frame rails body color !!  nice job