Bull's 68 Charger restoration thread

[chargerboy69]

Looks great Curtis,

When you are finished with yours, I have one I would like to send you to start on. 

[bull]

Thanks guys.

By the way, does anyone reading this have band clamps on their front muffler flanges and/or tips? I'm thinking of spending a few extra bucks at Summit on four of them just to see how it cleans things up.

I always use band clamps at the joint where the muffs meet the head pipes. That way you can get it apart again if needed.

Do you use the straight, butt-joint style (which I assume form to the step in the joint) or do you use the lap joint style that already have the step built into them?

[bull]

Looks great Curtis,

When you are finished with yours, I have one I would like to send you to start on. 

Ok, but there are some caveats. The budget is "bucket loads of cash sent here on a steady basis" and about 8-10 years on the labor shedule.

[Charger-Bodie]

Thanks guys.

By the way, does anyone reading this have band clamps on their front muffler flanges and/or tips? I'm thinking of spending a few extra bucks at Summit on four of them just to see how it cleans things up.

I always use band clamps at the joint where the muffs meet the head pipes. That way you can get it apart again if needed.

Do you use the straight, butt-joint style (which I assume form to the step in the joint) or do you use the lap joint style that already have the step built into them?

Ive used both and either is just fine.

[bull]

Thanks guys.

By the way, does anyone reading this have band clamps on their front muffler flanges and/or tips? I'm thinking of spending a few extra bucks at Summit on four of them just to see how it cleans things up.

I always use band clamps at the joint where the muffs meet the head pipes. That way you can get it apart again if needed.

Do you use the straight, butt-joint style (which I assume form to the step in the joint) or do you use the lap joint style that already have the step built into them?

Ive used both and either is just fine.

Thanks. I'm looking at the polished stainless Summit clamps for $7.95 each.

[Musicman]

Looking really sharp there Curtis 

[SkiJogg]

looking good  I would like to be thet far posting ne pics today

[472 R/T SE]

I like the fact you can hide the cinch down up top.

[A383Wing]

I like the fact you can hide the cinch down up top.

OK...explain how these work please....won't there be leaks at the slip joints?

Bryan

[resq302]

Nope, no leaks at all if you do it right.  Basically, it is like a sleeve that goes on it and when you tighten up on the bolts, it squashes the sleeve tighter around the pipe.  Nice and easy to remove also and no worries about having to remove or cut the old pipe off due the old saddle clamps "crushing" the pipe onto itself.

[A383Wing]

I don't see the "bolts" in the above picture

Bryan

[472 R/T SE]

I don't see the "bolts" in the above picture

Bryan

Good, that means I done it right.

How 'bout now?  The bolts are excessively long.

[bull]

I like the fact you can hide the cinch down up top.

Yes. That's what I'm talking about.

[bull]

I like the fact you can hide the cinch down up top.

OK...explain how these work please....won't there be leaks at the slip joints?

Bryan

We use band clamps on the buses at work and they work great. Well, when used correctly.

[Steve P.]

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!  I have no idea how I lost track of this thread, but HOLY CRAP!!!!!  BUll, you have done fantastic work and she is looking incredible!!!! I knew you were a picky SOB, but WOW!!!!  SOOOOOOO worth it!!! She's beautiful man... Can't say enough....

I believe way back when, it was the washer used as a spacer to shim the alternator, by the way.. I figured then I would NOT make the final cut but was just busting your chops anyway!!

Really fantastic buddy.. you are kicking ass..... 

[bull]

HOLY CRAP!!!!!!  I have no idea how I lost track of this thread, but HOLY CRAP!!!!!  BUll, you have done fantastic work and she is looking incredible!!!! I knew you were a picky SOB, but WOW!!!!  SOOOOOOO worth it!!! She's beautiful man... Can't say enough....

I believe way back when, it was the washer used as a spacer to shim the alternator, by the way.. I figured then I would NOT make the final cut but was just busting your chops anyway!!

Really fantastic buddy.. you are kicking ass..... 

Thanks, man. Hey, don't worry about the washers. They might still come off before the project is finished.

[Steve P.]

I know they will!!!!   

[68Charger4me]

Nice job!!  Hey, can you post a pic of that console plate you bought?

[skip68]

This is definitely one of the best resto threads here.      
Are you doing this car all by yourself Curtis? I know you've had some done at shops but what I mean is do you have a buddy that knows cars helping you?    If this is all you, are you within your projected budget?  Very nice x10.    

[6pkrtse]

This is definitely one of the best resto threads here.      
Are you doing this car all by yourself Curtis? I know you've had some done at shops but what I mean is do you have a buddy that knows cars helping you?    If this is all you, are you within your projected budget?  Very nice x10.    

I agree. Nice job on the Progress pictures. Looks awesome. I would love to a an all black 68 (Bullit) Charger someday.

[bull]

Nice job!!  Hey, can you post a pic of that console plate you bought?

Yes. I meant to do that but forgot. Honestly, it's hard to see in the pics but the thing is not perfect. The spot most flawed is in the groove valleys where you can see small imperfections. I don't know if that is because the chrome didn't adhere evenly or what but I decided just to live with it. For the price it's a far cry better than my original and all other originals I've seen in cars that have won trophies. I have not seen a PG Classic piece in person so I have no idea how it compares to one of these but again, at this point they're $315 cheaper. I imagine the quality will get better (the kit comes with the small rear corner top piece and the back plate too but I didn't want to haul them down out of the attic for the pic).

Are you doing this car all by yourself Curtis? I know you've had some done at shops but what I mean is do you have a buddy that knows cars helping you?    If this is all you, are you within your projected budget?  Very nice x10.    

Yes, I'm on my own except for having various shops do different things before I take it home and assemble it. My wife had to help me 5 or 6 times when I didn't have enough hands or the neighbors when I couldn't push it back into the garage by myself. I have an issue with asking for help. My brother is a miserable tightwad and a mooch (as was my dad) so I go out of my way to not ask for anything I'm not willing to pay for. Not sure how I'm going to be able to crank the engine over and run the oil pump up by myself yet but I'm sure there's a way.

Budget? I don't know. I'm sure whatever expectations I had were blown out of the water early and often so I haven't really worried about it. My ongoing goal is to just get the best service/quality and the best price on each individual portion of the project. Although I will spend more if it means using a local company or a part that's made in the US. And I'm trying to not put any metric nuts/bolts on it if I can help it. At least it's all paid for. I'm not in debt over it.

[Charger-Bodie]

I may have missed it,but the perimeter should be argent silver not black on a 68.

[Tilar]

I like the fact you can hide the cinch down up top.

OK...explain how these work please....won't there be leaks at the slip joints?

Bryan

We use band clamps on the buses at work and they work great. Well, when used correctly.

We use these clamps on our buses at work also. They never leak. We've also used the straight ones to stop up a hole in the pipe to get the bus through inspection.

[bull]

I like the fact you can hide the cinch down up top.

OK...explain how these work please....won't there be leaks at the slip joints?

Bryan

We use band clamps on the buses at work and they work great. Well, when used correctly.

We use these clamps on our buses at work also. They never leak. We've also used the straight ones to stop up a hole in the pipe to get the bus through inspection.

Well, not sure how I screwed this up but the 2 1/4" straight clamps I got from Summit didn't work the way I thought they would/should. I called them about it after trying to install them and they tried telling me that the straight clamps (no step) are for butting two equally sized pipes end to end. I told them I've never heard of anyone doing that, and that's not how I use them at work, but he insisted I need to use the stepped clamps when joining two pipes where one slides inside the other. After trying it I now believe the Summit brand straight clamps are not designed to squeeze down and make their own step although I was able to get the drivers side clamp to do that. The passenger side? Well, I broke all the spot welds and tore the holes out trying to get it to do that. And I didn't use an impact gun either. Actually, I tore the holes out on the driver side clamp too but it didn't break. Long story short, if you're going to use the Summit clamps I'd get the stepped version because the big end is a little over 2 1/4". The bad news? They've been back ordered so I had to get the Dynomax brand.

I may have missed it,but the perimeter should be argent silver not black on a 68.

I believe you're right and I assumed that before I bought it, but then I've seen them both ways. After I bought it I went around looking at cars that I thought were original and saw several black ones in 68s. I'll just ignore it until it wears out. Then I'll pull it out and repaint it argent.

[68Charger4me]

Thanks for posting the pics   Do you know if the deal was for automatics as well?