Bull's 68 Charger restoration thread

[bull]

During the past couple of days I got the choke wired up, adjusted the torsion bars and torqued the LCA pin nuts, adjusted the alignment and tightened the tie rods, changed the oil and filter, aired up the tires and ordered some more parts.

After all that was done I thought 'what the heck,' I'm going to see if this thing will move under its own power. Started it, threw a furniture dolly on the floor to sit on and backed it out of the garage. I put it in first and went but it stumbled a little so I gunned it and smoked both tires for about 20 feet, and that's when I decided I should probably call it good and backed back to the house and pulled into the garage. I poked my head in the house and told my wife I had just driven the Charger and she demanded to witness this miracle so I basically had to repeat the process. Man, what a rush. I was shaking when I finally shut it off. But now I've got two pairs of pretty black marks on my street to look at for a while.

[bakerhillpins]

    


I can only imagine how excited you must be to get a taste of the soon to be.    I can't wait to hear of your maiden voyage.   

[Charger-Bodie]

The adrenaline shakes! Gotta love that feeling.

[lexxman]

  That great,I bet you didn't have a problemdoing it again to show the wife. And I'm guessing you had a big grin on your face the hole time. I can't wait till I can to that.

[Wookie316]

Great work. Thanks for sharing.

[472 R/T SE]

Keep the first part of June open so you can parade with us up to north of Seattle for the Mopars Unlimited show.  It's sort of a trek so going up the day before makes a big difference.  It's turned into quite a show, I'm sure the Bellevue #'s don't compare.

I only went to 2 shows this last summer but will for sure dig it out if you plan on going up.  You gotta show it off to the Seattle crowd & take some of their hardware home.  

That's the best part.    

[bull]

That great,I bet you didn't have a problemdoing it again to show the wife. And I'm guessing you had a big grin on your face the hole time. I can't wait till I can to that.

Yes, after the initial terror wore off I did have a grin on my face.

Keep the first part of June open so you can parade with us up to north of Seattle for the Mopars Unlimited show.  It's sort of a trek so going up the day before makes a big difference.  It's turned into quite a show, I'm sure the Bellevue #'s don't compare.

I only went to 2 shows this last summer but will for sure dig it out if you plan on going up.  You gotta show it off to the Seattle crowd & take some of their hardware home. 

That's the best part.      

I hope to have it road ready by then. We'll see.

[G-man]

Wasn't this thread up for years?

[Steve P.]

Yup, and for most of us it takes years to do a complete restoration.. Bull is doing one hell of a job too!!! 

[bull]

Wasn't this thread up for years?

The thread has been up for almost three. The restoration has been going for almost eight.

[Steve P.]

And this 44 year old car will easily last another 44 years due to this.. Actually, it will be better protected now as today we have better primers and paints... Not to mention it will probably never see a snowy/salted road ever after this treatment.. 

[Ghoste]

I'd rather follow a three year old thread on a Charger restoration than watch reruns of "Friends". 

[Charger-Bodie]

I'd rather follow a three year old thread on a Charger restoration than watch reruns of "Friends". 

[bull]

I gotta hand it to those of you who keep up with the encouragement after all this time. Your patience strengthens my perseverance. 

[Steve P.]

I love this thread...

[NHCharger]

I'd rather follow a three year old thread on a Charger restoration than watch reruns of "Friends". 

Or a three year old thread on the Chevy Volt.

Oh, wait a minute, I no longer have to. Thank You Steve P.

[Ghoste]

Here, here and Amen to that. 


Okay Bull, what did you do to the car today?

[bill440rt]

Nice!!
Very, VERY great feeling for sure. I for one can relate to that.
Keep up the progress & I enjoy seeing the pics as well. 

[bull]

Here, here and Amen to that. 


Okay Bull, what did you do to the car today?

Nothing today yet but yesterday I got the coolant leaks stopped finally. The rear heater hose pipe at the water pump kept leaking and I finally got it resealed and tight with a pair of small Channel Lock pliers. Brought a pipe wrench from work but it was too long. The system held 13 psi for about 15 minutes (using an Autozone loaned pressure tester) so it's sealed now, finally. The thermostat housing was also leaking and I had to replace the gasket.

Not sure what to do next but I'm considering one of three things: put the fenders on, assemble the console or start trying to figure out some electrical problems. For some reason I have no working dome or console courtesy lights. And before I install the fenders I need to scuff the Chassis Saver so undercoating will stick to it better. I'll probably put the console off for a while longer so I can easliy crawl around inside chasing wiring issues. And pretty soon I need to start on the grill restoration.

Nice!!
Very, VERY great feeling for sure. I for one can relate to that.
Keep up the progress & I enjoy seeing the pics as well.  

[TUFCAT]

Good work fixing those nasty coolant leaks.  Now I want to hear more exhaust note videos!

[bull]

Good work fixing those nasty coolant leaks.  Now I want to hear more exhaust note videos!

Now I wish I would have had my daughter shoot video of the brief test drive. I'm sure the exhaust note would have been nicely augmented by the tire squeal.

[bill440rt]

Did you check the grounds at the door jamb switches? Make sure the threads are clean for a good ground. Might be the source of the dome/console lamp woes. 

[bull]

I'll check them.

But there's one problem there that I'm not sure how I'm going to fix. The driver's side door switch threads are stripped. No, I didn't do it but I sure have to figure out how to fix it. Guess I could do a helicoil but the last time I put the switch in I got it snug and then quit messing with it. I hate to take it back out but I'm going to have to deal with it eventually.

[A383Wing]

I have had that issue before, matter of fact, I did it on the Daytona....I just found a nut that screws onto the threads. Put in switch, put nut on and tighten, install wire(s)

Bryan

[bull]

That'll do.