Bull's 68 Charger restoration thread

[bull]

looks good

not trying to hijack  , just this second noticed this !  wonder why the rear shock cross member is different of a 68  to the 69 /70 cars  

I didn't know they were different. Mine is a Goodmark replacement that matched the original one that came out, and I believe they listed this part as being for 68-70. Now that you mention it I did notice that 70 R/T crossmember pictured on the previous page is slightly different along the back side. Mine runs straight across and that one dips down some.

[tan top]

looks good

not trying to hijack  , just this second noticed this !  wonder why the rear shock cross member is different of a 68  to the 69 /70 cars  

I didn't know they were different. Mine is a Goodmark replacement that matched the original one that came out, and I believe they listed this part at being for 68-70. Now that you mention it I did notice that 70 R/T crossmember pictured on the previous page is slightly different along the back side. Mine runs straight across and that one dips down some.

been trying to look for  other 68s  now ! seen  another 68 with the same as yours , need to see more really , might be a vendor suppling a specific assembly plant  if there are two different styles on a 68 , or was changed for the 69 & 70 model years    your 68 is deffo more of a shorter higher curve   ,

[bull]

You're right. I was referring to the back half of the crossmember but I see what you mean on the front. It turns up right past the bolt on the blue one and mine comes out toward the middle more before making a sharper turn up. Interesting.

[Troy]

I forgot to post these when I took hem. Better late than never I guess! These are my 68s... sorry for the bad angle on the one.

Troy

[bull]

Thanks.

While I'm at it I'll leave some more progress info. The Charger is now able to hold her own rear end up off the ground now. Everything under the back is bolted down, clamped, torqued and marked off. Except for two things: the axle stamp and ratio tag. I got both in the mail the other day so it's just a matter of getting out there to do it.

A few days ago I crawled into the trunk with a bottle of SEM Rust Seal and went to work on all the surface rust I could find. After that I coated pretty much the entire ceiling with the stuff so that's looking pretty good now.

Also, James Smith from Smith Brothers Restorations stopped by and grabbed my steering column. http://smithbrosrestorations.com/ Don't feel like doing it so he's doing it for me. I will likely have them do the interior wiring and the seats, headliner and carpet. But they're definitely doing the steering column at least. Really would like to get this thing operating under its own power next summer if possible.

[The70RT]

I am going to wait and tourqe my leaf spring bushings when my car is complete with all the weight on it. I put a rear sway bar on and it wouldn't bolt in right because the car sat too high. I'm gonna wait to tourqe the front a arms as well. I think that's the right thing to do.

[bull]

I am going to wait and tourqe my leaf spring bushings when my car is complete with all the weight on it. I put a rear sway bar on and it wouldn't bolt in right because the car sat too high. I'm gonna wait to tourqe the front a arms as well. I think that's the right thing to do.

Never thought about the rear. I can't imagine why it would matter much back there but then I haven't done a rear sway bar. I think you're right about the front.

[The70RT]

I was thinking I was a couple inches high, I figured no fuel bumper glass interior etc. I think you want them in a relaxed state when all the weight is on them before the final tightning.

[XS29L9B2]

bull very nice work 

[1970Moparmann]

bull very nice work 

Looking good!

[lexxman]

The car is looking great.

[skip68]

It's really coming along nice.   

[miamivice]

James did all of my interior and it came out great!

Thanks.

While I'm at it I'll leave some more progress info. The Charger is now able to hold her own rear end up off the ground now. Everything under the back is bolted down, clamped, torqued and marked off. Except for two things: the axle stamp and ratio tag. I got both in the mail the other day so it's just a matter of getting out there to do it.

A few days ago I crawled into the trunk with a bottle of SEM Rust Seal and went to work on all the surface rust I could find. After that I coated pretty much the entire ceiling with the stuff so that's looking pretty good now.

Also, James Smith from Smith Brothers Restorations stopped by and grabbed my steering column. http://smithbrosrestorations.com/ Don't feel like doing it so he's doing it for me. I will likely have them do the interior wiring and the seats, headliner and carpet. But they're definitely doing the steering column at least. Really would like to get this thing operating under its own power next summer if possible.

[bill440rt]

Looking really, REALLY good!! 

[TUFCAT]

Thanks.

.....would like to get this thing operating under its own power next summer if possible....

Don't you mean this summer? I don't think I can wait another year!

[bull]

Thanks.

.....would like to get this thing operating under its own power next summer if possible....

Don't you mean this summer? I don't think I can wait another year!

That's what I meant. The "next" must have been a Freudian slip.

[bull]

James did all of my interior and it came out great!

Thanks.

While I'm at it I'll leave some more progress info. The Charger is now able to hold her own rear end up off the ground now. Everything under the back is bolted down, clamped, torqued and marked off. Except for two things: the axle stamp and ratio tag. I got both in the mail the other day so it's just a matter of getting out there to do it.

A few days ago I crawled into the trunk with a bottle of SEM Rust Seal and went to work on all the surface rust I could find. After that I coated pretty much the entire ceiling with the stuff so that's looking pretty good now.

Also, James Smith from Smith Brothers Restorations stopped by and grabbed my steering column. http://smithbrosrestorations.com/ Don't feel like doing it so he's doing it for me. I will likely have them do the interior wiring and the seats, headliner and carpet. But they're definitely doing the steering column at least. Really would like to get this thing operating under its own power next summer if possible.

I've heard nothing but good about the Smith Bros. and meeting them has confirmed this. I hope to head up to their place in the near future, probably with my bare blasted seat frames. They can do all the work on my car at my house so that will make things go much smoother and less costly.

[bull]

I'll post some pics later but just wanted to give you all a quick update. I've been pretty busy, lately. Over the past three weeks I've gotten the steering column restored, the dash frame sandblasted and painted (both done by the Smith Bros) after I spent a couple of hours knocking dents out of the dash frame. And then all on my own I restored the steering wheel, the brake/clutch pedal assy., painted the firewall and installed the insulation, restored the wiper assy., installed the park brake assy., tore the seat frames down and had them sandblasted, rust-treated the interior roof and tonight I began installing the steering column.

Here's some before pics. See that seat frame all bent to hell? How did they do that? Took me a couple of hours to peel that sucker back into position (pics 2 and 3/before and after).

[bull]

Seat frames blasted and dash frame straightened and blasted. Brake/clutch pedal assembly ready to be blasted and plated along with some other odds and ends ready for plating or powder coating. And a late pic of the seat tracks that have since been blasted and primed.

[bull]

And here's some after pics.

[bull]

One more of the wheel... and a random cat pic.

The steering wheel turned out pretty good. I found a good horn rim on Ebay and other than a few dings here and there the wheel was in good shape so I sanded it with 320 grit, cleaned it, prepped it with SEM adhesion promoter and SEM flexible primer. Then I painted it (and the center cap) with SEM Landau black and finished with two coats of clear.

Oh, and in the bottom left of the frame you can see the wiper linkages ready to go. I blasted and painted them and the pivots and am waiting on a set of new clips from Megaparts. I still need to drill the pivots for grease fittings so I can re-lube them but I'm waiting until the last minute. I hate the idea of drilling the pivots for some reason.

[resq302]

coming a long very nicely!

[bill440rt]

Looks great Curtis! 
Good to see you got up from the couch!   

[skip68]

VERY VERY NICE Curtis.   

[Musicman]

Looking real good there Curtis