Swedish Hemi Charger -69 project

[Eyebrownolf]

Hello! My name is Eyebrownolf and I live in a little village called Seabottom in northern Sweden.
I saw that some people on this forum found my car on Musclecars.nu but nobody understands Swedish. So I thought I would translate it...

Beware of Swedish humour and bad grammar...

Here we go! 

The car was in original condition a Dodge Charger SE -69. The car came equipped with the SE package, 383-BigBlock, 727-Torqueflite and an 8 3/4 rear axle.





It was imported from California 2005 and has only had two owners before me. The car was in untouched condition and everything worked except the AC.
What can I say... the worn 383 with 2bbl would not even deliver enough power to turn loose the wheels on gravel... 
In contrast, it had good brakes. One had only to touch the pedal as they locked and you hit the forehead in the windshield. It was all or nothing, nothing in between.
The steering gear gave a mighty vague feel ... this combined with the brown vinyl roof and cargo rack on the trunk invited directly to sporty driving ... 

The car will be a bit more brutal when its finished, Black paint, a Hemi under the hood, better brakes, decent wheels, and hopefully a little better handling than the original ... 

Now comes a sick and twisted story about how this car ended up in my hands. Read and ponder ...

A long time ago in the sunny city of Skelleftea, there was a small Dodge Charger with a beige coat and brown vinyl roof. All the other muscle cars went around and laid rubber on the asphalt and rewd their big engines, but not the Charger. He had his own favourite place on the lawn under a large birch and there he sat quietly in the shade all day and touched himself on the cargo rack ...
His owner was a better used car dealer, and he was sometimes worried about the Charger. He was afraid that the Charger would be jammed in the exhaust where he stood completely on its own.
- "My little Dodge Charger, why are you not cruising with the other small muscle cars and blowing up rear axles?"
But the Charger just shook his leaf springs and said:
- "I like it better here, where I can touch myself on the cargo rack and soak my vinyl roof."
And because he was such a wise and understanding better used car dealer he just caressed his Charger over the rear fenders and let him stand under the birch and touch his cargo rack. 



As the years passed the Charger got a more and more rusty cargo rack and a progressively faded vinyl top, and one day he was suddenly a rarity. All the other small muscle cars had over the years replaced their original parts with aftermarket junk and wanted most of all to join in competitions and low budget movies. But not the Charger, he still thought it was best to stand under his birch and touch himself on the cargo rack ...

One day two men dressed in cowboy hat, cloak rustling, mountain beaver pants and cream-colored sea otter boots went by the car dealer to find a car that would be involved in a major renovation project.
All the other muscle cars pulled long burnouts and burned their tires so that the men would think that they was just the most brutal and choose one of them. But not the Charger, he knew they would not choose him. He cared not for it, instead he rolled directly to his birch and parked, but he did not see where he parked, on top of an old electrical system from a Swedish Saab 99!
- "WROOOOM!! Wrooom!"
The Charger started sliding around, drifitng as crazy, with the electrical system from the Saab wrapped around the drive shaft. And soon the Charger with his 8 ¾ rearaxle and tiny original rearwheels was the one that added the most rubber on the asphalt.
The two men saw him and both shouted with joy:
- "Bravo! Mopar! Esplendido! Original! Portentoso! Him we shall have!!"

And on the purchaseday the two men drove the Charger to the gas station in Klemensnas. What a day, black smoke was thick in the air, the popular group Stone and Stanley played, and a large welcome comity awaited at the gasoline pump. First there were the muscle car youths. And then came the enthusiasts. And then Gearshaftblower-Andrew himself, the proudest of them all in his Mustang ... and then came the new star, and you know who, don't you? Mmm ... that's right, the Charger.
They called him "The Mighty Dodge Charger With The brown vinyl top & the chrome cargo rack", and all the muscle cars owners became excited. And the enthusiasts became even more agitated. And Gearshaftblower-Andrew, he got really excited!
When the Charger saw the wonderfully well worn original back seat which was installed in Gearshaftblower-Andrews Mustang he drove fast over the field with its 1 ¼ "single exhaust systems towards the Mustang, and everyone screamed because they thought it would be a violent race!
When the Charger came to the middle of the field he parked quietly and began to touch his cargo rack.
- "BHOOO!" The Muscle Car youths were angry. The enthusiasts became even angrier. But Gearshaftblower-Andrew was most angry of them all!
- "Come on!  Let those tires loose so the gravel wines on my new coat! "Gearshaftblower-Andrew skidded into eights and rewd his tiny engine so that the rods went through the hood.
But the Dodge Charger that was in a non-renovated state just sat there and touched his cargorack. Gearshaftblower-Andrew he was very angry. He broke his stainless steel moldings into small pieces. He put cloudberry liqueur on the floor mat. He ripped out the isolation from his mufflers, but the Charger, he just stood there and touched his cargo rack.
Gearshaftblower-Andrew begged and pleaded, - "Please, change my firing order, brush base mass on my windshield!"
Gearshaftblower-Andrew was so angry that he cried because he could not show how hard his Mustang was tuned.

They were simply forced to send the Charger home to his new garage. And as far as we know he still on this day stands there in small pieces waiting for renovation...

[Eyebrownolf]

Now its time to start disassemble the Charger, and it's always exiting to see what you find after 35 years...

The first thing I did was to put the knife in the brown vinyltop as so delicious sat like an old mans faded cap on the car. These roofs usually like to attract moisture, but it had actually done relatively well. A lot of small pores, but nothing that would require greater action.
Although the interior had a scent of what we in Sweden call "Pissratan" it was in good condition and just needed some cleaning. The floor carpet went out and the floor was inspected from the inside. No devastating rust here, but apparently it had been a bit wet under the passenger side that had surface rust and some pores. The only theory I have is that the beer drinking guys who had been riding the car did suffer from a bladder problem... or maybe it was the heater core that sprung a leak. 



In contrast, probably one or two beers broken in the trunk. Putting a screwdriver through the floor was no problem. Rusted up completely, just to change all that shit ... that we will return to later.
To drive a charger other than Bullitt style is difficult, so that the beer in the trunk broke does not surprise me... I always wondered how that Duke boys managed to get the Moonshine delivered in one piece... 



The dashboard was disassembled and the electrical system inspected. You know how it feels trying to move an old Christmas tree which has dried to death ... that was the felling when you touched the electrical system ... great fun ... This was set for cable fire. Well, what can you expect on a car that had been 35 years in the Californian sun...



Now it was time to take a look in the engine room. Probably a battery exploded at some point. The entire driver's side was very torn in the surface.
The car was equipped with AC, three steps Windshield wiper, power steering and powerbrakes...



Using a simple hand sweeping the engine and gearbox leaft the engine compartment to be archived for future renovation, and the car was now ready for sanding.



The better used car dealer told me that the car was repainted for about 15 years ago. And what they painted it with I do not know. The colour was both thick and tough as the worst cold snot and impossible to grind away even with the oh so wonderful Scotch discs, which would otherwise take almost anything.
Nah, it was only to pull out the heater gun and scraping the top layer of paint ... 
Then the Scotch discs worked hard, and after a couple of days was the car clean on the outside. Can tell you that I had both a wryneck and pain in my shoulders after that ...
After removing the paint and about 20kg filler some small collision damage appeared...
The entire left rear end had been depressed. When they tried to fix it they drove the metal to far and just used filler that stretched for half the car's side to get a smooth line. This plate would need to be shrunk considerably.
Then there was a lot of small dents and other damage that would need to be fixed ... also believe that the car was driven over a water post or some old stump, it was pretty ugly under on one side ... 

The next step was to unscrew the remaining parts and bring up the body in a cradle so that the damage could be fixed.

To be continued...

[tan top]

  thanks for the translation    intresting read !! waiting for part two     

[mikesbbody]

Ever thought of being a writer? 

[PatrickPeeters]

Love to read more about it.....

[Brock Samson]

I have no idea what I just read but I loved it! 

[Eyebrownolf]

Thanks for the comments! 

"Memoris of a mighty Charger with brown vinyl top and chrome cargo rack" would be a good title for a book... 

Well... lets move on with the project:


Now it was time to get the car up in a cradle and begin working with the body. Front suspension and rear axle was removed. By using jack stands, chains and other primitive tools I managed to get the car up into the cradle ... of course  with my life at stake in the tiny garage. 

Now that the car was sitting firmly in its cradle the next slave labour began. Removal of the under coating. The heat gun went up again. The car had the undercoating from the fabric, and it was good because it had protected the frame from rust.



After some days of scraping it was time to take care of the damages. The first project was to cut and drill out the rusty plates in the trunk. This was not so easy since the floor is welded to the frame. But it went out with some cursing and violence...
Here you can also see one of the crash damage in the bottom of the rear fender. A very nice hole with some form of double plates, rivets and a bucket of plaster inside the fender...



The sheet metal was fitted and welded. Then i crawled into the trunk and grinded the weld.



Te damaged area of the rear fender was cut off and the internal plate fixed. Then I gracefully shaped a new piece and welded it in place... like new!



The crashed and perforated kick panel was changed...




Then came a huge welding work on other parts. As I said, it was a lot of crash injuries. And for some strange reason, they had perforated the car so it looked like a colander... most likely they did it so that the enormous amount of plaster would stay in place and not fall of the car if they drove over a bump...
Both front fenders were welded and addressed properly. Similarly, sand plate, both doors, both the rear fenders and the dent in the butt of the car... or is the word rear... I don't know... I am from Sweden and I like meatballs... so I don't have a clue...

The rear corner that had been crashed needed to be shrunk. I did that by using a special machine that heats the plate firmly point wise. Then you just blow it with compressed air to cool it down quick and the metal will shrink. Cleverly worse ...
By using a slide hammer model damn big the car also got rid of the big dent from the water pole accident. Although I thought the car would brake in the middle and fly out of the cradle when we banged the slide hammer! Several friends had to stand and hold the car so that it would not tip over ... tough to say the least!
All the small dents under the car was also fixed. Here is a picture of a patched fender which is ready for priming. Not a bad result.



Now the body was ready for sand blasting.

To be continued... or as we say in Sweden: "att bli fortsatttad..."

[Ghoste]

Thanks for the write up and welcome to the group.  Looking forward to the continuing progress reports.

[Brock Samson]

"Memoris of a mighty Charger with brown vinyl top and chrome cargo rack" would be a good title for a book...


I personally think "A Violent Race" would be perfect...   

[Eyebrownolf]

After having dressed up in my finest attire and transported the car to the local industrial estate it was time to sand blast the frame and the inside.



The frame became like new! I used relatively fine sand and tilted the beam about 45 degrees to the sheet metal. I also held a distance of about 1.5 meters from the nozzle to the sheet metal with long sweeping movements. All to avoid deforming the sheet metal...



When the sand blasting was done it was a bit tricky to remove all the sand that was inside the kick panels and other tricky places...

To be continued...