72 Charger - Long Awaited Update...

[72Charger-SE]

1972 Dodge Charger SE

Built in St. Louis, MO on October 4th, 1971 (10 days before my 1st B-Day) 400CID/Auto Trans/Factory AC/Rear Defogger/Runs and is LOUD...

Check back for updates... I am trying to figure out how to setup a daily lo...g of events on here but haven't gotten it just yet...


Today was a productive day with our project. Relocated the car on the side of the garage and up on 4 (6 Ton) jack stands... Removed front disc rotors, rubber brake hoses and cleaned up ALOT of surface rust and 'caked on' southern clay. L...ooking for alternative to 1972 brake rotors as the lowest wholesale price is over $120 each. OUCH! We then removed the drive shaft in preparation to pull the motor and tranny as well as preparing to replace the non-posi rear end with something built for better performance. Gabriella sanded the inside of the trunk while watching Finding Nemo on my laptop via DVD. Great Job Gabby! Thomas helped by removing the oil and 'caked on' southern clay from the rear end with a wire brush and power drill. Thanks Thomas! We located a few 'zerk point's that no longer have grease zerks which will have to be replaced. I removed the old rear air shocks as well as the front shocks. I found a set of air shocks (slightly used) on Craigslist for $25.00. NOTE: The rear end and broken leaf springs would have been completely removed however the person who installed them last time put the bolt in backwards (somehow) and there is not enough clearance to pull them out and drop the leaf springs. Not sure what I will do just yet but a torch would be a nice item to own... I don't have one so I'll be looking for an alternative solution... Anyway... Today was a great 'Charger' day... Here are some pics to show the progress... By the way... I decided on the paint scheme but I'll leave that for a future post.... :)See More

Saturday at 10:48pm · Like



Monday - 3/7/11: 8:30P-10:30P


Update on the rear end and leaf springs. It was not the previous installer who installed them incorrectly. It was the current 'uninstaller' who thought he knew what he was doing. Now that the proper bolts are removed the leaf springs wer...e easy to disassemble from the car. NOTE TO SELF... next time check all bolt and options before grabbing the sawzall! Oh well.... I had some frustration to use up and it's kinda funny that I burnt up four steel blades trying to cut through a very hard steel bolt. I plan to pull the motor and tranny this Saturday and begin the 'tear down' process. I'm anxious to see what I find... hopefully a strong running motor with no burnt pistons or worn out rings... We'll see!


3/8/11 - Price out new leaf springs = $108.00 each on Summit Racing website.


3/8/11 - The radiator and fan have been pulled in preparation for pulling the motor.  Since we did not have a cherry picker we decided to work on the interior.  I attempted to remove the passenger side window however after removing all the bolts in the door I was unsuccessful.  I ordered the 1972 repair manual on CD which should provide much needed guidance on these things.  The boys and I then removed the bucket and rear bench seats.  We found a few treasures...  1973 Quarter, 1999 Corvette toy, a button to pin on your shirt and a few other items.  We removed the remainder of the carpet and the trim supporting the headliner.  The headliner was shot and dried out.  We cut out around the dome light and began removing the headliner.  Thomas and Nathan wore masks and eye protection as the aged dust is not good to inhale or get into your eyes.  This was a mess but cleaned up easily with a vacuum cleaner and a new dust bag.  All in all it was a good night's work.  Many more steps remain but we are making progress daily...



3/10/11 - Pricing of parts...  Able to find some rear shocks Eldebrock on EBAY that sell for $150 each ... bought the set for $100.00  PRAISE THE LORD!  


3/10/11 - Purchased new Leaf Springs from JEGS - Painted Black

3/10/11 - Purchased new rotors from Summit Racing

3/10/11 - Went 'shopping' at Christine's Dodge Garden...

Found a Sure Grip 8 3/4" 3.55 Rear End...  Will need to put into outer casing with remainder of rear end but I am EXCITED about this find...   <Photo 49>


Also found a center console..  will need some repair and to move the shifter from the column to the floor but that is what I wanted in the first place...  <Photo 50>


It was a busy evening...  sold the old desk & credenza that were taking up ALOT of floor space in the shop!  Praise the LORD!  Purchased a high speed 4" grinder...  and went to work on the inside of the car...  notice the difference in the before and after pics...  Much more work to do but a GREAT DAY!

Hey Check that out!  the ORIGINAL BUILD SHEET!  I found it under the rear seat.  This is EXCITING!  More History!


3/11/2011 - No work done on Charger today... Taking my Bride off for a night getaway!


3/12/2011 - Today began with going to Fleet Farm or Farm Fleet (can't remember which) to get some supplies...  Purchased a heavy duty square shaped sander with all the fixin's for it, additional grinding discs for grinding away rust and very old paint, and much needed safety items, goggles for everyone, gloves, and ear protection...  This way no one gets hurt which is a good thing...


Nathan did a great job sanding the inside of the roof...


I spent the majority of my day in the trunk...    you will see a few 'holes' that will require patching but overall still a small amount compared to what COULD be...

I also did the detail grinding and sanding in the passenger area...

But...  a project wouldn't be the same without a few surprises and extra sheet metal work to be done...


Any suggestions on how to fix this?

[mikesbbody]

Cool, nice project and good luck and Welcome!  got any other pics? the one posted wouldn't open up for me (it would open but only very small) 

[72Charger-SE]

OK... apparently being a computer engineer does not qualify me to load more than one picture on this posting?  Can someone tell me how to load more pics?  I keep getting the message that I already posted to this and must have double-clicked...  Mr. Moderator?? Assistance please...   

[bobs66440]

Good work so far!  

Regarding posting pics. Resize the photos to no bigger than 640x480 (you can go a little bigger but this size seems to work). If you try to load pics that are too big, it will fail to post and then when you try again, you will get that message you mentioned about re-posting the same message. You should be able to load four pics per post at 640x480.

Hope this helps  

[72Charger-SE]

1972 Dodge Charger SE

Built in St. Louis, MO on October 4th, 1971 (10 days before my 1st B-Day) 400CID/Auto Trans/Factory AC/Rear Defogger/Runs and is LOUD...

Check back for updates... I am trying to figure out how to setup a daily lo...g of events on here but haven't gotten it just yet...


Today was a productive day with our project. Relocated the car on the side of the garage and up on 4 (6 Ton) jack stands... Removed front disc rotors, rubber brake hoses and cleaned up ALOT of surface rust and 'caked on' southern clay. L...ooking for alternative to 1972 brake rotors as the lowest wholesale price is over $120 each. OUCH! We then removed the drive shaft in preparation to pull the motor and tranny as well as preparing to replace the non-posi rear end with something built for better performance. Gabriella sanded the inside of the trunk while watching Finding Nemo on my laptop via DVD. Great Job Gabby! Thomas helped by removing the oil and 'caked on' southern clay from the rear end with a wire brush and power drill. Thanks Thomas! We located a few 'zerk point's that no longer have grease zerks which will have to be replaced. I removed the old rear air shocks as well as the front shocks. I found a set of air shocks (slightly used) on Craigslist for $25.00. NOTE: The rear end and broken leaf springs would have been completely removed however the person who installed them last time put the bolt in backwards (somehow) and there is not enough clearance to pull them out and drop the leaf springs. Not sure what I will do just yet but a torch would be a nice item to own... I don't have one so I'll be looking for an alternative solution... Anyway... Today was a great 'Charger' day... Here are some pics to show the progress... By the way... I decided on the paint scheme but I'll leave that for a future post.... :)See More

Saturday at 10:48pm · Like

[72Charger-SE]

Ok... Here is the Sure Grip Rear End - 3.55 Gears...   Can someone tell me if this is a good rear end or not?  It appears to have some 'bending' on it??  Advice, comments are all appreciated....

[72Charger-SE]

A few more pics of the 'slow' progress...

[72Charger-SE]

A few more pics...

[mikesbbody]

I could be mistaken, but if that's a 742 Sure Grip then you have the best 8.3/4 sure grip 
742 is the last 3 numbers cast into the rear end (on the side forget which side) 489's are decent too they are a cone style Sure Grip the 741 is the least sought after but still good enough IMO.

[bobs66440]

Nice progress! They may make patch panels for the trunk area but doubtful for the other area by the wheel house. You will have to cut all the rust out and custom fit patches there. If the rust in the trunk is confined to just the area where I can see the holes in the pic, I would probably do the same there. Maybe you can find a solid donor car to cut the patches from.

They sell the floor pans for the foot wells and other areas too. Do a search on ebay

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=72+charger+floor+pan&_sacat=&_odkw=66-67+charger&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p4506.m270.l1313

[tan top]

hello & welcome     looks like you got some work going on there guys   
keep the pictures coming 

[DustinSimmonds]

  Awesome! I too am working on a '72 SE! Keep us up on the work!

[72Charger-SE]

UPS Showed up yesterday with the Leaf Springs & FedEx brought the front shocks...  Now I have what I need to start putting the hardware back together...  Paul (friend from Church) is stopping by after work (AutoZone) and bringing the compression test equipment so we can see if there are any 'hidden' motor issues before pulling the motor.  Once the motor is pulled we will begin taking off the remaining hardware under the hood so everything can be properly sanded & painted...  One step at a time but at least it is one step forward... 

[72Charger-SE]

Update...  we were not able to get to the spark plugs...     So...  I decided to get all the rust off the shackles and mounting brackets for the leaf springs and prime them for painting tomorrow.  I plan to paint them flat black as well as the new leaf spring bolts.  Here they are... hangin' around after being primed...  Nathan worked on the bottom part of the air cleaner stripping the many layers of paint and getting it down to bare metal just like the top...

[72Charger-SE]

Well. As the evening wore on I decided the primer was probably dry SO.... I painted the hardware flat black and let it dry overnight.

[greenpigs]

I think the 742 case was done by 69 but it is easy enough to see what you have.

[72Charger-SE]

741 case on this one...  not a 742...  oh well... it is a sure grip and should do just fine for street use...

[72Charger-SE]

Cleaned primed and painted the old rotor dust covers.  Additionally, we installed the front Edelbrock IAS Shocks.  Now that they are installed and the dust covers are painted I am going to have to do something with the fender well areas.  They just don't look good...   

[72Charger-SE]

I also bought a new brake booster and master cylinder so I decided I would remove the old tonight.  Well, the intention was good but I am stuck at 90% complete on this endeavor.  You see I was not able to completely remove the steering column due to a 'roller pin' connecting the steering column shaft to the steering box.  Try as I did I simply don't have the right tool for this job.  So I'll be visiting Theisens tomorrow for another tool purchase of some type.  I plan to replace the column shift with a floor shift so I needed to pull the steering column regardless.  All the hardware for the leaf springs is primed and painted.  Ready to be put on tomorrow night?  Not sure on that as I also plan to drop the gas tank to have it 'lined' before I use it.  Up to this point the fuel has come from a 5 gallon can shown in the pics.  We'll see if that happens tomorrow or not.

[mikesbbody]

741 case on this one...  not a 742...  oh well... it is a sure grip and should do just fine for street use...

Sure it will be fine nothing wrong with a 741 sorry if I got your hopes up 

[72Charger-SE]

Well another day and more progress...
Having removed all the stickers from the new leaf springs with a wire brush it was necessary to do some touchup painting.  Additionally FedEx could not determine where to put the shpping label so they had several on each spring which were also removed and painted.  Continuing with my project...  After purchasing the proper long & narrow punch at Theisens I was able to remove the roller pin and thus the steering column was free.  I then continued by removing the last bolt holding the brake booster in place and removed that.  I continued with removing the dash instrument panel, glove box, radio, cb, cb antenna, rear defogger, and all wiring leading to the trunk.  I also removed all the brake components from the rear drum brakes and place them in a brake cleaner bath.  I still have not decided if I am going to remove the dash pad or not.  I simply am struggling mightily in trying to remove it so I figure maybe GOD doesn't want it removed?  I could always put a different cover over it as I am planning on changing the color of the dash and dash pad to something other than 'green'... 

[bobs66440]

You could repaint the dash pad with this. I used it on mine and it worked out really well. Good work so far! 

http://www.herbsparts.com/proddetail.asp?prod=PAINT

[Foreman72]

cool resto you got going here! Good to see your getting your kids involved!

So what are the plans/goals for the project?

[72Charger-SE]

Plans are to have a safe & strong running street cruiser.  I want to build it right so I don't have to do it a second time.  My plans have changed a few times but the overall desire is to have a fun car that we can take to the local drag strip on a Saturday for fun, cruise on Sunday to Church and take a few 'joy rides' on the curvy roads (handling is very important to me so I am spending alot of time and resources on the suspension, brakes and steering components).  I want to be able to light up the tires if I so desire and cruise comfortably at 70MPH on the Interstate as well.  The kids and I are having a BLAST working together and learning something completely new.  I am a Network (Computer) Engineer by trade and have never done anything like this before.  So far I am using common sense (I think), talking to a lot of people, researching boards such as this site, and absorbing as much as I can on a daily basis.  The goal is to have the car able to drive by Summer of next year with all the body work complete (less the paint), the motor reconditioned, the interior painted, carpeted and redone, and the running gear (shocks, suspension, steering, brakes) all up to spec.  In short I have an aggressive time line but I think the boys and I can get it done with ALOT of help from knowledgeable people and friends. 

Unlike some restorations I have read about we are planning on doing this completely ourselves in our garage.  I am a do it yourself kinda person and I enjoy learning new things.  My wife is an awesome seamstress with a highly capable sewing 'surger' or something like that and she is planning to sew the custom leather interior.  All good plans and LORD willing we will make our goal.

[Foreman72]

Plans are to have a safe & strong running street cruiser.  I want to build it right so I don't have to do it a second time.  My plans have changed a few times but the overall desire is to have a fun car that we can take to the local drag strip on a Saturday for fun, cruise on Sunday to Church and take a few 'joy rides' on the curvy roads (handling is very important to me so I am spending alot of time and resources on the suspension, brakes and steering components).  I want to be able to light up the tires if I so desire and cruise comfortably at 70MPH on the Interstate as well.  The kids and I are having a BLAST working together and learning something completely new.  I am a Network (Computer) Engineer by trade and have never done anything like this before.  So far I am using common sense (I think), talking to a lot of people, researching boards such as this site, and absorbing as much as I can on a daily basis.  The goal is to have the car able to drive by Summer of next year with all the body work complete (less the paint), the motor reconditioned, the interior painted, carpeted and redone, and the running gear (shocks, suspension, steering, brakes) all up to spec.  In short I have an aggressive time line but I think the boys and I can get it done with ALOT of help from knowledgeable people and friends. 

Unlike some restorations I have read about we are planning on doing this completely ourselves in our garage.  I am a do it yourself kinda person and I enjoy learning new things.  My wife is an awesome seamstress with a highly capable sewing 'surger' or something like that and she is planning to sew the custom leather interior.  All good plans and LORD willing we will make our goal.

Wow!! that sounds like awesome stuff! very similar to my plans for my 72...looking forward to seeing how things go!