409053 - original owner daytona

[held1823]

everything is welded into place at this point. it turned out nice and square, especially given the prior issues

running out of time before talladega, there was no sense in grinding the spot welds. that can take place once the car is disassembled

[held1823]

with just three weeks to get the car looking like a car, we moved it back to the front of the shop, and started seeing what fits. i've sourced parts from four or five places, so it's a crap shoot.

[held1823]

we cut off the lower lip on the 1970 fenders, and will do the finish work on that area, plus fill in the marker light hole, after alabama. templates are on the way from dave patik to locate and drill the fender scoops.

we need to figure out the best way to finish off the pieces that a regular charger headlight bracket mounts to. ideas, anyone?

[held1823]

the headlight doors were trimmed out and the pivot brackets were pop riveted to them. not bothering with the alignment, vacuum pods, or even headlight bulbs at this point, since all of this is for a single weekend.

[held1823]

the shop is located near the site of a former mental hospital. legend has it that some escapees still live in the woods surrounding the area. after years of doubting this, we had a first hand encounter with one of these poor souls. his shirt could stand up on its own, and Lord knows when he last had a haircut, but he was a pleasant enough fellow.  he kept muttering about owning a car just like this, only his was red. something about once having a green one, too.

he offered to help with aligning things, so we tossed him a hammer. lo and behold, he didn't damage anything other than breaking a fingernail. we hear that he might have a blister or two, and his arm was  so tired from swinging the hammer that he couldn't lift his second doughnut the next morning

[held1823]

knowing that things would need tweaking but short on time, the more correct looking z brackets were set aside for the ones i got with the nose. these fit spot on, saving us hours that we are short on to make the deadline

[held1823]

the fit of the nose is just as good, if not better, than it was presented to me. i think its builder was harder on his work than deserved. when you read this, thank you once again for both the parts and the friendship.

slapping everything together for the talladega event will allow us to get a sneak preview of what to expect once the real work begins this winter.

everything is finger tight in the photos with the nose hanging. we needed it in place since i won't be able to lend much help on the car this week.

it's not going to be pretty, but at least it's looking like it might actually come together enough to make it to alabama

dad passed away the weekend of the last reunion, and i vowed that his car would make it to the next one. it's nice to think that it might actually happen. i know he would have enjoyed sharing his love/hate relationship with his "lemon by chrysler corporation" with others

[held1823]

the final thing we did last evening was get the hood pins located.  i still need to haul the hood itself out to the shop to whack the holes in it for these to pass though.

anyone have hole diameter info?

[70Sbird]

Great Progress!!!!!

[Alaskan_TA]

With a hammer in hand, Larry could ring his own bell......

[A383Wing]

the final thing we did last evening was get the hood pins located.  i still need to haul the hood itself out to the shop to whack the holes in it for these to pass though.

anyone have hole diameter info?

I made the holes in the hood the same as the chrome piece on top of the hood that the pin goes through

Bryan

[TiMopar]

Great progress, good luck!

[held1823]

hood made it to the shop with the high value barn dust mostly still intact.

hopefully there are holes in both the hood and the fender tops this week

speaking of holes, we still need to cut them for the reflectors in the valance.  i assume the marker bezel is a regular charger piece?

no clue where it came from, but i appear to have one side.  will have to see if both are the same and if not, which side i have, so that i can start looking for the other one

that passenger side mirror has to go, as well

[moparstuart]

Not bad work for two wing nuts and a shakey rattle can 

[Mopar John]

Ernie,
Congrats on all the progress!
Drop in a motor and trans and drive it!
I have attached 4 pictures for you on hood pin measurements.
The first one is from the inner edge of the fender to the center of the hood pin.
The second one is from the side edge of the hood to the center of the pin.
The third one is from the front of the hood to the center of the pin.
The last one is looking up into the bottom of the hood.
You see the the hole in the hood is bigger than the bezel opening.
MJ

[held1823]

thanks for the photos, john. they help a ton with locating the holes.

i had dave patik send me his template for the scoop holes. there was just one for the drivers side, but we should be to duplicate the marks for the right side.

any chance you could snap a few photos of that tape measure on your old fenders? i am a little shocked to see the hole laid out so off center (front to back) underneath the scoop. a visual is a lot more comforting than a sketch on a piece of cardboard.

thanks for all of your help, and looking forward to seeing you again in a few weeks

[Mopar John]

Ernie,
Your in luck!
I have one of the fenders out in the shop.
I have started to bead blast it in preparation of repairs.
So I have attached 4 pictures for you.
The first 3 use the front edge of the fender as a starting point and I work my way back.
The last picture is a side to side measurement of the screen hole.
MJ

[held1823]

thanks once again, john. the hole looks close enough to six inches that i may have a cure already in hand.

i bought a six inch hole saw a while back to make corn hole boards to give as Christmas gifts.

That tool might just have enough left in it to drill two more holes

[djcarguy]

  looking great with a nose .

[held1823]

rough cutting the scoop holes into the fenders

no sense in welding the screens in place until the car comes back apart

[held1823]

fender scoops and hood pins now in place, and starting to fit the valance.

not bothering with filling the 70 markers, or cutting out the correct ones, until restoration time

the valance is nice enough to make me consider just keeping it on the car, but i am still leaning towards a metal one from mike

if i go that route, this janek oem equivalent line piece will be available for sale sometime over the winter

the z brackets seen here will be sold once removed, as i have another pair on hand

debating on selling this steel nose cone, as an original piece might find its way here

[held1823]

turn signals, grille, and front spoiler are in place for now

we will finish off the studs on top of the grille frame later on, since making talladega is is only goal for now

we installed the latch tray just to strengthen the front end for the 1200 mile trip

all of the correct hardware will need to be sourced later on

[held1823]

we had to move the car to the back of the shop last night to tack the latch tray bracket on to the core support

it just happened to start sprinkling at that time, so the car saw its first drops of water since the mid 1980's

now all of the valuable barn find dust is ruined

for better or for worse, this is where we are stopping for now. it's not pretty, and will have to be pushed everywhere, but at least it will be there, fulfilling a vow made four years ago

[moparstuart]

You worked hard and did good , your Dad would be proud     

[taxspeaker]

Looking pretty darn good Ernie