'69 Charger 500 update: Wipers.. 09 Mar

[xs29j8Bullitt]

by the way XX29Jbull.. 

by the way XX29Jbull..  I find your photo bucket of your blue car interesting in that the radiator support is not blacked out, was that painted at one time or original that way?

   darker color maybe didnt need it   

I would suspect the car, in it's nearlly 44 years of existence was painted at one time and no particular attention was paid towards core support detail.

hasnt allen owned it since the early 80's though ?

hasnt allen owned it since the early 80's though ?   

Probably.. But there were plenty of cars repainted by then.... I'm not saying his wasn't painted, I just highly doubt it..

The 2nd previous owner removed the front end sheetmetal and repainted the engine bay and radiator core support in about 1982.  I purchased the car in August of 1986... pics below taken during dis-assembly (note lack of battery tray attachment holes).

[XS29LA47V21]

      some of us have certain details that just poke us in the eye, that is one of mine.


...other details go right past me and don't care that much.... )

[hemi68charger]

...
The 2nd previous owner removed the front end sheetmetal and repainted the engine bay and radiator core support in about 1982.  I purchased the car in August of 1986... pics below taken during dis-assembly (note lack of battery tray attachment holes).

   31 years of messing with these cars pays off ........

[hemi68charger]

Anyone have the measurement, or can take one, of the gap between the leading edge of the griller header and the top of the grille?     Looking to make sure my spacing of the grille is correct....

[69_500]

Troy, still looking through pictures for a measurement. If I do not find one, I'll pull the front of my grill off and take pictures for you.

[cdr]

i sent some pics on your email

[hemi68charger]

Troy, still looking through pictures for a measurement. If I do not find one, I'll pull the front of my grill off and take pictures for you.

Per my email reply to you from your pictures, I think a good reference dimension to start with would be that gap between the header and top of grille. It looks like 3/4 of an inch.....  

The grille's coming together. Everything's loose for it's not a perfect fit thus far. I have one bracket that's being a pill, but Mike's going to get me another one.. ( Thanks Mike   ).

The NOS headlamp bezel looks good in there. I have one question though, the placement of the hole in the top portion of the support bracket. I have placed a picture here.

Ok, I hope I haven't made anyone totally confused with this..

[moparstuart]

 

[hemi68charger]

It is sort of cool... The very car that Mike G. used to create his reproduction '69 Charger 500 grille attach kit ( 8 brackets and fender fillers ) is this very C500. The original front clip was sold when a later owner wanted to convert to a Daytona......

[hemi68charger]

Getting closer.. Now I just need to make the inboard support brackets and find a driver's side headlamp bucket or a '68 Coronet headlamp bucket out of a junked fender...

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang...
OK.. Something else.. My lucky day.. Went to find one of my extra nice headlamp bezels I have for the 500 and discovered the plastic spacers taped to it !!!! Wow..

Now, I know there are two I think that have extenders on them and one that's shaved down?

Here's what I have........

[hemi68charger]

 

Any measurements from original spacers? Two were extended, one shortened and I believe one is unmodified length?

[hemi68charger]

Update..
I went ahead and just modified the spacers since I didn't get any measurements. I think it came out pretty good. There was a lot of putting on, checking it out, taking off and tweeking here and there... But, ultimately, the passenger side is installed using all OEM parts and looks great and is rock solid. I even got the headlamps working on the passenger side. One step closer to making her road-worthy. I did get a reply looking for a passenger side '68 Coronet headlamp bucket. I'll take that and reproduce the special attach brackets from the NOS passenger headlamp bucket so I can install. Sooo, the grille's almost done..

[panhead]

looks like its comming along real good!!!

Curt   

[moparstuart]

Update..
I went ahead and just modified the spacers since I didn't get any measurements. I think it came out pretty good. There was a lot of putting on, checking it out, taking off and tweeking here and there... But, ultimately, the passenger side is installed using all OEM parts and looks great and is rock solid. I even got the headlamps working on the passenger side. One step closer to making her road-worthy. I did get a reply looking for a passenger side '68 Coronet headlamp bucket. I'll take that and reproduce the special attach brackets from the NOS passenger headlamp bucket so I can install. Sooo, the grille's almost done..

[hemi68charger]

Now I'm working on a "clone" mirror image of the NOS headlamp bucket for the passenger side. I was able to acquire a '68 Coronet headlamp bucket cut out of a fender. It is exactly what I was looking for. I have cut away most of the unusable metal from the '68 Coronet bucket using the original piece as a template. Today also duplicated the inner attach bracket by placing tape over the original and outlining it. I place the tape on a piece of spare sheetmetal and cut away... Came out pretty good if I say so.. I wish I had a pinch welder for I would have done that. But, I just went ahead and fastened it with sheetmetal screws for now.. It'll work and is hidden...

1. right is original C500 headlamp bucket
2. you can see the bracket I'm duplicating
3. taping her up
4. bracket fastened.

I'll eventually paint the complete unit gray like the original

[hemi68charger]

Got an early present today; new fuel lines for the 500.   

[hemi68charger]

Old and new..... Probably put them in when I get off work next...  One step closer to road-worthy independence..

[hemi68charger]

Well, I think I have the brakes straightened out..

Things I've done:
All new brake lines (OEM from Finelines)
disassembled safety and proporationing valve and cleaned.
rebuilt both rear wheel cylinders, new drum hardware
rebuilt both front 4-pistion calipers with new pads (thanks Doug)
new master cylinder - booster seems to be fine.

-I had my son help me bleed the brakes.. Nice that he's tall enough now to reach the pedals.. 

-Everything seemed fine. Car is on jacks. Put rear wheels/tires back on and tested it.. Didn't have the booster connected (something I quickly learned needed to be done for power brakes)

-after connecting booster to intake vacuum source, rear wheels stop very nice while in drive spinning... Good news.. 

- now I'll reconnect the driver's tie-rod to the pitman arm and reinstall front wheels/tires.. Lower her and try backing her out into the driveway and try multiple back and forth stopping...

[cdr]

very good,now you can bring it to my house

[hemi68charger]

very good,now you can bring it to my house

Thanks to you confirming my gut prior to your phone call.. Had lunch, with the battery charger on, came back out, hooked up the hose to vacuum nipple on the back of the intake, fired up on the first crank, put in gear, rear wheels starting turning as they should and viola !!!! they stopped with an effortless push of the brake pedal.. Once I get the floor pan fixed, she'll be basically road-worthy.. (I'll have to see how healthy that front suspension is though)...........

I'll take a video tomorrow.. Pictures won't tell the whole story...

[cdr]

do you need help on the floor pan

[hemi68charger]

do you need help on the floor pan

Thanks for the offer. I may need some mentoring when I eventually tackle the rest of the car at a later date... Have someone doing it for free (owes me).. I just need to save up for a AMD pan.. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it completely...

[cdr]

thats a good thing,4 speed ??

[hemi68charger]

thats a good thing,4 speed ??

I'll eventually do that, but for now, I'm just going to get her road-worthy independent..

Here's Jacob and I this morning....

http://youtu.be/e1KHme51eeg