Re: NHC's 68 Charger resto/thrash-update- it's alive

[NHCharger]

After the rear end debacle I was pleasantly surprised with the roof and front valance. Valance had a small dinger in the middle that I pounded out and smoothed over. The roof had a few low spots but no rust. The trunk lid was rust free except for a few pin holes on the bottom side.

[NHCharger]

The doors had the usual parking lot dings along the back edge. Driver side had one bad spot that they had packed with bondo. I cut that area out and cut and bent a new piece of metal to fit.
The passenger door was rust free (think it was a replacement door). It was hit in the middle and had an inch of filler  I pounded the dent out but because the metal was stretched from the hit it was flimsy. I welded a backer piece of metal on the back side of the door to stiffen it up. both doors had lots of little dents which needed to be tapped out and smoothed over.

[cdr]

lookin great,your gettin after it 

[NHCharger]

Thanks cdr, I've been at this for over a year.
The fenders required some work. The driver side had one small patch in the dogleg, other than that no rust. Just the assorted bumps and bruises.
The passenger side was a piece of shit. It was a replacement fender that came out of Ted Stephen's yard in AL. Pretty sure he danced a jig on it before shipping it north. It had no rust but was beat all over. i did the best I could with the hammer and dolly. Also had to do some metal shrinking in two spots. I'll be the first to admit my metal shrinking skills suck. If this was an #'s R/T car I would have bought AMD metal for this fender and both quarters. I was not happy with the amount of filler on the passenger fender, even thou it's only 1/8" thick in a few spots.

[NHCharger]

The passenger fender also took a hit on the front edge, caving it in. Someone tried to pull it out with a dent puller
I cut the spot welds on the bottom edge of the fender and cut the bad section out. Hammer and dollied it back into shape. Ended up stretching the metal doing that so I made a relief cut in the middle to remove the excess metal. There is a low spot that runs almost the length of the fender from one side to the other. I ran a piece of tape down it to make sure all the contours lined up. For a small repair this was a pain in the ass.

[RIDELIKEHELL]

Great work!

[rebby]

Impressive work so far... Keep it up!

[cdr]

as rebby said, impressive 

[NHCharger]

Haven't got much accomplished since October. Hadn't been feeling well off and on for a couple of years, gastritis said the Doc. Turned out to be a perforated appendix. Was on restricted lifting for a month before and after they were removed (Halloween). Been slammed with work the last three months so the Charger has sat quietly. I did manage to spray some sealer on her late October, so the body work is done except for the engine compartment and cowl area. The back side of the fenders got a coat of SEM rust inhibitor and a coat of undercoating.

[NHCharger]

Yanked the engine mid December. Since I have it out I'm going to tear it down and have it checked out. For a Christmas present I got my gauges back from Mr. Heater Box. Amazing how this project has evolving from a quick fix to full resto including brake, steering and suspension upgrades.

[NHCharger]

I decided against black for a color, too much up keep and was concerned the it might show any flaws from my bodyworking skills - or lack there of. Valance has not been wet sanded, cut and buffed yet. Just wanted to paint that to make sure I liked the color before doing the entire car.

[tan top]

looking good    

[RIDELIKEHELL]

awesome job thanks for the update... really liking the color

[NHCharger]

Against Bakerhillpins advice I am converting the car to non-A/C. I only cruise and drive with the windows down and the non A/C units are much easier to deal with. I did find one bad spot in the frame when I removed the steering box. An amateur attempt was made to fix it. I'm going to cut it out and do it right.

[NHCharger]

awesome job thanks for the update... really liking the color

RLH. I have pictures of your resto scattered through out my shop. Been using them for a reference guide.

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Almost looks like you know what you're doing. 

[lexxman]

What did you use to clean up your panels? The doors and valance look nice before and after paint.

[NHCharger]

Almost looks like you know what you're doing. 

This is my first go round with a second gen. Some definite differences from my 3rd gens.

[NHCharger]

What did you use to clean up your panels? The doors and valance look nice before and after paint.

I had the doors, fenders, hood, trunk lid and front valance media blasted. After I got them back I went over them with a 3M paint and rust stripper. The rest of the car I also stripped with the 3m paint and rust stripper, went thru about a dozen or so disks.

[cdr]

glad to see you makin some progress    i too have been gettin some done on my junk

[NHCharger]

Charlie, I've been watching your progress on FB, looking good.

[cdr]

Charlie, I've been watching your progress on FB, looking good.

thanx,glad that you are feeling better also,it sucks when doctors run test after test & cant tell ya whats wrong! i went through that for about 6 years, my wife thought i was crazy------------well she was right lol

[bill440rt]

Looks great, NH! 
What color blue did you go with?

[JB400]

Someone's been busy   Looks great.

[lasvegas69charg]

looks great and love the color.  What color interior are you going with