-HOME from paint - FIRST DRIVE!!!!

[ChargedNJ]

Man, that progress is inspiring!  Excellent looking car!!

[projectanimal]

more details on what we've accomplished this Winter/Spring.  We had the front brakes and upper control arms off last fall and were able to scratch a few pennys together at Christmas to spring for a front Disc conversion kit.     once it was warm enough in the garage I jumped into switching out more bushings and while tearing apart the front control arms to work on the strut rods we found the drivers lower control arm to be bent like a banana    I guess this is why it really liked to turn left!   thankfully we were able to find some used lower control arms which had already been box plates and in raw finish.  Painted them up, added new bump stops, new bushings, new torsion bolts, and installed them.  went with new Aluminum strut rods after reading the much debate about them on here.  have spent numerous amounts of paint and under coating to get the inner fenders so look nice and stop any future rust (yeah, I know that's a dream living in the north east)  removed the torsion bars, cleaned, painted, and installed with fresh grease and new dust boots (one was missing so no grease  ).  installed the new disc brakes and booster as well as tightened up the steering a bit.  need to adjust camber and get an alignment. As it sits now it looks ready for Daytona speedway...not a bad thing!     installed new exhaust tips and most of the interior. 
and now for a few shots of the work in progress. 

[lukedukem]

what do you think cuased that arm to get bent like that...

BTW, car is looking good 

luke

[projectanimal]

what do you think cuased that arm to get bent like that...


luke

I can only speculate, but since we have a nice dent in the lower bumper I assume a previous owner ran into something under the car and wiped it out..  there was some welding and other items we've found as we were taking off parts.  only drove down the street a little yesterday but amazing how straight and tight it is now!   

[projectanimal]

outside shots as well as seat belts and seat!!   

[Dino]

Well someone's been busy!

Amazing work my friend.      

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Looking real good!

Man that is one messed up control arm!

[bill440rt]

Atta boy!! 

[ChargedNJ]

I love that seat design, with the many narrow ribs; very cool, classic muscle look!  Are those charger seats?  Custom covers or stock?

[projectanimal]

I love that seat design, with the many narrow ribs; very cool, classic muscle look!  Are those charger seats?  Custom covers or stock?

They are stock 70 seats with new factory correct covers.  It was the nicest part of the car when we picked it up. Rest of car was a shell. Carpet and seats thrown in to look like a car... biggest issue is a little mildew smell as they left the car out side with a smashed rear window and water got in.... been scrubbing and cleaning best we can, but may have to replace the padding at some point.  Love the seats thought. 

[Charger-Bodie]

I love that seat design, with the many narrow ribs; very cool, classic muscle look!  Are those charger seats?  Custom covers or stock?

They are stock 70 seats with new factory correct covers.  It was the nicest part of the car when we picked it up. Rest of car was a shell. Carpet and seats thrown in to look like a car... biggest issue is a little mildew smell as they left the car out side with a smashed rear window and water got in.... been scrubbing and cleaning best we can, but may have to replace the padding at some point.  Love the seats thought. 

Try some tilex mildew removing bathroom cleanser .

[projectanimal]

t. 
[/quote]

Try some tilex mildew removing bathroom cleanser .
[/quote]

Good idea, I'LL See If That Will Help. 

[ChargedNJ]

[/quote]

They are stock 70 seats with new factory correct covers.  It was the nicest part of the car when we picked it up. Rest of car was a shell. Carpet and seats thrown in to look like a car... biggest issue is a little mildew smell as they left the car out side with a smashed rear window and water got in.... been scrubbing and cleaning best we can, but may have to replace the padding at some point.  Love the seats thought. 
[/quote]

LOL, my whole car smells like mildew.  But, wow, great look; i just decided what im doing for my seats! (in 10 years when i get to my interior).  Amazing work.  i love your car.

[projectanimal]

Very exciting day here as we finished the cooling system with a new radiator and hose, bled the system, bled the brakes (after finding leak), and then managed to drive all over town on our temp plates!   It was AMAZING!!   Still have a lot of little items to work on, but we can now call him road worthy.  will work on a little tune up, and line up an alignment, but very happy he went straight and tightly down the road and even took a few sharp turns nice and tight at a high rate of speed.       
a few new pictures... need to load a few videos, and plan to meet up with a buddy who has a 69 Camero for a nice photo shoot.

[NHCharger]

Congrats  .Very nice work. I've put 500 miles on my 68 since the resto. There's a certain feeling of pride/satisfaction you get when you have spent untold hours working on the car and it doesn't breakdown during your initial test runs. 

[projectanimal]

Congrats  .Very nice work. I've put 500 miles on my 68 since the resto. There's a certain feeling of pride/satisfaction you get when you have spent untold hours working on the car and it doesn't breakdown during your initial test runs. 

Amen brothah!  It's been 3 years and SO much further along than we expected.  It was surreal pulling into the local gas station (as we were not sure about our gauge, but it took a whole 4 gallons..lol) and then pull onto main street of our little town to fill the air with sweet sounds of the 440!!       life is good!!!

[bill440rt]

 
Nice Matt, CONGRATS!!!! 

[Ghoste]

Congratulations for sure. 

[Patronus]

A quick 7 pages.
She looks great, I even like the wheels.
Those '70's sure look good, might even trade my '69 for one! 

[Baldwinvette77]

God thats awesome 

[Cooter]

Somethin bout that first cruise...looks awesome Matt.

[RIDELIKEHELL]

 

[projectanimal]

I'm not sure which feels better, the first drive or the 2nd day having him fire right up and run with no leaks!  Was able to get the vin verified this morning (ct law for registering out of state vehicles) and we are one step closer to real plates!  Then the fine tuning can commence.  Interior Is still missing a lot of trim and headliner, but hopefully Santa will be good to us next year.  We don't need door panels to break in our new tires!  I am still shocked how tight and solid he feels around cornes.  Can't a a it to dial in the steering and ride height before we venture to any car shows!    Thank you all for the support and thumbs up while we bring him back on the road.   

[projectanimal]

heres a few from new plate on and wash last night.  compare to when we found him, and the pictures the PO took in 08...    
hopefully these will load in order.... old front vs new...  old rear vs. new.   

[crj1968]

Fantastic car ! Thanks for taking and sharing all those pics!