IT RUNS NOW! AWESOME FEELING Update w/pics 3/19/13

[charge69]

Just a couple more pics from today, 4-13-13. 

[bsakal]

Holy canolli that's beautiful! 

[charge69]

It's going to be fun times ahead!  Thanks for the reply.

[charge69]

Thanks for all the positive replies, members and it will be a good summer.

To Bzabodyn about the headers: The headers really add HP to the build and are fairly painless to install but, after they are installed, they are a PITA to work around if you have any issues with the lower end! I just packaged up my original exhaust manifolds and put them away but, if I were you, I would forget about switching between stock and TTi headers as it would be a major headache! No  provision for a heat tube for the choke on the TTi's either and you would lose a couple of other "correct" factory parts. I am happy with them but, I would NOT enjoy switching them for factory manifolds regularly! I love them but, they are on there for the long term.

P.S. None of the "usual suspects" of the clique here have posted in my thread and I am lovin' it. Just goes to prove my point I, and others, made earlier! Ha!

MY Charger is done the way I wanted it to be finished and it is Awesome!

[FlatbackFanatic]

It looks great, have fun!!

[charge69]

Thankyou, I plan to FBF! I hope your Charger is as much fun as mine! I like the "flat black" look also!

[DadsCharger00]

WOW...... AMAZING CAR 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Oh my Carl, how did I miss this one!?!?   She is looking GREAT!   That R6 is to die for.   When my R/T goes back under the knife one day, the original R6 will be put back on.  Stellar job!! 

[charge69]

Thank you sir,  It has been a long journey getting the Charger to where it is now. Also, a LOT of money that I have been blessed to have, has been thrown at it but, it has all been worth it!  Thanks again for the compliments, Dadscharger00 !

[charge69]

 While I was typing my reply to Dadscharger00, you posted your reply!  Thank you, sir, for the reply and, yes, it is stunning in person! Thanks again for the compliments, Just 6T9 CHGR.  It means a lot!

[dyslexic teddybear]

MY Charger is done the way I wanted it to be finished and it is Awesome!

Well put. It's your car.

I do not judge others cars, so others have no reason to judge mine.

It is an awesome car! The color......is making me rethink red. With the interior/top/stripe

[charge69]

Thanks friend!   I go to few car shows but the ones I attended, before and in the future, are to see how others finished their car and enjoy talking to them and watching the pride in their ride show in their face! People are genuinely happy to talk about their cars no matter what make they are.

I know my ride is a fairly rare beast as it still has the original motor and drivetrain except the tranny must have been replaced before I acquired the car. The tranny (727 auto) has the identification pad but, it was never machined and, obviously, no numbers are stamped there. Possible it is the original as it is date-coded Dec 18,1968 and has the correct one-year-only (1969) part number but, it's just as possible it was replaced early in its' life.  It is not important to me now as it has all been rebuilt and no longer original anyway.

I used to drive this car all around here (north Houston) when I first bought the car (1976) and had a ball doing it. Can't tell you how many times I got "curbed" by people wanting to look at the Charger and making offers, even back then. I put it away for good to be restored sometime in my future in 1982 and it has taken this long (numerous life-changing situations later) to get it restored like I want it. It is now a great looking car to me and everyone that sees it. A lot of people are actually afraid to touch it now it looks so good. Ha! I'm gonna drive the snot out of it!

[DadsCharger00]

Dreams occasionally become reality.  It's rare.  Not just the car,  but the reality of the car.  These cars, can do many things.  Bring families together...... and tear Em apart.   Make friends,   make enemies.   But the whole idea of these cars, and the most important factor involved in these cars, is how they make US feel.  It's how ya feel when ya open the garage door and see her parked there.   It's the memories they spark. The stories they remind us of.  At some point, it's not about anyone else.. It's about you and the car. She's amazing sir.  Congrats on her and doing it your way.   

[charge69]

Thanks for the kind words and, yes, it is like a dream-come-true to have it back on the road.

This year started out rough as my wife got very sick in late-Jan. and, unrelated to being sick except for the timing, had to have hand surgery in early Feb. that kept her out of the game , even up to now as she just had another surgery yesterday. This was on her right hand and kept her from using it at all for more than 2 months now. She is right-handed so, a lot of things fell on me to do and it was tough on both of us. I managed to work on the Charger a little but left most of the work to be done by my friend and restorer. He did a fantastic job and I will be eternally grateful to him. My medical problems made him not trust me to do much finish work anyway so he would not have to do it over! Ha!

Keep your head down and go forward and you too will get there eventually.

[dyslexic teddybear]

I don't think I could drive the snot out of an original Hemi.....

I know that's what it was made for. Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing you, and I do like to see them driven. It's just from a history standpoint, I can't do it. Maybe a better way to explain it.....I have some tools that passed to me from my grandfathers, father, and brother. I still use them, but so, so carefully. I really can not stand the thought of losing the history. I'd do the same with an original hemi.
So the answer for me.....non-original hemi. Then I won't feel guilty about exercising it properly. Non-original......may as well make it a stroker. And then.....you know how that goes.
In the meantime, I have a Challenger to do. I got that car in 77, parked in 85. Needed a family rig.....and wisely kept it. Needs a lotta work, hope to start this fall.
Seems we have some other things in common too. I feel for your wife, as my lady had knee replacement surgery 6 weeks ago. So I know some of what you both are going thru. Mine's doing well, and I hope your wife is doing as well too.
Again, congratulations on an awesome hemicar.

[charge69]

I understand your reasoning. The Charger sat in my garage for more than 25 years before I could start on the restoration and when the bores were miked, the motor needed to be bored 0.0030 to be right. I put custom JE forged pistons in it and had them made at 11 to 1 compression then had Manley H-Beam rods, SS Manley valves with hardened seats, ARP bolts throughout the motor and a special CompCams hydraulic roller cam installed with new OEM rocker arms. All original parts to the motor was saved.

This motor's bottom end is an 8000rpm motor easily but the digital-6 RPM limiter is set at 6000 so, I am not worried at all about the motor or its' bottom end. I suppose, something could happen to the car but, I just have to drive it like I did when I got it.

[dyslexic teddybear]

Not quite your normal OEM hemi spec motor is it.....

Drive it. Enjoy it. Then enjoy it some more.

My Challenger, a 73 Rallye 340 4 speed will likely be somewhat close to stock, kinda going for a nice cruiser. About like it was back in the day.
Not sure just how, leaning to an aero clone, but I will have a hemi after the Challenger is done. One I will not be afraid of........hurting.
So I get if that's the way you drove your hemi before, drive it that way now. After all, that IS what it was built for.

[cdr]

DRIVE IT 

[charge69]

In the "old days" as we call them, actually just the mid to late '70's, I drove it aggressively all over town and did not wory about it. Stoplight drags were common and it had blown-out glasspacks on it making it LOUD. When I started it in the garage, the whols house would rattle! Never raced it top-end, though because I was aittle afraid of the brakes at top speeds. It has 3" manual-drum brakes on it from the factory. Right now, they stop the Charger surprisingly well. Better than I remember but they are completely rebuilt ,front and back!

Quick story .... I was down around Crosstimbers road (near northside of Houston) at an eastbound light and my good friend that had a '72 454 corvette that he let me drive also was driving and we realized we were in the wrong lane to go north on I-45. We needed to move over one lane to get in a turning lane although we were 1st in our lane at the light . Immediately next to us were two ladies in a Ford LTD chatting and not noticing us but we needed their lane when the light turned. Well, the light turned green and my buddy treated it as a "Christmas Tree" light and floored the Charger as soon as the light turned. The look of horror and surprise was priceless as the Charger lept ahead of them. We laughed sooooo hard at the look on their faces but both agreed we felt bad about scaring them so bad. They were just oblivious to us before the light turned! Man. did the old girl hook-up right!

I won't be doing stunts like that again but, I WILL have some fun.

[charge69]

To Just 6T9 CHGR :  Painting a car these days, especially single-stage acrylic enamel, has begun to be A major operation! My paint store had to call Corporate hdqrs. to try to find the right formula for R6 Red as they did not have it in their computer and could not find it anywhere. They eventually found it and mixed us up some but that was only because my friend knew the man at the paint store. They really were not supposed to sell this particular paint to us as it was not supposed to be available to the general public anymore!

The paint is actually classified as an industrial paint now,probably for "green earth"reasons and is not generally available to the public but he sold it to us. Middle of the road paint but used 4 gallons at $600.00 per gallon. He (My restorer and painter also bought a paint gun there for about $700.00 also.) Then there were all the supplies needed to get the body ready for paint! We went through hundreds of dollars worth of tools and supplies quickly! As you can see, it gets expensive real quick and my paint is not the most expensive you can buy by any means.  Anyway, the paint is wet-sanded and buffed now and it is as shiny as a base coat/clear coat job but can be touched up or repaired much easier.

If you ever plan to go back to the color on the fendertag, better hurry if you are going acrylic enamel!

[GOTWING]

 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

To Just 6T9 CHGR :  Painting a car these days, especially single-stage acrylic enamel, has begun to be A major operation! My paint store had to call Corporate hdqrs. to try to find the right formula for R6 Red as they did not have it in their computer and could not find it anywhere. They eventually found it and mixed us up some but that was only because my friend knew the man at the paint store. They really were not supposed to sell this particular paint to us as it was not supposed to be available to the general public anymore!

The paint is actually classified as an industrial paint now,probably for "green earth"reasons and is not generally available to the public but he sold it to us. Middle of the road paint but used 4 gallons at $600.00 per gallon. He (My restorer and painter also bought a paint gun there for about $700.00 also.) Then there were all the supplies needed to get the body ready for paint! We went through hundreds of dollars worth of tools and supplies quickly! As you can see, it gets expensive real quick and my paint is not the most expensive you can buy by any means.  Anyway, the paint is wet-sanded and buffed now and it is as shiny as a base coat/clear coat job but can be touched up or repaired much easier.

If you ever plan to go back to the color on the fendertag, better hurry if you are going acrylic enamel!

Wow!  Sadly I dont think a resto is any where in the near future! 

[charge69]

Well,  you have a beautifully restored Charger even if it is not the color on the fendertag.  Kinda goes like restoring the way YOU want, doesn't it? Ha! I would not worry about it one bit. Like I said, your car is a stunning example of a restored Charger anyway!

[Just 6T9 CHGR]