(pics) Finished the interior this weekend...dial-up beware...

[volk68]

The headliner wasn't enough, so my brother and I busted our humps and finished off the interior this weekend.  Lots of late nights this past week, but I think it payed off.  Keep in mind the pictures are taken in really low light, which really exagerates the dust on the lens of the camera.  Here are the before and afters:

When she first came home:



Hhhhmmmm...sheet metal door panels and busted up consoles:



Dissasembled and painted with new dash cap:



Installing the new headliner:



New door panels...yeah!



New Stereo:



Custom fabricated package shelf and speakers:



The completed interior:

[plum500]

Nice job man. Nice.

[PocketThunder]

How did you get that tac in there?

Looks good!

[4402tuff4u]

Very nice job! Nice labor of love - big difference between before and after.....hopefully I'll be doing that sometime soon.

[69charger2002]

looks awesome!
trav

[Telvis]

Very nice! The dash looks great.

[700HPCharger]

Looks great!

[Dave22443]

Whats that on the center console?  My first thought was power window switches, but its got hand cranks and Charger didn't have power window switches on the console.  Then I thought, maybe its a cell phone just sitting there, but is that a wire running from it to under the dash?

I'm confused.  (which is easy to do BTW)

[Recharger]

Looks good volk!     How did you do the chrome trim around your bezels & dash panels?  Did you have them chromed or just paint it silver?

Whats that on the center console? 

I think it's an ipod...

[tan top]

looks good

[marangen]

Impressive!

Yes - what is that tachy there?

I want the same!

who is best to reface gauges (assume that has been done), and to do new white lettering on dash "outer" panels.

Chrome bezels - are not part of dash "outer" panels - but on the gauges themselves - someone already asked how that was done....

I'm curious as well!

[6pkrunner]

Very nice rejuevination. Looks terrific.

[volk68]

Whats that on the center console?  My first thought was power window switches, but its got hand cranks and Charger didn't have power window switches on the console.  Then I thought, maybe its a cell phone just sitting there, but is that a wire running from it to under the dash?

I'm confused.  (which is easy to do BTW)

It is my iPod.  The stereo has an aux input and the iPod jacks right in. 

[volk68]

Impressive!

Yes - what is that tachy there?

I want the same!

who is best to reface gauges (assume that has been done), and to do new white lettering on dash "outer" panels.

Chrome bezels - are not part of dash "outer" panels - but on the gauges themselves - someone already asked how that was done....

I'm curious as well!

Here is the lowdown on the tach.  It is an Autometer unit that is basically the identicle size of the original clock.  It only had a clock, which was, of course, completely non-functional.   I really wanted a tach, but didn't want to spend the outrageous sums of money people are asking for Tic-Toc reproductions.  My Dad and brother surprised me with the tach for Christmas.  They took a wholesaw and cut out the back of the clock perch and the tach slid right in.  It requires a little creativity to get it secured in the cluster, but once you get it right, it is really solid and looks fantastic.  It does illuminate brighter than the rest of the gauges at night, but it isn't distracting...at least not to me.

As to the actual restoring of the dash itself, I did all the work on that.  I purchased gauge face decals (can't remember the name of the company...they are online...sure someone else here knows) and installed them myself.  I painted the dash, the corduroy looking faceplates, the silver rings and white letters on the switches by hand.  It took a lot of slow, methodical work, but it really turned out nice.  If you want your dash face custom restored by a professional, I believe autoinstruments.com can handle all the vacuum plating and can sand and repaint your faces if you are looking for concourse quality.  It is very expensive though, and I believe there is a rather long waiting list.  The way I did it isn't concourse quality, but it looks great for a driver and cost me about $20 total.  Also, all the gauges and gauge lights work great.  I am really pleased with how it all turned out.

[BigBlockSam]

great job i think it looks sweet!

[4402tuff4u]

Impressive!

Yes - what is that tachy there?

I want the same!

who is best to reface gauges (assume that has been done), and to do new white lettering on dash "outer" panels.

Chrome bezels - are not part of dash "outer" panels - but on the gauges themselves - someone already asked how that was done....

I'm curious as well!

Here is the lowdown on the tach.  It is an Autometer unit that is basically the identicle size of the original clock.  It only had a clock, which was, of course, completely non-functional.   I really wanted a tach, but didn't want to spend the outrageous sums of money people are asking for Tic-Toc reproductions.  My Dad and brother surprised me with the tach for Christmas.  They took a wholesaw and cut out the back of the clock perch and the tach slid right in.  It requires a little creativity to get it secured in the cluster, but once you get it right, it is really solid and looks fantastic.  It does illuminate brighter than the rest of the gauges at night, but it isn't distracting...at least not to me.

As to the actual restoring of the dash itself, I did all the work on that.  I purchased gauge face decals (can't remember the name of the company...they are online...sure someone else here knows) and installed them myself.  I painted the dash, the corduroy looking faceplates, the silver rings and white letters on the switches by hand.  It took a lot of slow, methodical work, but it really turned out nice.  If you want your dash face custom restored by a professional, I believe autoinstruments.com can handle all the vacuum plating and can sand and repaint your faces if you are looking for concourse quality.  It is very expensive though, and I believe there is a rather long waiting list.  The way I did it isn't concourse quality, but it looks great for a driver and cost me about $20 total.  Also, all the gauges and gauge lights work great.  I am really pleased with how it all turned out.

You did a wonderful job in my opinion and shows the rest of the Charger enthusiasts that not every restoration aspect of this hobby needs to cost big money! again, nice job 

[BigBlockSam]

not every restoration aspect of this hobby needs to cost big money! again, nice job   

[pete]

The tach looks great!  I did something similar to mine.  See below....  My dad calls it a restoWRECKtion....

[volk68]

I like your setup, Pete.  I considered doing the same thing you did at first, but decided to keep as much original equipment in the dash as I could (save the tach, of course).  Yours looks great