My 1970 Charger 500 is almost done

[darbgnik]

Just thought I'd do a quick update. I decided to get the shop to repaint the V21 hood treatment, and add the tail strip back on the car before I get it. The delivery truck is tentatively scheduled to pick the car up on June 18th, so I should see the car a week after that. Of course that puts the car arriving while I'm over a thousands miles away, on a 1250 mile offroad motorcycle trek...... figures.

The last pic is my car between the shop owners 442 and his 68. The same 68 I looked at, and said make mine look like that.

[Baldwinvette77]

looks damn good 

[DeltaV]

Nice!!!

[Dodge Don]

Looking great!

[crj1968]

Car looks great !   

275/60/15's on back? 

[darbgnik]

Car looks great !   

275/60/15's on back? 

IIRC, yes. But it's been a few years since I've had my eyes on her!

[darbgnik]

Well, it's finally home! After many years of sitting, job one is getting the oil and coolant swapped, and insurance appraisal so if the unthinkable happens, I actually get something out of it.

First pic is when it arrived, while I was doing an offroad motorcycle trip from Jarbridge Nevada to the Canadian border. Second is sitting on my lift awaiting some love.

[darbgnik]

 I figured I might as well update my own thread with what I've done in the last couple weeks since getting the car home.

Replaced the speakers in the dash with two Focal 4"  speakers where the original dash one was, and two Focal 5x7s in the rear deck lid. Those rears actually give a little mid bass.

Went through a bunch of wiring. Got the hidden headlights working like they should. Replaced the single "on accessory" aftermarket blade style fuse box the previous owner installed with two 6 circuit blocks. One on accessory, and one on constant power.

Dropped the oil and coplant to find out the chrome water neck the last guy installed was made in Taiwan and corroded to all hell inside, gumming up the Thermostat and probably the system. Driving it with a flush agent and water for a while, before putting coolant and water in for good.

Redid the Mopar aluminum valve covers for the third time to stop a major leak onto the drivers side header. Rubber gaskets. Leaked. Moroso blue gaskets. Leaked. Morose blue gaskets and a ton of black RTV. Sealed.

Greased the front end and u joints.

Now just waiting on parts for the drivers window slider on the front edge and 316 u joints to install the 3.55 center section with the larger yoke vs what's in there now.

It's great to something to fiddle with..

[lukedukem]

I too had a chrome thermostat housing, and it started leaking. Went back to factory.

Are your tires lettering green to match the paint or just off white. I can't tell cause I'm color deficient
And are your rims 15x7 all around? Or 15x8 in rear
Really like the build. Can't wait for efi stuff.

Luke

[darbgnik]

I too had a chrome thermostat housing, and it started leaking. Went back to factory.

Are your tires lettering green to match the paint or just off white. I can't tell cause I'm color deficient
And are your rims 15x7 all around? Or 15x8 in rear
Really like the build. Can't wait for efi stuff.

Luke

Luckily, I just measured the rears today when I had one off looking at the axle preload adjustor. They're 8" with 275/60R15. Also the front tires are 255/60R15 and they look right.

The lettering is actually yellow. Old Nascar style Goodyear's. They're old but surprisingly not all cracked up yet.  They haven't made those in years.

I've got a bunch of little things to finish up before I rip the whole fuel system out for EFI. But she'll get it eventually.

[Kern Dog]

The chrome water necks always seem to leak after a short time. I'm about 100% sure that they are CHEAP Chinese pot metal that fatigues under the heat of the coolant. They develop an actual arch in the middle. I dressed one with a belt sander 2 different times before I tossed that Chinkenese piece of shit into the trash.

[CDN72SE]

Love the look, beautiful car, definitely a lot of excellent work done  

[darbgnik]

The chrome water necks always seem to leak after a short time. I'm about 100% sure that they are CHEAP Chinese pot metal that fatigues under the heat of the coolant. They develop an actual arch in the middle. I dressed one with a belt sander 2 different times before I tossed that Chinkenese piece of shit into the trash.

Yeah, it sucks that so much is made in China these days. So much so, that you actually have to recalibrate yourself to it. I bought a MAC Tools electronic caliper set the other day, to replace a cheap one I have, and............ made in China. Not surprisingly, when the replacement non chrome water neck showed up....... Made in China. Hopefully it's that elusive good Chinese shit.

[tan top]

  looks good 

[nvrbdn]

Looks awesome. Great job.

[GreenMachine]

I figured I might as well update my own thread with what I've done in the last couple weeks since getting the car home.

Replaced the speakers in the dash with two Focal 4"  speakers where the original dash one was, and two Focal 5x7s in the rear deck lid. Those rears actually give a little mid bass.

Went through a bunch of wiring. Got the hidden headlights working like they should. Replaced the single "on accessory" aftermarket blade style fuse box the previous owner installed with two 6 circuit blocks. One on accessory, and one on constant power.

Dropped the oil and coplant to find out the chrome water neck the last guy installed was made in Taiwan and corroded to all hell inside, gumming up the Thermostat and probably the system. Driving it with a flush agent and water for a while, before putting coolant and water in for good.





Redid the Mopar aluminum valve covers for the third time to stop a major leak onto the drivers side header. Rubber gaskets. Leaked. Moroso blue gaskets. Leaked. Morose blue gaskets and a ton of black RTV. Sealed.

Greased the front end and u joints.

Now just waiting on parts for the drivers window slider on the front edge and 316 u joints to install the 3.55 center section with the larger yoke vs what's in there now.

It's great to something to fiddle with..

I used Prestone coolant system flush on and old engine, followed the directions, and it seemed to work very good. After that I put in some fresh 50/50 and  about 200 miles later my new water pump gave out and started spewing from the weep hole. This was a name brand aluminum water pump. Might just be a coincidence, but something to look out for.

[Kern Dog]

You are making "Green" cool again. I like the look of the car with the wheels too, sort of a street brawler/nascar vibe....

[darbgnik]

I figured I might as well update my own thread with what I've done in the last couple weeks since getting the car home.

Replaced the speakers in the dash with two Focal 4"  speakers where the original dash one was, and two Focal 5x7s in the rear deck lid. Those rears actually give a little mid bass.

Went through a bunch of wiring. Got the hidden headlights working like they should. Replaced the single "on accessory" aftermarket blade style fuse box the previous owner installed with two 6 circuit blocks. One on accessory, and one on constant power.

Dropped the oil and coplant to find out the chrome water neck the last guy installed was made in Taiwan and corroded to all hell inside, gumming up the Thermostat and probably the system. Driving it with a flush agent and water for a while, before putting coolant and water in for good.





Redid the Mopar aluminum valve covers for the third time to stop a major leak onto the drivers side header. Rubber gaskets. Leaked. Moroso blue gaskets. Leaked. Morose blue gaskets and a ton of black RTV. Sealed.

Greased the front end and u joints.

Now just waiting on parts for the drivers window slider on the front edge and 316 u joints to install the 3.55 center section with the larger yoke vs what's in there now.

It's great to something to fiddle with..

I used Prestone coolant system flush on and old engine, followed the directions, and it seemed to work very good. After that I put in some fresh 50/50 and  about 200 miles later my new water pump gave out and started spewing from the weep hole. This was a name brand aluminum water pump. Might just be a coincidence, but something to look out for.

Thanks for the experience. I'll keep an eye on it. But looking at the gunk on the old thermostat, I'm stuck flushing it anyways.

[darbgnik]

You are making "Green" cool again. I like the look of the car with the wheels too, sort of a street brawler/nascar vibe....

Yeah man. That's the same thought I have of how it turned out.

Those old 15s don't exactly handle turns or acceleration that well, but man, do they ever handle potholes! Lol.

[darbgnik]

Figured I'd post a few pics along with this and the last update.

Got the 4.10 third member swapped out to a 3.55 last night with the help of a buddy. Overall a pretty straight forward job really. Didn't even make that much of a mess cracking the case open. Seeing as I had to replace the rear u joint with a 316 instead of the combo that was on there, I replaced the front as well. I ordered a C clamp type ball joint press off of Amazon a couple days before, and it might have been the best hundred bucks I've ever spent. Pushed those old and new u joints like butter. The only shitty thing was that I chipped a tooth on the ring gear in old third member laying on the lift tray, rendering that whole unit basically a case and a sure grip. 

What I will say is that I really like the improvement the 3.55's make. Sure, it neutered the car a little off the line, but I can actually cruise at 60 mph now without spinning the life out of the engine. Second and third gear actually make sense now for normal driving, without being too much of a dog.

Also posting the pics of the new Grant leather wrapped "Tuff like" steering wheel and custom plate for the two 4" speakers in the dash made of expanded ABS so it wont soften up like the last wooden plate I made.

[cdr]

 

[darbgnik]

Not much to report this week, save a new set of fan belts, no help from the parts counter in finding the correct ones. But I got to take her out and enjoy the old girl a bit last night. There's been a heat wave of sorts up here, well, hot for this far north anyways..... But makes for great evenings.

Surprisingly, my girlfriend actually loves being in this old, loud, squeaky dashed, dinosaur. I think she thinks it's as cool as I do.

[imabozo]

Your profile says Alberta, but I could've swore the pic with your car at the shop was in Newfoundland. I saw a green '70 parked by it a few years back. Maybe I'm hallucinating.

[Simonic]

This is a really interesting thread.Thank you for sharing your experience with us 

[darbgnik]

Your profile says Alberta, but I could've swore the pic with your car at the shop was in Newfoundland. I saw a green '70 parked by it a few years back. Maybe I'm hallucinating.

You're not hallucinating. The shop I used was a family friends. Cranfords Auto Body in Roaches Line.