1968 Charger Restoration - 1970Moparmann

[1970Moparmann]

Thanks guys!  It's getting close....... The plan is to fire it up in 2 weeks.  New 3" exhaust going on next week.

[1970Moparmann]

Well, it roared to life on Tuesday!  After spending a lot of time finishing off the engine components, brakes, clutch, got it running....  A special thanks to Ron and my friend Jon!!!!!  Ron, the engine runs awesome............... Thanks for responding to my million questions over the last year!

Once I get the finishing touches done and new wheels and tires, I'll post many pictures!

[SnoPro440]

It's looking damn nice!   

[twodko]

I'm gettin' a Charger Chubby!       (Yeah, I know - TMI)

Tom

[200MPH]

That is an awesome job!

[Purple68]

Congrats, looks great, have fun drivin it!

[firefighter3931]

Nice work Mike, very inspirational thread....your car is top shelf front to back.  cIt just goes to show that hard work and patience will produce a killer ride ! 

Glad the engine bugs are sorted out. I'm sure that stroker is gonna be a blast to drive 



Ron

[Hemidog]

That 68 looks GREAT! you gotta post more pics, and maybe a video of the engine running? 

[Long Island RT]

That is really, really nice. 

I've gotta get back in the garage...

[tan top]

Well, it roared to life on Tuesday!  After spending a lot of time finishing off the engine components, brakes, clutch, got it running....  A special thanks to Ron and my friend Jon!!!!!  Ron, the engine runs awesome............... Thanks for responding to my million questions over the last year!

Once I get the finishing touches done and new wheels and tires, I'll post many pictures!

that looks nice    good job 

[Silver R/T]

Very nice Charger

[1970Moparmann]

Thanks guys..... 

Once I clean it up a little and work on more of the bugs, I'll be posting many pictures.  It really sucks because I want the new wheels and tires now, but can't swallow the price.  I know I went this far, might as well go all the way........ My credit card bill is wayyyyyyyyyyy to high right now.  Need to have a garage sale! 

Thanks for all the comments. 

[1970Moparmann]

Man o' man, this car has been giving me some stress.  One thing leads into another and on and on.  Well, my goal is to still drive this on the Hot Rod Power Tour, so I have my work cut out for me.  I think I found my over heating issue, bad 440Source water pump housing...... - thanks Ron for finding this out!   

I have got a lot of little issues resolved, and still working on more.  The new water pump housing will be 100% by the weekend, with a lot of the little crap.  Main things outstanding is getting the fuel gauge, sending unit, to work/Over heating issue (hopefully resolved now), BREAK IN!  Need to put some miles on the car before I put on 1,600 on the Tour......   

New wheels and tires coming in a week - can't wait!   Something a little different............ I thought about this combo at the beginning of this build and then nixed it.  Glad I found something that will work!  I'll get a crap load of pictures up in about 10 days! 

Thanks for the support guys.

[Charger-Bodie]

more pics!!!!

[BombSquad]

Great looking car, the paint is flawless...

I would love to see some more pics also, especially of the ghost '68 stripe!

[SFRT]

KILLER!

[1970Moparmann]

Great looking car, the paint is flawless...

I would love to see some more pics also, especially of the ghost '68 stripe!

Thanks!

I'll be posting more pictures very soon.  My new wheels are coming Friday and I'm working on getting the car 100% completed.  More pictures to follow.....

[1970Moparmann]

I've been working on the car, but unfortunately since it's May, I have a crap load of stuff going on.  But, I got the following done-

-Change out crappy 440Source Water Pump Housing - nice and cool now....
-Exhaust is 100%
-Wheels and Tires
-Brakes 100%

I just put on the wheels and tires and have to say Mikey Likey.... I was going to go this route (black wheels) from the beginning, but thought it will be too much black.  Well, I got a stellar deal on this package and had to go with it.  Glad I did, because I love the look!!!

More pictures to follow.

Getting the front end aligned on Wednesday and a friend is doing a tune on it to make it haul ass.   Should be driving it in about a week

[aone415]

Looks sinister Mike... what kind of Wheels are those and what size are you running?

[1970Moparmann]

Looks sinister Mike... what kind of Wheels are those and what size are you running?

They're custom wheels that look like the Torque Thrust D's, but don't have the offset problem.  They're custom made for a place in California, and licensed by American Racing.  Sizes are 17x8 for the front and 17x9 in the rear. 

Tomorrow, I'll be able to get better pictures outside...

Thanks!

[Wicked72]

LOOKS AMAZING!!

[1970Moparmann]

Well, the saga continues....

I went to bring the car to get a front end alignment and while having it run for a short amount of time, the temperature went up AGAIN.... WTF!  I didn't have my laser gun on my so I don't know how hot it really got, but never the less, it went up.  I got a aftermarket temp gauge in it today, but didn't fire it up.  With this, the Power Tour is coming quickly, so I'm going to put a mechanical engine fan with a shroud on the car/make my puller fans into pusher and have a toggle switch under the dash.  If this doesn't help, I'll be cursing the Mopar gods for a long time.  Next problem is my pulley's don't line up worth crap. The March V-belt pulleys I have aren't lining up good, and it would mean going through belts like crazy.  I'm trading out my brackets and working with March on a new Crank pulley.   

Here's a picture of the car right before going on the trailer to get the front end alignment done.  Surprising, with the new lower front end set up, the alignment went well.   

It gives a little better picture of the new shoes on the car.   The car will need hours and hours of cleaning - the love of black needs to be very strong to have the patience of the color.

[1970Moparmann]

Well, I made the Hot Rod Power Tour!!!!

I was still working on the car on Friday night at midnight, but woke up at 5:30 and drove to Iowa to start the tour.   Had a bad voltage regulator on the tour, but outside of that, just some normal issues based on a new restoration. 

Drove home from Bowling Green, KY yesterday and clocked in at 1,600 miles when I pulled into the driveway.   Engine needs some tweaking, but ran strong.  Raced my friend in his new Camaro SS and pulled away strong   That was priceless!!!  The Charger couldn't meet the match of my friend in a 95 Supercharged Vette though   Maybe next year.  Yep, as you can see I built this car to have fun, and that's exactly what I did. 

Here are some better pictures of the car.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

The car looks awesome. 

[69*F5*SE]

The Charger is stunning