New to forum, long time owner

[Railroadrider]

I have a yellow w/black vinyl top coupe. My wife was the original owner. Purchased in February 1970. I still have all the dealer paperwork. She always said I married her for the car. She went to be with our Lord and Savior last February. We were just shy of 45 years. My son and I put the third motor in it back in 2004. 360 bored to 371 (?) Well massaged. Time to update the suspension, brakes and transmission. Also going to go back to 323 gears. I changed it to 276's 35 years in an attempt to gain some fuel economy. Moderate success there but... We have a full Hotchkiss system on order. Probably be ordering the rest in the next three weeks or so. Any suggestions would be great. Oh yeah. Going to do the wheels and tires also. We're thinking 17"? The Keystone Kustom Klassic's, that she picked out 40 years ago, aren't true anymore and 14" rubber is 13 years old so getting kind of stiff. Thought I'd add a picture to show what I lost. That photo of her was at age 50.

 

[moparlee]

Nice story but so sorry for the loss of your wife. Sounds like you had a wonderful relationship for all those years. We are here for support and will help you along the way on your project. And welcome to the site!

 

[DetMatt1]

Welcome to the site from the Motor City! Great story and beautiful car and I too am sorry for the loss of your partner(who was also a stunner)!

 

[moparleo]

Welcome aboard. I like your custom side moldings. Who did them or did you buy them and install them yourself ? What type of bake upgrade do you have planned. I noticed it had drum brakes.

 

[Mopar Nut]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Railroadrider]

Looking seriously at Dr diff setup, front and rear. Thinking to go with the stage 2 front and the 11.7 rear. Any thoughts? Side moldings were done in Denver back in the early 80s at the shop that did the first cancer repair and paint. It spent it's first 4 years in MN and ND. At the time this was our primary vehicle. Anybody have any thoughts on a modern automatic to put in it? Thanks for the comments. Yes, she and the car were both lookers.

 

[DetMatt1]

[QUOTE="Railroadrider, post: 64973, member: 6928] Anybody have any thoughts on a modern automatic to put in it? [/QUOTE]
Have a look at my "Winter Project" thread for a quick rundown of how my 727 was rebuilt. I haven't driven it yet but I'm really looking forward to seeing how it performs.

 

[djais1801]

sorry for your loss, and glad to see you resurrecting your fish. good luck and welcome

 

[340challconvert]

Really sorry for your loss. Tough to lose a life-long friend.
Love the Y1 yellow, looks great.
I have an A66 Challenger in the same color.
Yours looks really good. Is that original paint!
I have a ways to go before my looks as good as yours.
Good luck with the build!

 

[Litchkar]

Welcome from So. Cal. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[Tbone416]

Nice looking car and wife. You are a lucky man.
My condolences on the loss of your wife but it sounds like you have your heart in the right place so you'll be with her again one day. Until that day comes welcome aboard!

 

[Tbone416]

What color is that

 

[Railroadrider]

I believe it's called Y1. It is the original color, or as close as we could get using Imron (?) paint. Other than age we couldn't tell the difference between under the hood and trunk lid and on top of each after all was said and done. The job was done, originally, in Denver in the early 80's due to Minnesota, North Dakota skin cancer and then again in the late 80's.

 

[Railroadrider]

Need some suggestions here. Trying to locate a good supplier of chrome trim. Specifically we need new stuff for the wheel wells and the rear quarter panel inverted sort of "L" got flattened many years ago. Progress report. All of the suspension is now off. Leaf springs were a piece of cake. The axles are out and getting new bearings and RH thread studs put on on both sides. I know, not original but as of this minute the only thing left in the car that's REALLY original is the tranny and that's gonna go too. Getting the pass. side torsion bar out wasn't too bad but the left side, that's another story. We did succeed but it'll never be usable again, not that that really matters. Still trying to decide on wheels. Found Keystone Kustom Klassics are still available, but only in 15". We had kind of hoped to make the move to 17's or 18's but it is awful tempting to go with what she liked so well. The other option is maybe something like the vision wheel 141 legend 5 series. Not necessarily those, but I've seen other brands with the same appearance. Feel free to jump in with opinions. I know I'm jumping around a bit but we've also decided to go ahead with the differential change. Went out for estimates to swap it to either the 323 or 355. Were supposed to hear today but... It's kind of like the suspension stuff that showed up 5 weeks late. Good thing we're not on a tight time schedule.

 

[DetMatt1]

Call David Radcliff over at Roseville Moparts, I get almost everything I need through him.
RosevilleMoparts.com
You should wait to make your gear selection until you know what your wheel and tire combo will be.

 

[wingcarenvy]

Cool Challenger. I am sorry to hear of your loss. I would go with the 15s, itll ride better and with the right tire it will still carve corners with the best of them.