origonal owner 73 Rallye

burdar · Jul 29, 2009

Thanks Mike. Accually Best of Show is NOT going to the Nats this year. They went to Carlisle instead. Tim is going to be at the show on Saturday though.

I'm leaving next Wednesday after work for Ohio. I'm going to swing up through Cleveland and see the car before going down to Columbus.

burdar · Aug 4, 2009

Well, here are the most recent pics that I have. I'm going out to Ohio Wednesday night to look at the car before going to the Mopar Nationals.

I'm hoping the car is painted. If it is, I'll have some new pics to show.

These pictures show the front fenders are on as well as the hood and trunk lid. The car was almost ready for primer in these pictures.

ramenth · Oct 12, 2009

Gorgeous project!

ramenth · Jan 1, 2010

How's the project coming? Anything new for us to drool over?

CoronetRTguy · Jan 1, 2010

Wow what a story on the car and to own your dads car and still be in the originals hands and family is just awesome.

I cant wait to see it done and it looks like they are doing a great job.

I had a stroke a few years ago when I was going to get Totaly Auto to finish my R/T up. That was put on hold and now the car sets and its going on now seven years.

This just gave me a little more get up and go to get this project done.

Keep us posted and cant wait to see the end result and you on the raod.

burdar · Jan 4, 2010

I have a few more pics to post. Not very many body pics but I have a few.

I went and saw the car in August and nothing else had been done to the Challenger. The shop had been working hard on completing a 1970 Firebird that they were taking to the Pontiac Nats in Norwalk Ohio. That was the same weekend as the Mopar Nats. That car came out great. They were finishing up the final touches when I saw it. They ended up taking 1st place with it. Normally GM cars don't do anything for me...I think a lot of it has to do with the black engine compartments...but that Firebird was really nice.

Well, here's the story on the car as it sits now...The guys that were working on the car were new to the shop. They did good work but didn't work fast enough to stay ahead.(they don't work there anymore) The total estimate for the entire job was used up in just the metalwork. The restoration manager(Tim) said that his estimate was accurate...the guys just didn't work fast enough. Since that was the shops issue and not an issue with the car itself, Tim said that he would stick to his origonal estimate. The problem though was that Tim would have to finish the car himself on his own time so the shop could consentrate on other cars. That's why things are taking so long. Not to mension the fact that they just moved the bodyshop into the old showroom and had to reorganise everything.

Tim is going a great job and I know he is the right person for this job. He's helped me out with some things that no one else would have.(You'll see when I post pics) I wish the car was back home but I'd rather have it done right instead of fast.

I've been keeping busy with some of the smaller components. I'll try and post some of those pics too.

Backtobasics · Jan 4, 2010

Congrats on the progress, and a job well done. It sounds like you are going the right way for the right reasons.

burdar · Jan 4, 2010

Here's some more of the bodywork.

Tim is a perfectionist. Once he started working on the car himself, he decided that there was a little too much filler on the car. Since he doesn't paint over anyone elses work, he completely stripped the car back down to bare metal.

I didn't mension it before but lower door skins were installed to fix some rust as well as an old repair that was done in the late 70's. You can see the repair in this first picture.

Back tracking a little bit, here are two pics of the new full quarters. They are Goodmarks. They didn't need a lot of work but did need some. The fuel filler hole isn't stamped deep enough. That area needed some work so the fuel cap would fit the body. There was also a small bodyline issue that needed some attension tward the back of the car. All things considered, the Goodmark quarters fit very well. They are a little thinner gauge than stock but undercoating was sprayed on them inside the trunk for added durability and protection...just like the factory did. Unlike the old quarter skins, the Goodmark quarters are really good in the side marker light area.

Tim insisted on having all the parts that would be installed on the quarters so he could make sure everything fit properly. I purchased all new wheelwell trim as well as the tail panel trim. I bought new side marker lights and sent the bumpers and fuel filler kneck/cap. All those parts were fitted to the car before paint.

burdar · Jan 4, 2010

The replacement front fenders that I had purchased were rust free but had seen better days. The drivers side fender had some accident damage around the side marker. I didn't know it at the time but the accident had also sprung the fender and it was way out of wack. The passengers fender had a lot of small dents and dings in it.

After trying to fit the fenders to the car, the decition was made to use a pair of new Goodmark fenders. That may or may not have been a good choise but that's what was used.

The Goodmark fenders needed a lot of work. The passengers lower body line was a half inch off. The fender had to be sectioned so the bodyline would match the door.

The other issue was how the fenders matched the contour of the hood. The hood hinges were sent out for a rebuild first, then installed on the car. With the hood adjusted as far down as possible, the fenders still sat 3/16" lower than the hood at the rear. Tim cut both fenders open along the top where they meet the hood. He then lifted the top of the fenders up inline with the hood and welded the gap closed. This allowed him to line up the fenders with the hood but also let him adjust the hood to fender gap at the same time.

Here are some pictures of the welding rod that was used to close the gap created by cutting open the fenders.

burdar · Jan 4, 2010

The end result is roughly a 3/16" gap between the hood and the fenders. All of the gaps were done this way. Welding rod was welded to the front of the doors and to the sides of the trunk lid to get all the gaps the same.

burdar · Jan 5, 2010

The area that Tim really helped me out with was the trunk lid. I bought a rust free 70-71 style lid years ago before new ones were being made. The outside of the lids are the same from 70-74 but the inner structure changed. 70-71 lids have holes in the framing for mounting the different spoilers that were available in those years. Since there were no spoilers available in 72-74, those lids don't have any of the extra holes in them.

For some reason, those extra holes really started to bother me. I had an extra trunk lid lying around that was the 72-74 style but it was rusty in the back lip area. Someone had also installed an aftermarket spoiler on it at some point, so there were four holes drilled in the top of it. I called Tim and asked how much money it would take to weld up the extra holes in the deck lid. I told him that he could cut up the extra lid to use for parts.

Tim said it would be pretty time consuming and it would be more cost effective to just buy a new lid without the holes in it. The problem was that he had already fit the 70-71 style lid to the car and had welded rods to it to even out the gaps. If I bought a new lid, he would have to re-gap the lid and basically start over. I told him not to bother and I would live with it. If anyone came up to me at a carshow and said the wrong trunk lid was on the car...I'd just tell them to mind their own business.

Well, a few days later on a Saturday, I got an e-mail from Tim. He said that he was having a good day in the shop and decided to fill in all those extra holes for me. He didn't want anyone to question the trunk lid so he just cranked up the 80's music and started welding. The best part was that he wasn't going to charge me for it. He said it was the least he could do since I was having to wait so long to get the car back.

Section of the junk lid was cut out to use on the good one.

Small holes already filled in on the good lid and the latch area cut out.

New piece welded to the trunk lid.

Finished lid mounted on the car.

ramenth · Jan 5, 2010

Moving right along for a man who decided to bring it down and basically start over again. Good for him and good for you. The time he's taking must give you a peace of mind. Don't know if he'll appreciate it or not, but give him a pat on the back from a former pro restorer.

burdar · Jan 8, 2010

The work he's doing must give you a peace of mind.

There, I fixed it for you...

Accually, I'm glad he's taking the time to do it right but I'm getting itchy. I really want it home. It's hard spending time and money on all the smaller components when you don't have the body in your possesion.

Here are just a few things I've been working on.

trans linkage before

trans linkage after

vapor separator before

vapor separator cleaned and all pin holes brazed

vapor separator smoothed and painted

headlight buckets before cleaning

headlight buckets after hours of cleaning and paint marks reapplied.

burdar · Jan 8, 2010

My wiper motor is being rebuilt by Jules Daddio and I sent the brake booster to Booster Dewey.

I have the heater box all apart and am about half way through its rebuild. I bought a gasket kit from Detroit Muscle Technologies for the build. The blower motor is apart for inspection and painting too.

I have the motor housings painted gloss black but I should have thinned the paint a little. There are brush lines all the way around the housing. I think I'm going to bead blast them again and start over.

Once the wiper motor and booster come back, I'll be sending the origonal Carter 2-barrel out to Scott Smith for a rebuild and replate.

ramenth · Jan 8, 2010

Yeah, I can see where not having it home can get you antsy. I spent a lot of time bringing a '57 Chevy convertible back to life for a gentleman who lives near me. The time it was taking was killing him, but once he saw the detail work involved and the time it took to get everything right, he was a little more patient. He thought it would be a matter of a few hours to put the quarters on. Once the quarters came off and everything underneath had to be cleaned, prepped, and painted before the quarters went on he understood that it wasn't a quick fix.

It killed me on the Bel Air having to do it all. Don't get me wrong: I loved every minute of it. But for all the hours spent doing the very small things it just seemed like I was spinning my wheels not accomplishing much. Not like putting the body together. At the end of the day when the quarters were on I could see that the quarters were on. At the end of the day when I was done acid dipping the tranny linkage and the parking brake linkage and the parking brake lever, etc, it seemed like that's all I had: a bunch of acid dipped parts and jigsaw to have to put together.