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Project 73-2-70 Resto mod Challenger

DrEamer

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I'm just really catching up the last year and a half of my Challenger project. My Challenger is a 1973, that I am converting into a 1970 tribute. Therefore the project name 73-2-70. Part of the reason for the year switch is that I like the 1970 better, but also because the 1970 has some much more available aftermarket wise. The other reason I wanted a 1970, is that I had a 70 over 30 years ago, that I bought as a project and never really worked on. I felt bad about never finishing it. It is the one car in my life that I wished I had kept. My other Challenger was a 1972, if I had found a 1972-1974 complete I would not have chanced the year. My current car was bought as a shell on eBay with no nose pieces. It is a 318 base car, so the conversion seemed to make more sense. So, with that said, time for pictures and explanations.

This is a picture from the eBay listing. The car was listed on Craigslist for a long time, and also on eBay 3 times. The first two auctions were with a reserve, and the last one was without. I had watched the auctions and noticed the bidding did not go very high. I think the car not being complete, plus the fact that it was in the Pacific Northwest made shipping cost a deterrent to a lot of buyers.

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I had to have it shipped, but it was only 250 miles away, so not to bad. The driver was really a pretty cool guy. He said that a lot of people were giving him the thumbs up while bringing it down. He even had a couple of guys asking questions about it at a gas station.
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A few more pictures from the eBay listing, to show what I stated with. The owner had started the project. They had car blasted, and patch panel installed. The car was from California, with no rust in the frame rails or quarters. The patchwork itself was only sections, not complete panels. It structurally sound work, and in places that will be covered in the trunk and floor. Since this is not a numbers matching car, I did not want to redo everything.
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I had 3 trips into Washington to get parts. One was a large parts lot, that I have been able to get some parts from, and sell some other things off to help pay for other parts.
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I bought this 1993 dodge D-200 for the engine and transmission. The 5.9 Magnum has the advantage of a hydraulic roller cam, but the big draw for me,is the A-518 overdrive trans.
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I am adding a stiffing kit to help with handling. Also, I changed to core support to accept the larger 26 inch radiator.
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DrEamer

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Since last October, the car has been in the paint shop. Here are some pictures as the project has progressed.
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DrEamer

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She's home from the paint shop. Very happy with how it turned out!!
 

DetMatt1

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Is it just me? I don’t see the pics in the first post but I watched the vid and the car looks fantastic!:thumbsup:
 

DrEamer

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Is it just me? I don’t see the pics in the first post but I watched the vid and the car looks fantastic!:thumbsup:

I can't edit my first post, but will reload the pictures to show what I started with.

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DrEamer

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Will the interior be all ‘70 style too? What are the plans for the 5.9?

The plan for the interior is so far is to do it mostly as a '70. It will not be exact, but most things will at least Challenger correct. Little details like using the '71-74 console are things most will have to do for now to keep cost down. Also, I plan on putting in SE style salt and pepper cloth insert seats. The idea is to have it look fairly correct, while making it a better driver without sacrificing the original feel of the car. As for the 5.9, I'm still working that one out. I am going to run a Holley Sniper fuel injection system on it because once it is under the air cleaner, it looks like a carb. Again trying to keep the feel of the car. The one thing that will give it away is using the serpentine belt system that came with it.
 

DrEamer

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Close to a year without an update, so time for a little catch up. I posted this on another forum, and might as well do it here as well.

I snapped a few pictures of things that I have been working on.

First a pic of the day it came out of the paint shop

Second is the short block, which is a 5.9 Magnum based 408 stroker

Third is the Go Wing that I installed

Forth is the new 1964-67 B body 8 3/4 housing , with new springs, and mock up for the calipers for the rear disk brakes

Fifth is just some undercoating I have done so far.

Sixth is the the plate that I made to get rid of the trunk torsion rods, and convert to modern gas strut rods.

The last one is the motor mounts that I modified with a counter sunk bolt to keep it from ripping apart.

So there you have it for now, just a bunch of little projects.

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