1970 Challenger Convertible - New Member

[adabrams]

My wife and I bought our 1970 Challenger in 2021 from an old guy who had let it sit for, well, too many years. It's an original Plum Crazy car that someone had painted reddish orange. The original 318 is in my garage, as well as a lot of parts we are going to use or replace. In 2023, we gutted it, pressure washed it and took it to a friend with new metal (AMD fenders, floor pans, trunk pan, rear quarters). Two+ years later, the body is in great shape, plus we added a new firewall, frame rails, and other miscellaneous weak, rusted, or totally gone pieces and parts to start the rebuild. My father-in-law has been rebuilding Mopars (mainly) since sometime in the early 60's and is going to be the brains behind putting this thing back on the street, including painting it purple, again! We are pretty excited to put a Gen III Hemi in it and get this project "back on track". Please provide any insight, hidden gem parts locator links, comments, etc. We are going to need a lot of guidance and ideas.

Thanks for the cool website.

I'll attach some pics to show where we're beginning and update as progress happens. Looking forward to the final street beast.

Dave and Aimie

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[Challenger RTA]

Welcome to FEBO. Here is some info to download. Service manual And something to read. Assembly line

 

[Challenger RTA]

Dash lights a Brighter possibility

This is for stock Mopar charging system.

1:With the key in the off position should have on the alternator output battery voltage.

2:The field wires should both read zero we should have no voltage.

3: If there is voltage at the field wires with the key off, there is a wiring problem.

4: If no voltage at the alternator output stud with the key off then we likely have either a dead battery or we have a wiring problem or blown fusible link.

5: With the key in the on position. there will be voltage at the alternator output, it's going to be lower than what it was with the key off, because the entire vehicle is energized. The voltage drop is going to be more you can still see it go from
12 and a half down to 11.7. Still going to have near battery voltage.

6: What's important. With the key on. The field wires should have voltage. It won't be full battery voltage but it's has power coming to the alternator and it will be a lot less on one side and one side is high. That's the inlet so that's power going into the field windings.
The other one, the one that's low is the output from the field windings.
The output from the field winding is what goes back to the voltage regulator.
The voltage regulator on this is simply a switch ( Remember it needs a good ground to function.) all it's going to do is connect this field terminal here to ground and when it connects it to ground electricity then flows through the field windings energizing it and causing the alternator to charge.

7: Run test: This is for stock Mopar charging system.
Before doing the run test you're going to want to connect directly to the field output terminal on the alternator with some sort of a jumper wire. You can remove the existing field wire if it helps you to get to it. Use a jumper wire that comes back to the battery and it's not connected to anything right now. Have the voltage meter connected to the battery. Just checking battery voltage 12.3 volts there abouts. By touching the jumper wire to the negative terminal.
Just grounding it you can hear the engine load up because it's pulling a load and the voltage runs up to 14. That tells you that when the field in the alternator is energized it's charging. The alternator is good. Now you know that it's not an alternator problem at this point. If it's not charging you have a no charge scenario but this passes then you know it's the voltage regulator or some wire to it. It's most likely the voltage regulator and that's all it takes to diagnose the charging system on one of these
Here again If the any ground is bad or loose. it won't charge correctly or reliability. They become phantom grounds that just keep haunting you! That being the Voltage regulator ground, chassis ground, engine ground, Bolts, bolt holes, nuts and mounting brackets. 99% of the time there overlooked. The whole car is a ground.

 

[fasjac]

Welcome to the site from Arkansas!
Cool color! And you’re in the right place as these people are very knowledgeable. Look forward to seeing the progress

 

[Rapidfire]

Welcome from Nebraska. Nice to have you with us. Cool project!

 

[71Max]

Welcome! Your pictures were familiar images of what I started with. It's a long process but be patient. The result will be worth it!
I purchased my convertible in 2006. It sat until I started the disassembly in 2020. I worked on it in my spare time and finished it in the spring of 2024.
Here are a couple of before and after pictures as an incentive ;-)

 

[Mopar Nut]

 

[Lunchbox]

Welcome aboard, looks like a great project to get after!