71 RT Restoration

[Kez]

Hi everyone, getting back to posting and thought I would start a thread here to document what I hope will be a successful restoration that is in progress and solicit help from all the experts out there! Also wanted to share some recommendations for excellent support that I have received here in mid-state CA.

I found this RT in Gilroy, and negotiated over a month to get a price I thought was right for it. Probably paid more than I should have but for as complete and unmolested as the car was, I figured I was money ahead not having to replace a lot of rusted metal.

It's a true RT with numbers matching 383, auto, air, PS, PB, PW, etc. THe fender tag was missing, but I was able to find a build sheet under the rear seat before the purchase, so felt comfortable that what I had was real. Bought it and brought it home

 

[Kez]

Trip home a bit over a year ago. Originally a white vinyl roof. One thing I had never seen before was the wide hood trim - an option that is listed on the build sheet. Did not care for it at first sight, but it's grown on me, and now that I know how rare it is... well, OK then!

 

[Kez]

OK, so started working on getting the engine to fire. First thing I find is rusted freeze plugs all over the place. Car must have been stored with no anti-freeze, not a good sign. Replaced FP behind right motor mount (why is it always the hardest ones to reach?), then the one behind left motor mount leaked. The next one to leak was behind drivers side exhaust manifold and at that point, I decided to pull the engine and go through it. I was able to hold enough water in the block for a quick 2-3 second start and she ran seemingly fine - a good sign. So this next shot shows the engine coming out. At that point, I made the decision to go ahead and go through the whole car. Had tinkered with the idea of doing paintless repair on body dings, priming/painting roof with new top, and keeping this as a survivor, but the engine issues made me decide to go with a full teardown. (Not sure why these photos are posting in reverse order, but you get the idea!)

 

[Kez]

Engine went to QMP Racing in Chatsworth, CA, based upon recommendation by Andy Troxell - the MOPAR MAN here in the Central Coast! Mike Consolo is the guy I am working with there. Wanted a stock looking build, but with some mild internal upgrades.

 

[Kez]

Meanwhile, got the body completely stripped - lots of baggies, labels and pics - and mounted on rotisserie. Happy to report that the body was as clean as I thought it would be. There are a few pinholes in windshield and rear window recesses, a couple in the firewall/cowl, and a bit of etching in the floor of the trunk, but nothing major.

 

[Kez]

No signs of any panel/frame distortion from accidents other than a few minor dings here and there.

 

[Kez]

Body went off to Tom Johnson in Buellton, CA for glass bead blasting. Reasonable price, great guy.

He recommended Jesus Monroy in Buellton for the body work and paint. Tom and Jesus getting a first look at the car.

Jesus used to work for Sam Foose, who had a custom rod shop in the area. Sam is Chip Foose's dad.

 

[jeff968]

Sweet, I love EL5 Bahama yellow. And with a white top!!! Stripe delete car?

 

[Kez]

Meanwhile, bad news on the engine - when Mike disassembled and cleaned, he found a bad crack in the block, in the valley, over a cooling passage lining the cylinder wall. It's not good, and question whether we can save the original block. I started investigating how to repair these.

Meanwhile car is blasted and sent to body shop. Lots of hours spent cleaning glass bead out of everywhere!

 

[Kez]

Meanwhile, back at home, work is progressing on the airbox rebuild...

The K-frame...

 

[Kez]

Through local machine shop, I got a reference to Lock n Stitch, in Turlock, CA that might be able to repair castings. Great reference, because they had me ship the block, assessed the crack, repaired it and shipped it back to QMP. Both shops pressure tested the repair and found it good to go.

They drill a series of overlapping holes and screw in specially designed plugs, that lock the casting tight - see their website for more information. Once done, will not even be able to see it.

 

[Kez]

Last week, I got the gauge cluster back from Redline Gauge Works in Newhall, CA. They did just a beautiful job cleaning and calibrating all the gauges, changing to digital tach (for electronic ignition), digital clock mechanism, solid state voltage regulator, and silk screened the RED numbers on the tach (the only part of face plate that was faded. Looks awesome guys!

 

[Kez]

THis past Saturday, went down to body shop to see car in primer. Minor body work is done, Jesus will be block sanding to find any minor flaws, then fitting panels and doors back on to check panel gaps (with car on jack stands)

I also picked up the dash frame which was painted and ready to go.

 

[Kez]

Sweet, I love EL5 Bahama yellow. And with a white top!!! Stripe delete car?

It is EL5 but they actually called it Butterscotch Dupont Lucite Code 5267L. It did not come optioned with a stripe but had white side moldings, which I have, but probably will not reinstall. Still debating that one.

 

[71Challenger/6]

What finish is on the dash? generic satin black, suede, type, etc.?

It looks great.

 

[Kez]

The interior panels were all chalky from sun damage. I was looking for someone that might be able to repair them rather than cover or replace.

I found a website for Fibrenew that looked promising, so took the dash pad and one panel (rear side panel) to the local franchise who promised great things. When I got them back, it was terrible - looked very amateur - you could see trowel marks where filler was placed in, and texture did not match well at all. So I bit the bullet and took all the panels down to Just Dashes to have them recovered. They do nice work, and even though the grain is not an exact match, at least they will all be uniform.

 

[Kez]

What finish is on the dash? generic satin black, suede, type, etc.?

It looks great.

Jesus used a gloss paint the first round and it was just too shiny, did not look like the original. Second try he used a satin black, if you want I can get the specs for you, but I was happy with the match.

 

[moparlee]

Very nice project you have there. Gotta love that CA sheet metal! You are really moving along and glad to see that you were able to save the block.

 

[Kez]

Very nice project you have there. Gotta love that CA sheet metal! You are really moving along and glad to see that you were able to save the block.

Thanks, and yes I was very lucky to find a CA car with such few problems. It was originally sold in Sacramento, CA, so to the best of my knowledge it has always been in this state.

I was VERY happy to get the block repaired - I had so many setbacks to that point I was getting very discouraged.

 

[Kez]

One of the new things I have found while working on this car is a product called Evapo-Rust. Found it at Harbor Freight and so was not expecting much, but I was amazed at the results. It's not cheap, but it works, and I have some samples to show before and after. First the leaf spring shackle, second one the leaf spring mounting brackets.

Not acidic. Soak part overnight, brush with brass bristles, rinse with water, good to go! Looking for someone that sells this by the barrel at a cheaper price!!