Hemi Orange Hemi

[E74]

Hi Guy's
This isn what I hope to be a long and detailed thread of the re restoration of my 1970 Challenger. delivered new to the dealer principal (owner) of San Juan Dodge in San Juan Puerto Rico. Hemi Orange 426 Hemi Automatic Dana car.with White interior radio and heater delete.
I purchased the car in 2003 and shipped it to the US trucked it across the country, packed it into a container and the shipped her to Sydney Australia.

The car was freshly restored when I purchased it and it looked stunning, however over the years the limited-ability and resources in Peuto Rico have shown through and it came time to correct it. little did I know.

The car is one of two export cars to exist and the only '70 Hemi Challenger ever to be exported off the continent of the USA, the other car was ordered from a US military base hence it was marked Export however it was delivered to the servicemen home state of New York.

The car has a "Typo" in the VIN which is strange but not uncommon for the period in which it was made. I have had confirmation that the car is documented in Galen Goviers Registry with the Typo noted and the car is 100% legit and history well known, trying to get anything from Galen though has been impossible and he just seems to be a total Jerk so I have given up on ever getting anything from him in regards to certification etc.

anyway next I will post some shots of the car when I first bought it and then I will move on to the Reso, I am hoping to get the advise I need from you guys all through the restoration and will post all the rest process here for everyone to see, many thanks in advance .

 

[E74]

Car was pulled down last year and chemically stripped so that we could do a bare metal respray, we were not prepared for what came back!

 

[E74]

more of the same weird spot welded patches

 

[E74]

] We have a majority of the replacement panels needed, being in Australia we do not have the access to any where near the resourses there are in the USA so we will work with what we have and import what we need.

 

[E74]

I do have a question, The replacement floor pan we have is different to the one that has been previously installed, there are two x's making the parts that are not in the AMD floor pan we have to go in, can anyone tell me which is correct?

 

[DetMatt1]

The AMD pan should be correct. If all the hack-job work was done in Puerto Rico there’s no telling what they used. Sweet car though! What exactly is the error on the VIN?

 

[340challconvert]

Welcome to FEBO from New Jersey
Nice and rare hemi Challenger with a great color combination.
Well worth the effort you are putting in to it.
A great group of people here who are always willing to offer help when needed!

 

[moparleo]

Welcome aboard...Document, Document, Document...and take thousands of pictures. Considering the rarity and value of your car, I hope you have more sources than this site for getting the proper info regarding this restoration. I would be communicating with the top Mopar restorers in the US and paying them for their time and experience. The end result can be drastically different in terms of value of thousands of dollars. If in the budget, I would have had the resto done in the US where there is much less of a problem accessing the proper parts, equipment and expertise to do justice to you car.

 

[Grady Cain]

Welcome from NW CT USA. Please, please keep us updated on this project!

 

[E74]

Welcome aboard...Document, Document, Document...and take thousands of pictures. Considering the rarity and value of your car, I hope you have more sources than this site for getting the proper info regarding this restoration. I would be communicating with the top Mopar restorers in the US and paying them for their time and experience. The end result can be drastically different in terms of value of thousands of dollars. If in the budget, I would have had the resto done in the US where there is much less of a problem accessing the proper parts, equipment and expertise to do justice to you car.

Yes! If you have any recommendations on who would be good consultants it would be greatly appreciated. As far as the restoration goes, I have carried our several of the finest Mopar restorations in the country including my A84 E49 Valiant charger which is considered to be the best worldwide. I got this!, just need some guidance and I will have it covered.

 

[moparlee]

Welcome to the site from Michigan, USA. I guess that is what you would have called a "20 footer" car, looks pretty good from a distance. At least the patch work was sort of spot welded and not soldered. Keep sending us the pictures!

 

[aussiemark]

There are some knowledgeable restorers in Australia one member user name Hemiken is based in Queensland has a business restoring primarily E bodies he has special jigs to maintain body alignment. I personally wouldn't use any Taiwanese panels on this car it would be better to preserve as much of the originals as possible and use either NOS or good used panels.

 

[340challconvert]

I agree; use only NOS, good used or repair original panels where possible
Expensive to do, but only way to maintain max value!

 

[E74]

Yes, I have lots of NOS and very god original parts, I also have a friend that manufactures panels exceptionally well for some of the unavailable stuff. a few of the AMD parts were being used to set up but I have just acquired a very nice donor car that we will be extracting from.

 

[Watto]

Looking forward to seeing the progress photos and the final outcome.

 

[sub340]

I had the same response from galen… don't waste your time...no responce on my a66 drop top challenger...the guys on this site are really great...very helpful...stay cool...

 

[E74]

I need two NOS quarter panels and an NOS upper Cowl, any suggestions where I may obtain these. the expense of these is what it is I can deal with that.