origonal owner 73 Rallye

[toolmanmike]

I hope you don't mind. Here's a few photos from the Mopar Max meet at Cedar Falls raceway this weekend. Your Challenger was flawless! Congratulations on a job well done! (or almost done) lol toolmanmike

 

[burdar]

I don't mind at all Mike. The pics I took are basically the same. I had a good time and met some new people. Man was it cold though.

 

[burdar]

This is most likely the last update until the spring. The car is tucked away in the garage for the winter. At some point this winter I need to take the seats back out and have them recovered.

Anyway, I had the car back in the shop a few weeks ago because the steering wheel was a little off center. They reset the toe and everything is good now.

Last week I put some 1/4" aluminum blocks in between the trunk floor and the rear muffler hangers. The tips were very close to the rear valance. Under certain conditions, the PS tip accually would hit the valance. Shimming down the hanger a little did the trick.

Last night I finished up the jack mechanism. The original jack wasn't in horrible shape so it didn't need much work. I was able to spread the mechanism enough to remove it from the mast. I soaked it in EvapoRust to get rid of the small amount of rust that was on it. Then I resprayed it gray. The mast was put in acid which stripped the original plating off and derusted the ends. Finally, I sent it to the platers for a fresh coating of zinc dichromate.

The trunk is just about done. I still need to clean up some of the weatherstripping adhesive around the trunk seal. I also need to replace the trunk lock that was damaged at the bodyshop back in the 90's. The original spare tire looks right at home...

 

[burdar]

I drove the car up to the gas station yesterday. I put some fuel stabilizer in the tank and filled it up for the winter. I let it idle in the driveway for 10 minutes while I took a few pics. Then I backed it in the garage and hooked up a battery maintainer. I still need to jack the car up off the ground and put a dust cover on it.

 

[Bill]

Wow!! I purchased my 73, 340, manual, Rallye last summer. I have learned a lot from your posts here. Thank you very much for sharing! Being a novice I have learned a real lot. My car is a JA5 also and I was thinking when it comes time to paint going with one of the "flashy" colors like yellow, green or the oh mighty plum crazy. My other choice would be "vanishing point white". After seeing what your car looks like with the origional JA5, I may think about that color again??
Thanks again for the story!!!
Bill (Vermont)

 

[burdar]

I had two sets of 1972 Iowa lisence plates that I found at my grandparents estate sale. Neither of them turned out to be the original plates to the car though. However, when I had a look at the original title, it had the plate number on it. So, I had some reproduction plates made with the original numbers on them.

An old Iowa plate is on the top, and the reproduction is on the bottom. There are differences but overall I think they will be a great addition to the car.

 

[burdar]

Well, the plan was to finish up the interior this winter...then when the weather got a little warmer, I was going to spray the wheelwells with undercoating. Those plans have now changed. My focus now is getting my son healthy. I took this pic of Owen sitting in the car before we went to the hospital.

 

[Jooeys]

My heart and prayers are with your family ... Beautiful child ...

 

[rbbruno3]

My prayers to Owen and your family, get well soon.

 

[CoronetRTguy]

Prayers for your son and your family. Also great pic of him and the car.

 

[ramenth]

That's a big ol' smile!

Owen and you guys are in our prayers, bud.

 

[btceng]

Prayers sent.

 

[Jooeys]

Any more updated pictures

 

[burdar]

Nope

Maybe in a month or so. Dad and I will be taking a drive over to my grandparents old house to take some pictures in the same spot as the first pic in this thread. That should be fun.

The rear is making some noise. I'm going to have a buddy go through it just so I don't have issues on the road. That may be all that gets done this year.

 

[burdar]

A buddy and I went for a drive today and took some pictures. Here are my favorites...

 

[Bill]

All I can say is "Wow"!!! Great car with an even greater story. I have referenced to this post many times over the past year to help with my build. Thank you!

 

[burdar]

We took some video too. I just got done editing this one.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5ANN7TQrIg

 

[moparlee]

Your car turned out fantastic! Thanks for doing that cool video, sounds great.

 

[Jooeys]

Looking good Burdar !

 

[burdar]

The car is back at the body shop getting a couple things fixed. The header panel that was fixed, cracked again. This time it will be fixed and reinforced on the car. The paint on one section of the hood trim has some bubbles in it. That is being sanded down and repainted too. The body shop trailered the car to the Mopars on the Mississippi show for me. I just decided to let them keep it for awhile and get those things fixed.

Last month I took the seats back out and had them recovered. No more crushed velvet...