Hello everyone, I thought that it was time to post some news of my car:)
Since 2014 I did a lots of improvments to make a good driver out of it, it needed attention here and there, I slowly gathered some good parts while cruising with the car on weekends.
I thought about selling it recently but I will be keeping it as I love this car ! And moreover the restoration is really taking a new turn (check « LATESTE UPGRADES »).
What we did so far :
- new Firm Feel stage 3 steering box and rebuilt steering coupler
- new PST upper control arms
- all new front end bushings and tie rods
- we swapped the 4.30:1 Richmond rear end for a rebuilt 3.55:1 Suregrip, much better !
- 15 inch rallye wheels in the front
- Koni shocks in the front
- new alternator
- correct 1971 air cleaner box with dual snorkels, redone by a bodyshop, with 383 pie tan
- sanded stock high perf manifold with Accurate head pipes to replace the worn leaking headers
- new fuel pump and line to replace the old electric pump
- new high volume oil pump
- new water pump, fan clutch and thermostat
- got rid of the too loud for my tastes Flowmaster 40s mufflers for Raptor turbo mufflers
- Lokar kickdown and throttle cables
- "new" 71 grill that I had the chance to find here in Europe for a good price, and headlight bezels from Roseville Moparts
And other small improvments...I also swapped the black velvet interior I had for a used white one which looks like a combination of 70 and 72-74 seats (correct me if I am wrong ?), I did 500 miles to buy it, unfortunately when I arrived I saw it wasn't in the shape I expected, I still bought it and installed it. I always loved white interiors and my car had a beige interior from the factory, it sounded like a compromise.
Months later, seats started to crack in two places... Well, I don't really regret because I plan to have the interior all redone in the future.
I had the right front fenders, front valance and passenger door re-painted too, they were in a different white. Bodyshop did a good job finding a very similar white.
LATEST UPGRADES :I always dreamt of a manual 4 speed car, a friend of me had a complete 4-speed kit for sale with only 5000 miles at a very good price, I jumped on this opportunity and bought it all :
- PASSON 4 speed transmission with linkage
- MCLEOD reinforced clutch
- Every small part needed : z-bar, fork, pedals...
- Only missing thing is the floor hump that I will get from AMD. I'm going on saturday at his house to brought back all the stuff.
I also plan to have my 1967 383 rebuilt at the same time we are swapping the tranny. I would like to keep it quite stock, maybe a more agressive cam and single plane intake. I am still thinking to it.
I will of course repaint the motor and motor bay too, wich leads me to thinking about how I see the car's future paint ? I can't really decide myself, I am thinking to a few options :
1) keep it white with white interior, black vinyl top : cheapest option and yet very cool
2) get back to the factory paint GY9 « dark gold metallic » with white vinyl top : very cool color, not very common I must say, it may give a very unique touch to the car. But even if I really like that color, I don't know if I have to do that because in Europe a car like that may be quite hard to sell... And I have a subtle preference for high impact colors.
3) FC7 Plum Crazy car with white vinyl top : always been in my top 3 colors. I can't stop to imagine the Challenger with this combination, 383 and four speed !
Now it is time to ask : what do you guys think of all that ?
I will post a few pics !
