1970 Challenger SE

[rhamson]

" i don`t want to do a really really bad investment." Unless it is some sort of very rare and highly optioned car it is always a bad investment. You will never get back what you put into it. Look at it this way. There is an old car sales quote I always remember when I think about the investment topic and that is you make your money when you buy the car. The bright side is the satisfaction of completing the car and driving it and having it just as you wish it to be.
 

[BAM]

" i don`t want to do a really really bad investment." Unless it is some sort of very rare and highly optioned car it is always a bad investment. You will never get back what you put into it. Look at it this way. There is an old car sales quote I always remember when I think about the investment topic and that is you make your money when you buy the car. The bright side is the satisfaction of completing the car and driving it and having it just as you wish it to be.

Don't really care now. Just want to get it done and enjoy it for a long time. I have another project that i want to get done for the value only

[BAM]

A bit of help here please. So, this is the rear floor section removed. I see a transmission support welded directly to the front section of the floor. Is that supposed to be there or i cut it of?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TelisSE440]

Cut it off... I'm curious to see what they did downside. They made a newer type driveshaft perhaps...

[TelisSE440]

All pretty much end there... Everything else is a butcher's job

[BAM]

O, I removed that section of the floor that had a bracket welded to it and fabricated a patch for it. I cleaned and zinc primed the area where the new floor will be welded but I didn't install it yet as I`m still thinking if the front floor should be changed also considering that the transmission tunnel was butched also and a huge hump was welded on it to make room for the Mercedes manual transmission. The guy helping me, said it`s not difficult to fabricate that bit of the transmission tunnel so it`s better to keep the original floor in as it`s not rusted.

Meanwhile, I started the preparation for reattaching the roof frame to the car. I removed all that fiberglass that was on it and this is what is left

Should I go ahead and give it few spots of welding to keep the frame in place and then to remove what`s left from the old skin or remove the old skin and then put the frame in position and weld it? My concern is that the braces that hold the frame in place are rotten and if I remove the skin, I will lose the geometry completely. Now, the frame is almost in place except for the upper corner on the driver side which does not align perfectly. So in this case, I thought that the A pillar is off but after measuring everything, I realized that everything is correct which makes me believe that the actual cut was made "wrong".

Anyway, I have a specialist coming over today to do some extra measurements and give me some feedback/advice on how to proceed.

Also, I think it`s a good idea to send out the fenders and hood to get blasted, patched and primed as I`m not ready to undertake this task

[BAM]

Ok, so the "specialists" (3 of them) advised me to start with the chassis. I explained them that there is no chassis on a unibody but they insisted that there is and it`s not visible. Anyway, as I cannot work on an invisible chassis, can you guys give me an opinion here?

I`m thinking to weld the roof frame in a few spots just to hold it into position, remove the roof skin, change the A pillars, roof braces, sand blast, attach the roof rails and roof skin.

Can someone please advise if this is the correct thing to do on this car? I also have to mention that on the driver side, there is splitting into the roof frame with a couple of holes (I`m thinking that this can be cut and patched as it`s only the outer part).

[usraptr]

While I'm not a body man, I would definitely recommend welding some bracing to the roof structure before removing the skin, etc and replacing everything.  I can't believe they actually used fiberglass to repair the roof panel.  Talk about a hack job.  I would have to doubt the credit-ability of your three "specialists" if they can't tell a uni-body car from one with a separate frame.   

[BAM]

ok, the skin is of except a piece in the back to hold the thing together a bit. Unfortunately, there is splitting into the front section of the roof frame and i don`t know if i should even attempt to fabricate patches or just give up and try to find a replacement...

Today i will remove the A pillars and try to get the new ones in together with the roof braces

some suggestions are highly appreciated

[YellowThumper]

I suggest that you only minimally tack everything together. You have such a huge project that I would have to belive has warped already. Get the structures where you believe they belong. Front to back and side to side. Don't be afraid of jacking and putting upward pressurr in the center of car to allow it to spread outward. With all structures in place also hang your doors. I would even go as far as placing all the side glass in with gaskets in as well to see it all will line up.

Mike

[BAM]

I suggest that you only minimally tack everything together. You have such a huge project that I would have to belive has warped already. Get the structures where you believe they belong. Front to back and side to side. Don't be afraid of jacking and putting upward pressurr in the center of car to allow it to spread outward. With all structures in place also hang your doors. I would even go as far as placing all the side glass in with gaskets in as well to see it all will line up.

Mike

Hi Mike,

Fortunately, the car is not warped as I already did all the possible measurements, installed the glass, the doors are lining absolutely perfect and the front fenders also.

I`m having another question for those of you that changed the roof braces and specially the front one where the windshield is mounted on. Is the new reproduction from AMD slightly longer than the original? I`m having about 1cm extra in the lower part and the top aligns good. Also, the A pillar skin will go in before the brace or after? about 4" of the a pillar will enter the roof structure under the roof rails, correct?

Also, the A pillar goes under the upper cowl about 1'?

I`m asking all this because there are too many patches in there to understand which is which. Today I will try to finish removing the passenger A pillar skin and hopefully start welding. Will get back with some photos when i get to the garage.

[Challenger in NC]

I did not have the front brace replaced so I don't know about the fit-up of this part but the shop did replace the A-pillars and it appears it tucks under the front piece according to this photo. I can post some other shots of this area later tonight if you think that will help.

[BAM]

that`s absolutely perfect.yes please add another 1-2 pics please and if possible to tell me what`s the length of that brace on both sides.

sorry, i forgot my mobile home today and i didn't take any pics...

today i finished removing the pillars, i welded the roof frame in one corner only where i just had a perfect alignment and i will do it tomorrow to the other front corner

i need to fabricate patches for the upper part where the door hinges meet the body as the 1st layer is gone...

[Challenger in NC]

A few more

[Challenger in NC]

In the first two photos, you can see that the A-pillar is located under both the lower and upper cowl layers. The last photo is taken from inside the car looking toward the windshield. The brace tucks behind the corner structure about an inch. If your corner structure is in tact, you should be able to see where the end of the cross brace should stop.I would have measured the top of the brace where it meets the A-pillar but the roof skin has been installed so there's no way to see it.Let me know if you need any other shots, have quite a few from before/during/after panel replacement.