My "New" Challenger and another "What would you do?"(UPDATED)

[4406v]

I have money down and I'm in the process of finalizing the deal on this 70 Challenger RT. There's been a lot of talk and anticipation for me to post some pictures.

Here are the details of the car:
The current owner bought the car August 25th of 1970 from a local Ford dealer used for $2,998.00 with a couple thousand miles on it. He has owned the car for 45 years putting just 64,000 miles on it. It has been kept in a climate controlled garage since "new" There are no rust repairs or collision repairs on the car ever.
The car retains the numbers matching 440 and 727 transmission. It has ALL original paint and has not had ANY touch up work done. There have been a few external aftermarket add-ons put on the engine but it is still stock internally. The interior has had a carpet replaced but is also original.



As you can see this is a well optioned car that is unique maybe not 1 of 1 but one of very few.



Here's one of the engine compartment



And of the interior



Now here's the real question: The original owner had these "Dodge" decals placed and the quarters and had Butterflies air brushed on the car in the '70s. They have been on the car over 35 years. Since they are part of the cars "History" should I leave them alone? (they are on original paint afterall) or do I try to have them removed and touch the paint up afterwards. IT'S A GREAT CAR and the butterflies are not my thing but I don't want to screw the car up either. THEY ARE ONLY ORIGINAL ONCE!!!

[anlauto]

IN MY OPINION
The butterflies don't bug me as much as the engine compartment.
However, this Winter I would be pulling the engine, respraying the engine compartment correctly, resealing the engine and correcting everything that's wrong under the hood (there's a lot). I would prefer to open the hood and see a correct 100% stock looking engine compartment. The Moroso valve covers don't even qualify as "day two" in my opinion.

I would remove the "Dodge" decals but would be extremely worried about faded paint. If the butterflies are not under a clear coat, they should also come off fairly easy with a good compound and buff....I would hate to have to respray the upper portions of the 1/4's You would have to decide if you could possibly live with the faded images on the 1/4's which I think would be easier then living with the images 

[RusTy/SE]

Congratulations, that is some sweet Challenger!

  Tough call on the decals - or maybe not... What does the original owner think about removing them (just curious)? Imo that car would look night and day better without them but there would always be a slight 'shadow' forever indicating where they were - but I'd be ok with that. Instead of being noticeable from 200 ft away, someone would need to be much closer to tell a difference in hues I would think. I could live with that. 

[ChallengerHK]

Neither you nor anyone else will see the engine compartment when you're driving the car. The Dodge decals are livable, but the butterflies have gotta go. Or, you could put a cutout of Caitlyn Jenner in the passenger side.

[loco340cuda]

The Dodge decals are livable, but the butterflies have gotta go. Or, you could put a cutout of Caitlyn Jenner in the passenger side.

 

[4406v]

The engine compartment will be the first thing I do and the easiest to "freshen up" without destroying the "original" look. I will not over restore it and ruin the originality.

I thought about getting vinyl graphics of Skulls or Bloody Zombie heads and covering the butterflies up. When someone asks "What the hell did you do that for?" I'll peel them back and ask "WHICH WOULD YOU PREFER?"
I'll bet they pick the Bloody Zombie head!!!

The Dodge decals are "weird" and out of place. I know they're going to leave a ghost behind no matter what I do.

[soundcontrol]

Supercool car! Is it totally impossible to repaint the uppe quarters and match the old paint?

[moparman82]

i would have to say, i would risk it, the butterflies gotta go.  I'm good with the dodge logo, its very 70's, but those butterflies, i cant get on board with those.  I know the engine/engine compartment arent correct, but that wouldnt bother me, i would probably get some OE style valve covers, but i wouldnt bother pulling the motor to repaint, like ChallengerHK said, no one will see it when your driving.  And im a fan of hood down at car shows anyway, unless the motor is some kind of sparking jewel, we have all seen hundreds of 440's in ebody engine bays, i wanna see the cool RT on the hood@!

[4406v]

I am used to having a "jewell" under the hood and IF I'm going to open the hood you'll have something to look at.

Here's the 440 six pack in my last 70 Challenger.

[AARTA340]

Very nice car for sure!! I would take my time and evaluate the things you would like to change and what needs to be done to get it back to original as possible. First thing i noticed was the steering wheel, not sure, but is that wheel a Tuff Wheel that was not available on the E-Bodies? Some of the under hood items will be easy and some will take some time. Do the easy stuff first. I kinda like the butterflies as, it sets the car apart from all the cars that are put back to OEM. I would wait on them as they can always be removed at a later time, but once they are removed, they can't be put back.

Keep us informed and with pictures as to the changes and congratulations on the new car!!

[anlauto]

The engine compartment will be the first thing I do and the easiest to "freshen up" without destroying the "original" look. I will not over restore it and ruin the originality.

Here I go with my opinion again....There's nothing original about your engine compartment to save. The orange has been painted at least once, someone's gone crazy with the black paint on the firewall and rad support...They left the fender bolts bare....It's a mess....
...and I agree, that tuff wheel would be the first thing I would toss...You should ask the owner if he kept the original parts he took off, maybe he has the low mileage woodgrain wheel ?

You can leave the hood closed at shows, but when it's open I'd rather see a fresh correctly restored engine bay....
This is a 383, but this is what I would prefer to see....

[roadman5312]

Here I go with my opinion again....There's nothing original about your engine compartment to save. The orange has been painted at least once, someone's gone crazy with the black paint on the firewall and rad support...They left the fender bolts bare....It's a mess....
...and I agree, that tuff wheel would be the first thing I would toss...You should ask the owner if he kept the original parts he took off, maybe he has the low mileage woodgrain wheel ?

You can leave the hood closed at shows, but when it's open I'd rather see a fresh correctly restored engine bay....
This is a 383, but this is what I would prefer to see....

                              Battery terminals.      

[AARTA340]

Tape line on firewall to cowl always bugs me!  Why not feather them like the line did?   

Here I go with my opinion again....There's nothing original about your engine compartment to save. The orange has been painted at least once, someone's gone crazy with the black paint on the firewall and rad support...They left the fender bolts bare....It's a mess....
...and I agree, that tuff wheel would be the first thing I would toss...You should ask the owner if he kept the original parts he took off, maybe he has the low mileage woodgrain wheel ?

You can leave the hood closed at shows, but when it's open I'd rather see a fresh correctly restored engine bay....
This is a 383, but this is what I would prefer to see....

[4406v]

The original steering wheel does come with the car (Thank God)

Did anyone notice the wiper arms are missing??? My wife actually caught that one!!! ( 27 years together she's trained)

Alan I agree with you and I'm not so sure the bottom of the hood may be black too!!!  I was going nuts over the car "thinking" it could be mine. I took a couple pictures but it was getting dark and some of the pictures don't show as much detail as they could.

Just talked to the current owner I'm going to pick it up tonight!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!

[mopardave]

good deal. Cool Challenger for sure, Good luck.

hope the stickers come off. My suggestion as well is to detail / rework the engine compartment over the winter.

wiper arms. and blades are easy to get if the previous owner does not have. I have NEW arms and blades if you need them.