Hello everyone.
I’m a newbie and would like to say thank you for allowing me to be apart of this outstanding web site. What a great resource for those of us who own and restore America’s finest muscle car, the Mopar E-body. Let me introduce myself. My name is Billy Day and I live in Connecticut. Since I’ve been a small boy, I’ve always wanted to own a Mopar. It all started when I was about nine years old. I was riding by bicycle in our neighborhood one day when all of a sudden I herd this loud rumble noise. I stopped to see what it was and saw this bright orange car with this huge wing in the back. It drove right by me. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked just like a Hot Wheels. Wow, what a car! Ever since then, I’ve been hooked. That was in the summer of 71. 34 years later, I finely got a chance to own my very first Mopar muscle car. Why did it take me so long? Well, you probably all heard it before. I got married when I was 19. I was a father at 20 and joined the Navy when I was 21. So, supporting my new family and defending our Country, owning and working on a muscle car was out of the question for me. No time or money. Well, I’m ecstatic to say, after 20 years in the Submarine Force and a daughter in collage, I finely did it. I retired from the Navy, got a good job, and bought my first Mopar muscle, a 1970 Dodge Challenger SE.
Let me tell you a little about it. I bought the car from a female police officer that bought the car for her boyfriend. Six months later the boyfriend splits and the car ends up for sale in the local paper. This is when I came into the picture. When I saw the car listed as a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T, 4-speed, 440, I had to see it. I called the lady to make arrangements to see the car but was told it was sold. She told me she sold the car to a dealer in Texas called Texas Toy Box. So, I gave the lady my number and told her if the deal feel through to give me a call. Four weeks later, she did. She called me back and said the guy never came to pick up the car and asked if I was still interested. “Of course!”
I said and drove up to see the car. It turned out to be a 1970 Challenger SE. It was originally a 318 car but was restored 12 years earlier using a drive train from a 1967 B-body. The car has a 440 with an 18 spine 4-speed and a Dana 60. Here's the bad part; depending on how you look at it. The car was restored as a Pro Street but retains all it’s original futures. It still looks stock with the exception of the back half and the big meats. Here’s the good part; I got the car for a reasonable price because of that. If it was a true R/T with that running gear, the car would have sold a lot sooner and I would have never been able to afford it. Now that I have the car, what do I do? Find a donor car to use and restore what I have or fix up the car the way it is and have fun with it. What do you guys think?
Thanks!
Billy
