71 Convertible Ground-Up Restoration - The journey begins !

[Challenger_7]

Sorry, the photos did not come out, here posting again.

[Challenger_7]

More progress to report. The rusted areas are being tended to, and really for such an old car this is really great. The worst affected areas are those where the water runs down at the back of the convertible top.
See photos with explanatory notes beneath.

[Challenger_7]

One slight temp set back is that I had ordered a new rear valance because what was there was worked upon by previous owner and did not look good. So when I took the panel to deliver to the workshop, discovered it is the wrong one. I wrote to YearOne and they will sort it out. See attached photo.

[dutch]

   you are making some real progress here  Luckily the car wasn`t too badly damaged in the crash  ( and you are still in one piece...) 
It does make it a good moment to restore it though...great car , good luck!

[hemiken]

Looooooooooking good.

Check this out.
Same interior as your hardtop.

[Challenger_7]

Thanks dutch for the good wishes.
hemikenTrue it is the same interior. Whose car is this, or is it just a photo from your archives?
I might be interested in that chrome frame fitted to the front on that car, any idea where to get it from?

[hemiken]

Thanks dutch for the good wishes.
hemikenTrue it is the same interior. Whose car is this, or is it just a photo from your archives?
I might be interested in that chrome frame fitted to the front on that car, any idea where to get it from?

The chrome frame is called a wide hood chrome and was fitted on 71 Challenger only, it is a little hard to get and it may cost a decent price when you find a set.  Put a wanted listing on here under parts wanted and you never know, someone may have one for sale.  These wide hood chrome trims really dress the front of a 71 Challenger right up. very cool.  Well worth chasing this part for your car, would look great on the convertible aswell as the hardtop. 

The picture is from my reference archives, just thought you would appreciate seeing another car with the same trim for reference sake aswell.

[Challenger_7]

MODERATORplease help, the photos have come up twice and I do not know how to correct this.
Also some text went missing which was supposed to come before the Dash photos. So her it is again:
On the dash issues, I have also encountered some problems, which you can read more about it here combined with similar issues by other members(http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=37300.0) but basically I imported a dash cap and a full Dash from YearOne but both are no good. Too short from driver's side, and any way the Cap will distort under summer heat. (Got a full refund from yearone, bless them)
One other thing about the full dash is that the core is hard plastic and not metal !!!
Anyway, having stripped my old pad, I will take it to my upholstry guy and see if he can do a descent cover to it till I find a better solution.
Anyone with an address for a good full dash??
Logging off now for the week end and till Monday, you all have a fantastic week end.
Farouk

[Challenger_7]

Thanks hemiken Will do.

[Challenger6pak]

Year One sent a correct dual exhaust rear valance to you.  Yours was a single exhaust pan without any exhaust cut outs.  Someone welded the slots closed on it where the bumper guards go and then cut their own exhaust cut outs in it.

[71340RT]

Looks like your making progress but running into problems like so many of us do. I'm sure it will work out but may take some time to get the detail items right. Thanks for keeping us up to date on the work being done.

[67Vette427]

Good work on your car!  I recently saw the little dash lenses for sale that were repro's but I think they were for a rallye dash. If I see them again I let you know where they were.

[JS27N0B]

One slight temp set back is that I had ordered a new rear valance because what was there was worked upon by previous owner and did not look good. So when I took the panel to deliver to the workshop, discovered it is the wrong one. I wrote to YearOne and they will sort it out. See attached photo.

The valence is right. Don't send it back.

[wally426ci]

The valence is right. Don't send it back.

I agree, it looks like someone mad the white one, and watch out... if anyone ever put 1/4's on before you, they may not have measured correctly and you may be stuck hacking the difference out of the new one unless you want to pul it all back apart.

 

[Challenger_7]

Thank you all for your contribution. On the Valence issue, yes it was made by previous owner for some reason, and he had excluded the holes where the bumper guards fit. Although he had the wrong bumper guardson, but I always assumed they fit the same way till I saw the photo posted by JS27NOB. So now I will visit the workshop and try to determine what needs to be done.
I had a quiet night yesterday tinkering some more with my dash as I am compiling a proper report about the differences between what I received and the original one. Anyway, took off the A/C controll unit, stripped it all apart including the electrical switch which controls the air speed, as it was sliding too softly without "clicking" between speeds. It turned out to have overheated a bit, melted a bit of the plastic body which made it perform badly. All is perfect now.
I repainted the control unit's front by painting everything black, then masking it to paint the "chrome" frame and then painted the letters by using a sponge and "tap" painted them. Using a brush would have caused paint to seep between the letters and an ugly smudged final job. See attached photos of the process.