'72-'74 Challenger

[Super Blue 72]

  Yes, having those moldings messes up any kind of stripes that you might want to go with. Also, it is incredibly rare to see anyone selling that molding if you are looking for replacements. They aren't re-popped.

There's a reason for anything that goes extinct... 

[burdar]

This is an old thread but just thought I'd let everyone know that it is a 73.  The 74's have bigger bumper guards.

It's not nessesarily a Rallye either.  You automatically got the Rallye hood if you ordered the 340.  You could get a stripe delete on a 73 Rallye but I still thought you would have the louvers...just not the stripes.

The tail panel is very close(but not 100%) to correct on that car.  It looks to be sprayed with the med/dark argent that is available for sale today.

[Bullitt-]

burdar, Your surely correct as there's no sparkle to it... Have you a plan to re-create the OE finish? Seems those big ole flakes would never make it through a regular spray gun.

[burdar]

There is a company that restores grills and trim parts that is out of Washington state I think.  They bought up alot of the old "origonal" argent when it was going to be discontinued.  They only use the paint on the products that they sell.  So, short of shipping the car from one coast to another and having them spray the tailpanel with the correct stuff, I'll have to come up with something that's close. 

I carried my argent samples around with me at the Nat's this year and compared the samples to an origonal 72 Challenger Rallye.  The light argent was way too light.  The dark argent that is available from Totally Auto was too dark.  My sample that was a combination of both the light and the dark argent was very close.  It was just a little too light still.  My painter is going to try and darken up a sample just a little.

One of the things that I found out about the 72-74 tailpanel(that is often overlooked)is that the factory sprayed the entire tail light housing with organisol black first, before spraying the argent.  If you look at an origonal taillight housing you will see small black specs showing through the argent.  That is the organisol black that was applied first.

The center section between the light housings wouldn't show this effect because it wasn't painted black first.

When I have an argent sample that I'm happy with, I'll post it.  I'm never going to get it to look 100% but I would like to get it as close as possible.  Maybe 95%  

[Bullitt-]

If your looking at Argent for your tailpanel your barking up the wrong tree... I remember seeing what you mean about the black not being in the middle because that was always lighter on my car... The finish though was more like the Metal Flake the custom car painters used & you see some low riders use today....Big Ole Metal Flakes buried in a clear coat

Here's a pic that may do it justice

[Bullitt-]

This pic is of the area below the tail panel that did not get removed years ago, you may be able to make out the size of the metal flake.. go about an inch over & 3 down ...see those big specs?...each one is a single flake

[burdar]

Here is a link to company I was talking about.  This shows the origonal dark argent formula on a Road Runner tail light housing.  It has the correct metal flake in it.

http://www.alltrim.com/images/MOPAR/69rrclsup1.jpg

[Bullitt-]

Here is a link to company I was talking about.  This shows the origonal dark argent formula on a Road Runner tail light housing.  It has the correct metal flake in it.

http://www.alltrim.com/images/MOPAR/69rrclsup1.jpg

Texture looks close but way too dark

[burdar]

This is what Totally Auto sells.  The left one is med/dark argent and the right one is light argent.  The middle one is a combination of the two which was very close to an origonal tail light housing off of a 72 Challenger that compared at the Nats.  It was just a little too light.  If it was a little darker it would be very close to what my tailpanel looked like before being blasted.

[burdar]

The Road Runner pic is of the correct stuff.  It is origonal argent.


Here is a pic of my origonal rear bumper filler.

[Bullitt-]

More the color of these tail lamps but still the flake is too small

http://www.alltrim.com/images/MOPAR/hammer69RR.a.JPG

The flake is more like the craft stores sell that people decorate clothing with... large metal chrome-like

[Bullitt-]

That' what it looks like NOW but over half the metal flake has come off exposing the undercoat
 As you can see still the RR trim is a lot darker

[burdar]

That is the light argent.  I origonally thought the light argent was correct but AllTrim has a factory Chrylser manual and it states that the dark argent is what was used.  I can only assume that the color faded over time and that the metal flake became more pronounced.

I know I can find a pic of an NOS pair of Challenger tail light housings.  Let me try and find it.

[burdar]

Here are two NOS Challenger tail light housings that were for sale at this years Mopar Nats.  This is what I'm trying to get close to.  These look a lot lighter than the Road Runner ones...I don't know why.  Dark argent is supposed to be correct.





I would agree that the current argent that is available doesn't have big enough metal flake in it but what are you going to do?  I think it is more important to get the accual color correct.  The metal flake is what it is.  There have been many discutions on this topic and it has been said that the color and texture(metal flake) can change from painter to painter and that air pressure when spraying it has an effect as well.

[Bullitt-]

Let's see how that looks by the light argent.....If I recall the RR tail trim has texture in the metal giving it some depth, that along with being lighter I can't say it's the same....your looking at a 4-5 year production gap & obviously another product used.





I've been thinking about this maybe in the .008 size mixed in clear
http://www.rothmetalflake.com/flake/standard/surfitesilver.html