Restoration of an origonal owner 73 Challenger Rallye

[burdar]

Here's an update on the bodywork...

After the engine compartment, trunk and underside were painted, the doors went back on.  Lower door skins were installed to fix some rust and an earlier repair from the late 70's or early 80's.

Next to go on the car were the front fenders.  The replacement fenders I had bought were rust free but had some dents and dings in them.  The passengers side was the best.  The drivers side fender had been hit slightly in the side marker light area so I knew it would need some work. 

I got a call from Tim one day and he said that the drivers side fender was really twisted.  It was really going to take a lot of work to get those fenders to work.  He thought he would be farther ahead to just put some new Goodmark fenders on the car.  The Goodmarks would need work too but he thought they would be better than trying to fix the twisted drivers side fender.  He said that he was still sticking to his origonal estimate so I said to go ahead with the new fenders if he thought that was best.

Every month I would get a bill in the mail and every month I sent out a check.  The whole time I was keeping track of the total amount of money that was being spent on the car.  We were getting closer and closer to the agreed amount and the car wasn't even ready for primer yet.  Then I got another bill in the mail and realized that the money we had agreed on was all used up. 

Here's what the Challenger looked like at that point.






I called Tim and we had a long conversation.  It all boiled down to this...
The guys that had been working on the car were new to the shop.  Although they did good work, they were really slow.  Tim said he believed his estimate for the job was right...his guys just didn't work fast enough.  He said he was going to make some changes in the shop...I don't think those guys work there anymore.  Tim said that it was his fault the car wasn't getting done in a more timely manner and that I shouldn't worry about the money...he was going to stick to his origonal estimate and get the car done "right".  The only problem was that he was going to have to finish the car himself(on his own time) so he could have his guys concentrate on other customers cars in the shop. 

That was just fine with me.  Accually, I wanted Tim to be doing the work from the very beginning.  He doesn't do anything half way.  He does it right, even if that means starting over and doing it again...and that is exactly what he did.

He doesn't do anything over somebody elses work, so he took the car back down to bare metal and started over...

[Bullitt-]

He doesn't do anything over somebody elses work, so he took the car back down to bare metal and started over...

Man that's Going Over the Top

[burdar]

He found some things he didn't like once he had everything sanded down.  If you look at the last picture you can see some pitting in the middle of the passengers door.  Those areas weren't addressed to his liking...also the front fenders needed a lot more work.  I'm wondering if using the NEW fenders really saved him any time...I don't think it did.  You'll see what I mean when I post those pics.  Also the trunk lid got some work that I wasn't expecting.   

[burdar]

Here are some more pics on the progress of the body.

The front fenders ended up needing a ton of work.  The lower bodyline on the passengers side fender was about a half inch off from lining up with the door.  The fender was cut open so the bodyline could be moved to the correct position.

The main issue was where the fenders meet the hood.  Not only was the gap excessive, but the hood sat almost 1/4" higher than the fenders back at the windsheild.  The only fix was to cut the fenders open again.  As you can see in the picture...Tim cut open the fender, lifted it up so that it was in-line with the hood and welded the gap closed using varying thicknesses of welding rod.  Not only did that bring the fender and hood into alighnment, but it also allowed him to adjust the hood to fender gap at the same time.

Passengers side fender
 

Drivers side fender




Here, the hood to fender gap is being checked prior to final welding.


The end result...hood and fenders line up great and the hood to fender gap is consistent.




All of the gaps were handled in this way.  Welding rod was used on the back of the fenders to adjust the door gap.  Rod was also welded to the trunk lid so that all of those gaps were the same as well.

[burdar]

Back in the early to mid 90's(before all of the new sheetmetal came out)I bought a rust free trunk lid to replace the origonal bondo filled origonal.  The one I bought was a 70-71 style lid since it had all the extra holes on the under structure to mount a number of different spoilers that were available on those years.  At first, those extra holes weren't an issue, but the more I thought about them, the more I didn't like the fact that they were there.  I was going for a stock rebuild(except for dual exhaust) and those holes just didn't look right.

I called Tim and asked him what could be done?  I had also purchased a correct year trunk lid real cheap but there was rust in the back lip area.  I asked Tim if there was a way to use that junk lid for parts and fill in the extra holes.  He said that it would cost quite a bit of money to weld all those holes up and it would be better to just buy a new lid.  The only problem was that he had already welded rod to that lid and had fitted it to the quarters.  He would have to start all over if I bought a new lid.  I thought about it and decided that it wasn't worth it.  I told Tim to just forget that I had mensioned it.

One Saturday, I got an email from Tim.  He said that he was having a good day in the shop and that he decided he didn't want anyone looking at the car to question the trunk.  He said he just cranked up the 80's music and started welding all those holes shut for me.  He said it was the least he could do since I was having to wait so long to get the car back.

Junk lid used for patches...
 

70-71 style lid with piece removed...


Patch being installed on trunk lid...


Finished and mounted on the car...

[4THECHALLENGE]

Beautiful......

[coupman35]

That coming along good when you start you never think in that bad of a shape till you get going keep up the nice work,

[wagesofsin]

 

i woulda gave you a perfect non spoiler decklid!

im a little shocked you would fill in the holes...

tell your body guy, the next time he wants to crank up the tunes and ruin a good piece of rare sheetmetal to call me and ill send him a good replacement!!

and the wire all over the car???

im a littleconfused as its easy to align the panels without it, especially the hood.


 

[burdar]

The hood was adjusted as far down as it could be.  The Goodmark fenders still sat too low.  The only way to get them to line up was to cut them and move them up.  The factory gaps were  never very tight.  The gaps on this car will all be the same.

As far as the trunk lid is concerned...it was already modified to fit this car.  It was easier to weld all the holes closed than it would have been to start with a new lid.

[wagesofsin]

ahhhhh , i see. gotcha.  looking good nonetheless.

[burdar]

I got a few early birthday presents over the weekend.  My wiper motor and brake booster came back from being restored.

Before pic of the wiper motor and the ECU bracket that I sent off for rebuild and replate.






After rebuild/replate...

[Jimmy]

Looks awesome! Where do you send your stuff of to be rebuilt at?

[burdar]

My work computer just took a dive so I had to move to a different one during lunch.

The wiper motor, bracket and master cylinder cover were sent to Jule Daddio in Canada.  I'm not going to use the master cylinder cover since it's very pitted.  I'll try and find another cover to have plated that is in good shape.

I don't have a good pic of the booster before hand.  I blasted it years ago and tried painting it with Eastwoods paint system that is supposed to look like zinc dichromate.  It didn't turn out good at all.  I sent it to Booster Dewey and it came out great.  There is a little pitting below the master but I don't think it will be noticable once everything else in the engine compartment is installed.

Painted with Eastwoods paint.
 

After rebuild and replate...

[Bullitt-]

Kudos to Jules & Booster Dewy.   

[73RallyeChallenger]

Hi Darren,

I have signed up on this site. You're car looks awesome! Looking very nice.

I posted some pics of this on moparts, here it is again.