Restoration of an origonal owner 73 Challenger Rallye

[Bullitt-]

YO YO YO     Excellent as usual   

[burdar]

So this is what a Brand New Challenger looked like!

I wouldn't say that...I just don't see the point in spending a lot of money on bodywork/paint, and then just start throwing old looking parts back on it.  I want to get each part looking the best I can make it look before it goes back on the car.

how do you guys know/remember where everything is routed ?

Taking lots of picture before disassembling the car is always helpful.    Before the internet, you pretty much needed to have a parts car to know where everything was supposed to go.  Now, the answers to your questions are just a mouse click away.   This car was completely torn apart in 1998.  I wouldn't remember where to start putting it back together if it weren't for sites like this and its members.

[dutch]

WTG burdar     she will turn a head or two in the near future 

[hpe600rt]

 

[Grec]

Beautiful car. Great work.

Question, though... I have a 73 that the dufus that had it before me sprayed the engine bay black. Chevy guy, apparently.

Regarding the brake booster... I notice yours is cadmium. Is that the way they came from the factory? I was under the impression e body boosters were black.

On the other hand... it's kind of rare to see a correctly detailed 72+ so I wasn't sure.

[burdar]

That's a good question.  The answer is BOTH.  There were two styles of booster.  I don't know what dictated what style booster was used.  Disc brakes were standard by 73 so they should have used just one style but they didn't. 

The Midland Ross boosters are plated zinc dichromate.  That's the yellow/gold plating.  The Midland Ross boosters are the banded style.  They have a metal band that holds the two halves together.  The other style I believe is a Bendix.  That booster has the two halves crimped together and was painted black.  In 1970, the master cylinder was installed on the booster and everything was painted black as an assembly.  I don't know if that is the case with the 73/74 cars or not.  Someone should post a picture of a survivor car with a black booster to see if there are traces of black paint on the master cylinder.

Here are a few pics of my booster before I sent it out to Booster Dewey...

The original booster was rusty on the outside and I blasted/painted it years ago.  Here's how it looked before I took the backing plate off of it for the first time.
   

Here is a picture of the back side of the backing plate.  It was originally painted black.


Here is the area dirrectly under the backing plate.  The plating still looked brand new.

[Grec]

Great info. thanks!

After reading your post, I went out and checked my booster...

It is the banded version and low and behold, a little scratching in an inconspicuous place shows cadmium under the black paint. (Entire engine bay was painted black by the last guy who was apparently a Chevy guy. And s*** mechanic. :-)

So... it looks like at some point I'll be getting a little extra bling in the engine bay while keeping it Chrysler-stock in appearance.

[joelson6]

Darren,

it's coming along great! i used the SEM paint on my interior too. it comes out great. i did all the plastics
on my interior with it. even all the little covers for the seat belts. doing a resto like this is a long process,
i know  ,but it's worth it in the end when your driving it!

[burdar]

I saw a 70 Challenger and a 73 or 74 Cuda in a parade yesterday.  It really got me wanting to get this thing done. 

I'm still waiting on the gauges.  They should have been back weeks ago.  I was hoping to get the dash assembly installed this past weekend.  As soon as the gauges show up the dash assembly will be going in and I'll have more pics to post.

[burdar]

I received a call from GCAR late yesterday and the gauges are done.  I should have them back next week.  The dash assembly should be in the car by next weekend.

I ordered carpet, front/rear seat covers and arm rest pads in the Legendary Interiors group buy that CODY had a couple weeks ago.  The carpet showed up at the house yesterday.  As soon as I got home I took it out of the box.  The rear carpet kept its shape pretty well.  The front carpet is going to take some work to get back into shape. 

Dad replaced the original carpet a long time ago.  The heel pad on the old carpet is just a rectangle.  The pad on the replacement carpet is different.  It also doesn't look like it's in the right place...I won't be able to tell that for sure until it's installed though.  Does anyone have pictures of factory original carpet from a 73?  I'm currious if the heel pad is correct on my new carpet?

I also ordered a new VIN sticker from ECS and a can of their RPM rust preventative.  A few of the bolts I redid with Caswells black oxide kit are starting to rust.  Those fasteners were sitting in a tub on the damp concrete.  The bolts that have been installed on the car still look good.  I'll remove the penetrating sealer from the fasteners and replace it with the RPM.  Then they should be good to go for years.     

[EB3-GranCoupe]

burdar,

great looking resto!  the color combo is fantastic.  imho, the best looking for 72-74! i had an interesting time tracking down the correct style master cylinder.  it took me about 10 times before i got the correct facing bowl, but theya re aout there.  onece i told the parts stores what i was restoring, they were more than happy to help out!

can't wait to see it done!

[burdar]

Thanks

I'm going to try and get it done for the 2013 Mopar Nat's.  They'll most likely have a special 40th anniversary display for the 73 model year.  I'd like to get the car off the stand this fall.  Then I can work on redoing the front/rear suspension and engine/trans over the winter/spring.  Hopefully, I can have it sitting on its wheels by next summer.     

[burdar]

There was a small package at the door when I got home.  It was the antenna bezel.  I sent the original one out to AIH chrome in Dubuque because the repop bezel didn't fit the contour of the fender.  This one looks and fits perfect.

[burdar]

Antenna assembly was installed last weekend.  The bezel fits great.  The under structure of the Goodmark front fenders wasn't exactly the same as the original fenders.  The antenna base didn't stick up through the fender enough to get the chrome nut started.  I had to grind material off of the arched spacer bracket in order to get the assembly to stick up through the fender far enough.  I bought a new antenna mast from Dale's Cuda Shop last year.  It doesn't match the original mast exactly but it's close.  The new mast is about 1/2" longer then stock and the ball on the end is slightly larger.  The original mast didn't have a smooth finish...it had visable machining marks on it.  The Dale's Cuda Shop mast also has machining marks but they are more pronounced.  I may polish the mast slightly to give it a more correct appearance.

The seat covers and arm rest pads I ordered from "Cody" in the Legendary group buy arrived today.  The covers look really good but I'm not too thrilled about the arm rest pads.  They'll work though.  The grain pattern isn't right and the pads have a wooden core.  The original pads had a metal core.  They fit the door panels ok though.

Monday morning a big storm came through the area.  100-130 mph winds blew for a half hour.  The wifes Sebring that we bought 2 weeks ago has $3700 worth of paint damage.  My 6' privacy fence was  blown over and the roof of the house is damaged.  The house and garage were leaking.  Some plywood in the garage started to sag so I pushed the Challenger into the corner incase the ceiling colapsed.  Once the house is fixed, I should be able to get the gauges and dash installed.

[dutch]

wow... sorry to hear about all that damage...that`s a big bummer     glad your car and family are undamaged though