Restoration of an origonal owner 73 Challenger Rallye

[burdar]

Well, a few weeks went by and I got a call from Tim.  I don't want to go into what he quoted me but it was very close to the estimates I had gotten before.

Tim said that he was getting the 70 done to debut at the 08 Mopar Nats and should be done with it by July.  He didn't have anything in the schedule after that so he would be able to get my car right in.

My dad and I talked it over and decided that Tim was the most qualified person we had talked to up to that point.  The price was on target with the other estimates we had gotten and the car would be close by.

I called Tim and told him that if he still was interested in the car that I would like him to do the work.  He said that was great and to give him a call in July.  A few months passed and before I knew it...July had come.  I sent Tim an E-mail  asking how the black car was coming and got a responce that I wasn't expecting.

Here is the accual e-mail that I recieved...

Darren,     I have been trying to contact people about some changes that are occurring with my shop.  As of last Friday I sold my company and I will be moving to Cleveland, Ohio to manage a restoration shop called Best Of Show Automotive.  Some of the cars that I had in process are going with me and I will be finishing them out there.  The black 70 Challenger is going with me so I can try to finish it for the Mopar Nats.   I want to let you know that I would still be willing to work on your car, only it will be a little further away.  I will understand if you do not want to have it that far away,  but I want you to know that you would be treated exactly as if  was still in my old shop.  We can be very flexible and have full time drivers for transporting customer cars.  Sorry for the inconvenience but I was made an offer I could not refuse.

You can imagine that I was pretty...

[burdar]

I had gotten my hopes up again.  Just went I thought my dream of restoring this car was going to come true...reality strikes again.

I didn't know what to say so I just did nothing.  I didn't even respond to his e-mail.  The Mopar Nats were coming up in a few weeks so I waited to see what...if anything...would happen there.

On the first day of the Nats, the very first thing I did was to go over to the Best of Show tent and look at the black R/T that Tim had restored.  Wow...it looked amazing.  Here are a couple pics of it that I took that day.  Remember it is inside a tent so the pics arn't that good.





On a side note...this car is in the August issue of Mopar Collectors Guide if you read that magazine.



Tim saw me looking at the car and came right over.  He said he was sorry for the whole situation and that he knew I was  since I didn't e-mail him back.  He said that BOS had been trying to get him to come on board for a while since he did a lot of paint work for them.....Tim would paint a car for BOS and they would bring him another car when they picked the first one up.  He did about four cars a year for them.

Tim said he wanted to make things right with me and would agree to do the car for the same cost as he had origonally quoted me even though BOS charges more than his old shop.  He would also take care of shipping the car back and forth.  The only thing I had to decide is if I could deal with the car being half way accross the country instead of an hour away from home. 

[dutch]

   that looks very nice...    you`re building up tension here....     
I think we need a smiley  with rumbling drums....   

[thesado]

and then...?



 

[burdar]

Ok, my wife and kid are in bed so I have a few minutes to get on the computer again.

I talked it over with my dad since he is still the official owner of the car.  He said that it was my decision.  I was the one paying for everything and he said that the car is basically mine anyway.  After years of being apart, he really didn't have any connection to the car anymore.  He did want to see it restored and said that he would most likely become attached to it once again if it was ever completed but that I needed to do what ever I thought needed to be done.

Although I was really looking forward to being able to go see the car on a regular basis, I knew that Tim was the right person for the job.  I called and told him that we had a deal.  Now he just had to waite until he had a transport in the area.

In October he called me and said that they would have a trailer in the area on the 14th.  They had an old Ford to deliver in Wisconsin and would swing over to Iowa and bring the Challenger back to Ohio.

The weekend before the car was going to be picked up, my best friend and I installed the front fenders, hood and trunk lid for easier hauling.  We also spent the morning removing as much seam sealer from the car as we could.  I figured every little bit will help save me some money.  Why pay someone else to do that.

I boxed everything else that would need to be painted and or fitted to the car and made out a shipping list so I would know exactly what was sent.

I took the morning of the 14th off of work and helped load the car onto the trailer.  It was a little emotional...I know that's not the manly thing to say but I don't really care.  Some of my first memories as a child are riding in that car.

Here are some pictures I took that day. 

 

[Bullitt-]

A Cliff Hanger.....  And The Plot Thickens 

[burdar]

I had a bunch of pictures to download to Photobucket and the disc was at home so I'm just now getting back to it. 

Here are a few picture of when the car arrived at Best of Show Automotive.  The black R/T wasn't completely done at the Nats and they were just finishing up a few things on it when my car got there.







This is how the car sat from October until January when the work got started.

[e-tek]

By ...the looks of those surroundings, looks like you (or Dad?) has the funds for someone to do it right. Why waste time when you can just pay - I always say!! (Course, I can't pay -- so I do it all myself!!) Lookin' forward to seeing real progress now!

[burdar]

The car has been and will continue to be at my parents place until I have the money to build a 3rd stall garage at my house.  Who knows when that will be.

My dad does OK but he doesn't have money falling out of his pockets by any means.  I have been able so save up the money for the bodywork and paint but it is taking my entire savings to get it done.  The car will be put back together when my budget allows me to buy new parts.  My dad did loan me the last chunk of money to pay for the bodywork but I sold a car a few weeks later and payed him right back.  This whole project will be payed for by me.

 I'm really going to have to decide what parts can be saved and what parts need to be new.  The items that are the most visable need to be new or rebuilt to as new condition.  I will settle for painting and re-using certain components  that aren't so visable so I can accually get the car on the road.  Those parts can be replaced down the road when money allows.   

[70shaker6pk]

I saw the black challenger at the nat's, all i can say is WOW!     I bet your car will look very nice, I think it is in great hands.   Please post pic's when you get it  done, Thanks

[dutch]

 I'm really going to have to decide what parts can be saved and what parts need to be new.  The items that are the most visable need to be new or rebuilt to as new condition.  I will settle for painting and re-using certain components  that aren't so visable so I can accually get the car on the road.  Those parts can be replaced down the road when money allows.

 I`d try to save as many parts as possible... don`t start tossing out original parts for aftermarket too soon...
there is a lot of bad fitting stuff for sale.  I`d rather have an original part that looks used than an aftersale part that doesn`t fit... 

[burdar]

I'm not going to be tossing an parts.  Even if I don't use a part...I'm keeping it for a spare. 

What I'm talking about are things like the front turn signal housings.  I could get new ones that would have the correct plating on the aluminium housing as well as the correct goldish plating on the metal light socket.  I just plan on cleaning the origonals up for now since they aren't very visable.

[burdar]

The metal replacement got started in January.

The inner fenders were the first thing to be dealt with.








You can see the bracing that was installed to keep the body straight when the inner fenders were cut out.


The cowl braces were badly rusted underneith the inner fenders and were replaced.

[burdar]

Here the new inner fenders have been installed.






New cowl brace.

 

[4THECHALLENGE]

Great story and great progress.. My car is a 74 but I changed it over to the 70 look.. I really wish o would have kept it original after seeing your thread. I'll keep checking in to see the progress I'm sure it will be fantastic once it's finished