My eBay purchased 74

[Padawan]

Damn, you're giving me ideas... NICE JOB!!

[Jamiez]

More work on the interior.  I've got most of the pieces as clean as they are going to get.  I'm still debating hitting the whites with a light coat of dye.  For the blacks I started applying many coats of Back to Black.  Around coat #4 most of the scuffs and chalky spots disappeared so I did another 3-4 coats just to get that deep shine.  Here is the console after I was done treating it and let it dry for 2 days.  I had not treated the door. 

A close up of the difference


Next on the interior removal is the seats.  I didn't want to pull the driver in case I need to move the car in the next few days.  I pulled the passenger seat and folded back the carpet just to get a good look at the floor pan.  Thankfully, they look very solid.


Well...back to cleaning...

[usraptr]

Very nice work.  You're lucky the floor pans are as solid and rust free as they are.  Most aren't'.  Keep up the good work!   

[Padawan]

Wow, very nice result with the back-to-black!

[Jamiez]

Didn't get much done this week, with the holidays bearing down upon me.  However I got a nice pile of challenger related stuff that showed up at my house.


Next week should be busy

[Street_Challenged73]

Very nice work with freshening up your eBay purchase!!!   You're basically taking the same approach I am with my Stealth; fixing all of the little issues/eye sores & any other problems of negligence by the past couple owners.  Very nice work so far & it's quite the change seeing those door/rear quarter side panels all cleaned up...That chalkiness is really the only problem with original white interior panels, but you'd be surprised how well several cans of SEM plastic dye can be for them.   Keep up the awesome progress & very nice job documenting all of this!!!

Threads like yours really keep the motivation there for the rest of us with long-term projects that are just sitting & waiting for their time once again.

[Jamiez]

After Christmas my dad and I finished moving his boat and shifted the cars around.  With the challenger now parked for the winter, I pulled the remaining pieces from the inside and completed the removal of the carpet

After a lot of cleaning I started installing Dynamat.  I quickly learned that warming the sheets by storing them inside and cutting them into smaller pieces was the key.  I purchased enough to cover the floor, but unfortunately I didn't buy enough of the tape to cover all the seams.  I'll post some shots when it's done.

I also went to work on the cigarette lighter.  The original was functional but more than a little rough:



I purchased a NOS replacement, but the pull out piece was a bit different than the original, so I ended up cleaning it and reusing it.  A lot of soaking in Evaporust and some brushing:


I ended up using the replacement barrel as that was the same and the old one was so rough.  During that process I was reminded of something important

The lighter circuit is hot even when the ignition is off

[Jamiez]

Dynamat all in place with foil tape applied.  Two days crawling around in the car when the temp was in the teens/20s was rough on the back.



Now reassembly of the interior can begin!

[Jamiez]

What a difference a week makes.......

The project that started out as cleaning the L shaped brackets that cover the seat arms and then snowballed into removing and cleaning the entire interior is pretty much complete.  I still have to polish up the sill plates and reinstall them, but otherwise it's completed.

And since the weather was so warm I did what everyone else was doing....

...painted auto parts.  Wait you mean that wasn't what everyone did?   The valve covers are coming along nicely. The cover is a bit off due to the camera and the sunlight, the actual shade is a good match to my existing block.  Unfortunately I ran out of primer before finishing the air cleaner cover.

And finally another member, John A, sent me some oil caps for the valve covers.  I've been working on cleaning them prior to paint.  This is what they look like after soaking in baths of Evapo Rust, warm water, and degreaser and some scrubbing....

[GranCuda1970]

Snice work!!!

[Matt70]

Car of the month! Nice!   

[msbaugh]

I love your thread! It's not necessarily a lot of huge projects, but all the little things that need to be  done that require attention to detail. awesome job so far and awesome car!

[burdar]

You're going to have to strip the anodizing off the sill plates before you try polishing them.  They won't polish up with the anodizing still on there.

[Jamiez]

Week 34:

I finished up the valve covers with some high temp clear coat.



Now I am just waiting on parts (grommets, gaskets, etc) before installing them.  I also picked up some buffing equipment and started evaluating the existing trim on the Challenger.  There are several pieces that need some dent removal and polishing.  So that will probably be my next project after the valve covers.  With 4 inches of snow on the ground, I don't think the weather will co-operate enough to get the air cleaner painted.

[brads70]

Looks great! 
Your putting me to shame here ya know!       I have so much I "COULD" do , but just can't seem to get motivated.