My eBay purchased 74

[Matt70]

Wow that is a lot brighter, nice work   

[willhaven]

LEDs are absolutely the way to go. It seems like cheap insurance for one of the most common accidents I see.

I've got the brake light LEDs ready for my 71 and will likely find or design LED replacements for the rest of the lights on the car. Especially the reverse and front turn signal lights since I've omitted the side markers.

They look nice. Good to know the output is so much higher!

[johns cuda shop]

Nice!!! Those LED tailights are awesome!!

[Jamiez]

I found a replacement rear harness for the challenger.  It didn't show up until Saturday, so I didn't get around to installing it.  However I took the time to test the wires and they all seem to be correct.  I'll have to do a comparison between my existing harness to get the exact results,  I suspect some green death is the cause of issues with my reverse lights.

Next up my lap belt loops showed up.  I took a few minutes and installed them.  Really they probably don't do much, but after the trouble finding them I am just glad to have them installed.


A while ago while working under the hood, I noticed some cracks in the extension shield


I decided to pull it and that's where the trouble began.  Removing the bolts was no problem, but I quickly discovered that to pull it, I'd need to remove the air shield.  Every bolt on this thing was rusted solid.  I sprayed it multiple times but still ended up breaking 3 of the 5 bolts.  Fortunately they should be easy to remove.  Once I got the part out I discovered that the driver's side was completely broken off. 

I also discovered a tag on the bottom which is in amazingly good shape considering where that part sits:


And finally while I was under the car messing with the air shield....I noticed the parking lights didn't look right.

My first thought was the wrong part was used....but then I checked the other side and realized it was the same...and then it hit me....they were installed on the wrong sides.  4 screws later and everything was back to normal.

[Jamiez]

So, I foolishly decided to install the rear harness after work today.  I thought I knew what I was in for as I had installed the rear speaker harness.  Unfortunately I didn't anticipate the difficulty of the connection to the fuel sending unit. Which of course I couldn't reach without removing the stone shield......you know how it goes.  Anyhow my quick project turned into a multi-hour affair. 

In the end I have completely working LED tail lights... including the backup lights that didn't work before.

ta-dah!

[Jamiez]

I did a little plastic repair this week.  This is the first time I ever really tried to repair anything like this.  After letting the glue dry for a day, I took the panel outside and sanded off the original finish:

After sanding and cleaning, I hit it with a few light mist coats of some Mopar Argent Silver wheel paint followed up by a mist of flat black.  I kept misting until I got something close to the original finish. The original was a bit more silver than my finished product but for my first plastic repair (and considering where it's mounted on the car) I'm pretty happy with the results.
Wide shot

Close up

[Challenger III]

Nice Job! 

[Padawan]

Awesome job you're doing there! But -- this thread doesn't exactly make it easier for me to wait another 2 weeks until my Challenger arrives!    

[Jamiez]

Thanks for the encouragement Challenger III and Padawan!  I really need more practice at that kind of repair.  Fortunately that piece is pretty well hidden

I can't imagine waiting 2 weeks, I was going nuts the last few hours before the auction ended for my car

[383 six pack]

nice job !!

[Super Blue 72]

Love the way you're documenting everything, that takes time and effort.  I really like the LED lights, nice install!    Everythingis looking good!

[Jamiez]

Thanks!  I try to document everything so maybe it will be useful to other members.  I constantly look at other restoration threads for ideas/advice.  I find Burdar's particularly useful (http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=61201.0)  I wish I had his attention to detail!

[Challenger III]

  I really hope Burdar is still around when I get further along on my project.

[Jamiez]

I've been following this thread (http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=80818.0) on refinishing the interior panels and keeping an eye on the new panels available in this thread (http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=80649.0).  My panels aren't that bad...but they are white and white shows dirt like no other color.  I decided to try just cleaning a panel to see how it would come out.  I chose a seat bracket because if anything went wrong, I could hide it next to the transmission hump.

Before:

After:

The results are pretty decent but I'm still deciding what to do with the larger panels.

I also trolled around the internet and found a few pictures of my car before I owned it.  This is probably the best one:

You can see it did not originally have hood pins or fender turn signals.  The PO must have added those in the short period of time he had it. 
Also the rocker trim and D-O-D-G-E letters are missing from the hood, which I replaced.

[Jamiez]

After the success with the one cover, I decided to remove the other 3 and give them all a good cleaning.  I spent a couple minutes each day working on them, it was sort of like teeth whitening.  I'd hit them with either degreaser, simple green, or dish soap, give them a firm scrubbing and then toss them in a warm bucket of water for a few hours/over night.  In the end I think they came out pretty decent:


Next up was changing the oil.  Big thanks to Brads70 for putting up with my silly questions on this one.  I had trouble removing the drain plug (it was over-torqued)

Eventually the heat gun and PB Blaster got it.  I was probably a bit gun-shy after breaking 3 out of 5 bolts on the valance.  I did NOT want to snap the drain plug. Also there is no designated oil fill spot on my engine.  Is that common?  I used the breather to fill it (after consulting with those more knowledgeable than me)

Next came the removing the existing oil filter. I tried several tools and I mauled the heck out of it pulling it off.  Again this was way over torqued.  And the right angle adapter that is installed on it makes it impossible to get one of the end cap ratchet things on it.   It was a very very frustrating Friday. I picked up one of those band wrenches and managed to get it off.  It still took a fair amount of muscle but off it came.



Once the filter was off, I swapped in a WIX 51515 (and oiled the gasket and hand tightened) and 4qts of Brad Penn.  Now the car has a good filter and the correct oil in it so that's one less thing for me to worry about.  Next on my list of engine type things is the spark plugs.  They are probably good, but if I am going to pull them to check them, I might as well put new good ones in there.  Any advice as to what brand/make a 360 four barrel should use?