SURVIVOR vs. GROUND-UP RESTORATION!

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door jamb and close up of the original tire pres. decal

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Dave - wow...those bring back memories!  At least you showed everyone's legs including yours!  If I recall the powertrain went in very smoothly and quickly.  Again -Tom's photos on the laptop really made things so clear for reassembly, I can't imagine doing a car without the photos or computer.
Brian - your GTX looks awesome... and the history you have uncovered is interesting.  Do you have a broadcast sheet?  I am taking an educated guess that this was a Sales Bank Car that sat unsold, and then in order to move it, a Chrysler Manager grabbed it as a company car.  After putting a few miles on it then sold it as used to the dealer you noted.  Just a guess, but the timeline would make sense.  Plus that is an expensive convertible and would not be the fastest moving car for a dealer so probably a tough sell out of sales bank.  Dave

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Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply.  No build sheet yet but I do know there is one out there somewhere!  I was able to talk to the third owner of the vehicle the other day and he said that he found it when he pulled the carpeting out and it went with the car to the new owner which was some where in NC and then up to Mass.  So, either there could be one still inside the car (haven't done too much interior work yet aside from pulling the door panels)  or there is still that chance that it could get reunited with us at a later point.  What you mentioned about the sales bank car sounds very possible now that I think about that more especially since there is about a month time frame after the title went to Chrysler and then to the dealer (guessing either a private used car or another Mopar dealership used lot?)  However, wouldn't a Sales Bank Car have more options as they would want that to entice people to buy it and get it off the lot?

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Dave,

If I remember correctly, our challenger has a similar purplish blue line like that only it had a yellow painted color on the tube with the stripe.

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Never saw a red annodized dip stick handle before.  Were they color coded for which engines?

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Dave,

Seeing that trunk mat reminded me that there was mention about ECS reproducing the trunk mats.  Anything ever come of that?  I know the current ones on the market are FAR from correct or even fitting close.   Great pics of the detail though and I can't wait to pull my wheels to see what brake shoes we have on there!

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Wow!       Very nicely done Dave!  I guess either weathering or the Evapo-rust removed that weld burn mark off of our driveshaft.  I guess I'll have to pull ours back off and take a torch to it to get that blue'd color back.

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Sorry for answering sooner Brian.  I guess I overlooked your question while posting the pictures of stampings and part numbered components.

Regarding trunk mats, I had located the correct material and was setting things up to start running them.  The only thing left to do was to invest in the die cutting and having the correct pattern printed on the rubber.  That part of it (of course) was the lion's share of the investment/cost.  Long story short, I stopped the process because all of the excitement and "hoopla" ended up being just that.  Everyone who said they were dying to get a "correct one" didn't want to commit to purchasing it when we started calling to let them know we were ready to run them.  It wasn't worth spending thousands on a line that couldn't even support the cost of having it manufactured.

Well, Dave, if you should revisit the idea in the future..... put me down for one for the charger, one for the GTX convert, and one for the Chally vert!   If you do it, I KNOW it will be correct!

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Nice tool mark on the tab where the trunk light switch is!  I'll bet 90% of the general people who would restore it would touch that up?

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paint mark on the rear bumper bracket.

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another pic of the gtx with the bumper removed.  man it looks naked!  Also some pics of me freshening up the undercoating to factory fresh condition!

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Ah ok.  I'll have to pick up some of that for our cabinet blaster.  I did respray the starter with the correct over spray with the tubes over the electrical studs.  I forgot to take some pics of it when I was at Mom and Dads house yesterday.  I did however take some pics of the freshened up areas of the dark gray dip tank primer.  I also got the 6 way seat fixed, and get the fuel and brake lines unclipped from the body so Dad could get them cleaned back up.  Got a lot accomplished in the last two days!     The undercoating was reapplied by hand with a brush going on back over the original where the over spray occured.  I will also take some pics of that as I had forgotten my camera yesterday wen I was there.  These pics were from the work I did on Wed.

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More pics of the cleaned up areas where the original dark gray primer was showing.   Also cleaned up the trans from the 43 years of dirt on it from what I could reach and see with it still installed.  Ran out of brake cleaner spray but still got a lot accomplished and made a huge difference.  Pics of that to also come the next time I get up to my parents house to work on the car!

I will say that right now it does not look like much but once the undercoating gets back on there......    It is absolutely what a little detail makes to a car.  But again, as I am sure that Dave Walden can tell you, this task is not for the faint of heart!  This has to be one of the most agonizing process in the world as to keep something original and not make it look a certain way on purpose without completely stripping it all down and reshooting the undercoating.

Dave, I have a whole new respect for you and your team that did this!

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ok, here is the finished undercoating pics!   some were taken still in the process as I needed to take a break due to everything starting to look black!  The gray is actually more of a dark gray similar to the dark gray dip primer that was applied at the factory.

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