SURVIVOR vs. GROUND-UP RESTORATION!

[resq302]

It takes a little common sense to make a factory vehicle look correct.  I can't get over how many components look like sticky Cotton Candy when they are finished.  Take the Engine Compartment for instance.  It's amazing how many "restorations" have 10 layers of paint and look like they have been wet sanded and buffed.  Another "cheesy" feature is when all of the hoses are all perfectly placed so the lettering is manipulated and facing in one direction.  You also have to appreciate the "classic look" of the wing nuts (that hold on the Air Cleaner Lid) tightened in a perfect horizontal straight line.     I wonder how many Assembly Line workers were instructed to position ancillary engine parts in such a calculated fashion?  When you look beyond simple things like that, you can be assured that other Factory features have been over looked.

Sheesh, that is along the lines of someone deliberately lining up the valve stem with a particular spot on the tire so everything is all indexed properly.  Then the same person goes to great lengths at a car show to have all the tires indexed at the same position in the spot such as all 4 tires having the valve stem in the same position while parked in the space.  Cause we all know the factory intended for us to do that!   

[resq302]

More progress on the dash.  We pulled out the instrument cluster, radio, glove box, and all the padded pieces now.  Wow, I can't believe how dirty behind the dash gets!  There must have easily been a half inch thick of dust/dirt/grime on top of the heater box and channel of the steel dash frame.  Anyway, here is what the dash looks like all exposed and stuff.  We just got the dash paint in yesterday, Dad said, so when I am back there on Monday, I should have some more pics of progress.  Till then, enjoy the process...

As you can see in the 3rd and 4th pic, some knucklehead decided to paint the kick panels, lower dash pad, and lower dash frame all at the same time with what I call, Dukes of Hazzard tan.     Either way, it was not correct or what the factory would have done so we had to strip off the paint as you saw in previous pics with the lower dash pad.

[resq302]

pics of underside / behind the dash which has not been touched in probably 44 years judging by the dust!     One thing I learned is that the nuts that held on the wiper pivots are a red dyed color.  Curious as to why the factory would have made them red and not just regular zinc colored?   

What is also weird is that it appears to have some kind of a red oxide primer under the dash on the sides of the cowl and firewall area.  All that I have seen before such as inside the doors and underside of the quarter panels in the trunk was the light gray and dark gray primers.

[PasiR]

Yes, very sad news. I ordered wiper motor from him for my friends -70 Charger, great product and service too!!

[resq302]

Looking good Master B!  I'm going to post some pictures of the Fantastic work that Jules D'addio did on my Wiper Motors.  Those components (on my projects) were about the only parts that I would allow to be restored by anyone other than our small team of guys.  He was a true Craftsman and the Best at what he offered to our Hobby!  Anyone else who had their Wiper Motors restored by Jules is welcomed and encouraged to post pictures of those units in this thread.  I will miss talking to him.  He was a Great guy!

Wow.  When did this happen?  Definitely a sad day!  Such a loss for the car hobby as his work was top notch!

[resq302]

Man, his wiper motors were a true art piece!  Guess the big guy upstairs admired his work and needed some wiper motors restored himself!  The hobby certainly has a huge void to fill now!

[resq302]

On a more positive note, here are some more pics of the progress with our GTX.

Steel dash all repainted where the incorrect "Dukes of Hazzard" tan was:






Masking removed:




Metal trim painted and ready to be installed:



Dash pads dyed back to the correct color (dead on match too!):



Reassembly starting!

[sadil340]

Here's a couple of pics of Jules' work as I restored my car. He was a real craftsman and an excellent person to work with.

[resq302]

Kinda looks like a convertible on that dirt track.  Ugly hub caps on it too!   

[hemiken]

They look like wire spoke wheels to me Available on optioned Gran Coupes and SE Challengers usually.

[resq302]

The hubcaps kind of resemble the ones for the 15" rims for Hemi cars and such.

[hemiken]

The hubcaps kind of resemble the ones for the 15" rims for Hemi cars and such.

Hey Brian , they are a 14" hubcap those wire hubcaps, you just can not see the spokes because they were moving when picture was taken (obviously ) old camera's do not have the shutter speeds of todays camera's

[resq302]

    Lots of little differences there.  Never knew about the + mark on the top of the pos. bat. post.   Is that a date code on the top of the negative post?  Even the font is different.  I, however, did know about the 5 vs 1 vent hole on the cap though  but I am sure a lot of others haven't heard about that.  Looks like the texturing is also a lot more rough than what is available today.  Maybe its cause the rubber didn't totally melt and smooth out which left that chuncky appearance?

Either way, LOTS of great reference pics to what was original!  Thanks for sharing!

[hemiken]

I find it pretty amazing to see what was available as a spare part in a bin compared to what was fitted on the assembly line

[ChallengerHK]

Hey Brian , they are a 14" hubcap those wire hubcaps, you just can not see the spokes because they were moving when picture was taken (obviously ) old camera's do not have the shutter speeds of todays camera's

Old cameras do have the shutter speed to freeze that action, but old film was frequently not fast enough to let the camera use those shutter speeds, especially if the image was meant for print.