restomod challenger

74challenger318 · Post by **74challenger318** » Thu Feb 25, 10 2:19 am

bought this off ebay december 2008, originaly 318 , painted red but looks originaly to have been burnished red, probably a export model as speedo in kmh, registration VGK 521W,

not had much time past few months to work on car due to work, but intentions are to replace suspension all round, change front and rear end to a 70, replace engine with a turboed 440 or viper v10, will update pictures and progress in next few days.

paul.

Trigger_Andy · Post by **Trigger_Andy** » Thu Feb 25, 10 7:24 am

I remember when that was on eBay. Quite rotten if I remember. Good luck with the rebuild, looking forward to seeing the pictures!

latil · Post by **latil** » Thu Feb 25, 10 8:04 am

I remember an interior shot of this with water in the footwells

Was it as bad as the pictures suggested?

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Thu Feb 25, 10 11:41 am

Great plan that

Looking forward to seeing some progress

74challenger318 · Post by **74challenger318** » Mon Mar 01, 10 12:49 am

only had pictures to go off, price seemed ok, done quite a few late 50`s chrysler cars, so new how rotten they can be, just fancied something 70`s this time so checked up on what repro parts were available before i bought it,

when i went to collect the seller had already started to strip the car, interior was out one quarter had been cut away engine had been removed and striped,car was at his mates bodyshop.

first sight of the car looked like it had been pulled from a lake, with bits of weeds and mud hanging from the front panel , the footwells were full of water so was the trunk pan, windscren smashed, vynil top had been removed revealing rot around screens and gutters,

planed to get car stripped and blasted over christmas (2008)

74challenger318 · Post by **74challenger318** » Mon Mar 01, 10 12:55 am

after stripping car, previous cosmetic repairs had been done and mostly all the outer panels were completly rusted away

, includeing inner fenders and bulkhead, the floor which had the swimming pool in was surprisingly good

74challenger318 · Post by **74challenger318** » Mon Mar 01, 10 1:02 am

back fom blasting and removing rotten panels,

74challenger318 · Post by **74challenger318** » Mon Mar 01, 10 1:13 am

not much left

bracing bars welded in place to keep body straight while panels removed.

Trigger_Andy · Post by **Trigger_Andy** » Mon Mar 01, 10 7:16 am

Bloody Hell!

Not much left but it looks like its in safe hands!

So did you buy it from ebay as in the first picture or wheb it had been partially stripped? It's just that I remember when it was on eBay and after the auction ended the new owner popped in to say hello and showed a few pic's of it then disappeared.

MrNorm · Post by **MrNorm** » Mon Mar 01, 10 10:32 am

Wow! Kinda looks familiar but that is a bigger job than mine was. Great to see someone tackling a job of that magnitude this side of the pond

Can't wait to see the result

Post by **MattH** » Mon Mar 01, 10 11:15 am

Jesus Christ, that is incredible. That makes mine look like a walk in the park. Roof removal as well. Huge respect to you, I am obviously getting old and scared of cutting metal out!

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Mon Mar 01, 10 1:21 pm

Are we takin bets yet on whose will be finished first... Paul (74challenger318), MattH & Mr Norm?

(sorry Gav

)

Matt74 · Post by **Matt74** » Mon Mar 01, 10 7:26 pm

Respect is due for saving that one. Good on ya. It certainly looks like you know what you're doing.

Do you do this for a living then or is it just a hobby?

MrNorm · Post by **MrNorm** » Mon Mar 01, 10 8:10 pm

RobTwin wrote:Are we takin bets yet on whose will be finished first... Paul (74challenger318), MattH & Mr Norm?

(sorry Gav )

My bet is on Paul

74challenger318 · Post by **74challenger318** » Wed Mar 03, 10 12:41 am

hi andy,

i bought it from the guy at ultimate spares of america in norfolk, it had been on ebay before that probably 6 months earlier and thats what it looked like in first pictures, i did put a bid on it then but got outbid,i did post some pics of it in the wanted section around christmas 2008 after being told about this site from dave robson if thats what you remember?

hi matt , i was looking at your post the other night, thats what finally got me round to putting this on here, i know that sometimes there looks to be no end in sight especially with body work,do some other parts one week like restoring the wiper motor or its of interior trim, cleaning and painting other parts,then just wrap them up ready to go back on when your cars painted, they all have to be done at some stage anyway, it also makes putting the car back together quicker and easier,

dont know how long it will take to do, the last car i had still was not finished after 10yrs ended up selling it to a guy in sweden