Bittersweet for us.

After 10 plus years of sitting buried in the back of our garage the wife has decided to get her late father's 1971 R/T Challenger back on the road.

Her dad built the car back in the early 80's.
He brought it up from Arizona, spotless rust free body with interior burnt from the heat.

Her dad was a 50's Ford/Mercury lover but he really liked the Challenger.
He restored the interior with all NOS parts that were still around in the 80's and had the car's body stripped and painted by one of the best body shops in our area.
He showed my wife, just a kid then, a 1971 Dodge paint chip guide and she picked the Plum Crazy paint color.

He installed a 1967 HP440 with high compression pistons and all the performance goodies from the 80's.

The car was a show stopper in all it's 1980's glory, jacked up with Centerlines wheels, big tires, but sadly with 12 to 1 compression was rarely driven.

Sadly my FIL died suddenly about 10 years ago.

My wife insisted she wanted to keep the car but didn't want to look at it, as it reminded her of her dad.

I pulled the engine and had the rattle can black engine compartment stripped and painted to match the rest of the car but I didn't have the heart or the motivation to work or look at it either so I covered and buried it in the back of the garage...

10 years has gone fast, I had enough Mopar projects to keep me busy (and broke) plus raising kids so the Challenger just sat covered.

I knew someday we would get it back out and it would need gone over mechanically so I bought parts a little at a time.
The car was an original manual steering and drum brake car so I planned to swap to power steering and front disk brakes.

Well the wife has decided it's time.
She has come to terms with her dad's death and knows he would want her to drive and enjoy the car.

We drug it out last weekend and the body and paint and interior still look stunning.
The wife spent hours washing and cleaning it.
There is plenty of incorrect 80's things on the car, most will stay.

I have set aside my Mopar projects and have kicked the parts buying into high gear with the wife's blessing.

I have all new Moog front suspension parts ready
11/16 tie rods
QA1 upper control arms
We just picked up a new level 3 power steering box from Steer and Gear.
Have a restored power steering column ready
New rear leaf springs from ESPO
Dr. Diff offset spring hanger kit and restored 1970 B body 8 3/4 rear end with brand new sure grip center section and 3.73 gear.
I hope to get those big 15x10 Centerline rear wheels tucked under the car.
New fuel tank and lines
Front disc brake conversion
New brake lines and master cylinder
And a bunch more parts coming....

I have a 440 Six Pack engine that will be going off to get refreshed and set up to be a nice street driver.
Rebuilt 727 transmission and converter ready to go

It's been quite awhile since I've done this much work on an old Mopar and I'm not getting any younger.
Should be an interesting and busy summer...wish me luck.