Ok, my 73 was just sprayed in final primer today so color is not far off. I need to decide what paint "details" to put back on the car.

First off all let me say that I really screwed up awhile ago and told the painter to spray the entire underside body color. I now wish I had gone the primer/overspray route. The car came with underhood insulation and full undercoating so overspray showing underneith wouldn't be correct either.

The car is a 318 Rallye car but I'm going to run dual exhaust which everyone knows wasn't available on a 318 car. Other than the exhaust, I'd like the car to look correct.

Should I have the bodyshop brush seam sealer over the front fender/header panel bolts like the factory did? Should I have them adjust the trunklid striker after paint so primer shows on the underside of the lid? At this point is it worth doing? There is an inspection stamp on the underside of the trunk lid that I want to put back but would like opinions on those other things. Thanks

If you're not going for OE Gold at the Mopar Nats, I would just make it a nicely detailed car. Wait..... I did that to my GY3 car. Get it painted,then get the bottom Rhino Lined or undercoated since it was a full undercoating car. I wouldn't do the seam sealer on the bolts. No need to replicate sloppy if you're not looking for OE Gold Get the stamp to put the "Paint OK" thingy back on the bottom of the decklid. Get Jules to do your wiper motor. Adjust the trunklid BEFORE paint,and don't leave primer showing. Just make it neat, and don't leave any area of the car undetailed. My GY3 71 Challenger is a 318 car that was done in the manner I described above. I couldn't care less about winning OE Gold with most of my cars, but when I fix my numbers matching 70 A66 Challenger I'll probably be bugging Dave Walden,Scott Smith,Barry Washington, and several others to death! All that being said,the one person that absolutely must be happy with the car...is you. Good luck

paint the cuda any way that makes you happy. if the cuda was a 70 or a 71 or a factory big block i say go by the book. but being a 73 318 make the car any way that makes you happy. i have another 72 cuda (not the one in pic) that i hope to restore some day and every tells me to make it as close to factory that you can. sometimes the factory look isnt real nice. im not putting the ugly air condition on it, im putting headers on it dressing up the motor. get the idea. the 72-74 arent real collecters item and if you are worried about it being worth more money if it is the best cherry it can be its only worth about 35-40k so make the car so that you like it and drive the heck out of it and enjoy

when ever one decides to restore a car.
A person should decide what they want out of the finished product and there intentions for said finished product.
Then makes sure it's cost effective to do so.
Ultimately deciding what will make YOU happy with the finished product.
Me personally I like the fully painted undercarriage, but I also like the primered look as well.
But I do my cars, I do them for me and not what anyone else thinks they should be.
Then again, I really do appreciate the work involved in/at any level.

Doing those details is a slippery slope. Why replicate the messy details if you aren't going to go all the way in other areas? So are you going to dedicate the funds and time (and headaches) necessary to make this an OE car? If not, where does it end?

Sounds like you are going to have a cool car you can drive, so I'd say be practical and remember that it is a minority of people out there that will recognize sloppiness and know it is a factory replication.... most will just think it was a poorly done car and will assume there are other areas of the car that were shortcutted.

And its not really about other people, its about you... so do what you want. But you asked for opinions and let me tell you, I am FULL of them!

Years ago I battled with this concept, but after having redone my car several times (this time being the last for a while), I now favor practicality. What is easiest to keep clean? What parts/paint/etc requires less attention?

For instance, undercoating serves several very practical purposes:

Doesn't chip like paint so it stays "new" longer (and of course prevents corrosion)

Doesn't ever really get pretty, so no need to really fuss over getting it sparkling clean, a swipe with a wet towel will do.

Easier to touch up if something does go wrong like if you run over something on the freeway, or if you decide to make a change later like adding subframe connectors, etc.

Makes my sloppy sub frame connector welds look a little better

Quiets the ride, makes an impact on your perception of the quality of the car (in my opinion)

Thanks for the opinions. I'll update my restoration thread once the car is in color.

sorry but i dont think i can hardly be called an e body snob. i own 2 very nice 72 cudas that i love and have had them since 1978 and 1980. i have raced the one in this pic since 1980 and will have both of them until the day i die. just telling it like it is they are smog motor cars that are not real high price collectors sorry

actually, i'm sorry, i didn't mean you directly, i was referring to THE "e-body snobs", you know the ones where if it ain't a 70 or 71, it wasted metal.

apoligy accepted lol lol what i really like about our cars is we can beat them to death and still enjoy our cars. we can drive ours, race ours and they are not garage or trailer queens. i have to trailer this one to the track but then i race the heck out of it. thats why i said we can paint ours any color we want and slso enjoy ours thanks e body brother but i do understand

Darren, I know you have absolutely no intention selling your car when you are done. I don't think that you are very fair from having your car from being considered for judging in a OE contest? What do you want to do with your car? You have spent alot of time researching, and you have spent alot of money on it, so why cut corners at the very end? This is a HOBBY, and money and resale value were taken out of the equation a long time ago. Why not go for OE GOLD status?

Alot of guys (myself included, are buying 72-74's because they cannot afford 70-71's. I wanted an e-body with an original HP engine, I wouldn't settle for anything less. I would have had to pay double for a 70-71 HP with an original engine/tranny. AND thank god I did buy a 1973, because there is no way I would have been able to afford the NOS parts for a 70-71 car. The NOS parts for a 72-74 I find to be rather reasonable.

Oh, by the way, I saw a 73 Challenger Rallye sell at the last Barrett Jackson auction for $33,000 plus buyers fee. Now, for me to have purchased that car, it would have cost me closer to $40,000 to bring it into Canada, (tax, freight, buyers fee, etc.). These cars are not worth restoring? Says who? Heck, there are guys restoring early Mustangs??? What for? The early Mustangs are not worth very much money! Heck, if you can believe it, there are even guys out there restoring low dollar small block Corvettes?? Why, they are not selling for very much money anyomre.

I went into a new Dodge dealership a couple weeks ago and I was talking to a salesperson. I mentioned to him that I owned a 1973 Challenger. The sales guy tells me my car is worth around $20,000. I was really pissed at this guy. How the heck can this guy tell me what me car is worth without knowing anythin about it? Maybe the car is a 5000k original surivor? or maybe an OE Gold car? Something i have learned about this hobby of ours, everyone has an opinion about these cars, and opinions are just opinions.

There is a guy from around here that bought a 71 hemi plum crazy Challenger back in the 70's. He wanted to keep it in original condition, while his friends were constantly on him about modifying it, chrome wheels, chrome valve covers, you get the picture. He didn't listen to them, and years later, the car he bought for $6500, sold to a private collector for $250,000k and later at Mecum for $325,000 (approx). Point is, do what you think is right, and don't listen to anyone.

I can't wait to see your car finished, after all there is only a very small handful of these cars that are actually put back together properly! I have a good feeling that this is going to be one of those cars.

Denny

couldn't have said it better !


i acquired my 72 Challenger in 1990 and most people in the Mopar community treated me like a second class citizen . but it's a NON RALLEY 340 4 speed car with air. don't see too many of them, huh? plus it was a GF7 green car. that color was only used in 71 and 72. i have the dealer sales invoice for the car. i have the broadcast sheet and the fender tag is where it's suppose to be. in my eyes, that makes for a pretty nice ride. basically i just finished a 8 year resto on it, which most of that was a time factor, you know the story . i didn't go for OE gold, but i wanted something that would look like you drove it off of the showroom floor. i have a tremendous amount of research into my car because there is not too many people "restoring" these cars like the 70 and 71's are being restored. not a lot of "restoration info on the 72-74 cars .

i kind of have the best of both worlds, i also have a 74 Challenger, which is my hot rod. best time of 11.63 @ 118. and that is a 4 speed too

check it out http://www.gteck.net/Atco%206_24_08.wmv

gotta find a good camera man though

here is what i did on my 72. it's not up to date but it's a good majority of the resto http://www.gteck.net/72resto.html

Greg