70 Charger R / T finish panel restoration

I just started restoring some 70 Charger R/T finish panels. I am also converting a standard Charger finish panel to an R/T panel .

I am converting a standard Charger finish panel to an R /T finish panel. I removed the Charger arrow emblem and drilled new holes. The new emblems cover the original holes in the panel.

I used a Scotch bright pad and Mothers mag wheel polish to clean the exposed aluminum stripe. Then I fixed any dents and tweaked it until it was straight. These are parts that have to be handled with care. These panels are fragile. I cleaned the panel with lacquer thinner, then masked off the stripe with fine line tape. I used Rustoleum satin black paint on the panel. I carefully removed the tape before the paint cured. I installed the new emblems the next day. Here is the finished product.

That looks great. My RT panel was mangled but I found a nice regular panel for the cheap so I’ll be doing the same as you. I had like 2 other panels. Seems like the part of the aluminum that has to be exposed all have imperfections in them when I buff them out even my original. I might be able to buff most of them out but I’ve seen people paint them and that’s maybe why.

I thought about painting the silver stripe,but it cleaned up enough to be passable. I have three 70 Charger R/T projects in the works,so I still have two more panels to do.

Did you coat the bare aluminum with anything after you painted the black? I assume you sanded through the original anodizing and are now exposing the bare aluminum. Just curious!

I only used a scotch brite pad with Mothers mag wheel polish on it. The other panel I have is going to need to be sanded like you said. I will used satin clear on that one so it won't oxidize.

Where did you get the emblems?

I got the emblems from Vans. They do not reproduce the Charger tailpanel script emblem for 70 Chargers. I bought the 69 Charger tailpanel script with the arrow on it and cut the arrow off it. The emblem is the same except for the arrow. The 70 R/T tail panel emblem is available.