Hoosier TA's 70 Challenger RT restoration Update 01/08/2016

The restoration is under way! the guys doing it have a great history of gettin' in and gettin' em out. Should be done by early Spring.

383 four speed that I had right after high school. Bought locally, and I knew the previous owners. I never see a 383 four speed cars at Mopar events, nowadays.

day one, fuel tank dropped and exhaust removed.

My first car was supposed to be a 70 Cuda 383 four speed. good luck with the restoration.

That car looks rough!
I can't wait too see if they can complete an entire restoration by Spring. If they do, I have a car I'll send their way...
What's the name of the shop?

They are just a couple guys who have done several cars. One is a 30 year body shop guy, the other has just done several cars. They are open to doing other cars. I referred another Moparts guy to them, but I don't think he followed through.

They did a fantastic job on a Cobra Torino, without know much about that genre. Also a Chevelle, and some others. PM me if you want more information. I know they have had several people want to get their cars in, but they held a spot for me.

Another evening of dismantling

Some more. A buddy owned this a few years while in the Army. He got a kick out of seeing his 101st Arborne sticker still on the bumper.

Some major work done today. Drivetrain removed and taken away by me for overhauling.

Also found some rust through on the frame. This car was brought in just in time.

The engine is scheduled for the shop Monday. Some more work accomplished today. I came by to take the rear end and chrome home and get it out of the way.

Windshield and back glass removed and the K frame dropped. As I said, these guys don't dawdle. They will begin with sheet metal work pretty soon.

Wow. Fast and Quick.
In the process of working on my 70 Challenger convertible. Tearing it down and working on a section at a time.
Your floor boards look like they are in good shape.
How is your firewall and frame rails?

Firewall and frame rails are good. Some scary spots on the frame just front of the control arms. I had a 6 cyl convertible that I was going to swap out a 340 changer drivetrain to- long before that was the thing to do. Had a bunch of rust areas. Sold it to fund my TA resto.

Another day of work- Engine is at the builder, Super bunch of guys there. Family operation, who appreciate the business. The owner raced a 340 back in the day.

found some scary rust in front frame rails, but these guys are fearless.
Ordered new hinges and a floor pan. I need to get two AMD fenders. These guys plan to be done by the time the Indy Mopar show is happening in March, so I will have to eat shipping and get them delivered?

Who is the Moparts guy who is an AMD dealer? He puts a "contact me for AMD" in his signature of his posts.

Call Jeff Deutschman for AMD parts at 419-352-7894. He is in Bowling Green OH.

I have also gotten AMD stuff from Jeff. He is Great to deal with on any parts you may need.
David

Thanks I am sending a fax to him.

Dash, heater assembly, and other things removed. It is zooming along.

Referring to Me? PM I can give you an idea on prices.

Corey

Who is the Moparts guy who is an AMD dealer? He puts a "contact me for AMD" in his signature of his posts. [/quote]

Thanks, Cory. You were the one I recalled. I made contact with Jeff and did an order.

I Two won't work! Will keep you in mund.

Looks like fun! Love the old Indiana plate, wish they would have kept the designation on the plates, it was always cool to see where people were from.

What Rhinodart is referring to is the 53 at the beginning, which immediately designates the County. As a LEO it was a great tool, especially if a car left a scene. If a witness could get the county designation, and it was from a neighboring county, we could anticipate possible escape routes and intercept them.

Now with so much revenue for all the specialty tags, there is no longer a unique designation on the numbers.

Some work around the windshield frame today. There are bad spots, but a lot of guys are putting together a lot worse.

Going back original color? (Looks like K5?)



Tim

sounds great!

corey

Yes going beck to FK5 and vinyl top. I sold it to a friend at one point. In the mid 80's before the rage caught on, he repainted it white to match the Vanishing Point ride. Got a lot of attention when it was first painted. Now its going back to original, other than I am really tempted to make the interior burnt orange, rather than black.

I am also really struggling with putting a shaker system on it.

The crew is working around the back window. was looking kind of scary with the rear trim in place. It will likely need a new dutchman panel.

I hope you guys are enjoying these. As I said, Tab and Rick move quickly, so there are always frequent updates.

Santa came a week or so late, but with the new sheet metal, it's full steam ahead.

A little bit more sanding to begin repair on the rear window...

Entire core support, proceed with caution. Maybe just replace the rusted part by the battery and leave the rest original.

Be sure to use the original upper radiator core support. It has the partial vin number stamped in it from the factory.

White top or black? K5 with a white top is pretty sharp but black will do. Can't go wrong with a shaker.
My sister-in-law had a '70 Challenger SE, 383-4v, auto, ac, ps/b, K5 with white top and burnt orange interior (early 80s). I wanted it bad but she wouldn't sell it. Several years later my wife and I drove up to her parents house in time to see a guy driving off in it. She had bought a Prelude and sold (practically gave it away) the Challenger to help pay for it. "I forgot that you wanted to buy it."

It is originally a black top with black stripe. I have been thinking about going white.

Plenty of pics coming. The entire front end had to be replaced. They are going to be getting it on a rotisserie pretty soon. Then the quarters will be replaced.

Not letting me edit the update dates on earlier post, so those wh are following will just have to check on replies i suppose.

Engine builder says things are good on the engine, aside for a need to bore out a bit. Shoild be done soon.

Complete front had to be replaced, and some challenging rust on front firewall area were water ran to the vent area.

Few more. More work done this weekend.

Nice progress!
Pat

On the rottisorie and som floor pan replacement

Quarter Panel time! My engine is ready for pick up. had to get a different crank, as the thruster was damaged.

Looking good!

You need to wipe off that Chevy bowtie from your quarter ;-)
Pat

Picked up engine today. They are working on the trunk and right side quarter this weekend.

Had to order a new trunk pan, and delivering some more cash today. Most recent work has been repairing the cowl area where decades of water leaks took a toll at the vent intake.

some work work from the craftsman.

If this wasn't my "back in the day" car, I would be sick, with all the surprises. These guys let me know what is needed, and If I am good with it, it gets done.

I am just thankful I have a couple of guys who haven't asked me to take it away.

Coming along nicely.



Tim

Couple more pics of the trunk are. Going to the Indy swap meet and picking up the majority of the things I need to finish.

I am really thinking abouth putting a shaker hood on it. I may decide when I get to the show. If a vendor has one, i may pull the triggger

More progress today Floor pan installed and second quarter hanged.

I ordered a front manual disc brake conversion from Jeff, and it arrived today.

Picking up a bunch more from him at Indy Saturday.

Indy was successful. I ran into a neaby Mopar acquaintance at he event. I said my decision on going with a shaker would depend on if i found a hood. He gave me a 70 flat hood with a hole cut out. He bought it cheap for a wall hanger.

I delivered it today to the builder. Now the investment will be in the bracing kit and ring.
Hopefully one of the shaker vendors will have a discount at some point, to minimize the cost.

Had to get some replacement strut rods and upper control arms sent in. Some things are moving along though.

progress this weekend

In paint yet?



Tim

It is getting very close.

final prep for body paint

more to come....

Doing some smoothing out of the body now. I also gave another cash infusion. The builder said that should get them through to the end.

Still spending on my end for interior and odds and ends.

work this week. Had to order a new hood; which is on back order.

They are looking at July as the completion month. I may have it ready for Mopar Nats, but as many of you know, once it its painted and running, there are all kind of little things that need done.

Rear end cleaned up. AMD hoods back in stock, should be shipped soon.

Time for an update...

Have some pics. just need the time to save them and put on site. Getting very close to painting the guts.
Transmission was finished. It has some problems that were discovered during tear down. Saved an Imminent failure.

FK5 Shaker Challengers have been done to death

Lots s of pics tomorrow. Been swamped and then went to Honduras for a bit. Drove over to look at the progress today. Getting exciting.

Out of all the car shows I've been to in and around Atlanta, I can only remember one FK5 shaker car ('70 'cuda 440-6, IIRC) with an argent shaker.
Nice group of E's, Morty426. All yours?



Tim

Awesome rides? I am down to just one.....

some more.

again....

rear end, brakes and body work pics.

Time for another set of pics

more

more

some paint pics will be coming soon. Looking to August for take-home date.

Now for some real progress. starting to get some color, wooo hooo!

again....

and.....

here........

we.....go.....

last two. ran into issue with the leaf spring front bushings. Too large diameter. Supplier said the small diameter are for Hemi springs. I know the history of the car and doubt they were upgraded. Change they were out of standard and threw a set of Hemi springs under it during build?

How else are hemi springs different?

PAINT!!!! FINALLY!!!!!! due to go to the booth in a week or so. Vinyl top guy is scheduled to come pretty soon too.

going with a white rather than original black. Suggestions on white stripes, or just RT badge on fenders with maybe white bumble bee an the butt?

A little reluctant to add the black out on the hood- I NEVER saw a Challenger with that back in the day. Must have been a super rare option. Same as the dust trail on the 70 "runner. Never saw them back then, and I was a big time fan of the car back then.

Good choice on the white top. It will set the paint off nicely.
I would probably go with the white stripe but that's just me.



Tim

Yes they are all mine. Plus there is one not pictured. The B bodies are on the other side of the shop.

I have owned upwards of 30 Challenger R/Ts and only one ever had the black hood treatment. The car was FY1.

I don't care for it and I'm glad my 70 R/Ts don't have it.

Almost makes me wish I lived in Sacramento.

Black top with black-out looks better than I thought it would (even if it's a 'vert).

Fuel tank and brake lines going in.

priced at set of 383 magnum hood emblems. wowee! about 3X what I expected.

a few more. No work on when it is going into booth, but it will be soon.

last for now. I am sure more will be done this week. The builder works at our local GE plant. Just announced it will close the doors for good this year.
He has enough time to retire so gets in the OT while it is there.

One curious issue came up when replacing the front bushings on the leaf springs. The part we got was too big. Got the smaller diameter bushing, which according to the supplier, goes onto the hemi leaf springs.

I have known the previous owners of the cars, and am certain there was never a switch out of leaf springs. I suspect they ran out on the line that day, or the assembler just didn't care what went in it.

The Hemi springs would be on something with an axle package

Okay. Nothing special there. an 8 3/4 with 3:55 ratio.

That would be an axle package so you should have the 'Hemi" type springs

No pictures with update. Lot of wet sanding this week. Sent a burnt orange sun visor off for dye matching of interior parts.
Will likely be in the booth next week.

Car is on the way to the paint booth. The weather will determine when the spray begins.

They took the car into the sunlight. This engine bay hasn't seen this good a color since the early 70's

What kind of paint are you using?

The color looks pretty good and that is not an easy color to get right. Most companies formulas are too light

More tomorrow. Loading on my phone

I will find out on the paint

When it is done I hope to see it at a show in Chicagoland..
Paint looks really good.

rocks, not sure if I would ever have something happening up that way. Might be a fun drive as long as "Chicagoland" would mean something that doesn't require driving through Chicago to get to! I had enough of those toll roads passing through a few weeks ago.

The paint is Spies Hecker (that is the text, so auto correct and phonetic may play into what it is- maybe you can get the gist, of that isn't the correct spelling.

the clear is Nason medium solid I have no idea what these are, but if you are a paint guy maybe the description makes sense.

a few more taken the same day

additional body parts painted. The hood and fenders are new AMD.

More

A little Teaser. Wet sanding going on now. Meeting next week to make last cash infusion for labor and related materials.

We are inventorying all the little odds and ends needed to finish it up and make a final order.

Next order of business is installation of white vinyl top and burnt orange headliner. It will need to be dyed after installation.

Also ordered new steel wheels from Summit, to be painted FK5. Pics coming after install. The guys are doing the polish sanding now.

Haven't asked for the drive train yet.

Car's looking fantastic !!!

Awesome color!

Man, I bought one just like that for 350 bucks in the early 90's. Obly had a locked up wheel cylinder but i stripped it to put everything into a slant 6 convertible. Never did finish the project.

Looking back, a pretty good car got trashed.

The engine went to a guy with a 340 four speed cuda. Had everything needed to just drop it in.

Last I heard the convertible was bought by the guy who ran the Mopar events, who got arrested durung a fight at one. Name escapes me.

Charlie B. is who I think you are talking about.

Waiting to see how the Summit wheels turn out

Comin' around.



Tim

Headliner installed yesterday. Wheels delivered to Tab for the painting.

After the headliner is dyed burnt orange, the white vinyl top is going on.

Headliner dyed; interior pieces dyed; Wheels painted. will pick up the wheels Saturday to have new tires put on them.

part two

Preparing the trim moulding for vinyl top.

Radial TAs have been mounted on the painted steelies, and the vinyl top was set to be put one, but it hadn't been laid out for a couple days to settle, so it is laying on the roof. Installer will return to put it on. (That would be kind of fun to go around installing tops and headliners on cars near completion.

No reason to post pics, until the top is on. the new wheels and tires are on, and the doors are back on. Stay tuned.

Off to St. Louis next weekend to get a bunch of finishing touch parts. Are 70 beauty rings different from other years? Brushed maybe?

70 is polished
71 is brushed

Steelies would not have trim rings unless it was a TA

Vinyl top time!

2nd set. He has asked for the engine and transmission this week. would prefer to work with it while fenders are off.

white strip will be added some time after it is road worthy. I will schedule to drive by the local shop and have them added. Probably in the Spring.

Why did you put a narrow seam top on it?

Sweet!

Wrong one shipped from the supplier. Wasn't aware enough to catch it. Now that you mention it, I know what you are saying.

I know when it was ordered, it was supposed to be for a 70. Can't rely in a dedicated Mopar resto supply company to be accurate.

I would not be very happy.

I went through three tops on my 71 R/T before it was right

Engine delivered yesterday. Was told to bring back everything I took away during the tear down. I will have it home by end of the month!

1. Those should be galvanized
2. Those (minus the bracket) should be body color
3. The bracket is part of the grille and should be satin black

He was doing some fitting. On the RT, isnt the area above the tail light assembly supposed to be black? I pointed that out this weekend. We may need to address that.

Car is coming together nicely! Burnt orange & white is a great combo. As far as the tail light blackout goes, in 1970 that was done on the T/A only. Apparently there are some who swear they have seen unrestored 1970 R/T's with the blackout, but I'm skeptical that it was done at the factory, unless by accident. I have seen it done on an awful lot of restored cars though.

https://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/ubbt...l-blackout.html

Thanks, the RT had a repaint in the 80's and that was done on it then. I must have been thinking of my TA.

Interior parts dyed and painted. Engine finalization being done soon as well. waiting on my headers from Summit then it will be dropped in before the fenders are installed.

more from yesterday work

Correct. TA only. 71 RTs are painted black but not 70

Thanks Guys. Zooming along now on interior and engine.

Dash paint looks a little shiny. Is that they way you wanted it to look?

Morty, I didn't research it much. He used a stage 1 of the body paint for it. Since its a color change from the original black, I won't worry on it.

By the end of the month!

engine dropped in. Fenders will go on soon.

Why didn't you assemble the engine completely before installing it?

I think the guys wanted to minimize the change of damage, while wiggling the engine around. They left the fenders off until after installation so they would have room.

Well that's a lot cheaper than the suede paint that would be on there.

Morty, I stopped worrying about cutting costs a while ago. there have been a lot of followers of the restore, I should have asked more questions along the way.

The guys are good, and love Mopars, but neither of them are the "matching numbers" type. They rely on guidance from the car owner on those specifics.

I think I posted before, they rebuilt and awesome one-owner Cobra Torino that had been in a garage for decades. Took their time and did a lot of research to make is as accurate as they could.

Carb coming and need to order a champion radiator. Just about done on their part. Over the winter I will recover the seats and install carpet.

Restore it to your liking, I'm sure you will never part with it so don't worry about the little stuff.

Congrats on the restoration.

Don't worry about the cost cutting. I know how much all this stuff costs as I have it tracked for my 71 Challenger R/T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKJyKYVMo9s

My first attempt at loading a youtube vid, and first attempt to post one on Moparts.

They are tweaking the paint on the front fenders and getting windshield in.

five steps forward and one back.. Things going pretty good but a bump on occasion.

lettering installed on hood. Found the hood wobbled and didn't seat well. It had before when I drove it but I attributed that to weakened/rusted inner fenders. Apparently it was the hood hinges being worn out. A new set is on the way.

Windshield and back glass installed. One of the installers is a Mopar Guy. Has a 78 Dodge truck that over the years converted from a gas to a Cummins, and did a great job of repainting in the orange and black Macho or Power Wagon theme.

Always a temptation to put the hood black out on, but back in the day, that was seldom seen on the Challengers. Figure putting one on this takes away from the unique cars which actually had the option.

The RT is set to be picked up this weekend, but I am away on vacation. I hope to bring it home next Sunday. I will be installing carpet and recovering the seats myself.

Lot of mechanical and electrical fine tuning to be one. It is my hope to make a last list of all the things I need and get them and the Indy show in March. Will be on the road this Spring!

Updates won't be coming as fast as before. Thanks everyone for following along and offering guidance.

Beautiful car.



Tim

Just a brief update. RT has been on the back burner as other projects non car related needed attention.

Tax check came in, so I gave Dante a call, and asked about Black Friday prices. The special had ended a day or so before but he helped me out.

I have burnt orange seat covers and some pads coming. I was astounded on the length of delivery time, but in the interim, I hope to get the exhaust installed an the alignment done.

I promise picks as things progress!

Thought maybe you had sold the car. J/K I know how life can get in the way of our cars.
Been checking on the thread for an update. Can't wait to see some finished pics.



Tim

Okay. I ordered my bumpers from Dante. They arrived today. I hope to be back on this thing and cruising this year. Been buying different things for other hobbies. It’s time to kick this mule!

Made another order from Dante for seat foam and will be having seats recovered soon. Pics coming

Car looks great. I lived in "27" for several years. Always like the county designation on the plates, it was fun trying to learn each county number.

All set,. taking seats and stuff to upholstery shop Monday. He said I can pick them up Tuesday.
This weekend I will hang the bumpers and do a couple other things.

Seats are home. Plan to put in some insulation tonhight and lay the carpet.

Back at it again. I found a guy to come out and install my stripes, and pop on the hubcaps for a feeling of forward progress. Hopefully I will move on and install the interior soon.

Last weekend I got the car out for a cleaning and drove it on my road. Added my trim rings tonight and plan to get some of the interior in.

I planned to install the bumpers but ran into a chicken or egg issue. If I bolt the bumper to the brackets, I can’t get to the bracket bolts to attach to the car. If I attach the brackets I can’t get to the nuts on the bumper bolts?

Edit: called a buddy, looks like the valance will need to come off. No big deal.

Wife helped me put on the rear bumper. I removed the rear bumper guards from the original bumper. I don’t recall if these “L” brackets attach to something or a previous owner slapped them on.

Tonight I stayed out in the shop as a thunderstorm blew through. I lay down Kilmat sound deadening and installed the speaker tray, seat back and panels.

I need to scrounge up some seat belt bolts. I have no ideas what happened to mine. They may have been put into the TA

I suppose carpet is next.

My neighbor came by and helped me get the front bumper mounted. As with the back bumper, we had to remove the valance.

I also got my new rear bumper guards in the mail and put them on. Time to get the carpet in next.

Looks great inside and out..