Right now my plan is leaving it mostly stock. I have another 318 that is going to go in the car that has a different cam and heads on it but it will still have a 2-barrel for now. The only exterior change is going to be dual exhaust with the factory chrome tips.

Here is another pic of the engine compartment with the engine out. In this picture you can see that the front fenders are in sorry shape.

The fenders came off next. I knew there was extensive rust in the lower areas behind the tires. After I got them off it was clear that they wouldn't be re-used.

I found two rust free fenders for pretty decent money. The replacements didn't have any holes in them for the side louvers or the fender mounted turn signals. I had a guy measure the holes off of the origonal set before they got tossed.

The front valance was also pretty crusty. I found a great used one at the Mopar Nationals back when it was in Indy. I think I only paid $40 for it.

I wasn't happy with what I found once the fenders were off. The rockers were junk. I've been going to the Mopar Nationals every year since 95 and have always kept an eye open for a pair of "FULL" rocker panels. In 2006 I finally found a pair. I didn't have any money with me but I was able to borrow what I needed from a friend. Another friend hauled them home for me.

You got some good friends man. I dont know too many people that would lend out cash unless is was end of the day sunday

Yes I do have some good friends. The guy that lent me money was looking for parts for his 68 or 69 Super Bee. I've only seen the car once but it looks like it is going to be quite a prodject as well.

I had my 2002 Stratus R/T in the show field so I didn't have any way to get the rockers home. Another friend had room so it all worked out.

If any of you get Mopar Muscle magazine you have probablly seen me and my Stratus. It was in the 2003 Mopar Nats program.

Accually, a group of my friends was in the magazine a few months before I was. There was a picture of about four guys looking through the swap meet with there shirts off. The caption said something like..."No this isn't an Ambercrombi and Fitch add, this is the Mopar Nationals"...or something like that.

Once the front end was apart, I removed the interior. The rear seat is in great shape. The only problem with it is right on top of the back rest under the glass. The sun took its tole on the vynal. It could probably be re-dyed but I think I'll replace everything so it looks the best. The front seats were re-covered in black crushed velvit a long time ago. Dad says that was the "in" thing back in the day. He also had two small pillows made out of the same material. He kept them in the back seat for when us kids got tired. The pillows will most likely be put in the back seat again when the car is done. That's where I always remember them.

The interior didn't give me any troubles though I did find a present while removing the headliner. As I was cleaning up the mess on the floor I found three small baby mice that had made the headliner their home. I didn't find their mom or dad though.

The dash was in pretty good shape. There was only one small crack in the face of it were the gauges end. However, a few years ago while moving the dash assembly, my dad dropped his end and shattered the top left corner. THat's OK...I was going to replace it anyway.

The gauge cluster needs some work. The clock hasn't worked in years. I understand that they had a lot of problems with them. The clock was draining the battery at one time before it was disconnected. The MAP LIGHT switch also was disconnected because of a battery drain.

The rest of the car came apart pretty fast. I'm sorry to say that I wasn't very organised in my disassembly. I'm going to be needing everyones help and pictures to get everything put back together just right.

This is how the car sat from 1998 until the begining of 2001 when my family moved. The car would spend another couple years in a storage shed while my dad got a shop built at his new house.

As I stated earlier, I've been going to the Mopar Nationals since 1995. It's hard to imagine but that is almost half my life. Anyway...I've tried to buy at least one part each year for the last five or so years. In 05 I bought inner fenders...06 I found rocker panels, 07 I got new rear frame sections as well as the filler panel that the rear bumper bolts to.

Every year after I get home I have the erge to work on the car. That lasts for a few weeks until the shear size of the project realy sets in and I loose interest until the next year.

I do however try to get at least one project done each year. One year it was the K member and steering box...the next year was the engine and trans...then came the rear end and finally last year was the front suspension.

For some reason I didn't take a "before" picture of the K-member and steering box but here's an "After" pic.

Even though the car came with a 318, it has all the Rallye equipment so it has the 8 3/4 rear end.

The stock gears were a peg leg 2.76. I had a good 3.23 sure grip center section just sitting around so I cleaned it up and installed a new pinion seal. I also re-used the 2.76 gear ratio tag.

Here is a "before" picture. I had the housing sand blasted but didn't get it finished right away so it rusted again.

The springs will be replaced.

Here is the after picture. I used POR-15 on everything but the drums. The brake lines are from Year One and the brake hose is from a local parts store.

another

I bought another Challenger in 95 for $700. I had seen it for years sitting behind a fence on the way to my grandparents house. When my dad and I were coming back from my first year at the Mopar Nationals, we left a note on the car. Later that week I got a call saying it was for sale.

Why I sold it in 98 I'll never know. I kept the engine out of that car because I already had the short block finished. That is the engine that will be put in the car. I can't see spending more money on rebuilding the origonal engine when I have this one ready to go. Some day down the road the origonal one will find its way back between the fenders but not right away.

This engine is also a 73 but it has a much later production date. The balance pads have been ground off the rods and the crank has been turned. The block also got a .030 bore. I used a MP Purpleshaft cam in it. It's the stock 340 cam. No heads came with the engine so I bought a set from Aerohead. They were cheaper than having the stock heads rebuilt. Aerohead is the stock division of Indy Cylinderhead. THe heads came surfaced and had bigger valves in them. Stock 318 valves are 1.75in and 1.50ex. These heads have the 360 sized valves in them.(1.88in and 1.60ex) The only things that are being reused from the origonal engine are the valve covers and the intake manifold. The exhaust manifolds are also being re-used.

Here's a picture of the origonal trans when I pulled it out of the car more than 10 years ago.

That rear looks good man! Keep up the progress!

Here is what the trans looks like now. I used Eastwood's "alumablast" paint and then I sprayed clear over it. We'll see how it holds up.

I had it re-built at Georand Brothers Transmision in St Lucas, Iowa. They were featured in Mopar Muscle a few years ago for there bullit proof torque convertors for Cummins diecels.

The owner gave me a one year warrenty on the trans. I told him that it would be years before the car was on the road again but he didn't care. He said that he would warrenty it anyway because he was more concerned with the miles driven than the accual time.

Over the years I have talked to a few different shops about getting the bodywork done. All of these shops came back with around the same price tag. To replace all the rusted panals, fabricate any panels that aren't reproduced and paint the car, would be around $25,000.

At the time, that was more than I made in an entire year. So, the body just sat. Years went by and I have been getting more and more frustrated that the car is just sitting, collecting dust.

In August of 2007 I really wanted to get something started. I contacted a media blasting company in the area and they said that it would cost right around $800 to get an entire car cleaned up.

I also got in contact with a guy that does sand blasting who's shop is only a few miles away. He said that it would cost about $200 to blast the car. Since I knew the car was in rough shape, and that I didn't know if I would even have a car left after blasting, I went with sand. He blasted the engine comp, the door jams, the underside and lightly hit the interior. He didn't spray anything that could get warped like the outside of the doors or the roof. I was pretty happy with what I saw when I got it back. There really weren't any surprises.

The engine compartment cleaned up pretty good. If you compare the before pictures above, it looks a lot better. You can see in this picture that the inner fenders need to be replaced and there is a little rust around the brake booster. The shock towers looked pretty rough before hand but they came out very well.

These next few picture will just show the rusted areas of the car. Long Iowa winters have taken there tole. My dad did have the car undercoated after he bought it. I think that really saved the car. Except for a few pin holes in the drivers side floor and a few others in different area, the floors are great.