I have had this car since 2003. I bought it off of ebay for a really good price. It was my first Mopar. Immediately (even before I took possession) I began to change it and make it my own.

It had been brought back to life initially by Hodge's Restorations in South Carolina. It has gone through a lot of changes since then, and I have grown immensely as a Mopar enthusiast/car guy.

The paint/body work that they did was average. Probably a 4-5 footer I'd say. Runs down low, thick filler in places, etc... Guys I know might disagree and say it was nicer, but it's my perception that matters, so the time had come and it needed to be redone after chasing down bad spots here and there from poor adhesion, etc...

I pretty much got the car to mechanically how I wanted it with a 480+ hp 408 stroker, reinforced chassis, tuned suspension, etc.. I actually spent more on the car AFTER I owned it than it cost me initially, if that tells you anything about what I've done to it. This car isn't going anywhere, so the dollars invested means nothing to me. So the car came apart last fall and I decided to go black.

It was originally a B5 Gran Coupe. Hodge's painted it EV2 with an AAR scheme in 2001, and now it is black with an AAR scheme... because really... what is better than a black on black Mopar? Nothing, that's what!

Here's a pic of the first day it arrived.

Here's a pic of it several years later after the tens of thousands of dollars I spent on it. Yeah, hard to tell from a pic...

Here's another on the same day. Man, it's been a while since I've seen/driven her... I miss it.

Let me tell you, not to toot my own horn, but this sucker is fast and handles great! The car used to have a lot of weak points, the least of which was the paint. It just got to the point where I improved the car until the weakest point was the decent paint job... and the tires, but that's another story...

So it's going black. I am certain that another EV2 Mopar is in my future because it really is one of the best colors in my opinion. I have always really liked EV2 on Challenger TA's...

So here is a pic of when I dropped her off at Paintshop101 in San Antonio... sans engine, trans...

Here's a pic from a couple of months ago. Yeah, it seems backwards. That side of the car (passenger) had been swiped in the late seventies. I have even talked to the original owner... and eighty something year old lady! The quarter had been repaired 1970's style (poorly), and at some point the door and front fender had been replaced as well. It wasn't a real impact sort of collision, just tore up some sheet metal. Hodge's cut the old quarter off and replaced it (before the full quarters were available). When they did, it looked OK... but it was a little crooked and the door appeared to stick out at the body line a bit. Paintshop101 refit it and got the body lines to line up. We are paying close attention to the horizontal body line.

The Year One hood has warped up and there was too much of a gap between it and the header panel. Paintshop is fixing that.

Here's another from around January. Another thing that had always bothered me from the day it arrived was the joints where the quarters meet the roof on both sides. Hodge's didn't do a fantastic job in these areas and you could see the filler in these areas in most lights. We are absolutely going to make sure that doesn't happen again.

HEre's one from just about a month ago. Progress has been made. The hood fits much better and the gaps between panels are looking SO much better.

Another.. I'm also taking the opportunity to weld in some XV inner fender braces, and a lower radiator brace. I had to modify it to fit, but I am installing one of their engine bay braces as well. So now with sub frame connectors, torque boxes, leaf spring reinforcements, and the above mentioned items, this thing is going to be ROCK SOLID!

Lookin' good Steve; I can hardly wait to see her done.



Dave

Here's some pics that were taken today: 6/10/09. Here you can see an inner fender brace. Note: the original B5 paint still there where I think the control arm bumper/stopper should be located...!

Here's a newer pic of that passenger quarter. The fenders and doors have the initial coats of black already... my car is just waiting in line. Just a few more things to do before paint!

Sweet Steve.. Look forward in seeing her up close..

T

I checked out the XV Motorsports and am motivated to get back to work on the 'cuda project. did you get the entire XV CHASSIS STIFFENING SYSTEM?

I bought my subframe connectors from US Cartool. Got my torque boxes from Harms.

I bought the lower rad support, the engine bay brace (bolt on), and the inner braces from XV - This sucker was solid after the torque boxes and connectors. I can only imagine how tight its gonna be after the XV stuff.

Man I wish they made a good 15" tire, cuz then I'd be in business! I just can't stomach the idea of big wheels on my car though...

We are on the same path... a few years ago I bought the US Cartool subframe connectors and Harms torque boxes. I have replaced the front frame rails which I think are fine; however to tighten it up even more I plan to get some of the XV stuff.

What kind of exhaust are you going to use? The reason I ask is the sub-frame connectors make it more difficult for the side exit exhaust. I found a set-up by Spin-Tech which I think will work great.