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Hey guys--I thought I would
sit down and write a brief story of the restification of our Charger R/T. I found this car in Austin, TX
still wearing the original paint and bias ply tires. The Charger
had not seen the light of day on the road for over 15 years!!! The
windshield still wore a Texas state inspection for 1975. It didn't
run but had every piece of original equipment for a '68 R/T. When
I hooked a battery up
to it--everything worked--lights, horns, turn signals, dash, etc.
I purchased the car for what seemed a huge amount of $$$ for a car that
didn't run but was in a rare, unmolested original shape with minimal
damage--rust and no signs of ever being hit or in an accident.
Here
is where the restification begins---5 years of total ground-up, every nut and bolt labeled, all trim pieces wrapped up, all suspension
pieces were removed, engine and trans--all original pieces--440 magnum
with A/C, Ps, PDB, Cruise control, Rear Wind. Defogger, Sure-grip diff.,
Delux dash with tach/clock, console, 3 spd wipers, AT--all were either
restored or media blasted, painted or replaced or replated. We
installed new legendary Interior for seats--originals were perfect but
smelled old. The body went to a skilled mopar body man--6 months
later
had erased all the sins of 30 plus years of wear and tear with base
coat/clear coat PPG paint. New vinyl top installed, I could
not resist putting theR/T stripes on the car. The car was ordered
by the original owner without stripes. I know this due to I
purchased the Charger from the original owner. I also found both
broadcast sheets and all the maintainance records for this car since
new. The drivetrain was next on the resto--here's where I strayed of the
" Concours resto " path.
The original block and heads
were treated to a .030 over bore, with Keith Black Pistons installed,
connecting rods were magnafluxed and the original crank was
micro-polished and entire rotating assembly was balanced. The
cylinder heads--906's were treated
to larger mopar perf. valves--3 angle valve job with pc seals. The
remainder of valvetrain is all new by Competition Cams--all fasteners,
bolts, shafts are all new. I bored the oil pick-up to hemi
size--1/2" and installed a hemi oil pan. A Edlebrock
performer intake topped by a reliable 750 Holley round out the engine.
Mopar Perf. electronic ignition is used to light the spark plugs.
Trans was overhauled by me
and a TCI shift improver kit was installed during the o/h.
The 8
3/34 rear end received all new bearings/seals with green axle bearings
to eliminate adj. I had to use 15 inch road wheels--( Magnum 500s
) due to rotor clearence problems encountered by using 11" rotors.
Exhaust is all custom by Tube Technologies--3 inch. I can honestly
say after 5 years with me doing everything except the bodywork--the car
is better than new. It also runs better than new. I don't
really have a clue just how fast it is but according to the original
owner---in 1968, he had the car up to 140 m.p.h. outside Nashville,
TN!!!! I have learned a lot about these cars and would be more
than happy to give anyone looking for help on restoring one of these
cars help--just e-mail me. I can also say that this is the most
difficult car I have ever restored--cost wise and time wise. |
