Re: Restoration of my B5 Blue 4Spd Charger 500... Blue Thunder debuts...Finally!

[xs29j8Bullitt]

So Allen the question is this. Once the 500 is done, will it also share the garage with the Cuda, or will it be sent back out to the same building it came out of?

We had great weather today for the 22nd Annual Cowtown Mopar RoundUp...

'Ole Yeller is back in the garage now after I decided not to take it to a local cruise tonight...

Pictures top to bottom:
1)  I had it "made in the shade" from a canopy that survived the recent severe weather we had
2)  Four Shaker `Cudas in a row... three being factory Shaker cars
3)  The E-Body Stock class was too competive for 'Ole Yeller's 24 year old restoration... but the old gal still managed a Runner-Up plaque

And to answer your question Danny, the 'Cuda will probably get exiled to the Workshop... with the C500 sharing the garage with a 2009 Challenger R/T daily driver...

4) The `Cuda has spent time in the Workshop before...

I have thought about adding a second garage (3 car) to the house, but I don't have any near term plans.

Allen

[69_500]

Ah well if you need a garage to store it in, Allen I have 2 extra spots in my garage right now. I know its an E body but I might let it in. 

[Fitz73Chrgr]

What are the future plans for that 318 68?  Resto-mod?  Stock resto? 

[69_500]

Ah for it to be sunny and warm here in Indiana, one can only hope it comes soon. I finally got the 500 out and cleaned it all up today. Doesn't look half bad, but man even when its clean I see thousands of things I want to fix.
The 'cuda looks great Allen.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Ah well if you need a garage to store it in, Allen I have 2 extra spots in my garage right now. I know its an E body but I might let it in. 

Getting it back might be the problem...  looking for Daytona trade bait aren't you? 

What are the future plans for that 318 68?  Resto-mod?  Stock resto? 

I original bought the '68 318 Charger as a driver & possible donor for the triple black Charger R/T.  I have thought about various possible uses for the car, including stock "Driver" resto, Resto Mod, Pro Street, and even a stock appearing "Evil Twin" for Bullitt (the Triple Black R/T).  Below is a picture of the car during better days in the late 1980s... it has been weathered down by outside storage in the 1990s, and has rust damaged rear frame rails... 

Ah for it to be sunny and warm here in Indiana, one can only hope it comes soon. I finally got the 500 out and cleaned it all up today. Doesn't look half bad, but man even when its clean I see thousands of things I want to fix.
The 'cuda looks great Allen.

Fix the "low hanging fruit" problems, and keep driving it until you have another running Aero car to drive... after all, I need to be able to bum a ride in an Aero car at Monster Mopar... 

Allen

[69_500]

What are you trying to say with "low hanging fruit problems?" Gotta problem with my bubbles in my lower quarters do ya? JK

Its always here if you wanna bum a ride at an Aero meet Allen. And yeah Daytona trade bait would be nice, but for now I can't even find good 500 trade bait. I was just meaning if you were looking for a nice clean, heated garage to store the car in, so that it won't have to go back to the workshop. Then again, how 'bout you finish up the 500 and I'll be more than happy to store it up here instead, that way you can have the 'Cuda and the new Challenger in the same garage.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

What are you trying to say with "low hanging fruit problems?" Gotta problem with my bubbles in my lower quarters do ya? JK

Nothing to do with a few rust bubbles, just a reference to the "easy to get at" problem fixes... things that only prevent the car from being driven for a few days at most.

Then again, how 'bout you finish up the 500 and I'll be more than happy to store it up here instead, that way you can have the 'Cuda and the new Challenger in the same garage.

Hmmmm............   

[notabird]

Allen you can always bum a ride with us at MM. are you planning on coming to Rich's before? Brent

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Allen you can always bum a ride with us at MM. are you planning on coming to Rich's before? Brent

Thanks Brent!!!  I might manage to get a ride in a Charger 500 and a Daytona! 

Y'alls Daytona is absolutely awesome... getting me to get out after the ride might be difficult, but "don't tase me bro..." 

Actually, Rich's event is one of the main reasons that I plan to go again...  I really had a great time last year!  Sadly, I will be in the Ram 1500 again with just photo albums... maybe next year will be different... MAYBE 

Allen

[moparstuart]

Allen you can always bum a ride with us at MM. are you planning on coming to Rich's before? Brent

Thanks Brent!!!  I might manage to get a ride in a Charger 500 and a Daytona! 

Y'alls Daytona is absolutely awesome... getting me to get out after the ride might be difficult, but "don't tase me bro..." 

Actually, Rich's event is one of the main reasons that I plan to go again...  I really had a great time last year!  Sadly, I will be in the Ram 1500 again with just photo albums... maybe next year will be different... MAYBE 

Allen

you can ride the convert too if you like , will be great for taking pictures with the top down

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Allen you can always bum a ride with us at MM. are you planning on coming to Rich's before? Brent

Thanks Brent!!!  I might manage to get a ride in a Charger 500 and a Daytona! 

Y'alls Daytona is absolutely awesome... getting me to get out after the ride might be difficult, but "don't tase me bro..." 

Actually, Rich's event is one of the main reasons that I plan to go again...  I really had a great time last year!  Sadly, I will be in the Ram 1500 again with just photo albums... maybe next year will be different... MAYBE 

Allen

you can ride the convert too if you like , will be great for taking pictures with the top down

Most excellent!... Thanks Stuart, I will take you up on that offer!  That will be quite an experience! 

I just got back from the Pate Swap Meet...  very little in the way of Mopar parts, but I did buy 60 metal storage boxes with divided compartments like used at auto parts stores for brake parts, etc.  The vendor had them at $5 each, or 3 for $10...  ended up paying $2 each for the 60 boxes.  There were even a few leftover parts like brake caliper bolts in several of the boxes... 

Allen

[69_500]

Where in the world are you going to put 60 different cases at? Isn't that going to take up like an entire wall in the garage? Or are they all destined to the warehouse?

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Where in the world are you going to put 60 different cases at? Isn't that going to take up like an entire wall in the garage? Or are they all destined to the warehouse?

The metal boxes are only about 2 inches tall each, so all should fit on one shelving unit... probably 4 side by side on 5 shelves, each stacked 3 high.  The boxes will be used in the workshop instead of the garage.

Getting ready to go back out to the swap meet...

Allen

[69_500]

Ah I got ya now. For some reason when I was reading that I was thinking of a larger box with multiple slid out drawers. I have 2 in my garage that have about 10 drawers per box, and are probably 3'x3' each, and was trying to think of where on earth you were going to put 60 of those. Guess I should have slowed down and read what you wrote a little slower, instead of just thinking I knew what you were talking about.

[moparstuart]

Allen you can always bum a ride with us at MM. are you planning on coming to Rich's before? Brent

Thanks Brent!!!  I might manage to get a ride in a Charger 500 and a Daytona! 

Y'alls Daytona is absolutely awesome... getting me to get out after the ride might be difficult, but "don't tase me bro..." 

Actually, Rich's event is one of the main reasons that I plan to go again...  I really had a great time last year!  Sadly, I will be in the Ram 1500 again with just photo albums... maybe next year will be different... MAYBE 

Allen

you can ride the convert too if you like , will be great for taking pictures with the top down

Most excellent!... Thanks Stuart, I will take you up on that offer!  That will be quite an experience! 

I just got back from the Pate Swap Meet...  very little in the way of Mopar parts, but I did buy 60 metal storage boxes with divided compartments like used at auto parts stores for brake parts, etc.  The vendor had them at $5 each, or 3 for $10...  ended up paying $2 each for the 60 boxes.  There were even a few leftover parts like brake caliper bolts in several of the boxes... 

Allen

offer stands would love a ride in the 500 when it's done

[xs29j8Bullitt]

you can ride the convert too if you like , will be great for taking pictures with the top down

Most excellent!... Thanks Stuart, I will take you up on that offer!  That will be quite an experience! 

offer stand would love a ride in the 500 when it's done

You will certainly get a ride in the C500 Stuart!  Danny, Brent, Geno, Troy and some other folks will be offered rides as well... if they still sell gasoline in the year that the restoration is finished (my projects tend to take forever!)... 

Allen

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Well, time for an update on the C500... I have been tied up with work and attending the local annual Mopar show as well as the Pate Swap Meet, so only had a little time to spend on checking up on the C500.  I made it by the bodyshop one day last week to talk to the shop owner about some items on the Charger 500.

Due to concerns about precisely matching the paint on different exterior panels, the shop has agreed to my request to delay painting any more exterior surfaces until the unibody is ready to paint.  The exterior surfaces of the doors were already painted much sooner than I expected, and I talked to a lot of painters who said matching the look of the paint would probably be a problem.  The doors will probably be repainted when the other exterior surfaces are painted.

Painting of other surfaces will probably procede (like engine compartment, underside, door jams, etc).  The primary concern is how the metallics in the paint will lay, and how that could change the appearance of the paint.  This is not a real concern on areas with a lot of angled surfaces, where they will have a different look due to lighting effects no matter how well they match.

When I stopped by, the shop owner was working on a small rust repair on the inner fender below the battery tray.  A previous repair with bondo was removed during media blasting, so a proper metal repair is being done.  Below are pictures showing the area before the car was dis-assembled, then after media blasting, and two pictures showing the area being repaired.  I will get another picture next time I check on the car of the area when the repair is completed (it was still in work when I left).

Allen

[69_500]

Allen any new news on the car? Or having any more problems with the reproduction parts? Love following this thread, because it lets me know which parts to stay away from, and which are good parts to use.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Allen any new news on the car? Or having any more problems with the reproduction parts? Love following this thread, because it lets me know which parts to stay away from, and which are good parts to use.

I have been out of town and/or busy at work for the last several weeks.  I will try to check on the C500 early next week, but it is mostly on hold for repro parts from AMD.  The main holdup now that I cannot work around are the valance corners.  One of the latest holdups is an apparent shortage of sheetmetal in China... 

I am trying to get caught up with tasks, but the electrician is due at any moment to start work on Phase II of my workshop wiring... some progress is being made though, the new owner of the 1973 Charger SE 440 car picked it up a week ago.

Allen

[69_500]

I was thinking maybe you were upset with me for bidding on those emblems and that was why you hadn't been posting lately.

[xs29j8Bullitt]

I was thinking maybe you were upset with me for bidding on those emblems and that was why you hadn't been posting lately.

Nope... Super busy at work, filled in for my boss one week, out of town trip the next week, many house related tasks, etc, etc, etc.............

[xs29j8Bullitt]

Here are a few pictures from my last visit to the bodyshop...  the fuel tank brackets that were asked about earlier are now on along with brackets inside the trunk.  I should have another update later in the week, but it probably will not show a lot of progress... waiting for repro parts.

Allen

[xs29j8Bullitt]

It has just been pointed out to me that the fuel tank brackets are installed wrong...  I need to start paying more attention to what the bodyshop is doing... they are making more & more mistakes 

Like I said before, it has been a very busy time around here lately... but I need to make the time to keep better tabs on the C500

BTW, Thanks for the heads-up Brian!!! 

Allen

[Rolling_Thunder]

good thing you caught that - I spent an hour looking at mine tonight and was going to break the bad news to ya...           .

[Fitz73Chrgr]

any new developments?