The '83 Shelby Charger I bought new is slowly coming back to life. Rusted out a-pillars and floor are repaired. Passenger quarter needs minor attention and there're a few small rustholes in the hatch. I know the L-bodies aren't the most popular with our members, but, faced with the choice of letting it die or bringing it back, I just couldn't let it die.
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I applaud you. :yesnod:
Good for you! :cheers:
Very cool. I really like the Shelby's. :2thumbs:
I don't know if it'll ever look like this again, but I'll try.
(http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8256/img869.th.jpg) (http://img46.imageshack.us/i/img869.jpg/)
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It's getting expensive just to go pick up parts. I drove out to WV (just shy of a 400-mile round trip) to pick up a set of Shelby Charger seats. It cost me $42 in gas just to get there in the Grand Cherokee. My $140 seats turned into about $220 seats after paying for gas to go get them.
Good choice on bringing it back to life you don't see them to often even if they ain't so popular they are hard to find its good to see one more saved that still ain't a bad price for original seats you would most likely be paying more for anykind of aftermarket seats
If anyone looks in on this thread that visits salvage yards in states where the sun doesn't tear up interiors, there are a few parts I'd be happy to pay you for. PM me if interested. A lot of the plastic parts in mine have deteriorated terribly. I was lucky to find a pair of good a-pillar covers at Omni-Potent parts. My originals had holes through them from UV rot.
I dropped off a quarter off a parts car this morning to provide a factory patch for that rotted section. There are some compound curves in there where the side skirts attach that are hard to fabricate.
(http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4853/1000508e.th.jpg) (http://img155.imageshack.us/i/1000508e.jpg/)
(http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/939/1000513.th.jpg) (http://img809.imageshack.us/i/1000513.jpg/)
I was probably getting ahead of myself, but I got tired of moving the headliner board out of my way and just went ahead and redid it.
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(http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/3613/1000509e.th.jpg) (http://img842.imageshack.us/i/1000509e.jpg/)
Quarter patched using metal from donor car.
(http://img823.imageshack.us/img823/5491/1000514o.th.jpg) (http://img823.imageshack.us/i/1000514o.jpg/)
Cleaned up the donor seats. Not perfect, but not too bad for almost 28 years old.
(http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/8841/1000518f.th.jpg) (http://img822.imageshack.us/i/1000518f.jpg/)
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Here it is when it was a year old. Still a long way to go.
That is too cool! I am also a "71 Charger fan" and I used to own a twin to your Shelby.
(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/71chargerRapidTransit/scan0004.jpg)(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/71chargerRapidTransit/scan0003.jpg)(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/71chargerRapidTransit/scan0001.jpg)(http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/71chargerRapidTransit/scan0002.jpg) Boy I loved that car..... It was a ton of fun for the money. I put an '85 Turbo motor in it and when the synchros went bad in the tranny I replaced it with an "Omni American" 5 speed, WHOOOO WHOOOO! The top end was crazy, I could (and did) bury that 95 MPH speedo like nothing. Wound pretty tight I'd come out of 2nd gear about 75 mph. I'm looking forward to seeing it done. That Santa Fe blue is beautiful!
Done is a ways off. I'm headed to scenic Pakistan for a year (possibly two). I hope to get as much prep done as I can during R&Rs.
Thank you for your service! :patriot: Wish I was closer and could help you get it done while you're away, I need another project and that would be near to my heart.
I was home for the Mopar show at Mason-Dixon this past weekend. There were two '83s for sale. Very tempting. It would have been much cheaper to buy one of those than fix mine, but then it wouldn't have been the car I bought new.
My outer belt weatherstrips are shot. I asked the good folks at OMNI-Potent if they planned to repro those in addition to the four-door ones they now carry. They said they're still available from Mopar. Today I checked. They were. There were still about 40 for each door in the system. The rear hatch nameplates are discontinued though. Instead, I ordered nameplates for a 2010. I like the way they look better than the "correct" ones anyway. One of the newer nameplates was about $8, the other was almost $50. WTH?
:2thumbs: Cool project! Keep us updated!
Jason
I bought a TP Tools Showtime 90 HVLP system a couple of years ago. However, I've had to finally admit that I'm not home enough to do a proper paint job and am waiting for an estimate to just have it done. I hate to have all that patchwork done then let it sit outside for almost 2 years.
nice L body. I always liked the blue and silver. One day I want one. Right now I have 2 AG and 2 AJ bodys. Both AG's are 16 valve turbos.
Tim
I committed to spending $3500 to have the car painted while I'm overseas. While I've not met the painter, he does the work for a friend's fabrication shop and comes highly recommended. If it comes out well, I might let him do the '71 as well.
My mother bought a Shelby Charger new in 1984. She drove it until 1996 when she found another Shelby charger that had a new paint job with lower milage for $1500. The second shelby is in the repair shop getting fuel system fixed. The first one is here under a tarp.
I just mailed a check for $1500 to cover supplies and misc. I was kind of hoping he wouldn't get around to it for a while yet. I should be home for a few weeks at the end of Sept, beginning of Oct.
Should finally get painted this weekend.
The painter should be picking it up in about half an hour.
It's looking good! :cheers:
I have a hard time remembering how old this car is now. Back in '78 when I bought a '59 Coronet, that car seemed ancient. Now that I'm in my 50s, an '83 seems like a late model.
I've gotta keep reminding myself my 89 Cherokee is 21! :lol:
Quote from: 71charger_fan on October 01, 2011, 08:15:46 AM
I have a hard time remembering how old this car is now. Back in '78 when I bought a '59 Coronet, that car seemed ancient. Now that I'm in my 50s, an '83 seems like a late model.
That is funny. This car is older now than my 69 Super Bee was when I bought it in 78 and same as you I thought THAT car was old at the time.
Very cool project !!
I had a Rampage & A Daytona Shelby Z , I had so many problems with both I gave up on the front drive , they were a blast to drive when they were working but I still spent more time wrenching on both of them then driving them .
I've had a Shelby Lancer and a Daytona Pacifica. Great driving cars. The Lancer was a bit of a maintenance nightmare. I traded it to a dealership mechanic for the Daytona Pacifica. Even with all the tools and equipment at his disposal, he couldn't get that Turbo II to run right. Even swapping the computers didn't help. The Daytona always ran and ran well. However, the digital dash was a hit or miss kind of thing.
Good to see one come back to life :2thumbs:
It got painted on schedule. However, we had a sudden change in the weather from warm and dry to cold and wet. He had to sand the clear and reshoot it. I didn't get to see it painted before I had to go back overseas.
It's finally almost done. I'll be back in the U.S. in another month, so i'll get a chance to put the interior back in and drive it for a while.
A couple more.
looks good
Wow, that looks great. I bet you can't wait to get home and finish it. :cheers:
I'm glad to see it look so well done! :cheers:
I may have gotten the last set of 15", 4-lug OZ Crono wheels in the U.S. I tried to get 5 of them, but Tirerack only had 4 left and weren't getting any more. I've not been able to find that elusive fifth. I got 'em cheap on a close out. The factory rims are in pretty grim shape after many, many winters as my daily driver.
I hope to start putting the interior back in it today.
An interior is a long-overdue improvement.
Both front and back
Great project!.....I've always had a soft spot for these cars since they were considered the only real performance cars being offered in the 80s by Mopar. And the GLHS version was a Mustang smoker!
And it's fun to bug Shelby Ford fans about them. :D
It's hard to believe that 107hp was once a performance car.
Very nice, not everyday you see one of them. :2thumbs:
Power to weight plays a big part too but yeah, it does sound strange doesn't it.
Even at that power level, it was still hard to get it to the ground with that car. I had two 5-speeds replaced under warranty. The second one, I showed up at he dealership the day before my 5/50 was to expire.
The glove box was warped from day one. They were supposed to order me a new one, but that never happened.
If any of you folks that have had Shelby Chargers still have any bits and pieces laying around, I cannot find the bracket to attach the forward part of the console to the floor.
Try over here. http://www.turbododge.com/ My user name there is charger r/t
Tim
I found the missing bracket, but only after I jury rigged my own.
A couple more.
Those cars are going to be worth a fortune once us 30 somethings start having midlife crisis :smilielol:
I wound up having to run new front speaker wires. The old ones had been cut and spliced too many times and had been shorted by the hood hinges. That was a pain. I put the louvers back on today and I found I much prefer the 2011 Charger badging to the '83 badges that came off.
I had to buy three license plate brackets and fit them together to make something to fit this car.
So you say you prefer the newest style nameplate emblems but which did you install, the original style for the car or a set of brand new ones?
I put on the new style. I like the way the letters are separate and the name isn't part of one casting. I left the Dodge decal off the nose as I thought it was just visual clutter. I also didn't put on the silver striping that should run around the car just above the ground effects. Again, I think it clutters things up.
Based on advice I got over on turbododge.com, I ordered a new Weber DFEV for the SC. I'm hoping it'll be the answer to what a POS the factory Holley has been. I even switched to the Mopar Performance Holley carb back in the 80s. It was an improvement, but still not much of a carb.
You'll like the Webber! :2thumbs:
It's home. Finally.
Unfortunately, I found a spider web crack in the hood paint, so that'll have to be redone.
looks nice. did you work out the wiper linkage and bushing issue?
Tim
I got a wiper linkage bushing kit from Omni-Potent Parts.
It looks great! Nice to see one kept on the road even if they are maligned around here. (I like them though so what do I know)
The new carb is like a dream compared to the Holley 5200 series I've run for almost 30 years. The driveability improvement is amazing.
I was at a light next to a new GT500 when an older Mustang GT came up on the other side and surprised me when he pointed to the GT500 and said he liked my car better.
:2thumbs:
Thats a clean ride,bet its a lotta fun drivin it around town-looking good!
It's kind of fun in that almost no one under 25 knows what it is.
I never really thought about that before but it would be kind of a mystery car to that demographic wouldn't it?
Years ago, probably 1986, my neighbor had an '83 Celica and a Nissan Pulsar. He pointedly told me he'd never buy an American car as they're not reliable enough. His Celica blew its engine later that year a few hundred miles out of warranty. He replaced it with a Bronco II that spent all its time at the dealership with engine woes. He complained to me that he should have known better than to buy American. I opened his hood and showed him the decal identifying the engine (where all the problems were) as being manufactured in Germany. He eventually bought a Chrysler Concorde.
Took me a year to get around to it, but I finally got the paint crack in the hood fixed and now the transmission's developed a death rattle. Fortunately, I have a spare transmission, but removing/replacing L-body 5-speeds is a giant PITA.
Awesome :2thumbs: I have been trying to figure out how to get a front plate on my 84 Daytona Turbo Z. Do you need brackets ? Or do you mount it right to the ground effects ? Yours is looking great.
I had to cobble something together using three different brackets I got off of Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQKWZG/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00032K4TW/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00032K4VA/ref=oh_details_o03_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The original steel bracket had just rusted away.
I have parted out quite a bit of shelby chargers, I own an 87 (my first car) and I also own an 87 glhs. I have a couple front license plate brackets, if there is anything else you need shoot me a PM. My parts stash is dwindling but I still have quite a few things lying around.
Saw you have it for sale. What a beautiful car!
If I find a buyer who wants it, I'm okay with letting it go. If I don't, I'm okay with keeping it. The worst part about a car like this is pretty much all the money I put in it is just lost money. It drives so much better with the Weber carb and the freshly rebuilt A-525 transmission.
Sold the car this morning. Now I just have to find a shipper to take it to Kansas. I'll have had it for 31 years in July.
Well I hope three things then. That after that many years it brought you all the joy it could, that you have no sellers remorse, and that the new owner truly loves it. :cheers:
I'm ready. I've spent the better part of the last 2 weeks under the car in an unshaded driveway making it driveable again after the air injection system melted down. Time to let someone else wrench on it. I have six cars and want a 2015 200C AWD and can't have seven cars. Something had to go.
It's in its new home now.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/07/deliverance/#more-863361
Sounds like it went to a good home. Good job :2thumbs: