I bought this 1969 Charger on Jan. 1st 1997 for $500. It was a rust bucket basket case. My friends and parents thought I was crazy to pay that much for a car with no engine or transmission that would most likely never be worth restoring. Because of my love for these cars, I couldn't let go of it and kept it garaged until which time I had the funds to begin restoration.
On Dec 27th 2018, the time had come....It's a funny thing when you approach 50 years old...You begin to wonder if you're going to accomplish all the goals you set in life because you can feel and see age creeping up on you. For 22 years this car had been one of those goals. One of my dreams.....On that day, I grabbed a DeWalt drill and a spot weld cutter and began work. I had no idea what I was doing, but was determined.
This car needed EVERYTHING! Trunk pan, trunk extensions, roof skin, full quarters, tail panel, rear valance, rear cross member, rear trunk lid, front fenders, deck filler panel, and deck filler plenum, but the floor pans were patchable. The bill from Summit Racing for these panels came to around $6800. More than I had ever paid for car parts in my life! Once the panels came off the car, and those parts were ordered, failure was not an option!
I quickly realized that aligning and installing these panels required information on how to do it correctly. Tricks and solutions I knew nothing about. It was then that I turned to the internet, and it's there that I found this forum. I am completely sure that this car would still be sitting in pieces if it were not for all of you in this forum.
On July 17th 2021, after 2 years and seven months of agonizing welding, sanding, and praying, I trailered the car to a local bodyshop where I had permission to use their paint booths for the weeked. I had a friend, who is experienced in painting cars, check my work. Aside from a small area on the front plenum (which he quickly filled and sanded flat) the car passed his inspection, which amazed me due to the fact I know very little about body work other than what I learned in this forum. He then shot the car in PPG sealer, base, and clear. The color was the original R6 red.
The main point of this post is to profoundly thank all of you for asking and posting every question I could've asked relating to fitting, welding, aligning, and prepping sheet the metal for paint. You guys caring about these cars is exactly what is saving them. Being willing to put in the work is one thing, but getting the knowledge required to do the job is just as important. The information contained in this forum actually had me expecting some of the problems I ran into. For example: I had the same problem with the radius on the quarters and deck filler panel that everyone else had with the AMD sheet metal at the lower corners of the rear window. Solutions in this forum were spot on in using the window trim to correct this radius by slitting the metal and welding it correct. In short, I'm not sure how many of you realize that posting these problems along with their solutions creates the confidence to keep going. I have to say, confidence is something absolutely necessary to continue on a project like this. The part that scared the hell out of me regarding this build is over! And it's mainly due to all of you! Thank you!
More....
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Nice job! :2thumbs:
Glad to see another Charger saved.
Looks nice. Congrats :2thumbs: :2thumbs: LEON.
Very nice, well done! :2thumbs:
Congratulations. Looks great. Nice work.
you're welcome...and Well done!
:drool5: looks awesome ! love the color :2thumbs:
Great stuff ..... keep the progress pictures coming when you get the chance ... :yesnod: :cheers:
That's a great story! Glad you stuck with it! :2thumbs: