Mr. Norm 1969 Charger 500 Restoration

[Ghoste]

There's one I wish I had seen make a pass. 

[CornDogsCharger]

Pulled the engine/trans out

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

With the interior and rear glass removed, you can see the original blue paint as well as the grinding marks on the Dutchman panel that was done at Creative Industries. If you look carefully, you can see where the original Charger glass was cut out.  You can also see the original black primer that was applied to the lip before regular charger glass was installed. The original rubber block spacers were still in place too. That really shocked me

Justin
"CornDog"

[fy469rtse]

So it's going back to original colour?
It's in great shape , saw the original colour to area near door hinges

[CornDogsCharger]

So it's going back to original colour?
It's in great shape , saw the original colour to area near door hinges

It is going back to the original B5 blue, black interior, white stripe, 14in road wheels, and redline tires. The car is solid for the most part, but the work that was done to the car was not so great. Someone went to a lot of work repairing the car, but they cut a lot of corners. It will be done right this time.

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

I melted out all of the led from the seams to prepare the rear window plug removal.

Justin
"CornDog"

[Ghoste]

Are you planning to use lead when you put it back or kevlar or what?

[CornDogsCharger]

Are you planning to use lead when you put it back or kevlar or what?

I usually cut thin strips of metal and weld them in place and grinding it all smooth.  It ends up looking like one big panel.

Justin
"CornDog"

[tan top]

     

  looks like it was  bare metaled at one stage , painted orange ? by the looks of it or could be different primers  then painted red base & clear  .......

[CornDogsCharger]

    

  looks like it was  bare metaled at one stage , painted orange ? by the looks of it or could be different primers  then painted red base & clear  .......

At some point in the car's life, it was stripped to metal (at least the parts I have seen so far), primed, then painted gold.  It was then primed again and Maaco painted it with a single stage red.  I'm still trying to dig up as much history on the car that I can. I have a name and address for the original owner, in Chicago, then there is a lapse until the early-mid 80's

Justin
"CornDog"

[RallyeMike]

Justin - Wow that car looks really solid, which makes me wonder why the plug has to come out, and why you would not put it back the way Creative did it orignally. I suppose the reason is to avoid shrinkage and cracking 20 years down the road.... but it just seems wierdly wrong to add metal and weld it all up in a different manner.

One of the things that is interesting to me is preserving the conversion work as it was done back in the day (Of course some people say it would be wrong to use synthetic oil or radial tires too I guess...    )

I'll enjoy watching this thread and maybe picking up some tips.

[CornDogsCharger]

I mostly only add strips of metal in the recessed areas of the seam where the quarter panel and roof panel meet up. Actually, where the plug meets up with the quarter panel, that seam isn't recessed or wide at all... so there is no need for a metal strip to be added. I'll put it back like Creative Industries did, just without the lead.

As far as removing the rear window plug, it must come out in order to properly install the two full quarters, which the car does need. Someone installed quarter skins.  They rough-cut the original quarter and just lapped the new quarter skin right over the old. Looks very sloppy from inside the trunk.

Justin
"CornDog"

[RallyeMike]

Ouch. Looks a lot more solid than that, but you never know what is hiding under there when a car has already been "restored" once. 

[CornDogsCharger]

A previous owner told me that this car sat in a field in Wisconsin back in the 80's. He would stop and ask about the car, but it never was for sale. One day, the car was no longer sitting in the field and he thought that someone finally bought the old car. Years went by and, out of the blue, and man called him and asked if he was still interested in the old 500. Since he had asked about a few cars, he wasn't sure which 500 the man was talking about. Finally it dawned on him that it was the car that say in the field. The man in Wisconsin had moved the car into a barn where it was out of sight. While in the barn, rats made a big nest inside the car's floorboard, right under the dash. With many years if rat droppings and urine, the acid ate away the floor pan and both sections where the front frame rails and torsion bar crossmember intersect.

The previous owner purchased the car and started collecting clean sheet metal from the west. He purchased a complete front clip from a donor car which included torsion bar crossmember, both rails, inner fenders, and radiator support. He collected all sorts of parts to go on the car but, if I remember correctly, he sold the car and parts before getting started on the restoration. Somewhere along the line the car was restored using these parts. THANKFULLY, they retained the 500's original upper radiator support and put it on the new clip.

The clip was from an A/C car and where the aprons meet the firewall were real sloppy.  Plus, the radiator support was cut on the left side in front of the battery. The lower support was damaged a little, so realistically, just the upper support and right side were all that was good. We decided to replace the radiator support and both aprons. Of course, I will reattach the original upper support afterwards.

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

My next question is this...
 While stripping the firewall, I noticed a big spash of orange paint on the passenger side. It looks exactly like Vitamin C / Go Mango, even though that color was not in use during this car's build (Nov '68).  The paint was only on the passenger side and was applied directly to the bare metal... With no primer under it. On top of it was the factory red primer and then the original factory B5 Blue paint. Anyone know what this would have been for??

Justin
"CornDog"

[tan top]

My next question is this...
 While stripping the firewall, I noticed a big slash of orange paint on the passenger side. It looks exactly like Vitamin C / Go Mango, even though that color was not in used during this car's build (Nov '68).  The paint was only on the passenger side and was applied directly to the bare metal... With not primer under it. On top of it was the factory red primer and then the original factory B5 Blue paint. Anyone know what this would have been for??

Justin
"CornDog"

think that could be a letter  !!   a letter & a number  applied at the factory    , think it was A 11  from memory   ,  it was mentioned in a thread a long time ago ,  will look for the thread & post here  

[tan top]

 found it  ,  was spoke about in HemiGeno's awesome Daytona thread   


page 4 scroll down near the bottom of the page ,  post by FJMG   ,  then on page 5  posted picture

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,48725.75.html

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,48725.100.html

[CornDogsCharger]

You're exactly right!  There was actually a section of orange that was very faint just to the right. When you compare the pictures, you can see the "A" in orange. Thanks for sharing!

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

Here you can see the "1" a little better.  It's very faint though.

Justin
"CornDog"

[XS29LA47V21]

Blue is a nice color to my eyes on a 500.

[CornDogsCharger]

Blue is a nice color to my eyes on a 500.

I agree!  I love B5 blue!  Especially on a Charger

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

Here are a few pictures from last week.  I cut away the metal that needed replacing, took everything to bare metal, etched & primed.

Justin
"CornDog"

[CornDogsCharger]

The new AMD sheet metal is in place and ready to be welded in place.  Today I welded it all up.  Don't worry... I am going to install the original upper radiator support once it returns from being dipped and e-coated.

Justin
"CornDog"

[70Sbird]

Here are a few pictures from last week.  I cut away the metal that needed replacing, took everything to bare metal, etched & primed.

Justin
"CornDog"

Justin,
I always love following along on these projects you do, keep up the good work and picture sharing!

I do have a question with probably an easy answer for an experienced body guy like you but what did you use to strip the firewall down to metal like that? I'm going to be painting an engine compartment in the near future and I would like to know the best method. Mine has a little more rust and pitting that the 500 you are working on, but I was just curious.
Thanks
Scott

[CornDogsCharger]

Thanks Scott!  I used a wire wheel to remove the majority of the paint and rust. In the tight spots I used a needle scaler and then used an abrasive roloc-pad over everything. After that, I finished it off with 80DA sander. If you have a lot of pitted rust, you may want to use a sandblaster.

Justin
"CornDog"