My '68 Charger resto/build!

[MxRacer855]

Drivers side perch after cleaned off and trunk floor started being removed.

[MxRacer855]

Trunk floor removal.

[MxRacer855]

Rear frame rail into cross member brace/valance.

[MxRacer855]

This is when the floor was completely removed and we were beginning to move onto trunk floor extensions and quarters.

[MxRacer855]

Passenger quarter panel. Look at how much bondo! you can literally see the huge chunk separating from the quarter itself! 

[MxRacer855]

When we pulled the smashed and rotted trunk floor extensions, this is what the used for filler on the gaps! We found crumpled up cigarette packages, paper towels, and of course... great stuff foam! All stuff that would have held moisture in.

[MxRacer855]

Extension/quarter filler! It literally looked like liquid bondo was just poured in! I'm assuming that the rear end of the car either got T-boned at some point, or wrapped around a telephone pole. You could see the part of the extension that was supposed to be flush against the quarter had a huge gap.

[MxRacer855]

You're going to love this one! The lower section of the drivers quarter panel was completely rotted away up to one of the body lines. So the shop that did a lot of the work tack welded a piece of sheet metal to it and built it all up with bondo so that it looked correct!

[MxRacer855]

Here's another pic of the drivers side quarter. the same filler was used on this side. You can clearly see the distinction where the separation of the OEM panel is and the fabricated garbage was added on.

[MxRacer855]

Once we broke all of that garbage away, this is what it looked like.... now the project moved into the wheel well area. 

[MxRacer855]

everything removed off quarter.

[69wannabe]

The car will look awesome black with dark grey stripes!!!!! That is the color scheme that I wanted to go with on my charger but it had dragged out for almost two years doing almost all the same work you are doing here and it was already trimmed out in hemi orange so to move things along a little quicker we just went back with the orange. At the time my buddy had a 68 that was black with flat black stripes and I didn't want to look like I was trying to copy his car so I just went back with the orange since i'm a dukes fan anyway and I do like the hemi orange alot...

[MxRacer855]

Your car looks great 69! I've always been a fan of that color as well. Maybe someday down the road you'll switch it up if you feel up to it. There's someone in the area that has a black '68 with flat black stripes. It looks awesome, I just never liked the edge you can feel around the stripes since the clear coat cannot go over them. thanks for the props though on my scheme. I debated it for a little bit and decided to do it. When I hear other people complimenting it, I really feel like I made the right choice!

You said you did all of this to your Charger as well. was it this bad?

Jeff

[tsmithae]

I'm having flashbacks to when I started ripping the back of mine apart! I wonder if the same person "restored" both of our cars at one point in time...

[MxRacer855]

I'm having flashbacks to when I started ripping the back of mine apart! I wonder if the same person "restored" both of our cars at one point in time...

As unfortunate as it is, I'm glad I'm NOT the only one in the dark who had to crawl over hot coals to reach the light.   
It's incredible what people will do to shortcut a job on such a beautiful machine! 

[tsmithae]

Nope, you're not the only one by any means!  Good luck with yours!  Hopefully you will be able to get it done a little faster than me.   

My quarters had the same problem yours did but at least they brazed in some new (galvanized) metal!  then continued to put over 1/2" of filler on it! 


My car had the same aftermarket corners as yours!

[MxRacer855]

WOW!  We have a reverse setup going on! The outside of your panel looked like the inside of mine.  That is a horrible amount of garbage on there, but I'm sure you can believe me when I say that I feel your pain...  

I cannot believe how identical that corner is to mine.  :cheers:It's unbelievable how someone would literally fabricate an entire piece of structural reinforcement out of garbage material.

After that one, I had to go dig mine up and snap a few pics! It's the only garbage piece I kept to show the original color, and just how bad the car really was.

[MxRacer855]

Haha, get a load of this identical twin! 

[MxRacer855]

If that wasn't bad enough, here's another shot.

After removing all of the bondo and filler around that corner on the valance, tail panel, and quarter panel... here's the remaining metal. 

[tsmithae]

That is way too funny!  I am surprised to see the same work done on another car (although  I probably shouldn't be).  I'm sorry to see that so much of yours is gone but think of the bright side, you'll gain a lot in the HP/weight department!   

Hope you don't find too much more in the filler aspect and start finding some metal soon!

[MxRacer855]

  That's the recurring joke that just doesn't seem to go away! 

I agree. It will definitely be worth it. I'll keep 'em coming! 

[fy469rtse]

That should have buffed out Jeff 
It would have taken less effort to put metal back in
Don't worry , we have all been there, rear rails trunk floor , back panel ,
My next car's going to be a night mare, but I know what I'm in for , front and rear rails , trunk floor , all floors , quarters, doors,
But rare numbers matching triple gold high optioned 68,
So much metal to be replaced, guys on here will consider it a re body
And 68 is my favourite
Good job on yours so far, lots of nice shiny parts in back ground of photos
Geoff

[MxRacer855]

That should have buffed out Jeff 
It would have taken less effort to put metal back in
Don't worry , we have all been there, rear rails trunk floor , back panel ,
My next car's going to be a night mare, but I know what I'm in for , front and rear rails , trunk floor , all floors , quarters, doors,
But rare numbers matching triple gold high optioned 68,
So much metal to be replaced, guys on here will consider it a re body
And 68 is my favourite
Good job on yours so far, lots of nice shiny parts in back ground of photos
Geoff

Geoff! 

Buffing was the first thing we tried... maybe I should have tried a different buffing compound, huh? 
It's ridiculous how much work some people will put into something to avoid doing it the correct way. Oftentimes, more work goes into the half ass route than the right one. 

From your avatar, your car looks good! It's hard to imagine you're going to undergo a process like that! What a project!
I would really like to see a thread started for that rebuild! 

Yeah, the route I'm going is replacing, restoring all of the parts and wrapping them up while the car has been at the shop getting the body built and painted for the last 4 months. That way when I get it back, I can pretty much start grabbing stuff and throwing it on.
I'll see if I can get a picture of my basement right now (where most of everything is).

Jeff

[MxRacer855]

Here's a portion of the cleaned up/ good to bolt back on stuff!

Overwhelming doesn't quite cut it...

[PlainfieldCharger]

  At least you cleaned up your parts right away too. I had to bring mine into the house on the dining room table and in the living room we never use. At least it didn't get damaged