restoring los muertos

[moparqueen]

Hi everyone, I joined this forum a few years ago before I had finally got my own project car and I told myself one day I'd start my own rebuild thread.
So here it is.
I picked up a 68 dodge charger in new mexico, it was title less and abandoned in someones backyard for 15 years.  Long story short, I hauled it all the way back to california, went through the works to get a title and barely started my build a year ago. I am a 25 year old female who did not grow up with cars being built in my family. I have no experience on how to even build cars, the only inspiration I have to go off of are pictures and other peoples builds on here to help me put mine back together.  Los Muertos is getting a full restoration from the ground up, the name was chosen from the help of a friend who explained I was bringing the dead back to life.

***Would also like to point out, I get stuck often in this project and would love advice from all of you guys or even pointing things out throughout my build, it is very
much appreciated. <3
I'll be posting all pics from start to finish on here.

[70 sublime]

Good for you
Just take it one step at a time and you will get there 

[JB400]

Congrats on getting a Charger.

[moparqueen]

this is what my car looked like on craigslist in new mexico.

[JB400]

Looks like quite the project.  What engine was in it originally?  Vin or fender tag would tell you

[moparqueen]

thank you jb400 i wish i would posted this build sooner but better than never.

and thanks 70 sublime, i hope i get this build done soon.

[moparqueen]

the car was a 318, it came with absolutely nothing, total shell. i'm going to drop a 440 in it.

[moparqueen]

how it looked bringing my bby home.
it took all evening getting him on the trailer, the suspension was completely broken so we pretty much dragged it on there with come alongs and logs underneath lol.
(btw i really young in these pictures, dont judge me lol this was taken 2 years ago XD)

[moparqueen]

Starting the tear down, windshield, dashboard, vinyl, trunk lid, and what was left of suspension was removed,
my dumb ass also flushed out mud inside the rockers with water :| lmao, because it was growing plants like a terrarium or something
it was much needed at the time
also the quarters were cut off as well.
it is getting prepared to be sandblasted and moved into the backyard as u can see with that opening behind the car in the last pic.

[JB400]

Any idea what colour you're going with?

[Kern Dog]

Welcome to the madness!  I am impressed to see a lady jumping in and getting her hands dirty with a classic car. Most of us are older guys that remember these cars when they were new or just a few years old. We often choose these cars because they were popular when we were young.
You are unique... a young person with a similar passion as us older folks! Good for you....I am glad to see that people of all ages passionate about these cars.
Good luck with the car.
Los Muertos? The Dead?

[moparqueen]

pictures of the car being sandblasted in my backyard,
so here is a lesson i learned. .
DON'T EVER DO IT URSELF.
EVER.
i hated it so much, sand was in my hair, in my bed, and sometimes. . in my lungs.
the reason why i chose silica, is because it's the roughest i heard and i needed no surprises, i had to know
what was getting replaced on this car.
i thought it would be cheaper to do it yourself but it's just a nightmare and now one part of my yard looks like a sandbox.
yeah, lesson learned here. (learned lots of lessons with this car XDD)
( the the thing that took the longest time to sandblast was under the roof, it gets in your eyes alot.)

[JB400]

I hope you didn't warp the roof blasting it.

[moparqueen]

thank you kern dog, i'm very happy to hear when i have another
person's support with this car, i feel like a lot of people these days
don't appreciate building cars like this anymore. but yeah i wish i could have seen what these cars looked like brand new
and yes, i've always loved darker themes so i chose a dark name that i thought stood out and truly represented this car,
it really would have been left for dead i believed if i wouldn't have got it.
and i think los muertos is alot cooler name than frankenstein because that's pretty much what he is. lol

[moparqueen]

Jb400, I'm going to paint it black and I didn't actually sandblast the top of the roof, just underneath it inside the car, it should be alright.
but yes i have heard about that, that you are not supposed to sandblast the roof.

[moparqueen]

ok so here are pictures of the car being epoxy primered after being sandblasted
as you can see some areas need to be patched and totally replaced but, this is just a coating
to keep things from rusting as for now

[Lennard]

Los Muertos is the correct name for your car.   You're still young, so you have plenty of time to get the job done.  It will just take a small fortune.
Also...If you ever blast anything again in your life, wear a respirator to protect your lungs. 

[moparqueen]

Thanks Lennard, i'm really glad you like the name. it's so hard picking a cool name for these cars that isn't something someone already took or is using. and yeah thank god i have no kids yet lol, it's the only way i am affording these panels. and omg yes, i sadly did not realize how much danger i was in after ingesting that stuff. for sure i will wear a mask, i didn't the first few times and then i coughed up alot of it later. im terrible with ppe, it's something im definitely working on getting better at.

[Lennard]

Live and learn.   Ask lots of questions on this forum because there is a lot of knowledge here. Don't try to reinvent the wheel and the only dumb question is the one you don't ask.

[moparqueen]

you are right, i'm hoping me posting this project on here, i'll have more help when i get stuck.

[moparqueen]

this is how bad my frame rails were, i had help removing them, they did not want to come off.
and after that i started on my rockers, here are pictures of installing the passenger rocker

[Fred]

Hi Moparqueen. Great choice in year.
You do have your work cut out for you but time and patience will get you there. Not to mention all the help you need as there are many knowledgeable members on this forum all of whom will be happy to help.
Good luck
Fred

[moparqueen]

i also started to replace the outer wheel houses but they are not permanently on, they are being clamped temporarily until i fit my quarters.

and this is a picture of the rocker welded on with the outer in place.

[Fred]

Going by your determination......you will definitely get there.   

[cdr]

You have made some good progress since I last saw pictures, good to see you are still at it.