Need some advice and suggestions
 

I recently bought a 1969 Dodge Challenger. I don't know much about it as I am new to cars and car restoration. This is my first. What I'm interested in though is knowing what to do with it. What kind of engine, what kind of peripherals to put on the engine, what are the advantages of doing a "Numbers" car over doing a car the way I want to do it? I am not planning on doing the whole restoration in a year or two because I don't have the money to do that so this project will be an ongoing thing. I'll get parts as I can afford them, one day I'll have a finished car.

Thanks


Oh and why isn't there a section for older 1970 Challengers?

How much information do you have on the car? Have the vin deciphered and then check to see if it is # matching. If it is a specialty car... R/T, TA, SE or Western edition I would go back to stock. Worth more that way. But if its just a lowly 318 or 225 six, then mod away. Go with what ever you wish and make it what you want it to be. You can make it a tribute R/T or go pro touring, pro-street or G-machine. Its up to you and you can go as far as you want or spend carefully and be conservative. There are more parts out for the Challenger than at any other time by the aftermarket. You can get almost any panel now and any suspension you want to run. Stock brakes to 4 wheel discs they have them. Look at E-Bay motors under Challenger and then watch the fun. Let us know how you decide to go and keep us uptodate on the resto. Good luck.

Thank you so much for the reply. Helps me out a lot to know what to do with it. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, to answer your question, I have next to no information.

So I found out, so far the car doesn't have an engine. The guy who is helping me with the restore, i.e. doing the work, suggests the 426 Hemi in it. I think that's a great choice. If I understand what you're saying, at this point, not having an engine makes doing a "numbers" car not as necessary. I was thinking of doing a bit of a mix between these two cars. I want the body of the orange car but I want the coloring and height of the red. What do you think? (I'll get to engine specifics when I know more. Since I'm getting the car with new seats/upholstery then I might as well decide on the color and overall style of the body now so my interior matches.)



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Hi,well first off they only made the early challengers from 1970 -1974 so thats why there is no info for older models so I don't tink you have a 1969 challenger post the vin number and I or someone else can help you find out what you really have. Also without the engine it can not be a numbers car so do anything you want to make it fun and yours.

later Ray

2009 Challenger SRT8 blk 6sp
1970 cuda 440 550 hp
1973 cuda being restored my me
1973 dart swinger

Makes sense. Thanks. I would post up my VIN but the car is in another state still, waiting to be delivered. I'm also set to deploy next week so I won't get a chance to do anything with my car for at least 6 months. I'll get to it when I get back and post up what's going on with it. Thanks again.

My 1970 is a Sept 69 build. Yours is probably a similar build date, but a 1970 Model

Mine is also a 9-69 build date 70 challenger.My suggestion would be to get the vin# and fender tag decoded first and see exactly what you have.If the car is an original 6 cylinder I might suggest keeping it a 6 cylinder car.Most of the 6 cylinder cars were used to swap a V-8 in years ago so finding an unconverted 6 cyl car is "rare".They also run pretty good and will get great gas mileage.I had an original '71 barracuda 6 cylinder years ago and wish I had kept it.They are alot more rare these days than a 'cuda with any other engine except the hemi.

[Note: As I wrote this post it got longer and longer with question after question, sorry.]

The build I'm not sure on. When I was first told about the car the guy told me a '69 Challenger. So maybe it's a 69 build. Don't know. I get home from Iraq in a few weeks and am planning a trip out to Tennessee to see my car for the first time. Probably bring it home while I'm at it.

I would have more info on it but the seller doesn't have an email address and I'm in Iraq at the moment. Being in Iraq and having some time to think about what I want to do. I've subscribed to HotRod and Car Craft magazines and have been reading everything I can get my hands on about old mopars and such. I've kind of come with a theme of car I want to do. Have you seen the She Devil? That's a beautiful car and I would like to do something like that, body and interiorwise. When it comes to the engine, I'm not so sure I want to stay with a smaller 440 or something like that. I'm getting the powerhunger bug that probably comes with a lot of restore projects. It's not that I want to have the fastest car on the block, but I want the fastest car on the block, you know? I read in CarCraft (not sure which issue) about an engine kit you can buy to build on the old 440 block to get a 6.1L engine instead of having to buy a crate engine.

So this is kind of what I'm thinking. I want the older body style with a little hint of modern look to it kind of like the She Devil. Under the hood I think I want to do the 6.1L Hemi. But I'm thinking that if I were to buy a crate engine I would end up taking off the headers and porting them and boring out the heads (is that the same thing?) Replace the cam shaft and piston rods and heads. (I'm trying to talk the talk here work with me) Something along the lines of what they have at at ShopHemi. Also there I was thinking pretty hard on puting a supercharger on it. I saw the FAST EZ-EFI system and did some reading on it and thought it would be a good addition. I know that I'll put in a cold air intake and that I'll have to redo the wiring harness and do an eltronics system. I know that I'm going to need to redo (in the case the I don't have wheels maybe do for the first time) the suspension system and axles to handle the horsepower output, I've looked around a bit but I don't know the difference between brands and parts and that so I would be a pretty easy sell on anything I think, unfortunately. So I have a basic yet fluid plan for the engine but on top of what I stated I'm not sure what more it will take to get that accomplished. I know basically I need these areas, engine, electrical, suspension, fuel, breaking, body and interior. But the parts within those categories I'm not sure on.

Since the car has no wheels and engine I'm assuming the body isn't likely in the best condition so I was thinking to start this project I would strip off the body and find out what I've got on the frame, see if I'm going to need to repair it or anything like that. At that point I'm not sure what to do next. Do I work on body or do I start working on the powerplant? My major concern is I may be moving cross country in the next year so I'm thinking the best thing for me to do is get the frame ready and put the suspension system on it and get some wheels on it so at least I can tow the beast when I do move. I'll likely put the existing body back on it for now and start the engine after I do the suspension. I'm worried though if I do the suspension first and I change my plans and the suspension can't handle the new plan. In this case should I stick with a build plan of a massive HP suspension system and if I don't go massive HP then no biggie?

Also I'm not finding anything in magazine reading that tells what exactly goes into engine tuning. Is that anything to do with the tuning of electronic fuel injectors?

Thanks for reading and for the responses.

Hey geminiviper, I'm an older guy, i've done a few projects like this, and offer this advice.
Take the path of least resistance, the task is pretty big, lots and I mean lots of guys with great intentions start a big project only to find it is more.. in cost and time than they can manage. A mostly stock 440 4bl 1970 Challenger, is very very cool, a 6.1 has an added level of interest, but will costs lots and lots more in time and money. Plus you'll find less people who can help. Consider taking an easier victory this time around, after a couple under your belt, step it up. You won't likely lose money on a completed stock 70 Challenger 440 4bl project that gets completed, but will lose your a__ on any uncompleted project. Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. I'm more looking for pointers on where to start. While I haven't really decided what I'm doing with the engine, and I know that's a big part of what I do with the rest of the car, I'm looking for some direction that resto guys take when they start a full restore project. Is my thought on doing up a suspension system, due to my likeliness to move, a good idea or should I put more focus somewhere else first?

Thanks.

If the stock suspension is in good condition, you can just use it, if mostly good just replace worn parts with stock parts. Old e bodies handle pretty good, with disk brakes up front they stop ok.
Up grading the brakes to something like a new SRT has would cost about $3000
To put in a different K frame, and rack and pinion, At least $3500.00 and to get a 4 link or other rear end upgrade again, 3 0r $4000. These numbers are for parts only, if you need to hire someone to do it, double them.
Most projects start by taking the car completly apart, assuming it needs a paint job and some metal repairs. Once apart, media blasting to remove the old paint to start fresh. A complete media blast job, will cost about $2000, plus the cost of getting the car in a sealing primer a few hundred more. Body work can be nothing if the car is perfect, and $10,000 if lots to do, a paint job by a professional shop, could be anything from $5,000 to $25,000 depending on which shop and the details.
Once painted, it gets put back together, often you'lll spend several thousand on smaller stuff like weather stripping and screw kits, door sills, and might need new glass and or hardware. Interior replacement seat covers aren't too bad and can be done by a good handy person, although headliners give most people fits.
Then its details and drive train....
Someday your done, a beautiful old Mopar loved by many including yourself, The time invested will likely be measured in years and money... more than you really wanted to spend.
I'm not trying to discourage you, in fact just the oppisite, just know what your getting into, and enjoy the build up process, the dirty finger time.

Thanks MPBG43! I'm not deterred or intimidated by the amount of money or time it sounds like. I have had to cut some old hobbies and habits out that weren't meshing well with my life and this is what I decided I wanted to fill that void with, plus classic car guys seem to be getting fewer from what I can tell. My drive and desire to restore this car I think will get me through it. As far as taking years to do, that's fine. My wife would probably prefer that only because it means I'll only do one, so she thinks. As far as money goes, I'm not worried about that either. While I'm not independently wealthy or anything like that I do have very good budgeting skills and a supportive wife. Not to mention the very regular bump up in income the military has been so gracious to offer me through optional (mandatory!!) job experiences (deployments!!). I figure each deployment I make about 6-10 grand tax free, half of which goes to the wife and kid and the other half to my car. This is a once every year deal so 3-5 grand every year to spend on my car isn't a bad deal at all.


Does anyone know anything about Soda Blasters? Are they worth buying to blast off paint and clean up the frame and all that with? I saw and add in a CarCraft or HotRod magazine and thought I would look into it.

Send out for media blasting. Unless you think you are going to do more projects in the future, your expense for the blaster (and a BIG air compressor to push it) will be a poor value. Also there is the issue of the mess of blasting (been there done that). You will enjoy the disassembly (cheap, productive, chest thumping work).

My before and after

Need some advice and suggestions
 

how many miles on the bottom end and what oil pressure was it seeing at idle and WOT?i would just do heads and cam, 3k or larger stall, gears and some suspension and have fun.

Not really sure what you mean by miles on the bottom end, but because it doesn't have an engine I can't tell you the oil pressure.

Side note, I just returned from Iraq and will be going to pick up the car from Tennessee here in the next couple months. I'll have a VIN and a no BS look at what it needs.