Hi all- Just obtained a 1970 Challenger and need some help. I am mostly a Chevy guy and do not know a lot about Chryslers. Nevertheless, I have wanted a 70 Challenger for 15 years now and finally managed to get one. The car is in need of a total resto, received the car with no engine, doors, rotted floors, needs quarters, etc. Have a question- the VIN code tells me that the car was originally a 318 2 bbl. Assuming that the original K-member is in the car, do I have to change the member if I were to put a 383 or 440 in this Challenger? I know the Hemi is in a league all of its own, but am not sure about the other big blocks. Also, car has front drum brakes, any advice on which company to go with in regards to power disc upgrades up front? GOODMARK repro sheetmetal is the way to go??? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I don't have much experience with these E-Bodies. Have restored Camaros and Mustangs before, but never one of these.....Thanks!

 

You can get alot of what you are looking for on E-Bay Motors. And they do sell goodmark panels on E-Bay. You can get the motor mounts you are looking for for each application either big block or small block and use the K-member that is in the car. Get a copy of Mopar Performance or a similar magazine and look at the advertisements. They have alot of products for the Challenger now and I guess its because its popular now. As far as drums to discs... its all up to your wallet. They have from stock replacement discs all around to willwood and baer. The stock rear discs I'm talking of use a GM rear disc and an adapter plate to bolt them up. Willwood are offered on E-bay. As far as sheet metal if its in the trunk or on the floor and will be covered why pay more for a product that will be similar and do a great job. But if its going to be seen... fender, quarter panel, trunk lid, hood ect.. then go with goodmark Also as far as trans go big block to big block and small block to small block. They will not interchange like Chevy. If you need any help just post and I'll try to help the best I can. Good luck

 

Thanks very much for the advice. Do you know where I could find information to help me decode the option tag I located on the driver side inner fender? Would like to know original paint color if possible. Thanks again....

 

Congrats on your recent acquisition of a 1970 Challenger. Post the codes here or a picture and we could decode your fender tag. There is also some web sites that have all of the codes listed if you wanted to do it yourself. There is 7 places on you car to check for your VIN number. There is also some places to check for a build sheet. These are important for a correct resto, but if you want to resto mod your Challenger then these numbers may not matter. Just let us know and we will be more than happy to assist.
Bob

 

Look up Legendary and Year One for catalogs. I think they have VIN decoders in their catalogs.