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Old August 27th, 2017, 12:03 AM
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Sonic65 Sonic65 is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: San Antonio Texas
Truck: 1965
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Default '68 Dodge Charger

So, I have finally started working on the Charger. Story behind the car...my uncle (mom’s brother) bought it when he was in his last year of High School in the mid-70's. He was racing some guy in a Camaro and the engine began to overheat. He pulled off the road and headed to a gas station but the engine quit and he could not get it started. He pulled the engine out and rebuilt it with my Dad but for some reason they never put the engine back in. So, the engine (has been on an engine stand) and car have been sitting in my grandfather’s barn as long as I can remember.

My Uncle gave me the car and I pulled it out of the barn and loaded it up on a car hauler in CA and towed it to Texas in 2014. After hauling it to TX, my uncle told me that he never looked for the build sheet behind the rear seat. I thought, wow, what if it is there? I pulled out the lower seat and nothing. I figured the previous owner must have taken it out. I decided to try the seat back and sure enough, there was the build sheet in the seat springs in one piece. I carefully removed it.
I crossed checked the numbers and VIN from the build sheet and discovered that I had a numbers matching, Special Edition Charger with a 383ci High Performance engine, auto transmission, factory AC, bucket seats and a few other goodies.

I stripped the car of its interior and am working on reupholstering the seats using Legendary Auto upholstery products. Stripped the car down to bare metal and found that the only place in the car that needs panel replacement is a small center section of the trunk. The floors are solid and the doors even open and close nicely. There are a few crunched areas on the outside, to include a section of the right rear quarter panel and right front fender.

Plans are to re-paint the car its original white color with Bumble Bee stripes on the rear. I will also be installing a black vinyl top as it came off the factory floor with one. The engine will be machined to provide a bit more horsepower without sacrificing the originality, but I will be installing a FiTech unit instead of the carburetor to add a bit of modern fuel intake technology to the car. The transmission will be beefed up a bit and I will be replacing the front factory drum brakes with disc.
More to follow…

John
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Last edited by Sonic65; August 27th, 2017 at 12:29 AM.
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