1973 Charger winter makeover thread
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- octanejunkie
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Thu Dec 04, 14 3:03 pm
- Location: Somerset
1973 Charger winter makeover thread
Thought i'd start a thread for the Charger's winter makeover.
The car is a genuine survivor, so there's no metal work to do. The condition of the underside is truly remarkable, and there's no bubbling or crispy bits anywhere. The only panel that requires attention is the rear valance which is dinged up, and has been clouted by a post or caught in a car park somewhere. They do a repro for this, and it's bolt on, so i'll replace that.
The paint is shocking. A really naff stateside blow over. Sags, runs, blooms, fish eyes etc. If you ever wanted to see everything that could go wrong with a paint job then this car would offer an example of just about every flaw its possible to get.
Its booked in for paint in my mates workshop at the beginning of February.
I wanted to change the colour, as its very browwwwn. However, its the original colour, and being a Mopar, its all in the engine bay and and all over the internal panels. One painter i showed it to said it would be criminal to change it. He said that the paint had been applied so badly it hhad ruined the look of the car. He rekons that with some decent base coat and some nice lacquer, it would really "pop" and look great.
I'm all ears for peoples opinions on here. I was thinking of red or orange. The car has quite a few black parts, so i thought this kind of colour would really contrast nicely. Please feel free to offer your thoughts.....
The car is a genuine survivor, so there's no metal work to do. The condition of the underside is truly remarkable, and there's no bubbling or crispy bits anywhere. The only panel that requires attention is the rear valance which is dinged up, and has been clouted by a post or caught in a car park somewhere. They do a repro for this, and it's bolt on, so i'll replace that.
The paint is shocking. A really naff stateside blow over. Sags, runs, blooms, fish eyes etc. If you ever wanted to see everything that could go wrong with a paint job then this car would offer an example of just about every flaw its possible to get.
Its booked in for paint in my mates workshop at the beginning of February.
I wanted to change the colour, as its very browwwwn. However, its the original colour, and being a Mopar, its all in the engine bay and and all over the internal panels. One painter i showed it to said it would be criminal to change it. He said that the paint had been applied so badly it hhad ruined the look of the car. He rekons that with some decent base coat and some nice lacquer, it would really "pop" and look great.
I'm all ears for peoples opinions on here. I was thinking of red or orange. The car has quite a few black parts, so i thought this kind of colour would really contrast nicely. Please feel free to offer your thoughts.....
"If its a job no man can survive, he's the man for the job"
Great Charger, a lot of cars arrive in the UK like this very solid and original but having had a quick respray to make the photos in the ad look better. My two are in this category.
Personally I would not change the colour, it is more bronze than brown and has a real 70's feel to it. But colour choice is your decision and many cars have had colour changes.
If I were you I would get a good polishing mop and some compound and spend a day polishing most of the sheen from the paint. This way you can see what the finished job will look closer to and you may even be able to live with it like this
Shayne
Personally I would not change the colour, it is more bronze than brown and has a real 70's feel to it. But colour choice is your decision and many cars have had colour changes.
If I were you I would get a good polishing mop and some compound and spend a day polishing most of the sheen from the paint. This way you can see what the finished job will look closer to and you may even be able to live with it like this
Shayne
- octanejunkie
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Thu Dec 04, 14 3:03 pm
- Location: Somerset
So far since purchase, the jobs completed are the fitment of new plugs, dizzy cap, rotor arm, and leads.
A new carb to cure some stumbling and general "fluffiness".
All the tyres are new, but i had to buy a new front one from North Hants tyres as one of them blew out its sidewall on the first outing. Think it was caught on a sharp bit on the trailer when it was loaded. That was the first £150 bill!
It goes into the garage for tomorrow to have the timing and carb set up properly. Theres a fella in my town who's a bit of a specialist in setting up old cars. I'm sure he'll do a better job of doing it than me.
The parts orders are starting to roll in. So far i've ordered:
A full length rallye stripe from Graphic Express. A good deal cheaper from them than anywhere else, and arrived very quickly. Proper Mopar one too.
New sunvisors, and heater decals from Classic Industries.
Balljoints, ignition parts, and a few electrical bits and bobs from Rock Auto.
New front and rear seat covers from PUI interiors.
New vinyl roof from Newstalgia parts.
New carb from some guy on Ebay.
Set of rear lights and housings from a 72 Charger off of some chap in Canada.
New front and rear marker lights from some random Ebay people.
New chrome door lock knobs from Ebay.
Dash cap from Ebay.
New stainless exhaust trims from Ebay.
Thats about it so far.. My card has been blocked a few times by the bank as i've been using it so much on american websites. Will need to give it a rest for a few weeks with Christmas coming up.
A new carb to cure some stumbling and general "fluffiness".
All the tyres are new, but i had to buy a new front one from North Hants tyres as one of them blew out its sidewall on the first outing. Think it was caught on a sharp bit on the trailer when it was loaded. That was the first £150 bill!
It goes into the garage for tomorrow to have the timing and carb set up properly. Theres a fella in my town who's a bit of a specialist in setting up old cars. I'm sure he'll do a better job of doing it than me.
The parts orders are starting to roll in. So far i've ordered:
A full length rallye stripe from Graphic Express. A good deal cheaper from them than anywhere else, and arrived very quickly. Proper Mopar one too.
New sunvisors, and heater decals from Classic Industries.
Balljoints, ignition parts, and a few electrical bits and bobs from Rock Auto.
New front and rear seat covers from PUI interiors.
New vinyl roof from Newstalgia parts.
New carb from some guy on Ebay.
Set of rear lights and housings from a 72 Charger off of some chap in Canada.
New front and rear marker lights from some random Ebay people.
New chrome door lock knobs from Ebay.
Dash cap from Ebay.
New stainless exhaust trims from Ebay.
Thats about it so far.. My card has been blocked a few times by the bank as i've been using it so much on american websites. Will need to give it a rest for a few weeks with Christmas coming up.
"If its a job no man can survive, he's the man for the job"
It is very much personal taste, but I would keep a car the original colour nowadays.
They are getting rare and I think is is good to see original cars with a bit of diversity in colour. I think it also maintains and improves the re-sale value in my opinion.
One of my personal "hangups" is seeing a great Mopar and then seeing a Chevy-style black under hood (Bonnet) treatment. I Love to see a Mopar with the correct body colour under there.
They are getting rare and I think is is good to see original cars with a bit of diversity in colour. I think it also maintains and improves the re-sale value in my opinion.
One of my personal "hangups" is seeing a great Mopar and then seeing a Chevy-style black under hood (Bonnet) treatment. I Love to see a Mopar with the correct body colour under there.
Pete Wiseman; Cambridge.
Mopar by the grace of God
Mopar by the grace of God
- octanejunkie
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Thu Dec 04, 14 3:03 pm
- Location: Somerset
Somebody has already gone mad trying to flat and Bananarama! to within an inch of its life! It is a real mess. Primer is showing through in places...SJH wrote:
If I were you I would get a good polishing mop and some compound and spend a day polishing most of the sheen from the paint. This way you can see what the finished job will look closer to and you may even be able to live with it like this
Shayne
Can't live with it like that. Don't want anyone to see it really till its done. Sooner i can hide it away in storage the better!!
"If its a job no man can survive, he's the man for the job"
- octanejunkie
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Thu Dec 04, 14 3:03 pm
- Location: Somerset
Wise council.. My head is telling me its the way to go.Pete wrote:It is very much personal taste, but I would keep a car the original colour nowadays.
They are getting rare and I think is is good to see original cars with a bit of diversity in colour. I think it also maintains and improves the re-sale value in my opinion.
One of my personal "hangups" is seeing a great Mopar and then seeing a Chevy-style black under hood (Bonnet) treatment. I Love to see a Mopar with the correct body colour under there.
"If its a job no man can survive, he's the man for the job"
Whatever you do, take extensive photos of the changes you make, showing the cars great original condition.
Though original...Brown is a bit of a pap colour for a weekend car (my old mk1 escort was tawny brown, now bright green)
All things considered I'd leave it brown, do it up and sell it if you want a bright yellow one.
Though original...Brown is a bit of a pap colour for a weekend car (my old mk1 escort was tawny brown, now bright green)
All things considered I'd leave it brown, do it up and sell it if you want a bright yellow one.
|| '68 Dodge Dart || '70 Plymouth Satellite || '72 Mk1 Escort || '98 AMG E55 || '85 2CV || S1 106 Rallye || E36 || E46 ||
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- Cannonball
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You beat yourself to it, i was going to suggest keep the original colour, and put some original type rally stripes on it, they will tranform it from sedate grocery getter to well a rally the existing wheels etc will all come in to tune,, nice looking car that,,
www.dwatts80.fsnet.co.uk
WATTS RACING TRANSMISSIONS, CLOBBER THE COMPETITION ITS CLOBBERIN TIME
OFTEN OUTNUMBERED NEVER OUTGUNNED,
HEY WHATS THE TOP END ON THAT SUPERSPORTS. UNLIMITED,
I HAVE A NVQW
LIFE GOES PRETTY FAST, IF YOU DONT LOOK ROUND A WHILE YOU MAY JUST MISS IT,
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LOVED BY FEW,
HATED BY MANY
RESPECTED BY ALL
WATTS RACING TRANSMISSIONS, CLOBBER THE COMPETITION ITS CLOBBERIN TIME
OFTEN OUTNUMBERED NEVER OUTGUNNED,
HEY WHATS THE TOP END ON THAT SUPERSPORTS. UNLIMITED,
I HAVE A NVQW
LIFE GOES PRETTY FAST, IF YOU DONT LOOK ROUND A WHILE YOU MAY JUST MISS IT,
THE PASS IS THE JUICE,
LOVED BY FEW,
HATED BY MANY
RESPECTED BY ALL
I like the browns and greens, hardly ever see them. Most people opt for a bright colour and when you see a few together they all look the same. When I first saw your photo, I thought it was unusual and I really like it. Try and get a mix for the original colour (Ivor will probably be able to help you with that) Normally the mettallic really stands out on these dark colours. I think the finished result will look very classy and really stand out because it's not totally in your face.
“This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no foolin’ around”
- octanejunkie
- Posts: 399
- Joined: Thu Dec 04, 14 3:03 pm
- Location: Somerset
I really like the Brown from the photo's!
Not seen one in that colour over here before......Unique!
I'd keep it brown and spend more on go faster parts!
Not seen one in that colour over here before......Unique!
I'd keep it brown and spend more on go faster parts!
Dave Tildesley.....MMA-081
72 Dodge Dart
73 Plymouth Duster - SOLD
I wanna go so FAST i think i'm going to DIE!..........Then i'll shift into second!
"My Car is a work in progress, Probably never gonna get finished, never gonna have the money to Bananarama!!"
72 Dodge Dart
73 Plymouth Duster - SOLD
I wanna go so FAST i think i'm going to DIE!..........Then i'll shift into second!
"My Car is a work in progress, Probably never gonna get finished, never gonna have the money to Bananarama!!"
I would say keep it original, that colour just screams 1973, rather than late 80s bad resto and paint it orange.
It will also make a much better match with the original paint everywhere else, and keep its value more as original.
The photos make it look great. Take a look at Gavin's Cuda for how a brown car can look so stunning. (I think Gavins is burnt orange but hopefully you will see what I mean).
It will also make a much better match with the original paint everywhere else, and keep its value more as original.
The photos make it look great. Take a look at Gavin's Cuda for how a brown car can look so stunning. (I think Gavins is burnt orange but hopefully you will see what I mean).
Matt Hollingsworth - Vehicle Registrar
Panther Pink 73 Aussie Charger 265 Hemi 4 spd
Challenger Sam Posey Tribute car
Panther Pink 73 Aussie Charger 265 Hemi 4 spd
Challenger Sam Posey Tribute car