1973 Charger winter makeover thread

octanejunkie · Post by **octanejunkie** » Tue Nov 08, 16 3:15 pm

ChrisN34 wrote:Ah ok, yeah i quite a bit for my first lot, back when the pound was actually alright. But was still way too much than i wanted to spend (new carpet, seat covers etc)

Yeah i did take it down to waynes earlier this year, thought it might have been you, his son Dan said you had the old yellow 'bird and the White Buick. It wasnt the one that was backed into by the delivery van was it?

No, the Buick that got backed into was a 69 Riviera. We got it patched up and sold. Went to France..
My Buick was a 70 Electra. The yellow Roadrunner is in Ireland now. Guy who owns it now posts on here. "powermyster" i think his name is.
How is the Duster project coming along?
My Dodge is going down to Waynes workshop this week to get it out of the elements for the winter. Will be getting its full makeover in February

ChrisN34 · Post by **ChrisN34** » Tue Nov 08, 16 5:57 pm

Ah ok, i remember there were two Buicks, wasnt sure which was which. Duster is coming along well, few issues, but interior going in soon.

Ah, is Wayne doing the Charger when he is back, or is it just winter storage then you do it.

octanejunkie · Post by **octanejunkie** » Wed Nov 09, 16 2:07 pm

Yeah, it'll be a joint effort. I'll be doing all the prep, and he'll be slapping the paint on. In the meantime, its just going to sit on the ramp and stay out of trouble while the parts roll in..

Got it running spot on now. Turns out there were some vacuum issues. Was running manifold instead of ported, and the advance was coming in too early.
Still think it has more to give though. Will tweak it a bit more in the new year.

octanejunkie · Post by **octanejunkie** » Sun Nov 13, 16 4:17 pm

Well, i've been struggling with storage this winter, but various circumstances have come together, and i've been able to keep my car down my mates workshop. Just as well, as the salt spreaders were out last week

Its in the best place now. Sat on the ramp, where it will be staying till February (as long as he keeps his nose clean..). The workshop is out of action until then, but expect some serious progress once we get stuck in.
I'll have to pop down and do the balljoints before then as Turnip has kindly lent me the socket for them, so i need to get that back to him.
The layup will at least give me the chance to get all the bits i need, and hopefully give my credit card a chance to cool off...

lough3969 · Post by **lough3969** » Sun Nov 13, 16 8:52 pm

Nice winter bed that...

GJUK · Post by **GJUK** » Sun Nov 13, 16 9:20 pm

Nice, make sure it is insured and you notify them of where it is.

lough3969 · Post by **lough3969** » Sun Nov 13, 16 9:21 pm

GJUK wrote:Nice, make sure it is insured and you notify them of where it is.

Good point!

octanejunkie · Post by **octanejunkie** » Sat Nov 26, 16 3:23 pm

Did the bottom balljoints on Friday. Quite a mission. Calipers and discs had to come off etc. The passenger side one was the original i think. The amount of old grease and gunk round it was unbelievable.
They put up quite fight to get them out. A big breaker bar wouldn't do it. Luckily i had a high power impact gun which shifted them in the end.
They were properly worn out.
New ones went in ok, and took a ton of grease to fill up. They were from Rock Auto, and came with new nuts, pin, and grease nipple. Good quality. Looking forward to clunk free driving

octanejunkie · Post by **octanejunkie** » Thu Dec 22, 16 10:25 am

Seat covers arrived from PUI interiors this week. They look pukka quality. Got stung for another Â£135 duty when i went to pick them up from the post office..

That puts the bill at Â£700 for them. I'm trying not to think about it....

I also needed a rear valance panel. The one thats fitted to the car isn't rusty but looks like its been reversed into more than its fair share of bollards and posts over the years. I was going to get a new one from Classic Industries, but found a good used one on ebay. At Â£80, i thought that was better than Â£200 for a new one. However, to have it shipped has cost me a further Â£140.. Luckily this is the last big part i need to bring over. Thank God... Its a shame there isn't one place to buy everything.

Blue · Post by **Blue** » Thu Dec 22, 16 10:52 am

"Its a shame there isn't one place to buy everything."

There sort of is, you can get all your parts sent to Ron Fenton's place in the States and it will come over in one go in one of his containers with just the one cost for shipping. I know you are a long way from Essex but we have members all over the country so moving stuff around via the club "grapevine" normally works pretty well.

octanejunkie · Post by **octanejunkie** » Thu Dec 22, 16 10:58 am

So you guys have stuff delivered to his place and then it comes over in one hit on the boat a bit later?
Is this reliable when you're ordering various items from different places etc.?

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Thu Dec 22, 16 1:02 pm

octanejunkie wrote:So you guys have stuff delivered to his place and then it comes over in one hit on the boat a bit later?
Is this reliable when you're ordering various items from different places etc.?

Yes, no problems, we've done it a few times with 2, 3 or 4 different suppliers. As long as you know the date that Ron is loading his container in Florida and aim to get the parts there beforehand, the next you'll need to worry about it is when he lets you know the parts have arrived and are ready for collection. He can also ship them direct to you from his Essex base if you prefer

lough3969 · Post by **lough3969** » Thu Dec 22, 16 7:32 pm

Can I ask what the Vat charges are with Ron? Don't suppose you can get round the duties?

Rebel · Post by **Rebel** » Thu Dec 22, 16 11:09 pm

I've used Ron a couple times as well, very easy. Duty charges are very reasonable, much better than you'd pay direct from the states. I've always asked him to send my parts to me when he lets me know they're here.
The American eBay sellers who offer free post within the states means you get free postage to his address over there as well

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Fri Dec 23, 16 1:12 am

lough3969 wrote:Can I ask what the Vat charges are with Ron? Don't suppose you can get round the duties?

VAT is 20% as you'd expect and duty is 3.5%. Ron can give a quote for the actual shipping cost if you give him the size and/or weight of the goods.

It's up to you and your vendor if you want to ask them to provide a 'reduced' invoice that the tax & duty gets calculated from