70 Challenger Restoration, into a driver car

[Jblake]

Hey all.
Making this form to post progress of my 70 challenger project as i go. Not doing a full resto. just enough to make it a driver, have some fun, make some memories and turn some heads! Some day would like to do a full restoration. Going to be needing lots of help and having lots of questions which is why i am creating this post. I bought a service manual. Car has a 340 with a 727, interior is in rough shape and was mostly disassembled. missing peices, rough dash, no wiring or gauges hooked up. needs front and rear floor pans, dutchmans panel and work around the rear glass. My first question is where is the best place to be shoppoing for parts? Year one? Ebay? Any sites or brands in particular? the Paddock? Am on a limited budget once again, wnat to make a nice driver not a perfect show car. Thanks!

 

[DetMatt1]

Drivers are the best! Your best bet for being on a budget is scouring Craigslist and eBay for your needs. Don't cheap out when it comes to replacement body panels and floor pans, go with AMD brand. This forum is also a great resource for used parts and tech assistance. As far as buying new parts, I get all my stuff through My friend David Radcliffe over at Roseville Moparts. He always gives me the best deal I can get. I've made my best deals on cars and parts on Craigslist.

 

[Cazbah362]

JBlake, agree with DetMatt1, searching CL helps a lot, I also us craigslisthelper, allows for out of the area searches. I also get good results from going to big swaps meets, for West these start about now. MATS is in Las Vegas, LA and Portland. Also, I leverage sales tax and shipping in on many things. Since I live in Nevada, I have to pay taxes for Summit. So what I will do is find the part on Summit, call Jegs and do a price match, free shipping, no taxes and viola - cost savings.

Suggestion is prioritize, buy and work. Meaning don't buy a bunch of parts with plans to do the job, usually dosn't work out. Also, don't strip it down with plans to do in the future when you get cash. Life is life, and usually turns into frustration. Drive enjoy and work, much more satisfaction. So with this theory, what do you want to get done first?

My recommendation is Superclean and a pressure washer. Buy one of those bug type sprayers from HomeDepot, get some Superclean from WalMart, and get a high pressure hose and dirty clothes and go to town. Spray, let sit, wash - repeat. DONT USE IT ON ALUMINUM LIKE YOUR WHEELS. I like the car, be fun to drive and work on and cruise, or beat on those little ricers - Keep us posted.

 

[Cazbah362]

Also, I wouldn't get to brand specific on the panels, I have used pretty much all of them, yes gauge is different, templates are sometimes mismatched, but in the end they usually yield the same results, especially is you are doing the work yourself and are not a "seasoned panel replacer, " which I am not.

 

[Jblake]

Thanks for the replies! I agree I did not want to buy a bunch of parts or strip it down as I know how that turns out. stuff sits for years and things change. My first priority is to replace the front and rear floor pans as they need done before it is a driver. Also once I do that I can start to reassemble the interior. Which will get done a little at a time because of how costly it is going to be. That would be my starting point. That and also get the wiring hooked up, lights, turn signals, speedo, etc. I think this is a good way to go about it? What are your opinions?

 

[Cazbah362]

JBlake, sounds like a pretty solid approach. Floor pans can be a bit consuming, so plan a bit of time. Not sure what the extent of your need to replace, but it looks like driver and passenger rear for sure. Wiring, well that too can be a bit of a projetc, so pick your battles. Keep us posted.

 

[Jblake]

Yes I am going to be in there so I just decided to do the whole floor, passenger and driver, front and rear. Just do it all so its done and solid. That's going to be my first big battle. it needs some work behind the rear glass and dutchmans panel replaced but that isn't hurting anything for now. Biggest things to get it a driver is the floor pans, interior, wiring and a tune up I believe. Any other things I should check out or consider when making it road ready?

 

[340challconvert]

Good luck with your restoration. Looks like a worthwhile project. Is it a factory 340 H code car?
I am finally working on my 70-340 Challenger after sitting for a lot of years.
I just finished stripping the paint and or rust from the floors down to bare metal. I too will have some patching to do, luckily by the driver's front footwell only. The rest of the floor is good.
Trunk floor will need a lot of work. I am taking one step at a time myself. AMD does make the best panels! I posted of pic of my driver's side front floor.
Good luck with your project.

 

[Jblake]

Sadly no it is not a true 340 car.. I could not really afford anything except a 318, for my budget I either had to buy a 318 car or a big block car that is in really rough shape. I found this gem and thought even though its originally a 318 car it would still fit me perfectly. Came with the 340 In it out of a 69 barracuda. Lets see some photos of your 70 challenger!

 

[moparleo]

Buy the best quality parts you can afford. It is always more economical (cheaper) to buy things once than to have to have to buy it again because you cheaped out.
Make a punch list of what needs to be done and check it off as you do it. This way you can see that you are making progress. That is what dooms more home repair/restore work on your car. Loss of motivation. You really don't start to see real progress until you get to the end.
Use this site and others to see other peoples progress on their cars as motivation to do yours. Take lots of pictures, tag & bag all of the parts as you remove them. I will find a check list for you.

 

[340challconvert]

Sadly no it is not a true 340 car.. I could not really afford anything except a 318, for my budget I either had to buy a 318 car or a big block car that is in really rough shape. I found this gem and thought even though its originally a 318 car it would still fit me perfectly. Came with the 340 In it out of a 69 barracuda. Lets see some photos of your 70 challenger!

I am documenting my progress with pictures. Check out my pictures under the Restoration thread

 

[Jblake]

What do you think about installing electronic ignition? Was told for making a driver that it is a definite must have.

 

[Cazbah362]

JBlake, I am a fan of electronic ignition, however do it on budget. In my opinion and based on passed experiences, stay away from Petronix. I would look on Abodies for a MP and MP Type box. Even rock auto has low cost factory distributors and box's.

 

[340challconvert]

What do you think about installing electronic ignition? Was told for making a driver that it is a definite must have.

I would for the sake of reliability.
I still have points on my 340 A66 Challenger.
I have the factory conversion kit that I will install soon. You can also purchase the e parts separately or as a kit from Mopar. Nothing fancy, works as intended with high reliability and reasonable cost.
Roseville Mopar parts a great source. www.rosevillemoparts.com
Just my opinion!

 

[340challconvert]

Straight from the Roseville Catalog
Electronic Conversion Kit Small Block 273,318,340,360
[450-3690426] Distributor, Electronic, Magnetic Pickup, Vacuum Advance, Chrysler, 273, 318, 340, 360
PRICE: $224.95
You should also get a member discount!

 

[Cazbah362]

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-3690152/overview/
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4120505
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/dcc-4120505


Summit Brand Kit - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-850003

Preform - http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pro-66991

I like what Paharamia posted, usually what I would go with. However you can poke through Jegs and Summit and find them a bit cheaper - no shipping

 

[DetMatt1]

The standard Pertronix(not the II or III) has been working flawlessly on 2 of my classics for years now and I drive my cars on a daily basis during the season. The kit and their Flamethrower coil mak an excellent and very economical choice for electronic ignition. I have heard complaints about the II and III from several guys over on FCBO so I'd stay away from them but the standard kit installs in a matter of minutes and requires no additional hardware under the hood. Another reason I like it is that unless you're really looking hard for the one extra wire that you have to run into the distributor, it's near impossible to tell that you're not still running points if keeping things appearing original is important. My .02...

 

[Jblake]

That is very good information for me DetMatt1, Great to know. I am no mechanic. A body man by trade but definitely not a mechanic so ease of installation would be good. And I am definitely looking for reliability. Is there anything else on the car that needs to be looked or done to make it a reliable driver?

 

[DetMatt1]

Well, the ethanol in today's fuel is disasterous for these old fuel systems so unless you are able to fill up with non-ethanol gas you should be running an additive to combat the negative affects of it. Several companies make products specifically for it and I have used a couple of them but now I just run marine 2-cycle engine oil with TC-W3. I add 1 oz. per 5 gallons of fuel religiously. Make sure your fuel system is clean and properly filtered from front to back and that your carb and linkages are all working right and adjusted properly. Today's engine oil is also no longer formulated for these cars either so I run Brad Penn brand oil and there are a few other brands that are supposed to have good levels of zinc still in them. It's easy enough for me to get the Brad Penn so I just buy it off the shelf.

 

[72*birdman]

When you get to the wiring if you go with the standard gauges you should be able to pick up a used set up really cheaply off most mopar sites as people upgrade to rally gauges. For a driver if you add a tach thats all you really need.