Hi there !
Yet another guy from accross the pond.
Guss, 35yo from Belgium.
My own story with Challengers started when I was 19. A that time, I had still been living with my mother and had worked summers and weekend to acheive a dream : Owning a 1970 Challenger. I ended buying a 1971 Challenger off of Ebay, sight unseen.
When it arrived here in Belgium, the trans was bad (A833 four speed), the 383 was running very badly and the body of the car was mostly made of body filler, rather than metal.
Thanks to this car, I learned a lot. I rebuild the engine and the trans myself.
As a teenager, I did what I could with what I had. For instace I had my mother absolutely terrified as I decided to pull the engine out of the car using the house structure.
A kid, learning.
I had this car to the point where it was a nice driver. Electrically she was a nightmare, but I just could not understand how it worked at the time.
Then of course, At about 22 or 23, I had to sell the car to go live my own life.
Out of mamma's nest. We could say that life got in the way.
Time flew. My passion for american cars never varnished. I became a collision repair guy (Mainly for the passion because I quickly realised that repairing modern cars was NOT my thing - so I switched carreer but... kept some skills !)
After a few years, I learned and more about these cars, eventhoug I did not have one myself. I love metal work. So I did a few things including changing the whole back body panels of a 1969 Dodge Charger of a friend.
Eventually I bought a 1966 Pontiac LeMans (sold new in Belgium in 66). It sat for a few years then I could finally rent a nice place to work on my cars.
I bought a second car : A 1966 GTO this time. Sold new in Belgium too with all the nice things from factory : 389 tri power 4 speed. But...The GTO was bad. Really bad. A 2 door hardtop but .... It had been cut. The roof was destroyed.
The idea was to rebuild the GTO using the LeMans Body (well actually it still is the idea). But then I ended up with a very bad body (the GTO body) and the chassis+drivetrain and title of the LeMans.
What to do with it ? Sell all that for few bucks ? scrap it ?
.... Nope. I built this. (5 years of work in 3 pics)
A little walkaround :
A car that never existed from factory but that I wanted to look like if it did.
This last pic dates summer 2024, when I finished this car.
The 1966 GTO is on a rotisserie. And for some reason, when I finished the HUGE job that was the LeMans 2 doors wagon (I still have it of course!), I just could not put my hands on the GTO. I needed something else. I needed my first car.
Don't get me wrong, I love all classic american cars, and especially GTO's. But the Challenger has a special place in my heart.
Vanishing point, death proof, Chris cornell in the audioslave clip "show me how to live"... I just needed my first car back, but that was not possible.
So I started looking for one, with a limited budget that was difficult but I ended up putting my hands on this one, found in Norway and once again... Bought without going there to see it. ( Am I stupid ? A bit yes... Do I regret ? No!)
This time, it's the one that I always wanted. A 1970.
And there, my story with this car begins.
I'll just post a few pics of the car here, then I'll head to the "Member restorations" when I have some time to really show it... And also to ask a few questions. Because I need to learn a LOT about these.
... Well actually gotta go. Wifey calls for dinner. I risk my life if I don't show up directly !
Yet another guy from accross the pond.
Guss, 35yo from Belgium.
My own story with Challengers started when I was 19. A that time, I had still been living with my mother and had worked summers and weekend to acheive a dream : Owning a 1970 Challenger. I ended buying a 1971 Challenger off of Ebay, sight unseen.
When it arrived here in Belgium, the trans was bad (A833 four speed), the 383 was running very badly and the body of the car was mostly made of body filler, rather than metal.
Thanks to this car, I learned a lot. I rebuild the engine and the trans myself.
As a teenager, I did what I could with what I had. For instace I had my mother absolutely terrified as I decided to pull the engine out of the car using the house structure.
A kid, learning.
I had this car to the point where it was a nice driver. Electrically she was a nightmare, but I just could not understand how it worked at the time.
Then of course, At about 22 or 23, I had to sell the car to go live my own life.
Out of mamma's nest. We could say that life got in the way.
Time flew. My passion for american cars never varnished. I became a collision repair guy (Mainly for the passion because I quickly realised that repairing modern cars was NOT my thing - so I switched carreer but... kept some skills !)
After a few years, I learned and more about these cars, eventhoug I did not have one myself. I love metal work. So I did a few things including changing the whole back body panels of a 1969 Dodge Charger of a friend.
Eventually I bought a 1966 Pontiac LeMans (sold new in Belgium in 66). It sat for a few years then I could finally rent a nice place to work on my cars.
I bought a second car : A 1966 GTO this time. Sold new in Belgium too with all the nice things from factory : 389 tri power 4 speed. But...The GTO was bad. Really bad. A 2 door hardtop but .... It had been cut. The roof was destroyed.
The idea was to rebuild the GTO using the LeMans Body (well actually it still is the idea). But then I ended up with a very bad body (the GTO body) and the chassis+drivetrain and title of the LeMans.
What to do with it ? Sell all that for few bucks ? scrap it ?
.... Nope. I built this. (5 years of work in 3 pics)
A little walkaround :
A car that never existed from factory but that I wanted to look like if it did.
This last pic dates summer 2024, when I finished this car.
The 1966 GTO is on a rotisserie. And for some reason, when I finished the HUGE job that was the LeMans 2 doors wagon (I still have it of course!), I just could not put my hands on the GTO. I needed something else. I needed my first car.
Don't get me wrong, I love all classic american cars, and especially GTO's. But the Challenger has a special place in my heart.
Vanishing point, death proof, Chris cornell in the audioslave clip "show me how to live"... I just needed my first car back, but that was not possible.
So I started looking for one, with a limited budget that was difficult but I ended up putting my hands on this one, found in Norway and once again... Bought without going there to see it. ( Am I stupid ? A bit yes... Do I regret ? No!)
This time, it's the one that I always wanted. A 1970.
And there, my story with this car begins.
I'll just post a few pics of the car here, then I'll head to the "Member restorations" when I have some time to really show it... And also to ask a few questions. Because I need to learn a LOT about these.
... Well actually gotta go. Wifey calls for dinner. I risk my life if I don't show up directly !
