Project Charger - Larry Lyles

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my first step into the world of automotive restoration and modification by shaving most of the chrome and adding a pearlescent Fire-thorn red paint job.

      That beautiful car helped fund my next project, a 1970 Plum Crazy purple Charger R/T with all of the go-fast an 18-year-old should be allowed to own. After its untimely death due to a multiple car pile up, I took my father’s advice and turned my attention away from cars to concentrate on higher academic studies. My hope was to become something more than just another wrench jockey in a grease shop. Unfortunately—or perhaps thankfully—math and electronics bored me to death while bending metal and spraying paint, which I continued to do at a local body shop as I sought higher education, thrilled me. By the time I finished college, I realized cars were in my blood and I could do nothing to change that.

      The art of body repair soon led me to restoring Ford Mustangs for a local Baptist minister in the days before having a restored Mustang was cool. That, in turn, led to restoring Corvettes and that led to custom work on vintage rods and old Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Intermixed with these classic automobiles and motorcycles came hundreds of broken and bent late models.

      These days I no longer work on new cars. I can’t tell a Honda Accord from a Chevy Impala. Or does Toyota make the Impala? Anyway, I divide my time among writing books on automotive restoration, producing articles for Auto Restorer magazine, and restoring old cars like the Charger in this project.

      Like many people you find at the local car shows who restore old cars, I returned the Charger to its former glory simply because I could personally relate to the car, not because the VIN tag identified it as something rare or something special. Most of those vehicles have already found residence in climate-controlled museums whose access is granted to only a chosen few. This car doesn’t have many of the desirable perks associated with owning a classic Mopar muscle car. There is no Six-Pack under the hood and no four on the floor. I chose to restore this car for one reason: It has my name on the title and it reminds me of days gone past.

      My wife, who, by the way, owned a 1970 Dodge Super Bee 440 Six-Pack on the day I met her, is more excited about this restoration project than I am. I suppose that’s what automotive restoration is really all about: taking a long-abused old car, returning it to its glory, and seeing all those smiling faces and thumbs up as you cruise along the highway.

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      PHOTO 1: This is the interior from the passenger side. Notice the missing glove box and the hole where the radio was located.

       Starting the Project

      Ask any expert in the field of automotive restoration where you should begin a restoration project and chances are he’ll know the exact spot. Many restoration projects never get off the ground until someone points to a specific location on the vehicle and announces it is the place to begin. I can’t agree more. You have to start somewhere or the work never gets done. I just don’t agree that you should start your restoration project by working on the vehicle itself; you should start with documentation.

      Oh sure, I could stand in front of any project vehicle, point to a location on the car, and pronounce it as the place you should start. You would cheerfully begin working on the vehicle, taking off parts, piling them here, and stacking them there. But within a short period of time the project would take on a life of it’s own. Expensive parts would suddenly be scattered here, boxes of nuts and bolts would grow up out of the floor there, and chrome trim and bucket seats would take up valuable space near the only work bench in the shop. New parts purchased six months ago, but not needed until next year, would strangely disappear; while old parts you will never need again would find places of permanent residence in the shop. The question of what to do next would become paramount in your mind. It doesn’t have to be like that. Restoring an old car ought to be fun. For me, it kept me out of my wife’s hair for quite some time.

      The good news about restoring an old car is that any anointed place to begin is a good place to start. The bad news is the starting point is a long, long way from the ending point. A lot of tear down, repair, overhaul, replacement, and assembly must occur in the meantime. Unfortunately, all this “meantime” work can become daunting and sometimes downright depressing. A writer friend of mine once told me that all good books have a great first chapter and a blockbuster final paragraph. Everything that happens in between is just interesting filler designed to keep the reader turning pages. Restoring old cars is the same. The beginning is always filled with great promise, while the climatic end is something that can only be reached by turning every sweat-dripped and grease-smeared page in between. So where do we go from here?

      Documentation

      Step one in your restoration project should be documentation. By documentation, I don’t mean tracking down the history of the vehicle from the first oil change to the last tire rotation, or even from owner to owner or engine swap to engine swap. Having this information, however, does make the vehicle more valuable in the long run. Let’s face it—most of us are not trying to build a concours-grade vehicle worth millions of dollars, which translates into many millions of dollars spent in the process. What we are building is referred to as a driver, a dependable vehicle in which we can comfortably sport around town. Of course, having something everyone stares at doesn’t hurt either.

      For this type of vehicle restoration, documentation means making several lists. You need a list for the new parts you have to purchase as well as separate lists for parts requiring overhauling, repairing, and refinishing. Having such lists allows you to determine where to begin your restoration project and how to systematically work your way through the process to a successful conclusion.

      The first step in forming a list of new parts needed is to order catalogs. Every aftermarket parts supplier on the planet has a catalog. Some are dedicated parts suppliers, meaning they cater to one specific area of automotive restoration such as rubber weather stripping or suspension components. Others offer everything from lock knobs to hinge bushings. Some catalogs are free, but others are not. Of the ones that are not free, most will refund the cost of the catalog with your first purchase. Since most companies that charge for their catalogs offer extensive parts inventories, shelling out a few bucks to see what they stock is often worth the cost.

      Next, go on-line. Many suppliers have excellent Web sites with products, prices, and helpful hints on how to use their products. Others have just enough Web presence to let you know they are out there. Reference the sites that look promising in a Favorites file (or Quick Reference file) for future use, or jot down the addresses on a note pad for safekeeping.

      Finally, get input from your friends. I’ve never met a restoration buff who wasn’t happy to talk about his latest project, and I have never talked to one who didn’t leave me with more information than I had when we started talking.

      Sources List

      Armed with catalogs, Web sites, and friendly advice, you are ready to start building a file folder of your restoration lists and notes. Usually my file folder is filled with printouts from my computer. I open a word processing file on the computer and give it a project label; in this case I label the file Project Charger. In that file I make a sources list. This list includes every catalog I have along with the general contents (such as “Chrysler sheet metal source”) of each catalog. Next, I list the Web sites I like along with a brief content note on sites that contain information I may need. Last, I note the sources my friends offer plus the names of all the old car salvage yards in my area that still stock the types of vehicles I am working on.

      The equivalent late model salvage yard is a different animal altogether. Late model salvage yards cater to the newer car market, which means they rarely stock any vehicle over 10 years old. They crush older vehicles to make room for the later models. Old car salvage yards keep cars until nothing is left but the rust. However, they, too, will eventually crush the remains of everything in the yard to make room for the newer old cars our grandchildren will want to restore.

      The salvage yards I frequent identify the crusher candidates by painting a big X on the roof. Every time I

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