WoW,
Been nearly a year but the 68 Charger is now back into the works with my body n paint guy.
We've got the pics to show the sheet metal is all smoothed and the first coat of primer is going on this week.
Meanwhile I have got the dash de-rusted and primered ready to paint.
The gauges and panel have been reworked and all are now working right (or so they seem). Dash resto with new wiring harness, pads, paint and more are being done to coincide with final paint and assembly of car.
Trying to have the Charger ready for January Rod N Custom Show. Paint n body guy won't commit. But, it looks promising.

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Newest family member, Grandson James Hornecker born this AM 2/20/09 to Daughter and son in law. Got all the toes n fingers to handle the competition.

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My restroshop got back onto the 68 Charger after things slowed down for them and they now have the Sheet metal all welded into place on the Charger in preparation for reassembly. I'm trying to keep up with the rest of the items that need to be done as well.
As usual Donations Accepted.

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2008 Dodge Charger RT Daytona Edition is now in my garage with all the goodies and a HEMI to boot.

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The photos show the various state of rust repair to the Charger as part of the restoration. Some things have delayed the work but it's back on track now. The entire car has been dismantled for sandblasting and then welding up new steel where rust was cut out. Rotisserie is kind of a tool to make this easier.

A new 440 is being built to go into the Charger and it will have some goodies for better performance and still be tame enough for my lady to drive. Block is beefed up with steel and forged parts. Aluminum Heads and valve train. Comp Cam. Improved Oiling and more.

In case you are wondering this isn't a stock restoration, it's a muscle car improvement program that will include modern upgrades in engine and suspension performance, stopping power, and comfort. All while keeping it's great Charger looks!

More later...........

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It's been 75 days since the Deer Strike and the 68 Charger is in a good Mopar restoration Boby shop. The project started out as a repair of damage, fix the body rust, and get a new paint job. Well, the more you dig, the more rust you'll find. At present the interior is all out and the body is nearly down to clean metal with lot's of rust repair being done. New sheetmetal covers the fender, hood, rear quarters, rear valence, inner fender wells, rocker panels and both front and rear glass areas. Never knew how much rust was lurching under the interior. Car should look fantastic when it's done. Hope to have it back in time for "Automobilia" car show in downtown Wichita, KS this July. Lot's of work to be done by the shop and myself between now and then along with a wedding for the son and WAM mopar car show in June. Wow. Hope to hit the lottery jackpot soon. Might even have to form a old Mopar owners restoration charitable foundation. Here's a pic of the restored Grill I pick up very soon to give a peek on the nice looks the Charger will have. Will also try to upload a progress photo albumn soon. Best Wishes on your projects!

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Thinning the Deer herd
As I write this it’s been about 18 hours since I’ve experienced my first deer collision in my life. I’ve always thought that all the antenna on my vehicles acted like deer whistles and kept me safe as a result of my wireless radio business, this car didn’t have all that. Unfortunately, last night, in the rain and darkness at highway speed, on Highway 400 going home into Andover, KS that all ended. I first noticed the herd of several deer on my left going to my right and I began to slow. Strange I thought the deer usually cross the highway behind me near the two bridges and creek, I was past there with the RV dealership is on my right well beyond the woods. Just then coming up out of the ditch to my right were two more deer going left to meet the gang for a party in the highway median. I hit the brakes hard and swerved hard left to go between the herd, but there wasn’t enough space and I impacted one doe in front while the other deer hit my right front quarter. I saw the front deer go airborne and cranked harder to the left to avoid it from hitting the windshield. Because of the wet pavement and older drum brakes I skidded and did a 180 degree spin ending up bounding through the center median nearly two hundred feet away from the impact. Fortunately there was very little traffic on the four lane highway at that time. After a brief moment to compose myself I looked to see what the traffic was doing and then moved the car to the far right emergency stopping area now going the opposite direction from where I started. I put on my flashers and began to look over the damage and to determine if I can drive it the mile left to home. A nice young lady then pulled over and offered her cell phone to me to call for help and I thanked her and said I have one. I then checked to see that the deer were off the road so no one else would have to avoid them. Looking over the car quickly I could see that I could drive it home. Once home I called the Andover PD to report the issue and check on the deer in the ditch since I couldn’t see its condition in the dark. In the light at home I could see the damage to the hood, right front fender, center grill, passenger headlight assembly and trim. The car was covered in mud, grass, and deer stuff. Wow I thought pretty solid car for such a hit. Molly (my dog) came up and started sniffing the area with fur n stuff and I popped open the hood. No major damage could be observed beyond the grill and trim. If your wondering why this incident is of interest it’s because I was driving my 1968 Dodge Charger. My suburban was having starter wiring issues and I thought I’d be ok driving the Charger for a day until I could get the problem resolved. I did fix it last night and now the Charger awaits the process of insurance and finding a suitable body shop to repair the damage. Remember to always wear your seatbelt and watch out, where’s there is one deer the herd isn’t far behind, plus they don’t always go in the same direction. I hope you don’t have this same experience with your Mopar.

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Wow, I guess bad stuff comes in threes. After having recently changed the torque converter then the whole transmission I found myself going down the road with a vibration then no oil pressure. Seems the flex plate/flywheel decided to grenade itself at some point shortly after putting in the new transmission. I'll upload a picture soon, I can't believe it didn't leave me stranded as the entire center section of the flywheel was broken out. This vibration caused the rear main seal to go out causing a tremendous loss of oil (3 quarts in about 45 miles).
So it was decision time. New car or fix the utility vehicle.
I decided on a new GM crate 350 engine. This weekend my buddies Steve R. and Mike S. along with son Mike M. worked with me to R&R the engine in the suburban. We finished up tonite and it purrs great. Given the 100,000 mile and 3 year warranty the new GM crate engine came complete except intake and was a better price than rebuilt engines. Lot's of work though doing the swap, clean up of existing stuff and making sure everything went back together right. My hats off to Steve as he did a lot of the work in the engine bay as he was the small flexible guy to fit in.
Still looking at the new Dodge Charger RT for consideration though.
Later!

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For us Mopar "Dodge Charger" and Nascar Fans we have to be proud that our Dodge Boys kept the Toyo's off the big win. No question about a dominating manufacturer when the Five Dodge Chargers took 1st (Alltel 12 Ryan Newman), 2nd (Miller Lite 2 Kurt Bush) , 5th (Target 41 Reed Sorenson), 6th (Best Buy 19 Elliot Sadler), 7th (Budwiser 9 Kasey Khane), & 8th (Jim Beam 7 Robby Gordon) places of the top ten. Toyos were 3 & 4 and were a strong force all day. Junior (Dale Earnhart) Chevy took 9th and a Ford (Greg Biffel)took 10th. If anyone missed the race it was exciting with the new car design that kept many wrecks from happening but didn't leave out the excitement. Of course the wife still doesn't understand the facination of racing round n round, but then she's never tried it. I HAVE!

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OK, had to put a rebuilt 4L60E transmission is the Suburban last weekend. Thanks to son Mike and Son in law Nathen I was able to get old one down and new one up and stabbed. Yes I have a 4 post lift and no tranny jack. Really wasn't all that bad weighing about 150 lbs. I sold the Bonneville SE I was driving as a backup. Had been trying to sell it for a few months with no interest. It figures cars never sell until you need to drive them. LOL

Didn't drive the 68 Charger in the sub freezing temps because it's such a bear to get warmed up to run good. Old carburated muscle cars just hate cold weather even with electric choke and electronic ignition. Besides with ice n snow I don't trust any of the drivers on the road to retain control around my Charger. Too hard to fix em when they are wrecked these days. Don't believe me, just ask any body shop and they will tell you they don't have any real "metal body workers", just parts replacement people and painters.

However, found the Suburban heater wasn't working after sitting a couple of months. Required to backflush the system to get it working again. Ahhhhh heat is so nice in winter.

Well back to other things. Grandbaby Jordan is growing and some fun to be around. Translated into I'm sure glad he goes home after visiting. Old guys can't stand them diaper changes n crying for the bottle for too long.

Went to Starbird Car Show Fiasco in Wichita. They advertised $15 to get in and charged $17 at the door without any explaination. Century II exposition center and Starbird are all pointing fingers at who's to blame for the change from Advertised price. Add to the management gaft was that the show participants had to buy all thier food n drinks from the concession stands as they weren't allowed to bring in anything. Previous years they allowed those who showed thier rides and stayed at the show all three days to bring in snacks n drinks. I got a strong feeling the show partiipants won't be back.

Next it's get the 440 on the engine stand for a teardown inspection.

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Grandson Jordan Tyler born Dec 14th, 07 precisely at 8:00 AM by my Daughter MIchelle and son in Law Nathen. Was there for over 14 hours and witnessed the proud event. Now I think my graying hair shows the Grandpa status.

Picked up a 440 Block to work over for the 68 engine replacement. Got lot's of ideas from Mopars at the strip n Vegas and Mopar Nats. Yes the Charger made it all the way to Ohio & back in August.

However, been fighting suburban transmission replacement costs, it's my 5th one in 300,000 miles, ouch.

Been looking at new Dodge Chargers and Challengers.

Need to work on personal website more www.mopars.advcom.net lot's of pictures.

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