The tail had suffered some minor damage but has since been massaged back into original form.
This is Part 13 of the story on our new 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona Project Car. In future Parts we will update you on the Project Car itself and the restoration process. (Start with Part 1)
We have entered the Twilight Zone; the time when time seems to stop. The shop crew had been laying down primer and sanding; laying down primer and sanding and repeating as necessary. We wanted the Nuremberg Daytona’s body to be sharp and straight, and that is a slow process.
In the meantime, we had been sourcing the new drive train components, interior upholstery and suspension, exhaust, and a long list of other items which now fill one full bay of my garage. The radio was sent out for restoration along with the gauge cluster.
In this photo of the underside of the trunk, look closely at the left edge and you can see where the trunk was “sectioned” by Creative Industries. This procedure was necessary to convert the Charger R/T trunk lid into the smaller Daytona lid.
Work on the nose cone continued, with far more straightening required than ever was envisioned in the beginning. Here is a scattering of photos of the most recent work.
Here you can see why the trunk had to be sectioned; the new rear window plug extends back over where the factory Charger trunk lid would be.This was one of the early prime and sand efforts.Everyone knows that the Charger Daytona was only built in 1969 but did you know that the fenders and hood are from the 1970 Charger? However, they differ slightly from even the production 70 Chargers making the factory Daytona fenders extremely rare!They did work on the gaps, but only to keep them from being as bad as the factory had made them. We didn’t care if they were perfect, but an improvement over the factory quality was necessary. This philosophy was used throughout the build.It is a lot of work but we want this body to show off all its beautiful curves.The tail had suffered some minor damage but was massaged back into its original form.Here is our correct replacement Dana 60 rear end.
I grew up and lived in Iowa for a good portion of my life before moving to Southern California. After 20+ years we now live outside Nashville Tennessee. I have been into cars since I was old enough to remember. I don't have a brand loyalty although I do prefer American Muscle especially the 1969/1970 NASCAR Aero Cars. (Check out our other web site at www.TalladegaSpoilerRegistry.com site) As long as it has four wheels and an engine I get excited. Few men are lucky enough to be able to share their passion for cars with the woman they love. Fortunately, my wife, Katriana, is also a gear head and many of our activities revolve around the cars. We have a small collection that includes at least one car from each of the Big Three. It includes a Best of Show winner, a survivor, a driver with lots of patina and several others. Katrina prefers all original cars while I like to modify them so we have a few of each. When we aren't playing with cars we are out working with or showing our miniature donkeys. You can see more about that part of our lives at http://www.LegendaryFarms.com.
