We have begun the restoration of this iconic muscle car. Before we get into what we are doing, lets rewind and take a look back at this cars history.
First off, this is a 1968 Charger R/T, with a 426 Hemi, Automatic trans, Dana 60 Rear, manual steering and manual brakes. This car is 1 of 7 Silver Hemi Chargers produced, this is the only Silver 68 Hemi Charger that was stripe delete!
Originally bought near Cedar Rapids Iowa, this car remained in that area for most of its life. The original owner special ordered the car and story goes, he forgot to order a special axle package, so when the car was delivered, he ordered a 3:54 Dana 60 and had it installed shortly after taking possession. He street raced the 68 with much success, and the car was highly respected in that area. After a few years, he decided to sell the car and ended up selling it to the town drunk. Story goes that he sold it on a Monday morning, by Thursday that drunk had painted it pink and decided that it would be best suited to be racing around a circle track. So, the town drunk broke into a local dirt track and was doing hot laps when he spun a bearing and hit the wall with the right front. After getting out of jail he then decided that the car should be cut up into a race car and was wheeling his oxy-acetylene torches out when a friend of a friend happened by and told the guy to stop and that he had a friend that would pay him a lot of money for it. Well, my friend David Patik did pay him a lot for the car and rescued it from certain death. Dave stored the car away in Iowa until 2017 when we purchased the car and brought it down to Florida.
After getting it here at Muscle or Performance, we finally got a minute to thoroughly check her out. The car still has its original exhaust, original motor and trans, as well as 5 original wheels, jack, paperwork, interior, carbs, exhaust manifolds etc. This car is really a time capsule. After disassembly, the car was carefully taped off so that the undercarriage, trunk area and engine compartment could be media blasted. After blasting, we were amazed how well this car survived! The trunk, floors rockers, doors frame rails are all in great shape. A few small patches in the quarters and she will be in bodywork.
The engine is currently at the machine shop for a freshen-up. While this is being done, we will rebuild the transmission.
Stay tuned as we work on this Silver beast and bring her back to life.
Restoration on the 68 Hemi Charger has progressed. It has been nice to work on an original car as all its original parts were intact. We could document every piece as it was removed so that reassembly would be accurate, just as the factory did in April of 1968. We quickly learned that this is a very special car with many unique parts, fasteners and assembly techniques. The body was media blasted to bare metal, the minimal rust cut out and replaced and the body put in epoxy primer. Luckily, only minimal metal replacement was needed. The trunk pan and floorboards were in great shape and remain intact. NOS fenders were installed and the rest of the body was massaged until it was perfectly straight then sprayed with the correct hue of A4 silver.
Once back to the shop, assembly began. We took our time with this one and made sure every nut, bolt, crayon and paint mark were accurately restored to as factory condition.
The Charger still retains its original seats, door panels, dash and many other components. The original trim was expertly polished, gauges restored, seat belts refurbished and the list goes on. The numbers matching engine and transmission were rebuilt and reinstalled with many NOS parts complimenting the massive powertrain.
The engine was started, proper break-in procedure adhered to and with no leaks or issues, the silver 68 Charger moved under its own power for the first time since the mid 70’s. Once outside in the sunlight, we could finally see the beautiful car we brought back to life. We hope you enjoy the pictures and pass the word along, this one is looking for a new home and is available for purchase.
