From Modest Driver to Mopar Dream Car: Building the 1970 Charger R/T 440

This 1970 Dodge Charger 500 parts car with a barely running 318 under the hood and a van seat for an interior, arrived at Driven Restorations to be re-born as a "Plum Crazy Purple" R/T 440-6

 October, 2014

1970 Charger arrived at Driven Restorations LLC

✯The Dream✯

This project started as a harmless conversation after we met the owner at an unrelated networking event. We said "classic cars", they said "Plum Crazy 70 Charger" and before you could say "R/T" the wheels were spinning and a build plan was in the works.

It took months to locate a '70 Charger within a day's drive of WI, needless to say there weren't very many Plum Crazy 440-6 Mopar's on the market. So when the owner's found a Charger in Arkansas, they moved quickly to get their shot at starting a MAJOR Mopar transformation. 

How major? 

The highlights include 318c.i. to 440 6-pack. Column shift to floor shift. Bare interior (with a van cargo seat) to an original interior with Leather bucket seats, console, A/C, and tic tock tach. Flat black 500 SE to Plum Crazy R/T package complete with a Dana 60 rear axle and black vinyl top

1970 Charger 500 with a 318

1965 Ford Galaxie 500 XL Fastback: SOLD!!!!

3/1/15 Update: SOLD

This car took a long time to finish. We'll admit to that. But we had a great reason for it. Our customers. Due to a very high volume of customer work in our shop, we pushed this shop owned builder to the "back of line" to make sure our customer work stayed on schedule. We kept in mind, that if the right buyer came along she could be ready to roll within a few weeks and could even be finished to buyer specifications upon request. Her future owner called us in March of 2015, saw the car online (we never listed it, just had it on our website) and wanted to know more about it. Well, one thing led to another and she found her new home with a Ford collector in the Virginia area. 

1965 Ford Galaxie 500 XL Fastback

The project started with 2, pretty rough cars owned by a collector in the Eastern WI area. He had left the Galaxies out in the weather to fend for themselves.

However, this story has a pretty happy ending....




 

1970 Road Runner: Mopar Makeover

1970 Road Runner (Before)

This 1970 Mopar arrived at the shop with 90% original parts and featured a mere 38,000 original miles. While that is often considered desirable, the lack of updated parts(such as spark plug wires) left this Plymouth Road runner with a rough idle and in dire need of maintenance.

After closer inspections it became obvious that the blue on blue Road Runner was also in need of a face lift. Although there is something to be said for an all original time capsule, she needed some attention...

1949 Chevy Pickup 3100: Frame Off Restoration

Enjoy these before and after photos and video of one of our first and favorite frame off restoration of this 5 window 1949 Chevy 3100 Pickup

Mechanical, body, paint and interior were completed by Driven Restorations LLC.

                     

Refinishing the original bed boards was a labor of love for the owner. The challenge with using the original boards was the oil staining from the extra mechanical parts leaking over the years. With some time and patience the boards were brought back to their former glory and kept some of their original character.