Tazet's 69 Dodge Charger.

[gazzagood]

well it was full of filler...
but when tazet or andy drives it at least you can say its got the best body in town. .
thats if she lets !!YOU!! have a go. andy

[Manky Monkey]

I'll be scared to drive it after what it's cost us so far! Taz is still determined to use it as her daily driver though -no point going this far then hiding it away & never using or enjoying it.
I know he's bound to say so cos we're paying him, but John the shop owner's a very straight talking guy & hasn't shied away from telling us just how cr*p our car was -but he said today, he honestly thinks it's gotta be the strongest, straightest Charger in the country now. Andy said it's not often he can tell a bloke's girlfriend she's got a perfect body without getting thumped.
So "bleurgh" to all those who said it could never be done.

[gazzagood]

WELL DONE.  to both of you. it will be worth it in the end. keep up the great work.

[Manky Monkey]

Not our work. Tis the miracle boys at JC Restorations that deserve all the praise. We just turn up once a fortnight & walk round it going "ahh" & "uhuh", trying to look like we understand what's going on.
The bottom corners of the rear panel are seperate & came from "Year One" in the States, while almost everything else was supplied by AMD. In Andy's professional opinion the Year One bits were "Sh*te". They look fine now they're on, but he had to cut them up & completely re-fabricate them to make them fit.

[Manky Monkey]

The old, original arse end.

You can see here how complicated the monocoque body is, (that's one where the body & chassis are a single unit, like modern cars, rather than a body sat on a seperate chassis like my '53 Ford Pop). There's all sorts of strengthening braces & panels. Reminds me of old World War 2 bombers!

[Manky Monkey]

So that's us up to date again -except of course Taz couldn't leave without having a go with that single sided spot welder. Unlike the dual armed one she tried last time on the trunk floor, this one fires a weld into the outside of body panels to weld them together. Cool.
The car's now almost ready to come off the jig & is as rigid & strong as a very rigid, strong thing, rather than having all the integral strength of a soggy paper bag as it did when it arrived at the workshops. It really is a new car.

[Manky Monkey]

Today's guest cars are this big ol' Caddy...
(that's John the shop owner's own Mustang under the cover).

[Manky Monkey]

This ever so cute, rebuilt & primered Fiat 500 -an original, not the recently launched "new" version.
-looks like a big Airfix model to me.

[Manky Monkey]

And this pristine, concours condition Daimler, which we showed a few weeks ago when it came in for a retrim & respray.

[Manky Monkey]

.

[BikerGran]

Some friends of mine had a Fiat 500 like that - I used to call it their 'Matchbox Car' 

[twolanes]

It sure has come a long way from when you guys picked it up.As John said, it will be 1 of the nicest chargers this side of the pond.

[tazet]

We must try and sort out when to pop over for the glass from you. Probably won't be for a week or 2 though 

[twolanes]

We must try and sort out when to pop over for the glass from you. Probably won't be for a week or 2 though 

No prob, whenever you can.

[Manky Monkey]

Back to the workshop again today to pay a few more pennies off our bill, (they're clocking up faster than we can pay them off at the moment).
Lots of progress, but most of it's small stuff that could be easily missed if we weren't there so often.
Most obvious change is under the bonnet, where Andy's cut out a section of the bulkhead & replaced it, (top left in this photo). We replaced the original bulkhead with one from a Mopar parts guy in Belgium, which came from a car with air conditioning. Taz's hasn't got A/C so the mounting holes needed removing. Easier to cut the section out than plate over each hole individually.