My "new" car arrived home

"kanadanmajava1" (kanadanmajava1) 03/30/2015 at 16:48 • Filed to: Charger, Project, Finland

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Today I went to fetch my latest acquisition. I promised to post something about it as soon as it arrives. So here it goes.

I had bought a Charger from eBay in December but it had traveled for quite long before it finally arrived to Finland. The seller was located in Kansas from where it traveled to Houston with a car transporter. Then it spent 3 months in a shipping container and it was unpacked a week ago.

It's missing the engine, the transmission and working brakes. It has body parts from at least 5 Chargers. And yes, the front fender has bullet holes. It looks rough and I love it. Too bad I have to paint it eventually into single color as the inspection guy would make annoying notes to the registration papers if it would look like that.

I'm pretty sure that most of you are already thinking about one rather famous Charger...

It was quite hard to find a suitable towing vehicle as the SUV that I was planning to loan went into "fault mode" due faulty knock sensor wiring. Nearly every friend of mine have quite small cars with useless tow ratings. Luckily one of my friends had just installed a towing hitch for his S-class M-B and he promised to help.

When I woke up today where was a surprise waiting for me. Snow and quite plenty of it. I was pretty sure that the winter was over and I had changed winter tires for my own car and my friend with the towing M-B had done the same. We decided that the main roads are still clear enough and we decided to pick up the Charger despite the snow. The shipping company uses a terminal that is 100 km away from where I live. Their lot was still completely free from the snow.

The Charger was pretty easy to load and the whole trip went quite smoothly. But in my home street the amount of snow was pretty high and the brave M-B finally got stuck couple of times. Luckily it was still easy to unload the Charger and we pushed it to my garage.

The rear window has a sticker that says "K-KEG". It has probably been there since 80's. Before the car ended up to Kansas it used to live in California. The old owner didn't have a clue about it.

Any ideas?

After the Charger was safely in the garage I tried to lift the trailer coupling back to the hitch and managed hurt my back. I dropped to the ground and it took a while before I could get back to legs. I haven't had back issues in years. Now its not feeling very good but I'm supposed to attend a meeting the morning. Really annoying. Now I need to go and rest.

I'm pretty sure that this rough looking Coronet came in the same container. I hope they had fun trip together. In the 1st and 3rd picture you can see other cars that had just arrived from US. Jaguar Mark X was also there but the Charger blocks the view.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:50

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For my money I'd have had the Coronet - can't go wrong with the Charger, though. Mostly a personal thing with liking the weird split grill. Congrats on the new acquisition! More of a mess than the Packard, I'm sure.

FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:51

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BUILD A GENERAL MAYHEM CLONE!!

lone_liberal > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:52

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That looks like a great project! Have fun!

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:55

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Do a General Lee but replace it with the old Finnish Flag. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm…

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:57

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This is awesome.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:58

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I love that you towed that with a small-ish Mercedes sedan. Here in 'Merica anything smaller than an F350 dually would of been insufficient.

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 16:58

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KKEG

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:00

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GENERAL MAYHEM!! :) AWESOME.

kanadanmajava1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/30/2015 at 17:00

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The Packard came through the same terminal but I drove it away from there.

I'm pretty sure that Coronet was dirt cheap. The shipping guys tend to buy some locally available cheap random cars to use as container filling material. It was actually quite rust free.

kanadanmajava1 > lone_liberal 03/30/2015 at 17:02

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Its going to fun and but it might take a while.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 03/30/2015 at 17:02

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Small-ish? That's an S-klasse. :)

lone_liberal > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:05

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That goes without saying. These things always do unless you have boatloads of free time and money.

kanadanmajava1 > FJ80WaitinForaLSV8 03/30/2015 at 17:06

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It's going to have some similar details. My car is missing the (really expensive) grille so the mesh screen grill will probably be my solution too. But my hood is intact so I can skip the scoop.

Pitchblende > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:06

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What's going in the engine bay? I know sense and history would say a big V8, but I'd be so tempted to add a modern turbo engine and appropriate gearbox.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:08

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The '71/'72 Roadrunner is another favorite of mine - something of the same aesthetic of squared body into rounded chrome-edge contours.

kanadanmajava1 > BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. 03/30/2015 at 17:09

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I found this too but I couldn't figure out if they did use the KKEG name in 80's or later. Could radio station in Arkansas be listened in Kansas?

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/30/2015 at 17:10

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Large:

Not so large:

Wilsonic > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:12

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You've been watching alot of Roadkill, haven't you?

Dusty Ventures > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/30/2015 at 17:12

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Small-ish when most people tow with something like this:

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 03/30/2015 at 17:13

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Yeah yeah.. fookin muricans and all that :P

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:13

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A radio station in Arkansas *could* be listened to in Kansas, particularly since KKEG is in northwest Arkansas. As far as I can tell, the KKEG callsign only dates from ~six years ago, otherwise it would be extremely likely rather than just possible.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Dusty Ventures 03/30/2015 at 17:14

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I know, it was more meant as a joke about what Americans think is a small car :)

duurtlang > Pitchblende 03/30/2015 at 17:15

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Duel Fiesta ST engine. One in the front powering the front wheels, one in the back powering the rear wheels. With this setup it'll have lots of space for a frunk.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/30/2015 at 17:15

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Good thing I'm Canadian and don't think foolishly like that.

kanadanmajava1 > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 03/30/2015 at 17:17

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Here the driver's license requirements are quite annoying for towing. With F350 I would basically need the same license as what the large tractor trailer driver do need. I'm allowed to drive a large truck but not with a trailer.

Dusty Ventures > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/30/2015 at 17:17

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Pictured: an American small car ;)

duurtlang > Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh 03/30/2015 at 17:18

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Agreed. I saw a recent Audi convertible towing a caravan today and mk2 Golf diesel (50-ish hp) towing a little trailer yesterday.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > Dusty Ventures 03/30/2015 at 17:19

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STOOOOOP.. I can't breathe... haha. :) Bloody brilliant mate, bloody brilliant.

kanadanmajava1 > Pitchblende 03/30/2015 at 17:24

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I have some plans. Some would be traditional some would not. 3rd gen Hemi would be easy choice but I have been dreaming about a Vortec 4.2l straight six with a turbo. It would upset the serious Mopar guys but it's not my fault that Chrysler didn't make any modern straight six.

Laird Andrew Neby Bradleigh > duurtlang 03/30/2015 at 17:25

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I had a Nissan Bluebird wagon (U11), and I towed a Hobby 560 caravan behind that all the time.

Bluebird

Caravan

SPNKiX > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:27

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buy another front left fender and keep the one with the bullet holes on your wall. DO NOT FIX THAT FENDER.

kanadanmajava1 > Wilsonic 03/30/2015 at 17:27

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Yes I know that one really well. The mismatched body colors make those two really resemble each other.

Cé hé sin > Luc - The Acadian Oppo 03/30/2015 at 17:28

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(Googles F350) They're (a) hideous and (b) not available at a Ford dealer in Finland or anyplace else in Europe because the answer to a question not many have asked.

An S class isn't a small Merc unless you compare with it with one of these:

kanadanmajava1 > SPNKiX 03/30/2015 at 17:32

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I'm pretty sure that the fender can retain the bullet holes as I'll try to fix as little as possible of any old battle scars.

472CID > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:33

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Are you Roadkill?

kanadanmajava1 > 472CID 03/30/2015 at 17:42

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Almost became one half year ago. I was hit by a large van on a highway. I think I should go death proof with my Charger.

kanadanmajava1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/30/2015 at 17:44

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My guess is that it's either standing for a radio station, bar or band.

kanadanmajava1 > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 03/30/2015 at 17:46

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But then I would need to go jumping over things. Poor Charger wouldn't like to go jumping...

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 17:55

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You could just drift it.

TotallyThatStupid > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 18:00

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Super bad-ass. I love those Chargers. Good luck with it.

kanadanmajava1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 03/30/2015 at 18:01

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We have couple of really nice ones of these popping up in our car gatherings.

kanadanmajava1 > Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. 03/30/2015 at 18:04

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I could try but eventually it would just end up to this.

Mr. Ontop, No Strokes, No Smokes...Goes Fast. > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 18:12

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I think just by virtue of being a charger, it wants to be in the air.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 18:19

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There's literally nothing about this picture that I don't like. Even the cars in the background are great.

Also, I think its safe to say you're the first person to ever have that particular tower/towee setup going.

lucky's pepper > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 18:26

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They don't make a modern straight six but once upon a time they made one of the baddest.

glemon > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 20:59

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Great find, seriously the best looking muscle car of the era with the long lean look. The design seems to get better with time.

shop-teacher > kanadanmajava1 03/30/2015 at 21:51

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There is so much cool going on in these pictures!

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Dusty Ventures 06/01/2015 at 12:10

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They’d daily that and use their big truck to tow the Charger.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/01/2015 at 12:12

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The bullet holes are brilliant; I’d keep them. The only thing I’d change would be to knock the dent out of the other side and get matching rims. And add an engine, of course.

kanadanmajava1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/01/2015 at 14:57

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The missing rim was in the trunk but I’m not very big fan of slot mags so I guess I’ll sell them to someone who likes them. I think I’ll keep the bullet holes and partially straighten the right side’s dent.

I took me while to realize that the right side front fender is actually from ‘68 and the side marker is totally different. But it’s so nicely crumpled that I don’t want to change it.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/01/2015 at 15:51

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There’s a new rage stateside called Rat Rod. Maybe it’s not so new and I’ve had my head in the sand for thirty years. I think the real beauty in the car you have there is that it’s straight. I’d hardly change a thing, though I’d want the interior to not be grungy. And I’d want it to haul ass.

kanadanmajava1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/01/2015 at 16:32

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We had had ratty cars popping up in our gatherings for quite long time. Usually they are old 4 door sedans from 60’s that have been saved behind some barn. No worries about parking lot accidents with those. Some have been technically updated.

They are known as “lintta” in Finnish but the term has now lost its original meaning as most enthusiast use the term for modern “beaters” too.

Lately some pretty ratty muscle cars have managed to find their way here too. Usually they are restored to shiny condition after the owner gets bored during the long winter.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/01/2015 at 21:14

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What are you planning to install for an engine?

kanadanmajava1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/02/2015 at 02:42

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I went for a quite weird engine. I’ll admit that it’s a wrong brand engine. 4.2l inline 6 from a Chevrolet Trailblazer. I’ll add a turbocharger to push the power up a bit.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/02/2015 at 08:50

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I hope you will post pictures along the way.

kanadanmajava1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/02/2015 at 09:09

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I’m still in disassembling phase. None of the parts that I have ordered have arrived. I’m planning to start sandblasting the rust issue areas after the body has been stripped of all smaller bits.

Sadly the part of my garage where the Charger is parked is too tight for any decent progress pictures...

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/02/2015 at 11:05

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How do you wind up with that particular engine choice?

kanadanmajava1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/02/2015 at 12:06

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This is actually two different “wants” combined together. I have been wanting to have a Vortec 4200 engine in some interesting car for long time. I’m big fan of inline sixes and this seems to be one of the best. I’m not very interested about owning a Trailblazer or any of its siblings. So I needed some car to go with the engine.

At the same time I was dreaming of a “crappy daily driver muscle car” so I was looking for one of these:
-’70-’74 Challenger/Barracuda/’cuda
-’68-’70 Charger
-’67-’69 Camaro

The best candidates that I found were: a nearly perfectly restored (but not to any numbers matching condition) ‘72 Barracuda that had run away while idling and found a big tree, dirt cheap yet rusty convertible ‘70 Challenger, rolling shell of ‘70 T/A Challenger,‘67 Camaro that might not or might have doors with it and two rusty ‘69 Chargers without engines. Both Chargers seemed to be quite promising and finally I went to the one that was not from Florida.

The bonus option besides muscle cars was a W126 coupe Mercedes-Benz which seemed to have enough large engine compartment for the big six. Those would have been quite easy and semi cheap to find from here.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/02/2015 at 12:12

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Very interesting. I am a big fan of L6’s also. Are there aftermarket exhaust headers for that engine? Is there a manual transmission that’ll bolt up to it? I just hope that the car you’ve bought isn’t too heavy. The barracuda might have been a little smaller and or lighter.

#envious

kanadanmajava1 > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 06/02/2015 at 16:58

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The aftermarket section is pretty bad for Vortec 4200. There’s one decent header set (I don’t remember the manufacturer now) available but I’m thinking about turbocharger so that doesn’t work. I was thinking about using an turbo exhaust manifold made for Toyota 7M-GTE as it has fairly similar cylinder spacing and exhaust ports are evenly divided. I’ll need to either cut up the manifold or make an adapter piece. The later option would be nice as then I could use any manifold for 7M-GTE.

You can get a manual transmission that will easily bolt up behind the 4200 engine from a Colorado pickup (or Solstice but you’ll still need a bell housing from a Colorado, H3 or anything that used 6, 5 or 4 cylinder Vortec engine). But flywheel that would bolt up isn’t available as smaller siblings used different flywheel pattern. The certain transmission isn’t very tough so you can explode it with a boosted engine.

I was thinking about using a 6-speed ZF transmission from modern BMWs. They are quite well available here and its one of the strongest manual boxes in production cars. They have been able to withstand 1000 hp in racing applications. The bell housing adaptation isn’t going to easy but it is still doable.

The Charger isn’t a light weight car but some weight can be still removed. E-body models and 1st gen Camaros would have been lighter and smaller.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > kanadanmajava1 06/02/2015 at 17:01

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Ambitious.

Dash-doorhandle-6 cyl none the richer > kanadanmajava1 01/19/2016 at 12:46

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Glorious, just glorious. I know of three 69 Chargers in town undergoing the process of restoration. I’d say that one is in above average condition for a Charger. These cars led rough lives and seem to rust worse than other Chryslers of the period (but not as bad as an E-body).