Thread: 73 charger the saga

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Things don't always get done right the first time, but a positive attitude will always make it go smoother.

My buddy Ron is on the way with some bent pieces of pipe, and he's even lending his support stands: dropping it off on my front door even.

I've got the mufflers and old exhaust hangers cut out. The muffs had inlet and outlet flanges which I chopped, reducing their overall length from 52" to 46".

But at the moment, I'm in the lazy boy with the massage running. I hope Ron takes his time getting here. It's amazing how easy it is to make my back hurt.

Lots of clearance.

All things considered, you did good. I guess it paid dividends to climb out of the Lazy Boy!

Looking at the forward door gap compared to the bottom, you've still got some work to do.... Or maybe some more Lazy Boy Time.

Oh, I haven't gapped the doors yet, but I'll eyeball it since you pointed it out. It's pretty amazing how quiet it is. If my welds had come out just a little better, I'd have posted some closeups. Oh, and don't tell Ron, but my welds are prettier than his guy's welds.

I took a but of a break from the turd and completed a rust repair on the nomad : replaced the bottom half of the tire well. I tried using the stump method to shape the bottom- that takes some skill I have yet to refine, but the end result is passable.

Next on the dodge is to fix the defrost. I have vacuum, and the switch seems fine, the fan is running.

I'm thinking it could be the very opportunity to rip out the dash, and reassemble with a new dash pad.

Can anyone give advice where to start? I'm thinking to yank the front seats, but I'm quite intimidated to rip out the guts under the dash, I know it's complicated. Plus, I can't at all tell how the dash pad comes out. Plz help.

In removing dashboards.. Step 1 is always disconnect your battery..

Excellent tip. I'll pull seats second.

If you go to the Dodge Charger forums there's tons of good info on the R&R of the dash, and the dash pad - Removing the Dashpad from a 73 Charger

Excellent research MrSpears..

Thx. The dodge charger forum I have found doesn't know squat about the older chargers.

BUT dear effing gawd, i need to remove the winshield. Ok, not COMPLETELY necessary, but it makes it like 300% easier.

I hate this steaming turd.

Tomorrow, I have scheduled for someone to come to the house and remove the windshield. Then I'll do the dash tear down. Gonna find the source of the water leak, fix the defrost, and replace the dash pad. Probably will go black on the pad, it will match the door panels, but white goes with everything, and is much cooler in a GA summer.

I got the windshield and driver's seat out, then pulled the dash. It wasn't too bad.

However, the heater / AC box is. Looks like someone's knees went through it. At some point it was removed, and duct taped together. Since it's fiberglass, I'll just repair it. However, it looks as if the dapshot which controls defrost/front vents is missing. Between that, the disintegrated foam seals, and the leaves in the AC side, it's little wonder the defrost didn't work. What is a good source of replacement foam for the seals?

Any good hardware store, or big box store like Lowe's or Home Depot can fix you up cheap - Shop M-D Building Products 0.5-in x 10-ft Gray Closed-Cell Foam Window Weatherstrip at Lowes.com Comes in a myriad of thickness & width sizes, adhesive on one side plus you can use weatherstrip adhesive if needed.