Tolley's 1970 Charger

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Follow the links in the sidebar below to see my Charger in its various stages of existence, either by date or by category.

In the "footer" of each post to the right, you will see a link to a page with only that post. From there you can proceed one page at a time, chronologically, if you wish. You will also see links to each category in which that post is placed.

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My Charger's History

Click here to go to a page that tells the interesting story of how I obtained my car and its early history.

Restoration Progress Journal

As I work on my Charger, I post updates on this site. Newest updates are at the top. Click here to check them out.

Before the Beginning

I owned my Charger for 17 years before I had the facilities and skills to enable me to do the full restoration I had always dreamed about. Click here to view pictures illustrating the various changes in my car during that time. The most recent information is at the top of the page.

My Mopar Miniatures

I collect Mopar miniatures, mostly in 1/18th scale die-cast metal. Click here to look at my collection. The link will open in a new window.

My Other Mopars

My family's vehicle fleet consists of five Mopars besides my Charger. Click here to check them out. The link will open in a new window.

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June 23, 2007

Steering column restored

One of the things I've looked forward to for a long time was the disassembly, thorough cleaning, and reassembly of my steering column components. Many of these were sandblasted, as noted in a previous entry. I also used a brand-new ignition switch and a brand-new ignition lock cylinder and keys (keyed to match the new door locks I bought). My turn-signal switch is a used one, but it is not burned, it's in good shape, and it still has the automatic cancelling tabs intact.

Now that it has been restored and each component has been tested, I will package this away, waiting for that wonderful day when my car has been painted and reassembly is underway.

May 25, 2005

Rebuilding the Wiring Harness

One major source of heartburn when I drove my Charger all those years was my temperamental electrical system. Once the wiring was all removed and I could inspect it properly, it was a mystery that the car had worked at all without burning itself to the ground. All of the bad splices, bad connections, improperly done repairs, and modifications made this wiring harness a real challenge to restore. My future enjoyment would require a fully functional, safe, and reliable electrical system. Armed with over a dozen salvaged Mopar harnesses and a reproduction '70 Charger factory service manual, I replaced every bad wire, connector, bulb, and switch with good originals. Now the entire harness, headlights to tail lights, has been rebuilt to match the diagrams in the manual, and is ready to be stored.

This is the dash harness, the most extensive part of the wiring harness. I have rebuilt it, and it is ready for re-wrapping.

The dash harness, now re-wrapped, replicating factory routing of all wires, is now ready to be stored until reinstallation at a future time.

The engine compartment harness, with Mopar electronic ignition conversion seamlessly grafted in for a factory appearance, all re-wrapped and ready for storage. The addition of electronic ignition is the only electrical deviation from stock.
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Posted in RESTORATION | wiring | link to this page | | Comments (1)

April 10, 2004

After the glass, the

After the glass, the soft parts of the interior were removed and stored. The wiring harnesses were carefully removed. I will rebuild these carefully in order to insure that there will be no electrical problems when the car is reassembled.

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