Need detailed pics of factory stock '68-'70 Charger undercarriage.

[Monty]

I admire the Mopar boys and their toys, but it seems like there's a total lack of consensus as to how the new undercarriage looked coming out of the factory. Some say certain parts (K-member & torsion bars) are black & others say it's all primered. And of course we've all heard that "anything was possible @ Mother Mopar's shop..."

So, to reiterate, I'm looking for the most authentic pics possible so I can get my Revell Charger going.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Though I don't have any specific pix of what you need, these were unibody cars, as you're already aware. I've owned several Mopars of this approximate vintage over the years, and worked on many others.

Because of the welded, unitized nature of the structure, the body-chassis was painted as a unit, with the undersides getting some paint in the process, and coverage could vary from car to car. Naturally, the factory did zero masking of the underside, so you got what you got. And of course, the body-chassis structure was painted before the front lower subframe/crossmember (black) or other components were bolted on.

Here's a '68 Road Runner that has too much undercoating on it, but you get the point. http://www.autotraderclassics.com/car-article/Road+Runner+Chassis+Restoration+Part+1-66658.xhtml

[tim boyd]

I admire the Mopar boys and their toys, but it seems like there's a total lack of consensus as to how the new undercarriage looked coming out of the factory. Some say certain parts (K-member & torsion bars) are black & others say it's all primered. And of course we've all heard that "anything was possible @ Mother Mopar's shop..."

So, to reiterate, I'm looking for the most authentic pics possible so I can get my Revell Charger going.

Monty...I've covered this subject in my Mopar articles in the other model car mag, as well as in considerable detail in my two parter on building the '70 Siuper Bee Phantom PIckup (Model Cars Mag (May/June 2012 and July 2012),, with the chassis detailing info being covered in Part 2. I'm pretty sure these two issues are available form the Model Cars Mag back issue department. But to broadly summarize:

* Underbodies were primer gray or rust colored primer, with bodycolored overspray along the outer edges (applied from the side of the underbody, just as it would occure in a factory paint booth as overspray from the paint guns applying paint along the lower rocker area would drift onto the underbody surfaces. Less is more here (I am guilty of having overdone the effect on occasion, as have other modelers).

* Black, rough textured undercoating varies widely from car to car. It was generally applied to the fenderwell, under the rear axle, and along the differential/trans tunnel. Full factory undercoating was a factory option (at least in the early '70's when I ordered my RR), but I don' t know how that differs from the above. There is a lack of consensus on this topic.

* K frames were semi-gloss black, along with the center portion of the crossmenber directly under the tranny. Torsion bars were gloss black. There is 100% consensus on this in the Mopar restoration community as far as I know.

* Rear axles were semi-gloss black. There is not consensus on the color of the front pumpkin of the differential, with semi-gloss black, rust colored primer, and steel all claimed to be correct depending on the source.

* Front suspension components were mutli-colored (you need to check my articles for details). Another area where there is not consensus in the rear leaf springs, as some restorations are semi-gloss black, bare steel, or cosmoline coated steel.

This is a general description, again, you need to see my Mopar articles going back to the late 1990's for more info, or alternatively consult about the last 15 years worth of magazines like Mopar Muscle, Mopar Action, and Mopar Collectors Guide to see actual 1.1 chassis restoration articles.

But you can also proceed with the above info and be correct enough that most people looking at your model will be amazed at what you have done, rather than nit-picking about individual details. And the areas described above with a lack of consensus can be built/painted in any of those forms and technically be "correct".

Hope that helps....TIM

Edited July 28, 2014 by tim boyd

[Monty]

Thank you Bill & Tim!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Here's an excerpt from a fascinating look at the Chrysler Corp. Lynch Road assembly plant in 1970. http://www.deadnutson.com/building_a_mopar.html According to this, every car was shot in dark gray primer, regardless of paint color. I do NOT recall the primer color of any of my old Mopars, and it may have varied to red-oxide, as Tim suggests, from plant to plant.

Now it is time to prime the body. All cars, regardless of body color, use a dark grey primer. Workers in the prime booth spray the door openings, and under/inside the hood/deck areas. Dummy, recycled 1/4" wire latches keep the doors, hood, and deck lid shut. Robot guns on curved tracks spray the sides, roof, hood, and deck lid outer body, their spraying actions programmed according to the car's body style. The insides of the car, and the underside receive only overspray.

Booth overspray is collected by water that flows downward all along the sides of the spray booth and over to its center, where it catches the paint particles in the downdraft through the open steel gridwork floor.

The "Upper Door Frame" (UDF) color is sprayed on any inside metal of the body shell that will not be covered by upholstery or metal finish panels. This colored paint is sprayed on before the primer overspray has dried.

Cars remain in the primer baking oven for approximately twenty-five minutes at 350-375 degrees. This high heat is intended also to cure the weld primers and vinyl plastisol sealers, which were applied with a gun to panel joints prior to being welded together.

The primer is wet-sanded at Lynch Road, using power disc hand-sanders, which have built-in water sprayers. Only the outside of the body is sanded. Following a wipe-off of primer residue, the body is cleaned with naphtha, then wiped with an alcohol-and-water solution. The UDF color is masked off by hand, with tape and masking paper.

Since our sample SuperBird is basically a 1970 Road Runner, its tail lamp bezels have been attached to the tail light panel with their purposely-long studs, while being spaced from the panel with one-inch sleeves. This allows the bezels to be painted with the car body, and allows painting of the tail-light panel contact areas, preventing rust. After the paint is baked, the sleeves are removed, and the bezels are permanently attached.

It is essential to note that a primary goal of assembly line painting of all cars is to have every part of the car that will be color-coated be permanently attached to the body before it enters the paint booth. This prevents the inevitable paint scratching of subsequent painted-parts assembly. Also, parts that are not to be color-coated are not installed on the car prior to entering the paint booth, thus avoiding masking off.

The front valance panels present a problem unique to SuperBirds. (They are the body panels that attach to the fenders forward of the wheels, and are later bolted to the nose cone supports [bumper brackets]). The valance panels can not be attached to the fender during painting because they would hang down at their underbelly end and get caught all along the assembly line. Yet, the valances are in an area of high rust potential, and must be color-coated.

Edited July 28, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[JS23U]

When I restored the front suspension on my 70 Challenger I found out this (shouldn't be much different on a 69 Charger):

k-frame and t-bars black, as Tim said

lower control arms: natural, with the wheel ends near the steering knuckles dipped in cosmoline (yellowish coating)

strut rods natural

front sway bar black

can't remember the upper control arms, but I'd say I have seen black and natural ones

steering knuckles are natural, as far as I can remember