1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 426 hemi original paint survivor

1970 Hemi Challenger SurvivorI purchased this challenger about a year and a half ago. I had heard through mopar friends that this challenger existed but like many other mystical mopars didn't really believe it to be true. I didn't pay to much attention until one of my friends called and told me he had personally seen this car. People always talk about the true barn find but I have chased a lot of dead ends over the years and believed this to be another one. After all how realistic is it to believe that a true survivor hemi challenger had survived all these years and with todays social media. With my friend's insistence I decided to go look at this car. To call this challenger a barn find is actually not correct. When I met my friend we went to a local u store it center drove to one of the back units opened the door and there it was complete with a 1973 license plate. It didn't take long with a quick inspection that this indeed was the real deal. It was obvious that this car had not been on the road for a long time and with talking to the owner agreed that 1973 or close to that was the last time it had been driven. We negotiated a deal and I loaded this gem up on the trailer and brought her home. This challenger had all the signs of a car that had not moved for a long time. My first intentions after getting car home was that I would do a rotisserie restoration as I have done on many mopars over the years. The paint had years of dust and grime and looked to be in bad shape. The engine was missing air cleaner and you could see where somebody had replaced the distributor and fuel pump in an apparent attempt to fix a problem. It was not completely buttoned up and it is my belief that this is why this car was parked so many years ago. An interesting side line to this story is that the original 426 hood emblems had been changed to 383 emblems and the hood pins had small padlocks on them. (I'm thinking the owner was street racing this hemi with 383 badges and padlocks so the loser couldn't see the mighty hemi) I left the emblems and still have keys to the original small padlocks. I decided not to try and start the engine since I believed it had some kind of problem years ago and didn't want to risk damage. I pulled the original engine and tranny and sent them off to k&w automotive who has rebuilt all my engines over the years including many hemi's. The tranny was sent to a friend of his to also be inspected. In the meantime I began the process to restore this car. I changed all fuel and brake lines and the gas tank. From sitting there was a light layer of scale rust underneath this challenger so I began the tedious job of removing the scale. I used wire brushes in my drill and to my surprise it wasn't long that I had exposed all the original sheet metal on bottom of car which was basically rust free. Normally I would have used por-15 or something similar but because of this car's originality I decided to leave it as it is. I rebuilt the entire brake system including sending the original calipers and master cylinder to be rebuilt. Next came the exterior body. I began to buff this car just to have a look and was surprised to see there was still a shine underneath all the grime. Now came an important decision in the restoration of this car. do I tear it the rest of the way down and do a complete restoration. Or I could leave it in it's original condition leave the dollar size holes behind rear tires and leave it as a survivor. The decision was easy just in the scope of work that would be done in a complete resto. besides as they say it's only original once. The problem with the engine turned out to be the oil pick up tube which was cracked and almost broken off resulting I'm sure in very low oil pressure. This is I'm sure why this car was parked so many years ago. It's very lucky that this engine was not continued to be driven and therefore severely damaged. This engine was given a complete rebuilt including 10/10 on the crank and 30 over and new pistons. The cam is just barely more then stock and the original carbs and water pump were sent out and rebuilt. A new fuel pump and distributor where installed and the original radiator was sent out and re cored using original tank. The 727 was resealed with no apparent damage. The new drivetrain was installed and after all mechanical accessories were either detailed or refurbished the day came to fire this bad boy up. It didn't take long and a car that hadn't moved in over 40 years suddenly came to life. After working out all of the initial bugs it was time for the first cruise. I did no work other then cleaning and greasing to the suspension and was quite curious to how it would drive. To my surprise even with bias ply tires it drove exceptionally well and steered and stopped as it should. The odometer on this challenger shows 38. 00 and even though I guess I can't prove it the way it drives and how everything works on this vehicle there is no doubt in my mind that the odometer is correct. I believe everything to be original on this car with the exception of fuel pump. distributor. air cleaner. gas and brake lines. gas tank. front shocks. hemi hood emblems and one wheel. You will see in pictures that many years ago somebody used some spray bomb in the engine area cowl and radiator support area other then that I believe this car to be as it was. The interior is completely original including carpet. dash. gauges. headliner. etc. The rear seat belts even have the original plastic wrap over them. As you will see in pictures it still retains all of it's original sheet metal with very minimal rust areas. This is a real super track pack car including the 410 danaI have described this challenger as accurately as possible and am sure I may have left a few things out. This car is over 40 years old and there are no warranties written expressed or implied. Please do not ask me my reserve or buy it now price as those questions will be ignored. I would hope that before purchasing a car in this price range you would either you or your associate come to inspect. This is not an auction to buy the car and then inspect and this car will be paid for and all funds cleared before leaving my possession. Car to be picked up within 3 weeks of auction unless previously arranged. If serious feel free to ask for any pictures you might need. Any questions or offers? 636 219 7298 Please call only between 7am and 8pm cstThis challenger is well documented with fender tag. door tag. all body numbers. and a very nice build sheet.