This is my 1976 Dodge Aspen R/T project. It started out life as a 318 2bbl 3 spd (manual) car, is a rare cinnamon w/ yellow/orange stripes. I have only seen 2 more of these in this color and they were both on the internet..most are black or orange. This car was bought new in Germany by a soldier, came into my my family in 1980, was then taken to the Phillipines by my parents, and now is finally back here in the states. Got it from my dad after many years of use ( he now has a 77 R/T superpak T-top 4 spd car) The first pic is what the car looked like around 2000 when I was a senior in high school( incorrect stripes, louvers etc.) Shortly after I started on the car (about 4 years ago) and there is a big diff between pic # 1 and 2, but it is the same car I just basically stripped it bare to start fresh...
What I started with.........................................................................After I took it apart
These next pictures were taken after many many many hours of massaging, welding, patching, etc. The front fenders were NOS, the doors are from Arizona, The car had been hit so the right front inner fender/yoke panel are also NOS and were welded in.
And Here is the car after many many more hours of work, moving it to another shop, and a diff color of primer to prep it for stick sanding...
And then after a year of bodywork, finally paint day. Car was done start to finish with all PPG materials(almost $2k worth)and is base/clear....
And then some assembly. Almost every peice of chrome, trim, lights, grille, emblems, etc on this car is NOS stuff I have been collecting for the past few years...
and now this is what it looks like currently with the new cragars and bfg's, most of the stripes(also NOS), and new glass, still waiting for re-plated bumpers, 2 of the flares, and an A-body dual snorkel hood scoop (as soon as I find one)...
Here is an original Chrysler ad for this car....
And here is the balanced/ blueprinted 71' 360 I built for the car ( looks stock but trust me....it ain't:)...just waiting for some TTI headers and some odds and ends before putting it in the car. I am also going to run an 833 OD 4spd tranny with a Hurst competition plus shifter out of an early dart. The car already has a b-body 8 3/4 installed but with the original springs, I still need to throw in a set of mopar super stock springs and a set of 4.30 gears.
and here are a few pics of the little I have done to the interior. I found a perfect black dash pad, NOS faceplate, police speedo and oil guage, NOS sill plates...still need a nice tuff wheel, carpet, headliner, (car also has a fold down rear seat)gotta have the seats upholstered etc....
Basically every piece of this car is new, NOS, or refurbished top to bottom, front to back. I hope to have this car finished by the Mopar Nationals 06, I am only 23, did all of the work to this thing except paint it (some things are better left to the pros) and I hope to enter it in the Young Guns competition before I pass the cut off. I hope you all like this car it is taking a lot of time, blood, sweat, money, probably a few tears to complete it but I am trying to build one of the best overall Aspen R/Ts in existence. I will post updates as they come!
Update:
I Finally got the motor in this thing! It runs really strong and I am very pleased. Major holdup was the TTI headers, but now that I have them I am really glad I waited...
Update:
Car is almost done!!!
