PHOTO 14: The tail lamps come out of the Charger as complete assemblies. You can find the mounting bolts by looking inside the trunk. Once you remove the bolts, you can remove the lamps from inside the trunk as well.
PHOTO 15: After I remove the tail lamps, I can remove the chrome bezel surrounding the lamp assemblies. The attachment bolts are found inside the trunk, but the bezel is removed from the outside.
PHOTO 16: As long as we are removing lamps, now is the time to remove the back up lamps as well as all of the side marker lamps.
PHOTO 17: Mopar is known for installing emblems and moldings where they are impossible to remove. This Charger script emblem on the sail panel is no exception.
PHOTO 18: The Charger script retainer nuts are recessed behind the structural members of the sail panels and are only accessible after the interior trim is removed.
PHOTO 19: Again, Mopar doesn’t make it easy. The speed nuts attaching these two moldings are found by crawling inside the trunk and looking up. Additional plastic attachment clips are located along the length of the moldings. I use the door trim tool to release the plastic clips and remove the moldings.
PHOTO 20: Drip rail moldings are fragile, so take care when removing them. The clip side of the molding is released by once again using the door trim tool and a body hammer.
PHOTO 21: Hardtop vehicles will have this style of roof mounted weather stripping. The weather stripping lies in a channel and must be carefully pried out to prevent damaging it. Both the door glass and the quarter window roll up into this weather stripping.
PHOTO 22: After I remove the weather stripping, I unscrew the channel and remove it from the car. This channel, like the weather stripping, follows the roofline from the cowl post to the sail panel.
Look at a cross section of a drip molding, and you will see that it is C-shaped and therefore must be snapped into place. Release the clip side of the molding to remove it. The clip side has a slightly upturned edge and is always on the inside or bottom of the molding when the molding is mounted in place. I release the clip side of the drip molding with the door trim panel tool. The wide double prongs of the tool make it ideal for removing these moldings without damaging them. I lay the tool against the upturned inside edge of the molding and gently tap to push the molding out and off the drip channel. I note the condition of each of the drip moldings on the master checklist, label each one right or left, and store them safely away with the glass for safekeeping.
Remove Roof Rail Weather Strips
Roof rail weather strips are found along both sides of the roof panel, beginning at the bottom of the windshield pillar post and following the roofline all the way back and down the sail panel. The door glasses and the quarter windows roll up into these weather strips. The weather strips are attached with screws to the pillar post and then locked into place along the roofline via a weather strip channel. Occasionally these weather strips are glued along the length of the channel, so be careful when removing them. I use a flat-bladed screwdriver to gently pry the weather strips out of the channels. Then I work on removing the channels, which are held in place by a series of Phillips head screws running the length of each channel.
Remove Vinyl Top Cover
When I first began this project, I noticed green coloring showing through the black dye on the vinyl top. If for no other reason than that a previous owner had dyed the vinyl top black at some point in its life, I will replace the top. I could list off a few more reasons for replacing this top, but the one that concerns me the most is the hidden rust. Check photo 23. That’s what lay under the vinyl cover on my Charger—bad news just waiting to bite me.
Despite its condition, I treat the old vinyl roof cover on the Charger with the same respect I’ve treated every other part removed from the car and gently scrape it loose using a 1½-inch-wide putty knife, which is actually easier than it sounds; most old vinyl roof covers are held on just well enough to prevent them from flapping in the breeze. I start by working my way around the edges of the cover where it is tucked into the drip channels or rolled over an edge of metal, and gently pull the cover back an inch or so onto the roof panel. Once all the edges are loose, I can use the putty knife to separate and remove the rest of the cover from the roof panel.
You can see the old vinyl cover in photo 25. Doesn’t look like much, does it? Its only purpose now is to give me something to compare the new cover to once I receive it. I don’t want to start installing a new cover only to find it doesn’t fit. Saving the old cover prevents this possibility.
Remove Rear Bumper
Like everything else back here, the four bumper attachment bolts are inside the trunk compartment. Again, having extra hands for removal is a good idea. You also have to remove two additional bolts that hold the bumper guards to the rear body panel before removing the bumper.
The bolts from the rear bumper have chrome caps. The front bumper bolts, because they are hidden under the grille surround panel, do not. I inspect the rear, chrome-capped bolts for scratches, nicks, and chips, and note those that need to be replaced. Because the front bumper bolts are not chromed, I will clean them for reuse later.
With the bumper on the bench, I remove the mounting brackets and guards. The rear mounting brackets, like the front mounting brackets, are unfinished and, as a result, have a degree of surface rust on them.
As long as I’m working at the rear of my Charger, I also remove the quarter extensions. They are made of pot metal and require a little bit of TLC while being removed. Then I use my door trim tool to gently pry off the attachment speed nuts, which are inside the trunk compartment.
So what do we do with dented bumpers and bumper guards? In a word, rechrome.
Chroming Preparation
I tour Plains Electro-Plating, in Lubbock, Texas, the company that does all my chrome plating. At first glance, Plains Electro-Plating appears to be the final resting place for old bumpers. The lot out back is a glistening sea of bent and twisted bumpers just waiting for their chance at a new life. Inside, rooms are filled with bundles, barrels, and packages loaded with moldings, grilles, brackets, and emblems from every conceivable car ever made. Motorcycle parts control one portion of a room, while another corner is dedicated to things needing plating that we would never consider in need of plating. Certainly I am impressed by the array of items that can be plated into beauty. What I’ve really come to see, though, is the “how” part of the business, which starts with photographs and a computer.
PHOTO 23: How many reasons do you need to remove a worn vinyl top cover? How about
