check with the manufacturer about warranty. Many shock absorber manufacturers offer lifetime replacement warranties covering shocks that spring a leak. If your shocks aren’t leaking, toss them in a box for later comparison with the new ones.
PHOTO 4: The unitized structure of the Charger requires a bolt-on engine cradle, which also houses the lower front suspension control arms. The upper control arms mount to the unitized structure. Since all of these components must eventually be removed from the Charger, this would be a poor location to place the jack stands.
Notice how I add everything to the master checklist? There are several things to add to the checklist while under the vehicle, so be sure to include all of them. As I said at the beginning of this book, it really doesn’t matter where you start working on your project vehicle, as long as you start somewhere. Everything I have done up until now has been preliminary work designed to make things easier later on or to call attention to problems I may encounter as I get deeper into the restoration process.
Strip Interior
The real work begins with the interior. First, I take out the seats. After that, I remove the door trim and quarter trim. The garnish moldings go next, as well as the headliner, carpet, and seat belts. Be sure to tag the seat belts’ locations, even if you plan to replace them later. Believe me—sorting through a pile of seat belts trying to decide where each one goes can be a problem.
Remove Seats
The Charger’s front bucket seat attachment bolts are located under the car. I squirt them with WD-40 to make them easy to remove. Once I remove the bolts, I can lift the seats straight up and out of the vehicle. Note: On bench seat models, it’s best to remove the seat belts with the seats.
I remove the rear seat lower cushion by applying pressure against the lowermost portion of the front of the seat. This begins the release of the seat cushion from the “C”-type retainer clip mounted on the floor pan. Pushing the cushion back and up should release the seat and allow removal.
The upper cushion is usually suspended over the lower cushion. I push the upper cushion back and upward to release it from the hangers. Note: Some models may have attachment bolts located at the base of the upper cushion or may be secured to the body via the rear seat belt attachment points.
Remove Door and Quarter Trim
Aside from the usual array of screws holding the armrest and other trim pieces to the door, you may need to contend with special attachments on the window regulator knob as well as on the inside latch handle. If a screw isn’t visible at the center of either knob, a spring clip retainer, like the one in photo 8, probably holds it on. To remove this clip, you need the door handle tool used in photo 8. This tool slides behind the knob and pushes off the spring clip to release it.
The trim panel itself is attached either with screws (which are visible on the surface of the panel), metal spring-type clips, or possibly plastic clips. Photo 9 shows two different styles of metal clips along with a common type of plastic clip. A door panel tool is used to gently pry the trim panel from the door. Warning! Failure to use this tool (or a similar tool) can result in torn or broken trim panels.
The Charger has a two-piece trim panel setup for the doors and quarter trim areas. I remove the lower piece by prying free the metal clips located around the perimeter of the panel, and then slide the trim piece out of the garnish molding, separating the upper trim piece from the lower one. The upper trim piece is also clipped into place and once the clips are freed the trim piece lifts up and off the inner door structure. I remove the plastic dust shield located between the trim panel and the door facing and store it away.
Remove Garnish Moldings
A garnish molding is any molding in the interior of a vehicle. All other moldings, whether reveal, trim, belt, side, edge, or drip, are on the exterior of the vehicle. Most commonly, garnish moldings run the length of the headliner on each side of a vehicle, around the back glass, and around the windshield.
The best way to determine how garnish moldings are attached is to look for the screws, which are visible if they are holding the molding in place. If screws aren’t present along the face of the garnish molding, then either plastic or metal attachment clips are holding the molding in place. While you should treat any 30-year-old molding with care during removal, treat garnish moldings with special care since you must apply some degree of force to remove them from the vehicle. I use the door trim tool in photo 10 to gently pry the molding away from the body. I then use a light and look behind the molding to determine how it is attached before trying to remove it. I’d rather break a clip than a molding any day.
Remove Headliners
Older vehicles use bow-strung headliners. Removing the headliner means first removing all of the trim such as the sun visors, interior lamps, windshield glass garnish moldings, and back glass garnish moldings around the headliner. Remember that the moldings are old and can break easily. Take your time removing them and don’t worry about breaking the retainer clips, which you can always replace—and in most cases need replacing anyway. Don’t forget to tag and label each molding piece as you remove it.
As I mentioned, most headliners are bow-strung, meaning metal bows spanning the width of the roof panel support the headliner. Usually, the perimeter of the headliner is clipped into place and then glued to the body to hold the fabric taut. I begin by removing the clips and then gently pulling the edges of the headliner free of the adhesive. Once the edges are free, I grasp the center of each bow and carefully pull it downward to release the headliner.
The bows are made of spring steel and are installed with the spring bowed, or tensioned, upward. The ends of each bow are notched into small holes or retainer brackets in the sides of the roof structure. Once I pull the bow downward to release the tension, it slips right out.
Remove Carpet
Before the carpet comes out, I unscrew and remove the kick panels and scuff plates. I make sure that each piece is labeled as I remove it.
Remove the package tray if you haven’t already, and store it where it won’t get damaged. Most package trays are made of fiberboard. They break easily and once broken become trash instead of package trays.
The console goes next. The only problem here is the shifter. Manual shifters have a rubber boot attached to the console while automatic shifters may have only a plastic slide bar to hide the underworkings of the shifter. In either case, removing the shift knob usually frees the shifter from the console. The front and rear of the console are screwed to the floor pan. Look inside the storage compartment or the ashtray on the console to find the rearmost attachment screws and then look along the sides or under the shifter faceplate for the forward attachment screws. Once the screws are removed, the console lifts up and over the shifter. Don’t worry about removing the shifter from the vehicle at this time—you’ll do that later.
PHOTO 5: Seat removal begins by detaching the front bucket seats. The driver’s seat is in rough condition to say the least. The mounting bolts for the seats must be removed from underneath the vehicle.
PHOTO 6: This is the “C” retainer clip mounted to the floor pan under the back seat. The seat can only be removed by pushing it back to free it from the clip then lifting it up and out.
