Approximately 14 years ago, my uncle from Pennsylvania (who is a Chevy guy) invited me to visit him. During our visit, he said he had a surprise for me. So we rode out in his 1968 Chevy SS Camaro to Gibsonia, PA. This place is agrarian and nothing like the hometown of Pittsburgh. Upon arrival, my uncle introduced me to Mr. John Borgan. To my surprise, Mr. Borgan was a true Mopar fan. When he opened up his shop, I was in awe over all the classic Mopars he had restored and was selling to people especially overseas. Yea name the Mopar and it was there for sale. I loved his Chargers, Roadrunners and especially an original Hemi Cuda, but his price did not fit my budget. Happy, but not a bit discouraged, John asked me if I would be interested in a car that ran but needed some work. Enthusiastically I replied, “show me”. Tucked away in the back of his large workshop sat a sublime green 1972 Dodge Challenger. Before I knew it, I was given the keys and told to take it for a cruise and tell me what you think. My uncle and I sat in the Challenger and gave the carburetor some gas and she fired up. While going on one test drive, we noticed 3rd gear was slipping in the 727 Torqueflite. The brakes were mushy and the front-end went all over the road. Nevertheless, the 360 under the hood ran strong. When we returned back to John’s place, I inspected the entire Challenger body and discovered a lot of rust damage. However, from a distance the car looked alright and the doors still operated. Before I knew it, a 1972 Dodge Challenger was finding a new home in San Antonio, TX
When the Challenger safely arrived in SA, I began doing basic maintenance on the car. I noticed whoever owned the car prior did not take care of her. I got the original drum brakes to work, did an oil change and tune up and drained the transmission oil and filter. The original black vinyl top was also replaced. A thorough cleaning and detailing was done as well.
Months later, I decided to drive the Challenger to a local Friday night car show near my neighborhood named Biff Buzby’s Burgers. Upon arrival at Biff’s, I was greeted by members of the San Antonio Mopar Muscle Club. One of the members, Paul Gaspard, took an interest in me and the Challenger. Note: we are both military career veterans and like cars. Honestly, I was embarrassed to show him the Challenger. His and other Mopars present were gorgeous and mine…well not so much. When he asked me to open up the hood, I reluctantly opened it desperately hanging on to it because the shock towers and hinge spring mounts were so rusted that I thought the hood might separate from the car.
Time went by and I got to know Paul and I was fascinated with his skill set and humor working on classic cars. One day, I drove the Challenger to his house and asked him if I had the ignition timing correct. I do not have a timing light but I can do this by ear. Paul took a look and listened to the 360 running and replied “not bad but would you like the 360 to run better”? After adjusting the Edelbrock carburetor and adjusting the timing, I learned that the timing I did on the car was 70s era and timing values were once set up for emissions. Once adjusted, the Challenger really ran with some pep to it.
As time flew by, Paul recommended that I bring the Challenger to his place so we could pull out the 727 Torqueflite and repair the slipping 3rd gear. To my delight, it was easily repaired with a shift kit and band adjustments. Wow…what a difference.
A year went by. I visited Paul during the winter and thanked him for all his help. He got we a Dr. Pepper and said “let’s talk about your Challenger”. Late in the evening, I had all these “Wiley Coyote” ideas about how to restore the Challenger into my dream car.
Five years later, a lot of money, blood sweat and tears, the Challenger was restored to have the 1972 vintage look to include its original color (Tuxedo Black) from its birthplace in Hamtramck, MI. The original factory code numbers secured on the driver fender reveals this Challenger came in the color Tuxedo Black, black interior, black bucket seats, black vinyl top, A/C, drum brakes, not limited slip and a 2-barrel 318 cubic inch engine.
Today, the car proudly has a 1968 340 engine stoked to 418 cubic inches with a TorqStorm supercharger topping the Edelbrock induction system blown through a Holley Super Sniper 1250 HP-capable throttle body Electronic Fuel Injection making near 600 horsepower. I need to give many thanks to Paul Gaspard for engineering this beast.
The Torqueflite 727 transmission has been completely revamped with a torque converter custom made from Performance Torque Converters out of Muscle Shoals, AL. and has an overdrive system by Gear Vendors Overdrives.
The rear end has a sure-grip 3.55 gear ratio setup. With the overdrive unit, the final ratio is now 2.76 making it an extremely great cruising car with plenty of zip when not in overdrive.
The front end is completely rebuilt with upgraded parts such as polyurethane bushing, double adjustable control arms, and a front sway bar.
The exhaust system comes with electric cutouts, TTI ceramic-coated headers and 3’ exhaust all the way back thru Dynomax mufflers for a really throaty deep sound.
The suspension system was enhanced with a split-monoleaf system from Calvert Racing. The system plants both side equally to eliminate wheel hop. With as much power as the blown 418 makes, it still does not totally keep the rear tires from spinning but does control direction.
The originals bumper and chrome moldings were all redone by a chrome shop in Belmelz, PA. Unfortunately, the gentleman doing this work has since passed away.
All of the interior work was redone at Classic Auto Upholstery in Converse, TX. They also installed a new black vinyl top on the Challenger.
All of the body panels, door skins, hood, front fenders (inner and outer), rear quarters, floor pans, trunk pans, trunk extensions, tail panel, rocker panels, radiator core support and many areas in the structure of the car were expertly replaced and finished by Josh Gaspard. Without Josh’s hard work, attention to detail and excellent welding abilities, the Challenger would have never been ready to take down to the paint shop responsible for the “Flow Coat” paint job that it now sports.
The Tuxedo Black paint which is much nicer than the original factory paint job. The new paint is better than showroom paint and as completed by Anderson Hot Rods. Many, many hours were spent getting the slick exterior down to a mirror finish.
I am very fortunate to finally have the dream car that I now own. It has been a life-long dream that I can proudly say is “All Mine”.