Project 68: Tin Work Makes the Dream Work

It’s been a hot second since we applied some serious fabrication to Project 68 but that changes as three pieces are planned inside the driver’s compartment; the rear compartment firewall bulkhead and both door skins.

It was fun putting these together. I have a weird love for working with aluminum so trimming these up, bending and fabricating a clean sheet is just heavenly. I love the look of raw aluminum so no touch up needed outside of cleaning the fingerprints and go.

For the rear compartment wall, NHRA states you must seal it off completely the driver’s compartment with .024 steel, or .032 aluminum with a bulkhead rear firewall.

I fabricated the aluminum but also added fireproof sealant in case of some catastrophic situation for extra safety. I have plans to tub the car so this area will see future work over however for now a solid completion.

The doors were stripped along with much of the interior. This was an original white interior car (YUCK) and there will be no presence of that when I’m done! Skinned with aluminum cut around some of my custom window handles made out of rods from my old Jr. Dragster, this is a quick and easy way to finish up the doors with a clean and lighter look.

My philosophy has always been to work to play, and then beautify the play. While we all would love to dump a gajillion dollars into the perfect restoration project, buy all new parts, and have no imperfections, that’s not what this story or project is about. So to get the car moving and shaking down the track with plans to paint and body later is the goal.

The multi-color mess on the doors does drive me nuts but a long-term plan of a dark cherry red is coming maybe sooner than later! I do want the car to stay majorly steel, however, with Super Street as the long-term goal, I have plenty of weight to shed before I reach the 2800 lb minimum.

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Project 68 is a life-long dream of Mopar fanatic and second-generation drag racer Ronnie Kohrt to build from the ground up a 1968 Dodge Charger to drag race across the country. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the grind of restoring a car without the glitz and glam of big money, a large shop or a race team. Just a middle-class guy with a passion for horsepower and vehicles.