When talking about 1970 Dodge Charger R/Ts, Bill Woessner is a name that is usually associated with them and one that many have heard of over the last few years. As the owner of multiple ’70 Charger R/Ts, it’s very safe to say that they are truly Bill’s favorite car.

Back in April 2018, we featured Bill’s beautiful black 1970 Charger R/T; a car that has been in his family since 1978 and the one that got him interested in the Mopar hobby at a very young age with his father. Over the last ten years, Bill has restored several award winning 1970 R/T’s to a very high level; one being his flawless 1970 R/T SE sunroof car in B7 Blue with a white top (look forward to a feature coming soon on this one! – Ed.) While Bill doesn’t do restoration work for a living, his shop behind his house has all the creature comforts of a professional one and the Chargers that roll out of there are always top notch and highly detailed.

An accountant by trade, Bill is always looking to expand his Charger collection. When he spots a car that catches his eye, he’s always striking up a conversation with the owner, such as is the case with this stunning FC7 Plum Crazy example that took him ten years to acquire. He tells us, “I spotted this R/T at the Mopar Nationals about ten years ago and struck up a relationship with the builder and owner. Every year, I’d tell him that if he was to ever sell the car to please contact me.”

He continues to say, “Finally, after ten years, I received the text message that I was anxiously anticipating. The owner was getting up in age and decided to part ways with his Plum Crazy beauty. After the first two people on his list declined as they were unable to buy it, I was next in line. I have a huge soft spot for 4-speed ’70 Chargers and had always wanted this car so I jumped on it.”

Originally from South Carolina when new, whoever ordered this Charger checked all of the appropriate boxes on the order sheet. From the factory, it came equipped with the E86 440 Magnum four-barrel engine, D21 18-spline Hemi 4-speed manual transmission, A34 Super Track Pack 4:10 Dana rear end, B51 Power Disk Brakes, N85 Tic-Toc-Tach, C16 center console, A01 Light package and of course, FC7 Plum Crazy Purple hi-impact paint. Bill shares, “They basically ordered this car very closely to the car that was shown in the 1970 Charger sales brochure as the R/T centerfold.”

Usually when people purchase a new addition to their collection, the first thing they do is take it for a long drive. Not Bill though. Upon picking up the car, the first thing he did when he got it home was tear it apart. Even though the paint and body on the car were both very nice, the drivetrain and interior were showing their age as the car was driven quite a bit after its restoration.

He says, “The car was never meant to be a concourse show car but rather a very nice cruiser and driver. I wanted to take the car to the next level so I removed the entire drivetrain along with some of the other components to properly detail everything.”

The stainless trim was sent out to be professionally polished, a date code correct set of 15×7 Rallye wheels were restored and installed with new Goodyear Polyglas F60-15 tires and the engine bay was repainted and detailed out as if it was going to be a judged show car. The wiper motor was restored by Topher McGinnis, the Bendix power brake booster was rebuilt by Booster Dewey and an NOS master cylinder was found to replace the C-body one that was on it.

Once completed, the Dana 60 was re-sealed and detailed out to better than new condition in addition to the factory super stock leaf springs that were taken apart, blasted, powder coated and reassembled. The factory numbers matching 4-speed was re-sealed on the bench in Bill’s garage and only a few synchronizers were replaced during the overhaul.

The transmission case was tumbled to bring back the factory cast iron finish and all of the factory paint markings were re-applied to a better than new condition. Bill raided his secret 1970 parts stash in the attic to find a set of original and properly date coded exhaust manifolds, factory valve covers, intake manifold and an original 4737 Carter carburetor.

One thing Bill that wasn’t 100% pleased with was the non-numbers matching engine block that was in the car. That’s when he decided to hit the Internet and began tracking the history of the Charger back to Day 1 which led him to South Carolina. The car changed hands twice in the 1970’s down south and then made its way to Ohio where it went thru several owners before being restored. Through the power of the Internet and social media, Bill was able to get in touch with the second owner who just so happened to have the numbers matching 440 block still!

Even though it was damaged early in its life, he held onto it in the corner of his garage. Bill made the gentlemen an offer he couldn’t refuse and then made the 28 hour round trip to South Carolina from Pittsburgh to pick up the engine block, a 1970 Dana 60 and some other parts to make the trip worthwhile.

Once he had the block home, Domhoff Machine was hired to give new life to it using a factory steel crank, HP Six Pack rods, JE Pistons & Total Seal rings. A COMP camshaft was installed and the 906 cylinder heads were fully re-conditioned. Once reassembled, the 440 was detailed with period correct hoses and wires, wiring harness and belts and painted in the correct Hemi Orange finish. Prior to installing the drivetrain, the entire front suspension and brakes were restored and factory inspection paint markings were applied.

The body received a full 5000 grit wet sand and polish to make it truly pop and as you can see, it turned out beautiful. Bill shares, “What amazes me is that this Charger still retains its original quarter panels. That tells you a lot about the condition of this R/T.” Following reassembly, the Charger made its debut at the 2019 Chryslers at Carlisle show where it was a real head turner. Since then, Bill has logged over 1,000 miles on the Charger and is really enjoying driving it.

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