3.6L Wrecked 2013 Rallye Redline Repair

When the new retro Challenger was introduced in 2008, I loved it and had to have one. I had not planned to buy an automatic as I prefer slamming gears, but I really like the looks of the Rallye Redline especially when they had the red and black interior with the black chrome with red pinstripe wheels. I also like to occasionally buy a project car that needs to be rescued. I recently purchased a 2013 Redline in black with minor front end damage. As a nice little bonus, it has a sunroof and paddle shifters. In case there was some interest, I thought I would document the process of bringing it back to being roadworthy. I am not intending to return the car to show room condition or make it a show car. I just want a decent looking driver. I have some experience in repairing vehicles, but prefer not do welding, body or paint if I can help it. The car was purchased from a Copart yard in Texas and I had it shipped to me in Alabama. I've included some of the auction photos.

 

After receiving the car, I drove it into my shop and started to dismantle it. I removed the front end. The damage was odd. Airbags were not blown, so I suspect it was not running when it was hit. The damage occurred above the bumper, but below the hood. So I'm wondering if a truck with an extended bumper or hitch backed into it. The frame, steel bumper and hood appear to be undamaged.

Anyway, the front bumper cover, upper grill, driver's headlight, driver side fender, radiator support, A/C condenser, radiator and cooling fan were damaged and will need to be replaced.

This shows the damage to the radiator support and condenser. The green strap was used by the shipper to hold the damaged bumper cover in place.



Damage to the radiator support and fender apron.


Damaged parts removed. With this access to the engine, I decided to replace the serpentine belt and tensioner.


Damaged radiator. Not pictured but the radiator fan had one broken blade and the plastic of the shroud was also damaged.


This is the area of greatest concern to me. The front of the inner fender rail is pushed in and needs to be pulled out in order for the new radiator support and all of the other driver's side parts (fender, headlight and bumper cover) to fasten and align correctly. The weird, ribbed gray thing is the handle of a hammer that one of my dogs got a hold of.

 

Since the front bumper and grill is damaged, I thought it would be nice to update to a newer grill. I like the looks of the 2015+ double rectangle grill, and decided I would update to that. In retrospect, I should have stayed with the 2014 and earlier bumper and grill. The newer version is all different and more complicated. The earlier grill is one piece upper and one piece lower grill. None of the front end parts that I saved, fit the newer bumper except the foglights. I needed both upper grill parts, headlight surrounds, lower valence and the two-piece lower grill. Also the side marker lights are different and use different electrical connections.

Not related to the collision damage, the fuel door paint (or decal) was half gone and I found a replacement locally ($25) , so I replaced it.

 

that sounds like a deal, i think the decal alone cost that or more?

 

I was not able to unkink the inner fender rail with a hammer. There is too much metal to move. Drilling out the spot welds to remove the endcap and then pulling on the rail seems to be the way forward. With that in mind I purchased a clamp made for pulling on metal. I also used my pickup truck with a come-along to pull on the fender apron. It is close and may work. A test fit of the fender looks promising.

The driver's side headlight connectors were destroyed. As a result, I purchased a used headlight with the pigtail connectors. Those have been spliced in. Tested it, and the headlight works.

I also noticed that I am not able to close the hood. The striker is hitting the radiator support, so I suspect it was bent in the collision. Reversing the striker seems to have fixed that issue.

 

The hood is not sitting quite right, so it appears one or both of the hinges is tweaked.







The passenger side hinge is definitely tweaked. I replaced both sides, but the driver's side old hinge looks just like the new hinge. I've attached a comparison photo. The right hinge as pictured is the passenger side. It may not be obvious, but it is more spread apart than the left good hinge.



I also worked on assembling the bumper cover with grill inserts and front dam. I made a mistake in that I installed the lower grill surround before installing the dam. I than had to pry the surround from the bumper cover, install the dam and then the lower surround. I also did a quick test fit (pictured) and found that my 2013 bumper reinforcement bar end pieces stick out too far forward. I think maybe the 2015+ bumper may not protrude forward as much. It looks like I have to order more parts.

 

While you're at it, how about buying all the Hellcat body pieces for that lower drag and better downforce?

 

I'm not sure what all of the body pieces would entail. My 2014 R/T has the Hellcat style grill and I love the looks of it. I also think I'm in too deep money-wise with doing the 2015+ grill update. If I had known then what I know now, I would have stuck with the 2013 front bumper assembly.

 

Another mistake I made was purchasing the 2015+ radiator support. It does not have holes drilled for the 2013 impact sensors. I will drill mounting holes and cut slots into my radiator support for these sensors. It begs the question; will the 2013 horns, hood release and headlights mount properly? More to come.

 

Some extra boost could also make this car even MORE fun.