'70 Challenger
Full-Time Job
Chad Fletcher and father-in-law Jerry Quick started Fletcher Customs and Speed only four years ago, but have over 60 years of experience building cars between them. Jerry is an old-school hot rodder who has been building cars since the '60s, but it was Chad who jump-started it with the completion of his 2,200-square-foot building he put up next to his house to use as a shop. Currently, both guys have other 50-hour-a-week jobs, so the days are long, and the weekends are stuffed with work. Chad would like to expand one day and hire employees to take on more projects. Up until now, they had only been able to work on customers' cars. This 1970 Dodge Challenger project is Chad's personal car that he will be showing at SEMA 2009 to promote his shop.
The Challenger was a lucky find, hidden under years of chicken coop residue at a local chicken farm. The cleaning process to get started wasn't easy. The car had been collecting chicken droppings, feathers, eggs, snakes, rats, and other disgusting things. "So we drug the car home, and a little media blasting later, we find the lovely repairs of some backwoods redneck from way back," Chad complains. It's amazing the way some people treat cars. After looking closer at the flattened-paintcan-sheetmetal patches, he decided to just replace the roof and quarter-panels. The floors and firewall were removed as well to make way for some custom work. They incorporated a C6 Corvette front suspension using everything between the hubs, including the crossmember to ensure proper alignment. The whole frame is going to be replaced with 1.5-inch DOM tubing to support the power and the increase in lateral force. Since power isn't worth anything without strong parts and traction, Chad decided on a Moser 9-inch rear end. That is the stage they are at right now. The body and paintwork will be performed in-house, just in time for the 2009 SEMA show.