Challenge Accepted: ’73 Challenger Fully Restored In NYC Apartment
Dodge Challenger body was painted in a shop, but the engine was rebuilt in a kitchen.
The odds are good that most people who live in a New York City apartment would never consider trying to restore a 1973 Dodge Challenger at their home, but that is exactly what Mike Edwards did. Using a small, shared garage under his Williamsburg NYC apartment and the kitchen in his living area, Edwards transformed this classic Mopar muscle car from a rough rolling shell to a sweet driver with big block power.
This story comes to us from Jalopnik, but there is also a video from the Stay Tuned YouTube channel below that offers a closer look at the 1973 Dodge Challenger project, along with footage of the machine in action.
Car Guy in NYC
As mentioned above, Edwards lives in an area of New York City called Williamsburg. For those who are somewhat familiar with the city in general, Williamsburg is located in Brooklyn along the East River, right across from the East Village of Manhattan. Even if you are not familiar with the area, the common reputation of the Brooklyn and Manhattan areas for being incredibly dense, crowded urban area would lead most car guys to avoid taking up residence in this area. However, some people enjoy city life and they learn to make due with what they have.
In the case of Edwards, his Williamsburg apartment had a small two-car garage that he shared with his roommates. That private garage is a relative rarity in the area, but having access to that small space allowed him to buy a 1973 Dodge Challenger for $6,000 on Craigslist. It was a rolling mess, but after several years of hard work, it was transformed into the Mopar muscle car shown here.
Edwards had to perform most of the work with hand tools rather than power tools due to the size and amenities (or lack thereof) in his small garage. The major bodywork was performed in a friend’s body shop in New Jersey, but once the heavy body work was done, the car was transported to the Williamsburg garage to be completed.
Dodge Challenger Apartment Rebuild
Having a small garage gave Mike Edwards an advantage over the typical NYC resident who has to park on the street or in a large, open garage facility, but his garage lacked many of the features needed to properly restore a car. As a result, much of the work had to be done in the kitchen of the apartment, where he had access to running water and better lighting. The kitchen sink ended up serving as a parts washing area during the rebuild of the engine, transmission and rear differential.
In the video below, there are a ton of pictures of this 1973 Dodge Challenger restoration taking place in the New York City apartment. We get a look at the garage area in use, along with many pictures of engine components being prepared in the kitchen.
In the long run, while this project was probably a whole lot harder for Edwards than it would be for someone with a more complete garage, he has proven that it is possible to live in an NYC apartment and restore a classic car at your residence.
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