It's amazing how quickly things can get out of hand. We all start projects with a good idea of what we want, but that plan always changes. In the case of Paul Jasinski's '70 Charger, small aspirations developed into a full-on restoration with no attribute overlooked.
The story begins when Paul was four years old. "My father owned a '70 Duster. This ignited my passion for Mopars, even after my parents switched to GM," he recalls. The passion grew over the years as he always dreamed of buying and building his own Mopar. He had been trying to convince his parents since he was 12 years old to allow him to buy a car to fix up. By the time he was 14, he had accrued about $4,000 from his paper route. His persistence paid off when his father returned from work with a Hemi Orange '70 Charger powered by a 318 that his coworker was trying to sell. "I jumped on the car immediately and it fueled my passion as well as my brothers and father."
Having a Dodge back in the driveway helped his parents make the jump back to the "Mopar or no car" mentality. His brother Greg would eventually buy a '74 Dart Sport, one that we featured in the July '04 issue of Mopar Muscle. Over the next 15 years, the Charger was driven and shown occasionally. He had some plans with the B-Body, but, as life came at him fast, it was put on the back burner. "I envisioned redoing at least the drivetrain on the car since the 318 wasn't enough for me." That's not what the little devil on his right shoulder was whispering in his ear as the project began to take on new life.
With the help of a couple close friends, Jeff Swope, Joe Warino, and Paul's two brothers, Greg and Marc, they set out to swap the 318 for a much more powerful 440. As the team carried on, new things were being added to the to-do list. "We replaced the suspension and torsion bars, rear-end, brakes, and steering box, along with an assortment of other parts." While inside for surgery, they happened to notice that there was some pretty significant rust on the front torsion mounts and framerails. The proposed "quick resto" had swelled into a full-blown project.
"By this time, I wanted the car to be perfect. Every piece, nut and bolt came off the car and was replaced or redone."
Before he could blink, the budget had quadrupled and years had passed. "We took our time to do it right and the car was fighting us all the way," he quips. The Charger rested in his garage for the duration of the buildup. Aside from the paint and bodywork and engine build, Paul, his two friends, and brothers performed the work on the entire project.
After eight years, the 2008 Mopar Nationals were fast approaching as they performed the finishing touches on this arduous project. "About a month before the show, I noticed a bubble in the dash. Thankfully, Just Dashes came through and had the dash repaired before the show and the car was ready to go," he says. We bumped into Paul in the show field and we noticed the metallic flake and realized it was the new, late-model Hemi Orange. A quick look over the car had us dropping our jaws at the attention to detail. "Without my father allowing me to buy this car when I was 14, it would have never been a reality. My wife also put up with a lot and tolerated my 'Mopar addiction' as she calls it." Paul has told himself he would never build another project this in-depth again, but he also tells us that he purchased a pair of 340 Duster projects. We can't wait to see what his passion materializes this time around.
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