SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[held1823]

As you can see by this picture I decided to glass in the Daytona grill and cut a Superbird style grill in to the bottom of the nose.

[Indygenerallee]

Looking good Steve 

[Highbanked Hauler]

As you can see by this picture I decided to glass in the Daytona grill and cut a Superbird style grill in to the bottom of the nose.

WHY,  Any race team is going to tweak anything to get better performance out of it.

                Did the birds have the cooling problem that the Daytona's did ?

[Mike DC]

   
Ohhh, that nose mod looks NICE.  I hope it cools okay that way because it looks great. 

But one thing concerns me with the nose mounting setup.  What about allowing for adjusting the alignment of the panels? IMO any bolt-on panel could use the factory mounting method, where they put perpendicular ovaled holes on both the part & mounting area, with some room for shims in between. 



I've always been concerned about the turn signals on wing cars being buried way down under the nose, factory setup or not.  Modern cars sit pretty high up and guys usually rake their wing cars down in front. 


Another idea for wing cars in general - headlight door setups work a ton better than pop-up headlight buckets.  If the project was mine I would be coming up with a rigid-mounted deal for the headlight assys and then opening & shutting some lightweight doors over them rather than moving the lights themselves.  Think about how a motorcycle's headlight beam shakes all over the place on vertical bumps or vibrations.  IMO it just ends up being much less of a problem when you only shut a lid over the lights instead of trying to move the lights.  And modern headlight options can be small enough to make this feasible inside the stock Daytona headlight door footprint.  They did a headlight setup like this (but no doors at all) on the Fast & Furious #6 maroon red Daytona.

[djcarguy]

As you can see by this picture I decided to glass in the Daytona grill and cut a Superbird style grill in to the bottom of the nose.

[Stevearino]

I get that held1823 doesn't agree with the change in the nose. I kind of expected that. Everyone has their preferences about how these car should look. From the outset I probably shouldn't have called this a clone. Aero426 referred to it once as a tribute car and I guess that is what it really is. A clone indicates faithful reproduction. I had always intended to tweek the car from the outset.

 
Ohhh, that nose mod looks NICE.  I hope it cools okay that way because it looks great.  

But one thing concerns me with the nose mounting setup.  What about allowing for adjusting the alignment of the panels? IMO any bolt-on panel could use the factory mounting method, where they put perpendicular ovaled holes on both the part & mounting area, with some room for shims in between.  



I've always been concerned about the turn signals on wing cars being buried way down under the nose, factory setup or not.  Modern cars sit pretty high up and guys usually rake their wing cars down in front.  


Another idea for wing cars in general - headlight door setups work a ton better than pop-up headlight buckets.  If the project was mine I would be coming up with a rigid-mounted deal for the headlight assys and then opening & shutting some lightweight doors over them rather than moving the lights themselves.  Think about how a motorcycle's headlight beam shakes all over the place on vertical bumps or vibrations.  IMO it just ends up being much less of a problem when you only shut a lid over the lights instead of trying to move the lights.  And modern headlight options can be small enough to make this feasible inside the stock Daytona headlight door footprint.  They did a headlight setup like this (but no doors at all) on the Fast & Furious #6 maroon red Daytona.

As far as  the mounting of the nose I have already done my final adjustment for location and built the support frame accordingly.

I agree that the turn signal situation is not perfect as it relates to a modern car with the lights up high and to the side but I wanted the signals to blend into the nose like they do on the Superbird. Rather than re-invent the wheel I have just copied that look .

I had always planned to put the headlights in the nose with drop down doors . I am using 2012 Challenger headlight housings for that. The only drawback of the drop down door is what you pointed out with the signals in that it sets the headlights deep in the nose. This will probably cause the beams not to cast to the sides very well but again while it is not design perfect it is a compromise for a look I want. I  invoke hot rod privilege here.



djcarguy: As always thanks for the thumbs up and when are you going to post some pics of your project?

[Mike DC]

 
Wow, those headlights are going to be sunk deep in there!  You sure about that setup?  Seems like you could pivot the doors more like the usual headlight door setup and it would work better.  Have the pivot point roughly at the lights and rotate the doors either up or down away from in front of the lights. 


Looks like good craftsmanship, though.  You are really doing nice work on this thing. 

[held1823]

I get that held1823 doesn't agree with the change in the nose. I kind of expected that. Everyone has their preferences about how these car should look.

the knee-jerk reaction is let a daytona be a daytona and a superbird be a superbird, but my sentiment is the daytona leading edge is so much better looking.

superbird grille openings look exactly like what they were - crude hacks made underneath the cone as a concession to cooling concerns. it's the same way with the superbird hood extensions and rear windows. both came about from necessity, not styling.

none the less, the fabrication talent seen within this cone is still beyond amazing

[Stevearino]

I get that held1823 doesn't agree with the change in the nose. I kind of expected that. Everyone has their preferences about how these car should look.

the knee-jerk reaction is let a daytona be a daytona and a superbird be a superbird, but my sentiment is the daytona leading edge is so much better looking.

superbird grille openings look exactly like what they were - crude hacks made underneath the cone as a concession to cooling concerns. it's the same way with the superbird hood extensions and rear windows. both came about from necessity, not styling.

none the less, the fabrication talent seen within this cone is still beyond amazing

Thanks Held,
I know you are passionate about these cars and that is reflected in your strong opinion. You are just showin' the love.

[Stevearino]

 
Wow, those headlights are going to be sunk deep in there!  You sure about that setup?  Seems like you could pivot the doors more like the usual headlight door setup and it would work better.  Have the pivot point roughly at the lights and rotate the doors either up or down away from in front of the lights. 


Looks like good craftsmanship, though.  You are really doing nice work on this thing. 

Popping them up might create a fluttering in the wind situation as they would catch air like a scoop and in order to drop down they have to pivot the way I have them now. I originally had an elaborate but ultimately unworkable plan to have them retract up into the nose. The shape of the doors and room for the mechanism killed that notion.

[odcics2]

  Looking great!

FYI: the leading edge of the cone is the best place for the air inlet, from a drag standpoint. 

Styling is subjective!!   

[Swampwing2]

Progress looks great.  Keep it up.

I am sure you know this, but you may not have thought about it for a while. Before you do anything that involves panel (or nose) alignment you should really get all the weight on the suspension so the body is naturally loaded.  Where the jack stands are in the last set of photos will probably let the front end droop just enough to make the panels be crooked when the car gets put back on its wheels. 

[Stevearino]

Progress looks great.  Keep it up.

I am sure you know this, but you may not have thought about it for a while. Before you do anything that involves panel (or nose) alignment you should really get all the weight on the suspension so the body is naturally loaded.  Where the jack stands are in the last set of photos will probably let the front end droop just enough to make the panels be crooked when the car gets put back on its wheels. 

You are absolutely right and I am glad you pointed that out.

[Patronus]

I really like the custom touches, especially the nose. Im working on pop-ups for a '70 coronet right now. When it comes to the Daytona I always wanted to make the headlight covers slide up into the nose like a small moon roof. Anyways, lookin great. 

[Stevearino]

I really like the custom touches, especially the nose. Im working on pop-ups for a '70 coronet right now. When it comes to the Daytona I always wanted to make the headlight covers slide up into the nose like a small moon roof. Anyways, lookin great. 

That was exactly the way I was going to go. The fact that I locked in on the idea of using 2010 Challenger headlights which are pretty big killed this idea as it is too crowded in there for the mechanism I had planned. Also using the fiberglass nose that I had picked up  second hand I had to add stiffeners just under the tops of the door openings further crowding the area where the doors could retreat. I had planned to use the window regulators from the rear doors of the 06 Charger as they are a single rail that draws the glass grasping clamp straight up and down. Laid flat they match the contour of the nose. Getting the doors to roll up and into the holes would be a little tricky but as you say you would use the same principles as works on a moon roof.

[Patronus]

 I had envisioned a rack and pinion type design.

[Crabtree charger]

I just read this thread from start to current and came to the realization that i'm not worthy to be on this forum.    Furthermore my skillset and tools shall be comapered to a neanerthal with rocks and sticks. Your vision and talent just blows me away! Beautiful work sir.

[Stevearino]

I had envisioned a rack and pinion type design.

I would be curious to see how that would work.

I just read this thread from start to current and came to the realization that i'm not worthy to be on this forum.    Furthermore my skillset and tools shall be comapered to a neanerthal with rocks and sticks. Your vision and talent just blows me away! Beautiful work sir.

Knock it off and start posting those pictures. We wanna see your cars.
Seriously. Thanks for the compliment. Now start postin!

[fy469rtse]

 Agree, start posting photos, it's a sharing thing,
I consider myself rough too, amazed at some of the work going on with cars on this site, but quality and finish of each car is getting better, but the experiences on here are to help all ,
And one of the nicest things on here, all work and cars regardless are respected, good bunch of guys on here
Just wished I had found this site earlier,

[remta1]

Progress looks great.  Keep it up.

I am sure you know this, but you may not have thought about it for a while. Before you do anything that involves panel (or nose) alignment you should really get all the weight on the suspension so the body is naturally loaded.  Where the jack stands are in the last set of photos will probably let the front end droop just enough to make the panels be crooked when the car gets put back on its wheels.  

You are absolutely right and I am glad you pointed that out.

......yep what he said
Are you going to shrink the nose to fit the profile of the guards like I did  .? That way it suits the shape of your particular build and it looks like it is supposed to be there .
And DJ shouldn't be allowed to reply to posts until he puts up some photos   :
Looking damn good by the way 

[Stevearino]

Progress looks great.  Keep it up.

I am sure you know this, but you may not have thought about it for a while. Before you do anything that involves panel (or nose) alignment you should really get all the weight on the suspension so the body is naturally loaded.  Where the jack stands are in the last set of photos will probably let the front end droop just enough to make the panels be crooked when the car gets put back on its wheels. 

You are absolutely right and I am glad you pointed that out.

......yep what he said
Are you going to shrink the nose to fit the profile of the guards like I did  .? That way it suits the shape of your particular build and it looks like it is supposed to be there .
And DJ shouldn't be allowed to reply to posts until he puts up some photos  :
Looking damn good by the way 

The nose when pushed back to eliminate the 1 inch gap to the fenders actually becomes too narrow by about 3/8" so I may have to modify the fenders to get them to flow into the nose better.  I have already had to modify the nose to get it to flow off of the hood better. This one must not have had a very good mother mold. It is very asymmetrical .

[Mike DC]

     
The iffy mold shape of the aftermarket glass nose, the grille appearance & cooling issues of the stocker, the signal light issues of the stocker, the limitations that the stock nose poses for headlight door setups, the misfit when you eliminate the rubber seal  . . .

For a metal fabricator you are working pretty hard to keep this fiberglass nose.  It seems like there is more wrong with it than right for your purposes. You could build your own nose and have free reign to do all that stuff any way you wanted. 

   

[Stevearino]

     
The iffy mold shape of the aftermarket glass nose, the grille appearance & cooling issues of the stocker, the signal light issues of the stocker, the limitations that the stock nose poses for headlight door setups, the misfit when you eliminate the rubber seal  . . .

For a metal fabricator you are working pretty hard to keep this fiberglass nose.  It seems like there is more wrong with it than right for your purposes. You could build your own nose and have free reign to do all that stuff any way you wanted. 

   

I know. But even if it does not work out as what I use for the finished product it is good practice to see what issues are to be dealt with. One has to start somewhere. Originally I was going to use this as a pattern for a steel nose. I am glad I did not pile off and do that. The fitment issues are not obvious with a quick mock up.

[Stevearino]

So I thought to myself " Let me take Friday off and stroll around the Auto Fair, I need to get out of the house (shop) and have a nice relaxing brain dead day." Well it was all working out fine until my wife points to a vendor selling custom glass. When I first started my search for side glass in this project I went to a website called Vintage Glass.com. They sent me on to the vendor in California that I eventually ended up buying my side glass from. But not before I tried $600.00 worth of curved Lexan.  Turns out some money man bought the name Vintage Glass to start the website as a broker. I was now standing in front of the original owner from Georgia who still does custom glass and he said that the guy who runs the website is oblivious to what can and cannot be done. Sooooooooo............... it turns out that he could have made my side glass and tempered it.    I asked him twice to be sure we were on the same page. He said " Yeah , that would not be problem." I asked him for a price and he said about $1,000.00 per panel. Well below the numbers I had been getting of around $5000.00. Oh well. I have his cell phone# should I run into any issues with what I have. 

[Indygenerallee]

That sucks..