SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[tsmithae]

How many more updates ti'll yours looks that good? 

I don't know. This is a one man show. Maybe I'll pass it on to you and you can have your grand kids help you finish it up.

and the truth comes out!

[Stevearino]

So I finished closing in the new upper windshield bed to the roof.  I removed the rain gutters from the side of the roof and filled the gap between the glass seal track and the roof. The last picture here I hit the area with some rust primer to see how it all looked.

[Stevearino]

Once the body is cut away from the chassis I wanted to make sure that I get the maximum rake by getting the hood as low as possible relative to the engine manifold. Since I will have no references once the body is cut loose I made myself a center profile to determine this. The picture shows the profile with and without the hood in place.

To make the profile I cut pieces of .023 sheet metal and bent them into a 1" x 1" L shape. This makes them easy to shape with a shrinker/stretcher to quickly shape them to the profile . They are then just tack welded together.

[Baldwinvette77]

Looks sweet,  , may i ask whats involved in removing the rain gutters besides cutting them off, i was told the seam needs to be welded along the length of the roof, but anything else? 

[Stevearino]

Looks sweet,  , may i ask whats involved in removing the rain gutters besides cutting them off, i was told the seam needs to be welded along the length of the roof, but anything else? 

When cutting away the roof gutter do it in small 6" sections at a time. After grinding it flat tack weld it about every inch then move along to the next section. This will keep the roof from separating from the metal underneath.  Bend a piece of .035 steel in a "V" as far over as you can in the break. One leg should be about 5/8ths of an inch the other 1/2". The 5/8ths side is the top face. You can hand shape the piece over your knee to fit the edge of the roof. It is a good idea to put the stainless window seal track in place so that you can be sure to run the edge of the "v" proud of this channel. This will also help to keep the edge straight. Solid weld the upper flange to the roof. Remove the stainless channel and tack the under side about every inch. don't worry to much about gapping on the underside. You can fill this with seam seal before you install the stainless for the final time.

[JB400]

Don't forget to take into consideration of your radiator.  It will be just a little bit higher than your intake.

[Stevearino]

Don't forget to take into consideration of your radiator.  It will be just a little bit higher than your intake.

Will do!

[Highbanked Hauler]

  I Like the template , think you can sneak it through tech. ?    Are you TIG welding ?? Looking good.

[cudaken]

Steve, being a bodyman by training I am impressed and humbled!  I do have 2 questions.

1 So you are not going to run a drip rail? Is there a reason?

2 What will the car be titled as? 

Cuda Ken 

[Stevearino]

Steve, being a bodyman by training I am impressed and humbled!   I do have 2 questions.

1 So you are not going to run a drip rail? Is there a reason?

2 What will the car be titled as?  

Cuda Ken  

Ken, Since this is not a restoration I decided to do a few minor custom tweeks. Getting rid of the drip rails was just one of the ideas I wanted to do to slick down the transitions on the greenhouse. The car will be titled as a 68. This avoids having to replace the blown air bags in the 06. Also complicated insurance issues.

[remta1]

looking great Steve and good on you for doing your own thing and interpretation with this car , love reading this

[Stevearino]

Just got  my new headlights in. I am liking them a lot!

[pettybird]

Chally?

[Stevearino]

Chally?

Yes indeedy.

[djcarguy]

  A few guys have mounted the lites solid an rig the lite doors to just drop down,instead of the pop up bug eye look.  i total like the non bug eye drop lite covers,helps keep the flow line even when lites are on.  sure impressed with ya work on windshield an gutters,,oh an the whole build,,awsum stuff going on..    

[Mike DC]

What's happening with the windshield channel?  Is that work to allow the stock glass to be glued into place?  Or a bigger dimension custom made glass? 

[Lighthorseman]

As one who hopes to eventually  create a Superbird clone, I'll be watching what you do with those Chally headlights verrrrrry closely. 

[Stevearino]

What's happening with the windshield channel?  Is that work to allow the stock glass to be glued into place?  Or a bigger dimension custom made glass? 

The work on the windshield bed will allow me to glue the windshield in directly to the bed with polyeurothane without using the standard rubber mounting gasket. The bed was crafted around a stock piece of glass.

[Stevearino]

  A few guys have mounted the lites solid an rig the lite doors to just drop down,instead of the pop up bug eye look.  i total like the non bug eye drop lite covers,helps keep the flow line even when lites are on.   sure impressed with ya work on windshield an gutters,,oh an the whole build,,awsum stuff going on..   

I toyed with the idea of retractable headlight doors but there is too much to go wrong there. It is using a 20 lb sledge hammer to put in a finish nail so to speak. The drop doors is what I had in mind. Much simpler.

[Stevearino]

As one who hopes to eventually   create a Superbird clone, I'll be watching what you do with those Chally headlights verrrrrry closely.  

Well I am sorry to say that they I might have to drop the idea for these lights . After mocking them up in the glass nose that I have they just might be too large for the existing door in the nose and making the doors bigger looks kind of goofy. There is also a depth problem that might not be an issue with the Superbird nose. The light enclosure is so big it looks like it will run into the radiator core support. I don't know. We shall see.

[DC_1]

Did you buy the Challenger lights because it the projector style lights you want? What about making custom housings?

Check out this guys custom enclosure for adding projection style light to a C5 Corvette pop up style lights

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?38025-C5-Corvette-FX-35-Retro-with-Pop-up-Mod&highlight=Corvette

[DC_1]

I'm not a fan of Corvettes but it would seem that guys wanting to put HID Projector style lights in the older ones with pop up lights would have simular problems with space and housing issues.

Here is another older Vette that had HID lights put in and required I would think a custom light housing.

[Mike DC]

The work on the windshield bed will allow me to glue the windshield in directly to the bed with polyeurothane without using the standard rubber mounting gasket. The bed was crafted around a stock piece of glass.

I wondered if that was what you were doing.

I've thought about doing the same but I want something that looks mostly stock.  I have wondered about the idea of fabbing a channel like you did, gluing in the window, and fabricating some trim pieces that would include the chrome trim and an inner black rubber/plastic strip, just for looks.  I think it it could be 10-foot accurate if it was done well.

It seems like the ideal solution would be to have a windshield custom-made that is a fraction of an inch bigger at the edges, so it could be glued in without all the rebuild work.  Then a stock-looking trim piece like I had in mind could be glued on top of the edges of the glass.  I think there was once talk of having a batch of oversize windshields made a few years ago for '69 Camaros, but I don't know what ever came of it.  

----------------


There is also the issue of the stock glass not being a structural member, unlike modern cars.  (I've heard some modern cars need the glass in place to pass roof crush regulations!)  Gluing in an old Charger's front glass with modern urethane might produce a cracked windshield if the car isn't caged up like yours probably will be. 

I suppose a front windshield could be glued in with a butyl seal like the stock rear glass uses though.  It wouldn't last as long as urethane but it still sounds easier than dealing with the issues of the stock gasket method.  These days we're struggling with two different possible thicknesses of glass & gaskets for the '68-70 cars too. 

[Stevearino]

Did you buy the Challenger lights because it the projector style lights you want? What about making custom housings?

Check out this guys custom enclosure for adding projection style light to a C5 Corvette pop up style lights

http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?38025-C5-Corvette-FX-35-Retro-with-Pop-up-Mod&highlight=Corvette

Sorry to admit I am not that savy on modern head light set ups and I just plain ordered the wrong thing. I thought I was ordering stock halogen type lights. I did not even know what the hell an HID light was until I got these things. I definitely don't want these. I found the housings I thought I was buying online and will be ordering them. Much smaller and simpler set up all the way around. My main concern is that I wanted them to be similar to the lights these cars had in the day and the Challenger is really one of the few close matches for that look.

[71_Charger_R/T]

Are you going to sell the Challenger HIDs? If so...... How much do you need to get for them?