SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[Stevearino]

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.  

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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.  

I probably would have left everything stock if I didn't hate those stupid rubber gaskets. To me they are hokey and belong on old panel trucks not on a slick muscle car like the gen 2 Charger.  I had the same reservation about the poly bed until I saw a "how to install" video on You Tube for the Charger windshield. They were using both the rubber gasket and the polyeurothane. Wow. Imagine trying to get that back out of the car.  The car won't be caged so I am kind of gambling putting it in solid but it is what I prefer to do so we will see if it is a stupid move or not. Stay tuned.  Your idea is very do able as far as just extending the bed just enough to catch the glass and setting it with PTI tape like the GM era cars. Just adding 3/4 of an inch to all the existing beds would work. Since the glass would then sit up higher in the bed and not even with the bed as it would with the rubber gasket all you would have to do is glue a 1 inch wide by 1/16th inch strip of a black plastic to the outer windshield perimeter before you put your stock stainless trim back on. This would simulate the rubber gasket pretty well . The plastic would have to be thermal resistant so as to not warp in the sun or you could silicone some strips of .040 aluminum on and paint them out mat black.

[Stevearino]

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

I paid $150.00 and they don't have the transformers or the headlight bulbs. If you wanted to give me $100.00 for them they are yours just PM me for shipping details.

[Stevearino]

This is what the Challenger headlights look like mocked up in the nose. I don't think they look too bad but the HID housing is definitely too bulky and I will be switching to OEM style halogen housings.

[tsmithae]

I'm not going to lie, I really like how that looks. 

[JB400]

Why not forget the headlight doors and just put a piece of lexan there instead?  You keep the look of the headlights, you keep the profile of the nose, and it gives it the F&F6 type of look.

[Mike DC]

I probably would have left everything stock if I didn't hate those stupid rubber gaskets. To me they are hokey and belong on old panel trucks not on a slick muscle car like the gen 2 Charger.  I had the same reservation about the poly bed until I saw a "how to install" video on You Tube for the Charger windshield. They were using both the rubber gasket and the polyeurothane. Wow. Imagine trying to get that back out of the car.  The car won't be caged so I am kind of gambling putting it in solid but it is what I prefer to do so we will see if it is a stupid move or not. Stay tuned.

Agreed, our cars were just a couple years too early to avoid those stupid rubber gaskets.  I do kinda like how the chrome trim with the inner ring of black rubber looks though.  Maybe I'm just overly partial to the stock appearance.  

Your idea is very do able as far as just extending the bed just enough to catch the glass and setting it with PTI tape like the GM era cars. Just adding 3/4 of an inch to all the existing beds would work.

Would you even need 3/4" of extra lip?  

I haven't paid enough attention to modern cars to know what kind of overlap they are running these days but the Charger rear window's overlap is tiny.  It's closer to 1/4" of glass on the lip than 3/4".  I would not have believed that little bit was enough if it wasn't how the car was built.  Not saying I would want the front windshield to sit on quite so little of a shelf as the back one does, but I was thinking more like 3/8-1/2" might work.    

Since the glass would then sit up higher in the bed and not even with the bed as it would with the rubber gasket all you would have to do is glue a 1 inch wide by 1/16th inch strip of a black plastic to the outer windshield perimeter before you put your stock stainless trim back on. This would simulate the rubber gasket pretty well . The plastic would have to be thermal resistant so as to not warp in the sun or you could silicone some strips of .040 aluminum on and paint them out mat black.

Yeah, I was picturing a wide piece of sheetmetal that has both the factory chrome strip and the black rubber gasket strip on it.  Seems much simpler & cleaner than trying to attach the chrome trim and a fake gasket separately.



Back to the lip for mounting the glass itself . . .

I'm wondering about the possibility of just adding a lip of metal to weld on below the factory lip (like against the underside of the factory lip).  That would allow the glass to sit closer to even with the stock metal lip than above it, which is closer to looking stock and it would probably make the fabrication job easier too.  (I'm not sure how that would affect trying to remove the glass later though.  That could be a downside.)  

The other reason to wanna drop the glass down even with the factory's lip is because the lack of rubber gasket is gonna leave a big open gap there between the glass itself and the body-painted sheetmetal.  (Hence the need for a slightly larger windshield glass in an ideal world.)  I mean the area where the chrome trim sits on top of.  I guess the fabricated trim would just go on top of that and cover it, but the area would still be better off filled up or blocked with something to prevent water/crap/etc from accumulating there.  (The back glass has a big open area around the glass and under the chrome trim to catch crap and hold it there.  Look how well that worked.)

They paint all the inside edges of modern glue-in glass with some kind of black paint to prevent the glue from getting damaged by UV light over time.  I'm not sure how that affects the adhesive but it obviously works well enough.  A Charger glass would not have that paint.  But the kind of phony black gasket trim piece that I was imagining should cover the same area from the sun.  




As for the poly glue stuff cracking windshields, I dunno whether it will be a problem but it's worth some thought.  If you saw a video of somebody using modern poly glue on a stock old Mopar windshield gasket, keep in mind that the rubber gasket probably still retained some flexibility there.  Me, I'm still thinking I would rather stick to butyl tape instead of poly glue if it is adequately strong like poly.  The only downside to butyl tape is the longevity AFAIK.  Having to replace it decades from now seems like a small trade-off for avoiding the cracking possibility.  

Another small thing - once poly glue has been applied to the channel I don't think there is any chemical way to remove it.  When they replace glass that has been glued in with poly from the factory, I think they always just trim away the big chunks of poly with a knife and then plop a fresh layer of glue right onto the old stuff.  I think you would be literally trying to grind off the poly glue with a wire wheel if you ever want to get the channel back to bare metal again in the future.  Butyl would be more easily removed.  

[Baldwinvette77]

wow those do look really nice, maybe do what stroker said and tint the headlight covers black to blend in with the black paint you'll use 

[remta1]

Not quite finished yet but this is how I did mine all steel plate ,solid plate for the nose side, nice and lightweight and moves real fast/nice on the motors.Will change to twin headlights once approved by the transport dept for road use or I might keep the single lights ...sort of getting used to them  

[remta1]

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[Lighthorseman]

This is what the Challenger headlights look like mocked up in the nose. I don't think they look too bad but the HID housing is definitely too bulky and I will be switching to OEM style halogen housings.

That looks cool and evil at the same time.  I really like it.    Not too sure, but it kind of looks like drop-down doors would work...   

[pettybird]

I'm not going to lie, I really like how that looks. 

yeah, that's pretty evil looking. 

[pettybird]

This is what the Challenger headlights look like mocked up in the nose. I don't think they look too bad but the HID housing is definitely too bulky and I will be switching to OEM style halogen housings.

and who else sees this?

[Stevearino]

Why not forget the headlight doors and just put a piece of lexan there instead?  You keep the look of the headlights, you keep the profile of the nose, and it gives it the F&F6 type of look.

I know I will be doing a lot of little custom tweaks but I think having doors on the headlights is one of the things I love about the original design.

[richRTSE]

This is what the Challenger headlights look like mocked up in the nose. I don't think they look too bad but the HID housing is definitely too bulky and I will be switching to OEM style halogen housings.

and who else sees this?

I think its a clearance issue...

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.

[Stevearino]

THIS IS A REPLY TO SOME OF MIKE DC's remarks



Would you even need 3/4" of extra lip?  

I haven't paid enough attention to modern cars to know what kind of overlap they are running these days but the Charger rear window's overlap is tiny.  It's closer to 1/4" of glass on the lip than 3/4".  I would not have believed that little bit was enough if it wasn't how the car was built.  Not saying I would want the front windshield to sit on quite so little of a shelf as the back one does, but I was thinking more like 3/8-1/2" might work.    



                                         When I removed the windshield from the 06 Charger the bed was fairly wide. The glass was sitting on about 3/4 inch of the 1" bed.





Back to the lip for mounting the glass itself . . .

I'm wondering about the possibility of just adding a lip of metal to weld on below the factory lip (like against the underside of the factory lip).  That would allow the glass to sit closer to even with the stock metal lip than above it, which is closer to looking stock and it would probably make the fabrication job easier too.  (I'm not sure how that would affect trying to remove the glass later though.  That could be a downside.)  

                                         
                                             You would need to add an "L" shaped flange to the existing bed but be aware that anything you do to alter the bed will affect the interior finish trim        around the inside of the windshield at the A post and the head liner. My interior will have to be custom anyway so this in not an issue for me.



They paint all the inside edges of modern glue-in glass with some kind of black paint to prevent the glue from getting damaged by UV light over time.  I'm not sure how that affects the adhesive but it obviously works well enough.  A Charger glass would not have that paint.  But the kind of phony black gasket trim piece that I was imagining should cover the same area from the sun.
                             
                                              Many years ago when I worked as a silk screen printer we used a glass ink that could not be scratched off. I am sure there is a comparable paint product used today which I intend to find and use around the perimeter of my glass.

                                               




As for the poly glue stuff cracking windshields, I dunno whether it will be a problem but it's worth some thought.  If you saw a video of somebody using modern poly glue on a stock old Mopar windshield gasket, keep in mind that the rubber gasket probably still retained some flexibility there.  Me, I'm still thinking I would rather stick to butyl tape instead of poly glue if it is adequately strong like poly.  The only downside to butyl tape is the longevity AFAIK.  Having to replace it decades from now seems like a small trade-off for avoiding the cracking possibility.  

Another small thing - once poly glue has been applied to the channel I don't think there is any chemical way to remove it.  When they replace glass that has been glued in with poly from the factory, I think they always just trim away the big chunks of poly with a knife and then plop a fresh layer of glue right onto the old stuff.  I think you would be literally trying to grind off the poly glue with a wire wheel if you ever want to get the channel back to bare metal again in the future.  Butyl would be more easily removed.  

                                              Yeah the poly is like iron to get off but I also had a hell of a time cleaning the gummy butyl out of the original window bed.

[Stevearino]

Not quite finished yet but this is how I did mine all steel plate ,solid plate for the nose side, nice and lightweight and moves real fast/nice on the motors.Will change to twin headlights once approved by the transport dept for road use or I might keep the single lights ...sort of getting used to them   

I like what you have done here . It is another unique solution to the headlight issue . I am kind of sold on the simplicity of the drop down concept. What kind of actuator are you using. Is it part of the original vacume system or is it an electro mechanical set up?

[Stevearino]

This is what the Challenger headlights look like mocked up in the nose. I don't think they look too bad but the HID housing is definitely too bulky and I will be switching to OEM style halogen housings.

and who else sees this?

I think its a clearance issue...

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.

By the time the lights are set back in the nose the back of the housing sticks out of the back of the nose. The simple halogin housings are much more shallow front to back than the projector style box.

[Bob T]

That's fairly interersting Remta, didn't know you were building a wing car 
You'll need another thread with lots of pictures now

Another vote for the headlight blackouts Stevearino 

[Stevearino]

There are still lots of annoying little rust repairs that I am having to make. Here is the right side door pillar at the base of the "A" post.
Also I removed the center supports in the roof to clean the surface rust under them. Here they are ready to be re installed.

[Stevearino]

And we have lift off. I was hoping to have a 2 post lift installed before I got to this point but monies a  little tight so the redneck method will have to do.
There is a lot of good stuff on the rolling chassis if anyone is interested in it PM me.

[JB400]

You might want to go ahead and cut out your numbers out of the radiator core support while your at it.  Weld them on the new car somewhere.

Progress looks good

[Stevearino]

You might want to go ahead and cut out your numbers out of the radiator core support while your at it.  Weld them on the new car somewhere.

Progress looks good

The North Carolina state inspector that issued my non operational title for this car was confused by the mismatch of the radiator core, fender tag and dash numbers and issued a title based on the dash number alone. I probably don't want to risk confusing them again when I go for my operational title.

[JB400]

In that case, I would agree with you

[Baldwinvette77]

Oooo  thats good stuff  how long until we see it on the late model chassis? 

[Stevearino]

Oooo  thats good stuff  how long until we see it on the late model chassis? 

It will be a while. I have a lot more prep work to the late model chassis and some more prep to the 68 now that it is free of the old chassis.