SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[djcarguy]

No shortcuts fella's. Just one foot in front of the other and get it all done what ever it takes.

[djcarguy]

  Looking great ,awesum work..  How about paint the jamms, window posts ,an inner panals?  get glass in an enjoy the summer then outer body work after some summer fun?? just an idea summer fun an testing then the pain of bondo an blocking it, after a summer break??  enjoy an please keep us posted  ,thanks .... latttter DJ

   NON A SHORTCUT _STEVE___----  it wood bee more work installing lites an needed legal stuff 2 times ?   an test an shake down runs ,,non short cut?  

 BUT on the plus side in my mind,or my  WOOD get 2 different coming out partys and see diff reactions to project and or painted reviews..       just my  

  your car ,,go for what works fur ya,,, but unfinished outside an that awesum interior ,WOULD BEEE a big draw at some shows an events,,,my meaningless   :cheers:DJ

[Stevearino]

   Looking great ,awesum work..  How about paint the jamms, window posts ,an inner panals?  get glass in an enjoy the summer then outer body work after some summer fun?? just an idea summer fun an testing then the pain of bondo an blocking it, after a summer break??  enjoy an please keep us posted  ,thanks .... latttter DJ

    NON A SHORTCUT _STEVE___----  it wood bee more work installing lites an needed legal stuff 2 times ?   an test an shake down runs ,,non short cut? 

  BUT on the plus side in my mind,or my   WOOD get 2 different coming out partys and see diff reactions to project and or painted reviews..       just my 

   your car ,,go for what works fur ya,,, but unfinished outside an that awesum interior ,WOULD BEEE a big draw at some shows an events,,,my meaningless  :cheers:DJ

That's very tempting DJ but it is a ton of work to get the door glass in and properly aligned and I don't want to booger it up taking it back out again.

[1965gp]

This build is amazing

[Stevearino]

This build is amazing

Thank you for your encouragement 1965gp.

Well I am rounding third base and heading for home on the interior panels. I finished fabricating the right side back door panel and also bondoed and covered the left side. While the front door panels were way more complex I was able to work on them with the door on saw horses. These had to be made in the car sitting kind of twisted. I am pretty happy with the results thus far. I have some little do-dads to attend to once I get done with the interior panels before I move into the body work. I have timed it just right because it is getting nice and hot here so as you know that is the best time to be covered in bondo.

[Troy]

Wow! I haven't been to my shop in 3 weeks. And I saved all my sandblasting for this weather so we can be miserable together.

Troy

[DonC1]

Simply Awesome incredible work! Always wanted to build a metal headliner too. Yours is outstanding!

[Stevearino]

Wow! I haven't been to my shop in 3 weeks. And I saved all my sandblasting for this weather so we can be miserable together.

Troy

Sounds like some big time  fun.

Simply Awesome incredible work! Always wanted to build a metal headliner too. Yours is outstanding!

Don, knowing what you have accomplished that is a tremendous compliment.
To be honest I was surprised I was able to pull it off. It was a chicken or an egg type project. I stared at it for months trying to figure out how the hell to even start.

[Baldwinvette77]

I know its still a bit early, but did you ever decide on a final paint theme? i remember you thinking about yellow 

[Stevearino]

I know its still a bit early, but did you ever decide on a final paint theme? i remember you thinking about yellow 

Yeah I decided to go back to my original concept which you can see in my avatar. It will be a Charcoal over gun metal grey. The yellow was a bit over the top for my taste after all.

[Arigmaster]

Been watching this thread from the beginning.... Awesome work Steve! I wish I had half the talent you have been exhibiting on this build.

I do have to wonder though... Do you think that weight will cause any issues?

[Stevearino]

Been watching this thread from the beginning.... Awesome work Steve! I wish I had half the talent you have been exhibiting on this build.

I do have to wonder though... Do you think that weight will cause any issues?

Thanks for the encouragement as I sit here in the air conditioning not wanting to go back to my hot shop. I have seen a number of these conversions and there doesn't seem to be a weight issue. The 06 is a considerably heavier car than the Gen 2 Charger. Although the steel is heavier on the old car body it sits 3 inches lower so the center of gravity should be good relative to roll over. We shall see the first time I try to corner hard and stick it into a fence row.

[Stevearino]

Well I am at the point where I am going back through the car and tackling all the little projects left to fabricate. The first issue was to build a prop rod for the hood. While the gas shocks lift the hood just fine they were designed to hold up a light weight aluminum hood and even with the inner liner removed this old Charger hood weighs a few pounds more. So just to be safe. I used some 3/8" .049 wall DOM steel tubing to make the rod itself. I made a double sheer bracket to attach the rod to the radiator core support. At the opposite end I modified a rubberized "P" clip to secure the end when stowed. I drilled a hole in the hood latch bracket to catch the rod and welded a washer on it at the same angle as the hood latch bracket.

[Stevearino]

Another small project was to locate the windshield washer nozzles  in the hood and also locate the lines under the hood.

[Stevearino]

One of the issues that has had me worried since I first installed it was how I was going to keep rain water from pouring into the trunk around the gas fill I put into the top of  the quarter panel. Since the enclosure was meant to be mounted on the side of the car I had to come up with a way to keep the water from collecting in the enclosure and then leaking in around the rubber gasket that the fill neck comes through. I stared at it for quite a while. The first thing I did was to install a small aluminum drain in the bottom of the enclosure. A bit of plastic tubing will drain water out through the bottom of the quarter panel closure.

[Stevearino]

Next was the tricky part. Since the rubber gasket around the fill tube is not a water tight seal I had to figure out a way to isolate it from any water that would make it's way into the enclosure. I decided to modify the gas door assembly by first creating a flat ring at the base which later will seal against the bottom of the enclosure around the fill neck. Next I fabricated a vertical ring to act as a dam against the water that might get in. Finally I made a larger overlapping vertical ring which I attached to the door itself. This will hopefully cover the lower ring enough to prevent water from driving in over the lower ring.

[Baldwinvette77]

There must be a thousand "little things" on a car like that 

[Stevearino]

There must be a thousand "little things" on a car like that 

You  have first hand experience for sure.

[XS29L9B2]

your job is fantastic   

[Stevearino]

So I guess I am officially sliding into the body work here. Last week end  I finished bondo work and blocking on the center section that I made for the wing. While I was bolting it to the uprights I realized that having been a one piece wing originally there was not a whole lot of strength to the area where the wing bolts together.
So I stopped what I was doing to work on a plan to reinforce that area.  I cut the area out so that I had a clear shot through the wing to the base. I drilled a half inch hole in the base and ran some 1/2 x .049 wall steel tubing through. At the top of the tubing I welded a seat for the bolt made from some .083 1" tubing and a .090 plate for the wing bolt to pass through.

[Stevearino]

I used some Fusor brand panel bond adhesive to epoxy the assembly in place and then did a little bondo work to clean it up. I purchased some 5/16-18 shoulder bolts with 3/8" x 1" shoulder to attach the center section to the uprights. I also threaded some pins into the side of the center section of the wing to keep it from rotating. Once everything was assembled I did some bondo work to blend everything together. I thought about leaving the rods long to go down into the trunk but that's would be a little over kill. It would also be a bit of a rat's nest in there if I did that.

[Stevearino]

Another little project I did was to epoxy the side mirrors to the custom steel door mounts that I had made. I did a little bondo work to them to blend the mount to the mirror housing.

[Stevearino]

In between things I worked on extending the tailpipes back to the exhaust tips mounted under the roll pan. The 2 3/4" SRT tubing proved a little hard to get a hold of so I just stepped it up to some 3" and mashed on. I eliminated the rear mufflers as there really wasn't any way to tuck them in the space under the quarters so I hope it doesn't sound funny.

[Baldwinvette77]

Did you put a lip on the valance around the exhaust tip? it kinda looks like it, but a bit hard to see 

[Stevearino]

Did you put a lip on the valance around the exhaust tip? it kinda looks like it, but a bit hard to see  

Yes there is sheet metal above the exhaust tips.