SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[Stevearino]

Color looks great! I'm looking forward to the body work on my car! Did I just say that?
Pat

I hate that this will be another Grey on grey car since they seem to be the fashion now but it just works for what I am doing. BTW when you say you are looking forward to the body work you are just kidding right?

Amazing! 

Thanks again Baldwinvette77. Seems like it is going on forever at this point huh?

Very impressive work on this build...actually, more like completely & utterly amazing! 

Thanks for that over the top description Charger_Fan. I appreciate the good vibe.

looks like things are rolling along  smoothly. great stuff

Last month has been hell but it is getting warmer, my back is 90% better and I am starting to get a little traction again.

How the hell is it you don't have your own TV show?

I get so tired of seeing these douche bags pumping cars out in a matter of weeks and making big money on them.

I wouldn't want the responsibility for boring people to death waiting for the next show.


Well I hauled the doors and fenders into the spray room to start work on painting the insides and edges on these components. Hopefully it won't take forever but there are tons of nooks and crannies to attend to so who knows.

[Stevearino]

I was kind of stuck as to what to do about the opening treatment for the fender scoops. I had tried different things but nothing looked good so I had resigned myself to just putting in a solid closure of black aluminum. I took one more stab at it and got some expanded metal. Actually it is one of those screens you put over your rain gutters to keep the leaves out. The mesh was just tight enough and it will give the scoop some function venting the under hood area if not the actual fender. I will secure it to the bottom of the fender with some Fusor T-21 epoxy .

[Stevearino]

Finally another piece of the car back on for good. I mounted the hood for the final time.

[qwick68]

Looking awesome.....

[Patronus]

I use the gutter guard at the front valence gap on our Charger and Cuda. Works well, soft though.

[remta1]

I was kind of stuck as to what to do about the opening treatment for the fender scoops. I had tried different things but nothing looked good so I had resigned myself to just putting in a solid closure of black aluminum. I took one more stab at it and got some expanded metal. Actually it is one of those screens you put over your rain gutters to keep the leaves out. The mesh was just tight enough and it will give the scoop some function venting the under hood area if not the actual fender. I will secure it to the bottom of the fender with some Fusor T-21 epoxy .

ummmm please please do not take this as critism...your fabrication skills and reinterpretation of blending modern components with old components and this build in general is absolutely incredible. BUT I would hate for you to use that cheap looking grill mesh   .What about using the fine plastic honeycomb mesh that you can buy or fabricate something from an original factory grill or air dams etc.

[Montreal Wing Car]

Here is the actual piece on the SRT hood scoop on my Charger... Would suit the theme...


Ben

[Mike DC]

 
Who sells that plastic honeycomb mesh?

[rapidtransitrick]

Looking awesome.....

yes it does 

[Stevearino]

I was kind of stuck as to what to do about the opening treatment for the fender scoops. I had tried different things but nothing looked good so I had resigned myself to just putting in a solid closure of black aluminum. I took one more stab at it and got some expanded metal. Actually it is one of those screens you put over your rain gutters to keep the leaves out. The mesh was just tight enough and it will give the scoop some function venting the under hood area if not the actual fender. I will secure it to the bottom of the fender with some Fusor T-21 epoxy .

ummmm please please do not take this as critism...your fabrication skills and reinterpretation of blending modern components with old components and this build in general is absolutely incredible. BUT I would hate for you to use that cheap looking grill mesh   .What about using the fine plastic honeycomb mesh that you can buy or fabricate something from an original factory grill or air dams etc.

The problem is scale. The openings are pretty tiny and once painted I don't think they will look cheap. I tried a number of things and they all ended up looking like 10 pounds of junk in a 5 pound bag. Also I am at a point where I have to decide or this little detail will keep me from mounting the fenders due to the way the screen will not be able to be attached from the outside and there will be no access once the fender is on. But who knows. If i can get a hold of something like that in the next week or so I might just take your advice. I do like the 3d honeycomb.

Here is the actual piece on the SRT hood scoop on my Charger... Would suit the theme...


Ben

Here is the actual piece on the SRT hood scoop on my Charger... Would suit the theme...


Ben

Yeah. Even though it is just flat mesh it kind of fits that pattern.

Looking awesome.....

yes it does  

Thanks Rapidtransitrick.

[Stevearino]

Just did a quick side by side and I like the SRT hood scoop insert. The piece itself is too small to scavenge the honeycomb from it and a quick scan of ebay says that they sell for about $60.00 so that is out. There is a lot of universal ABS honeycomb flat sheets for sale but I  could not find a mesh as small as the SRT insert let alone something smaller. Most ABS universals that I looked at were twice the size of the SRT insert. I will do a little more hunting tonight but if anyone knows  where that 1/2" x 1/4" might be bought let me know.

[murfman]

Ebay has many choices  I think metal is better than plastic myself

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/mesh-grill

[DAY CLONA]

I was kind of stuck as to what to do about the opening treatment for the fender scoops. I had tried different things but nothing looked good so I had resigned myself to just putting in a solid closure of black aluminum. I took one more stab at it and got some expanded metal. Actually it is one of those screens you put over your rain gutters to keep the leaves out. The mesh was just tight enough and it will give the scoop some function venting the under hood area if not the actual fender. I will secure it to the bottom of the fender with some Fusor T-21 epoxy .

ummmm please please do not take this as critism...your fabrication skills and reinterpretation of blending modern components with old components and this build in general is absolutely incredible. BUT I would hate for you to use that cheap looking grill mesh   .What about using the fine plastic honeycomb mesh that you can buy or fabricate something from an original factory grill or air dams etc.

Agreed, it's the attention to small details that makes a statement to the quality finish of a custom build, flat sheet screen has it's place/use in some builds and applications, but often times a dimension 3D depth lends a more dramatic look to an opening, I've used aluminum and plastic honeycomb, rectangular, square, etc, etc panel material to create a more dramatic effect in grille/scoop openings, the products/sizes/thickness's available are vast and unique, generally some form of a frame around the said screening detail adds for a more finished installation in the insert/opening...Sorry more work for you Steve Great work, nicely done build, I can appreciate the amount of effort and diligence you've put in!

Mike

[Stevearino]

Okay Mike. I get the picture. Time to put a little effort into it. I am going to try something. If it works it should do the trick. Not going to say until I work it out. Distractions , Distractions , Distractions.

[held1823]

Okay Mike. I get the picture. Time to put a little effort into it. I am going to try something. If it works it should do the trick. Not going to say until I work it out. Distractions , Distractions , Distractions.

this single post is what makes an awesome build/thread even better. one master craftsman more or less challenging his peer to go the extra mile, so to speak.

[Stevearino]

Okay Mike. I get the picture. Time to put a little effort into it. I am going to try something. If it works it should do the trick. Not going to say until I work it out. Distractions , Distractions , Distractions.

this single post is what makes an awesome build/thread even better. one master craftsman more or less challenging his peer to go the extra mile, so to speak.

High praise indeed. Thanks held1823.

So while it might look like a bit of overkill papered over the outsides of the front fenders so as to not create more work for myself getting rid of the over spray onto the out side surface while I worked the insides.

I then went ahead and sealed , base coated and cleared the insides of the doors and the relevant parts of the front fenders.

I had also painted the door hinges and hardware and attached them for the final time. Again here I had used cleco's to relocate the hinges as to save me time re aligning them. And again not a good tip for restoration jobs but for my project it worked fine.

[Stevearino]

I put the new door seals on the back side of the door while I had it laying down. I had to make a couple of modifications to the seal due to the difference in the latch mechanisms and in the front where the vent window would normally go.
Also while I had it laying flat I glued in some sound deadener in the area of the door skin across from the door speaker to dampen vibrations on the skin.
I also took the time to run my wiring harness in the door while I had good lighting and could see all my attachment points.
After that I proceeded to hang the doors for the final time on the car. The last picture here shows the rubber boot for the door wiring harness installed for the last time.

[Stevearino]

Before installing the door catch I applied a little low tac 3m welding spatter paper to the jamb. I did this to prevent marring the door jamb while moving the catch around to set it in the proper position.
Once it was properly set I carefully trimmed around it with a new exacto knife. I then removed the catch and peeled the paper out from under it so as to create a register for re-installation

[Stevearino]

Finally here are some pictures of the doors attached to the car for the final time.

[tsmithae]

Looking very good! Thanks for taking the time to post these pictures and some of the small steps.  It helps give me ideas of what/when to do things when I get to this point.   

[Dino]

I don't know why I never read this thread but it was long overdue. I read everything start to finish and I am in awe!   

Repairing and restoring cars was my first career and I have done plenty metal work, but you sir take it up a few notches!   

[Baldwinvette77]

I've watched this thread since it started and its still hard to believe thats a 4 door Mercedes based family car 

[Patronus]

Pretty soon you'll be on to the next one  :popcorn:
Gotta love making stuff

[Stevearino]

Looking very good! Thanks for taking the time to post these pictures and some of the small steps.  It helps give me ideas of what/when to do things when I get to this point.   

Some of the steps I am taking are just extra precautions because I am not a professional painter and must be extra careful not to miss anything.

I don't know why I never read this thread but it was long overdue. I read everything start to finish and I am in awe!   

Repairing and restoring cars was my first career and I have done plenty metal work, but you sir take it up a few notches!   

Well thanks for hanging in there Dino. I know it is a long slog to read the whole thing. Thank you also for the words of encouragement.

I've watched this thread since it started and its still hard to believe thats a 4 door Mercedes based family car 

I try to tell people what a great buy this platform is because they do not realize that this was designed when the company was Daimler/Chrysler. If you just re-badged it with the Mercedes logo you would pay at least twice the price for the same thing.

Pretty soon you'll be on to the next one  :popcorn:
Gotta love making stuff

Unfortunately it will be back to my 18 year ongoing and recently very neglected project. My stupid old house. Been working on fixer uppers for 37 years now.

[Stevearino]

Okay. Well in response to remta1, Montreal Wing Car, murfman and DAY CLONA.  This is what I came up with on the fender scoops as an alternative to the gutter screen. I had the plastic insert that was in the SRT-8 hood scoop and since I could not find a comparable grill mesh at that scale I decided to try my hand at replicating what I had with some mold making materials and some casting resin.
The first thing I did was to tape off the back side and spray some mold release agent.
I then purchased some two part silicone mold making material.