SRT-8 Daytona Clone

[garner7555]

Pure...    Awesome...                    

[XS29L9B2]

fantastic job steeve

[tan top]

wow   looks awesome !!     !!  

its no secret i prefer  chargers/ mopars  looking stock or day 2 etc ...& extensively modified custom chargers are not a favourite  ( cant mess with perfection IMO ....but at the same time  can appreciate the work that goes into them none the less  )

 THIS  Daytona clone  of yours  Stevearino   ,  i never thought i would say this about such a extensively modified charger !  just works for me  , everything  about it works , im a  no bigger than 15 inch rims guy , & even the wheels work ,  looks fantastic !!  so far removed from a stock Daytona  , yet it still looks perfect  , like its meant to be  ...  Awesome Fabrication Awesome Job    

[Stevearino]

WOW! Looks awesome! Congrats!
Pat

Thanks Pat

 I love this car !!!!   You have done such an AWESOME job on this beauty!!!

CDR I  appreciate you slogging it out with me all the way. Seeing you get your car done against some pretty steep odds really spurred me on.

*standing ovation* *all the applause*

Well done! Congratulations!

Thank you  ChallengerD

Looking sharp!!!  I'm loving the color, and the fitment of everything from the nose to the bumpers, exhaust... It all looks so well sorted!

One of my pet peeves about the cars of this era was the poor fitment so I worked extra hard to try and reconcile what I could. Thank you.

Dude, this is an amazing build. Thank you for sharing this.

It's just a matter of time before this car has its own magazine shoot/article.

I have had some interest. We will see if anything materializes   The idea of sharing it helped keep me motivated for sure.

I am in awe...this is absolutely stunning.  

I am flattered Dino. Thank you for the enthusiasm.

Congradulations    Well done on the build and happy to see the car pretty much done  

Thanks for sharing the process along the way  

You are very welcome 69_Charger_RT.

What the others wrote.  It is beautiful.

I am happy you think so XH29N0G.

Fantastic job  

Thanks sy440m.

...Holy HELL.

Words fail me.  

Thanks again Lighthorseman. You have weight in on several occasions.

I am in awe...this is absolutely stunning.  

May she run as fine as she looks.

mike69440  That has yet to be determined. I hope her first 66,000 miles were not rough.

Pure...    Awesome...              

Thanks garner7555.

fantastic job steeve

Thanks XS29L9B2. I will be watching your progress. So far it is looking real good.

wow       !!  

its no secret i prefer  chargers/ mopars  looking stock or day 2 etc ...& extensively modified custom chargers are not a favourite  ( cant mess with perfection IMO ....but at the same time  can appreciate the work that goes into them none the less  )

 THIS  Daytona clone  of yours  Stevearino   ,  i never thought i would say this about such a extensively modified charger !  just works for me  , everything  about it works , im a  no bigger than 15 inch rims guy , & even the wheels work ,  looks fantastic !!  so far removed from a stock Daytona  , yet it still looks perfect  , like its meant to be  ...  Awesome Fabrication Awesome Job    

What you are really reacting to are the styling cues that brought people out to the race track and what made me fall in love with these cars. From the beginning I wanted to simulate the race car as much as would be possible without actually painting a number on the side. These are the specific things I wanted that the street cars did not have. Large diameter tires that filled up the wheel holes. No vent windows (1970) . Smooth area where the chrome gas cap went. Radius front wheel openings with a fender flair. I wanted it to be low with a definite rake. I wanted a decent size front air dam. I wanted the nose to look sculpted not an after thought tacked on later. The area behind the door simulates the way they flared the quarter panel in just behind the door. Things that were not on the race car that I thought the car needed was some of the superior styling of the Superbird nose with the grill underneath and proper signal lights. I also thought that the longer hood that is similar to the 71 would be cool to try. Half the cars in the field had the Daytona stripe. I preferred cars painted like Bobby Allison where the wing was painted the same as the top color of the car. So in reality my modifications are not stock but by no means new. They are slight tweeks on what the race car version. I just stole what I liked.



 

[Charger_Fan]

Damn, I'm six days late to the party! 
That is one dead sexy hunk-a-vehicle you've created there Steve, absolutely outstanding!

Thank you so much for taking us all along with your build, and for all the great looking pics of the car out in the fresh air. Nice looking yard too, by the way. 

[dave14]

Very nice ..... its a wing car but a unique wing car nothing like the rest with awesome refinements of a new car re- engineered sort of ... I hope you get legal soon shes too pretty to look at  !!

Dave

[Stevearino]

Damn, I'm six days late to the party! 
That is one dead sexy hunk-a-vehicle you've created there Steve, absolutely outstanding!

Thank you so much for taking us all along with your build, and for all the great looking pics of the car out in the fresh air. Nice looking yard too, by the way. 

It was my pleasure Charger_Fan. Yard looks good from far away when I cut the weeds. 

Very nice ..... its a wing car but a unique wing car nothing like the rest with awesome refinements of a new car re- engineered sort of ... I hope you get legal soon shes too pretty to look at  !!

Dave

Thanks Dave. I can't wait to drive it that's for sure.

Well I started on the items that need to be re done. The first was getting the drivers door glass that I cracked back out of the car. It might not be entirely my fault as to why it cracked. I don't know why I did not notice it with all the times I had the glass in and out of the car but I laid a straight edge on it and it has quite a bit of bow to it front to back. The passenger side is dead flat front to rear and fits nicely along the "A" post.

[Stevearino]

You can see from these pictures that the passenger side glass fits much better and if very flat where it meets the roof and goes into the door.

[Baldwinvette77]

looking great 

[Highbanked Hauler]

You can see from these pictures that the passenger side glass fits much better and if very flat where it meets the roof and goes into the door.

   Is that regular Charger glass ?

[Stevearino]

looking great 

Thanks Baldwinvetty77

You can see from these pictures that the passenger side glass fits much better and if very flat where it meets the roof and goes into the door.

   Is that regular Charger glass ?

No. It is one of a couple of pieces of custom glass made for the "Drive Angry" and "Fast and Furious 7" movie cars.  Not really a surprise that it was not perfect. Movie cars are props. I just sent the drivers side door glass off to Cinema Vehicles in California. They bought out Alan Auto Glass which supplied me with the glass back in 2014. They have the molds so hopefully they can make me a better piece.

[fez340]

i have been watching your build since the beginning. amazing craftsmanship and dedication! it turned out incredible!  thanks for sharing the journey with us   

[Patronus]

I feel your pain.

[RallyeMike]

Pretty amazing conclusion. Are you going to sell it now and start another project? 

[Stevearino]

i have been watching your build since the beginning. amazing craftsmanship and dedication! it turned out incredible!  thanks for sharing the journey with us   

It was a lot of fun and while I won't be posting as often I will put something up when I start taking the car around. Thanks for the compliments.

I feel your pain.

What are we doing? Are you putting in a vent window delete and if you are where did you get the glass made up?

Pretty amazing conclusion. Are you going to sell it now and start another project? 

No. I won't be selling it unless someone comes along with a boat load of money. It would take a lot to justify letting 4 years of my life go without enjoying it.
I wish I had the luxury of moving on to some of the other ideas I have had but finance and time won't allow. I hope to do something else in the future. Hopefully not to distant.

[Lighthorseman]

"...No. I won't be selling it unless someone comes along with a boat load of money..."

Man - if I had a spare quarter million or so...

[Fin Day]

Selling that can´t be an option !
I would suggest a world tour with it - showing it, telling how it was built and driving it also.
I even have a suggestion of first stop : Helsinki, Finland 

[Stevearino]

"...No. I won't be selling it unless someone comes along with a boat load of money..."

Man - if I had a spare quarter million or so...

I can hold it for you.

Selling that can´t be an option !
I would suggest a world tour with it - showing it, telling how it was built and driving it also.
I even have a suggestion of first stop : Helsinki, Finland 

Finland? I can't even get DMV to let me get it out of the driveway.

Speaking of DMV. You know how it took 2 weeks for them to come out. And when the guy came out he said he was going on vacation and wouldn't be back in the office for 10 days. Well that back in the office day was 2 weeks ago and now it is almost a full month since he was out here and I get a call from him. He said he has some more questions. Which means he hasn't submitted the paper work yet. That was Wednesday. I answered the questions to the best of my ability and he said he would fill out the forms and E-mail them to me the following day. Yes it is now Friday and no e-mail from DMV. And so on it goes.

[Stevearino]

Just in case anyone would be curious the State of North Carolina has deemed it legal and proper for me to own my car and it is now eligible to be insured and tagged. That process will happen next week as I am exhausted from repeat visits to DMV. Turns out the inspector had thought he had e mailed the forms to me a week ago but had not in fact done so. When he did I printed them out right away as to not loose them. After all is said and done. After all the back and forth. After all the photo documentation. The top of the form read " 1968- Dodge Charger-2 door sedan-factory".    

[Dino]

Woohoo! I'm glad your wait is finally coming to an end.   

So does that mean you can insure it as a classic car?

[Stevearino]

Woohoo! I'm glad your wait is finally coming to an end.   

So does that mean you can insure it as a classic car?

My insurance company State Farm has a Classic Car/ Resto Mod division now and this falls under the latter. So they are going over some of my build pictures to see if we can come to what is known as an "agreed upon value". The premium will be based on that. Guy at work insured his car for $40,000 under a similar scenario and pays about $400 a year. I plan to try for $50,000 which gets me my out of pocket money and about 15%. Trying to get my labor would not be practical as replacement by a pro shop would be between $250,000.00 and $300,000.00 so even if I could get that assessment I wouldn't want to pay that premium.

[Dino]

Woohoo! I'm glad your wait is finally coming to an end.   

So does that mean you can insure it as a classic car?

My insurance company State Farm has a Classic Car/ Resto Mod division now and this falls under the latter. So they are going over some of my build pictures to see if we can come to what is known as an "agreed upon value". The premium will be based on that. Guy at work insured his car for $40,000 under a similar scenario and pays about $400 a year. I plan to try for $50,000 which gets me my out of pocket money and about 15%. Trying to get my labor would not be practical as replacement by a pro shop would be between $250,000.00 and $300,000.00 so even if I could get that assessment I wouldn't want to pay that premium.

No that would be a painful premium to be sure! The resto mod plan sounds real solid! Get good coverage and don't pay through the nose for it. 
I paid over $400 for my 69 just to have an agreed upon value of $30K, but Michigan is known for their higher premiums.

[djcarguy]

 

[tsmithae]

Glad to hear she's been cleared!

[garner7555]

iI look forward to seeing it in Alabama now that you will be able to start your 48 state tour!  HAHAHA