Hellcat Charger build questions.

[bigdsul]

I have been tossing around the idea of doing a Hellcat driven Charger build. The idea is using the motor, transmission, drive train and rear end plus upgrading the suspension as well. Pretty much getting all the good out of the hellcat poweplant and modern handling and installing it into a 50 year old charger body.

I am wanting to install a used motor setup pulled from a wrecked car. I've come across cars that have had rear end body damage and totalled out but motor and transmission are untouched.

I have a few questions and I've seen all sorts of examples with different outcomes. Full on restomod to the General Mayhem example to everything in between.

Did there have to be heavy modifications done to the body to accommodate the motor, transmission and everything else related to the powerplant?

Has anyone tried using the original gauges with modern equipment having good results?

What sort of troubles or headaches have been encountered with a project like this?

[70B5Cuda]

With that kind of power, at minimum, you will need wider rear wheel tubs, a roll cage, and subframe connectors that channel through the floor. Just connecting them at the ends isn't enough. There are several ways to do this. One is the transplant the Charger shell onto a hellcat chassis. The other way is to modify the Charger and graft hellcat components to the Charger shell. I did option two on a 68 roadrunner. Neither one is cheap. The easiest thing would be to buy a 4 link and front suspension from Reilly Motorsports. I have independent rear suspension grafted into the runner and it was no small task. Here's my build thread with lots of pictures

https://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/1968-runner-post-w-6-1l-6-speed-irs.137000/

[Mike DC]

With that kind of power, at minimum, you will need wider rear wheel tubs, a roll cage, and subframe connectors that channel through the floor. Just connecting them at the ends isn't enough. There are several ways to do this. One is the transplant the Charger shell onto a hellcat chassis. The other way is to modify the Charger and graft hellcat components to the Charger shell. I did option two on a 68 roadrunner. Neither one is cheap. The easiest thing would be to buy a 4 link and front suspension from Reilly Motorsports. I have independent rear suspension grafted into the runner and it was no small task. Here's my build thread with lots of pictures

Yes and no.

The car only NEEDS that kind of chassis work if you want to stand a chance of hooking up all that power.  If you're fine with blowing away the tires at low speeds then the chassis doesn't need more work than any other restomod street buildup.  (15x8 wheels and BFG radial tires = it could use front disc brakes and some unibody stiffening pieces.  Slightly more swaybar at both ends would be nice too.)

We could call it unsafe to combine 700 HP and a common near-stock chassis/tires.  But the same logic says restored muscle cars on OEM tire sizes aren't safe either.    


Big HP + small tires = driving on ice.  
It will wipe out the tires.  It will make it easier to lose control and wreck the car.  But the chassis won't be hurt just from the HP alone.    


(70B5Cuda, you build some really good stuff in that thread.  )

[bigdsul]

70b5cuda,

I was thinking about what sort of underbody work would have to be done to accommodate the motor and increased torsion etc that would be put on the car body. I know for sure that I would like to upgrade the suspension, put disc brakes all around, widen the wheel wells to accommodate at least a 12.5 inch wide tire at the rear and 10 inch wide up front, tube the bottom of the car especially around the frame rails up front and back.

[Lennard]

In this video you can see the braces welded into my '68.
Ten braces all together.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LfozgvRJduM

[bigdsul]

In this video you can see the braces welded into my '68.
Ten braces all together.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LfozgvRJduM

Looks good! Sid you do a build thread by chance?

[Lennard]

I did, until photobucket messed up (lots of pictures gone) and it became a task to post pictures here.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,122366.0.html

Some of Chris' videos are about the build of my hooptie.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9iB3N-4-09I

[DAY CLONA]

I have been tossing around the idea of doing a Hellcat driven Charger build. The idea is using the motor, transmission, drive train and rear end plus upgrading the suspension as well. Pretty much getting all the good out of the hellcat poweplant and modern handling and installing it into a 50 year old charger body.

I am wanting to install a used motor setup pulled from a wrecked car. I've come across cars that have had rear end body damage and totalled out but motor and transmission are untouched.

I have a few questions and I've seen all sorts of examples with different outcomes. Full on restomod to the General Mayhem example to everything in between.

Did there have to be heavy modifications done to the body to accommodate the motor, transmission and everything else related to the powerplant?

Has anyone tried using the original gauges with modern equipment having good results?

What sort of troubles or headaches have been encountered with a project like this?

Your looking at a lot of work to stuff all that "new stuff" into a 50 yr old chassis...IMHO your better off finding a nice 4dr Charger/300 and reskinning the car with AMD/Goodmark/used original sheetmetal turning it into what year 68/69/70 Charger you desire, you'll have all the chassis/driveline engineering already done for you, the LX platform only has a 2" (120" vs 118") difference in wheelbase, which you can fudge when reskinning the car

[bigdsul]

I have been tossing around the idea of doing a Hellcat driven Charger build. The idea is using the motor, transmission, drive train and rear end plus upgrading the suspension as well. Pretty much getting all the good out of the hellcat poweplant and modern handling and installing it into a 50 year old charger body.

I am wanting to install a used motor setup pulled from a wrecked car. I've come across cars that have had rear end body damage and totalled out but motor and transmission are untouched.

I have a few questions and I've seen all sorts of examples with different outcomes. Full on restomod to the General Mayhem example to everything in between.

Did there have to be heavy modifications done to the body to accommodate the motor, transmission and everything else related to the powerplant?

Has anyone tried using the original gauges with modern equipment having good results?

What sort of troubles or headaches have been encountered with a project like this?

Your looking at a lot of work to stuff all that "new stuff" into a 50 yr old chassis...IMHO your better off finding a nice 4dr Charger/300 and reskinning the car with AMD/Goodmark/used original sheetmetal turning it into what year 68/69/70 Charger you desire, you'll have all the chassis/driveline engineering already done for you, the LX platform only has a 2" (120" vs 118") difference in wheelbase, which you can fudge when reskinning the car

Has anyone done something like that before? I have done a lot of engine work and transmission work etc but never tried anything close to something like doing a body swap.

[DAY CLONA]

I have been tossing around the idea of doing a Hellcat driven Charger build. The idea is using the motor, transmission, drive train and rear end plus upgrading the suspension as well. Pretty much getting all the good out of the hellcat poweplant and modern handling and installing it into a 50 year old charger body.

I am wanting to install a used motor setup pulled from a wrecked car. I've come across cars that have had rear end body damage and totalled out but motor and transmission are untouched.

I have a few questions and I've seen all sorts of examples with different outcomes. Full on restomod to the General Mayhem example to everything in between.

Did there have to be heavy modifications done to the body to accommodate the motor, transmission and everything else related to the powerplant?

Has anyone tried using the original gauges with modern equipment having good results?

What sort of troubles or headaches have been encountered with a project like this?

Your looking at a lot of work to stuff all that "new stuff" into a 50 yr old chassis...IMHO your better off finding a nice 4dr Charger/300 and reskinning the car with AMD/Goodmark/used original sheetmetal turning it into what year 68/69/70 Charger you desire, you'll have all the chassis/driveline engineering already done for you, the LX platform only has a 2" (120" vs 118") difference in wheelbase, which you can fudge when reskinning the car

Has anyone done something like that before? I have done a lot of engine work and transmission work etc but never tried anything close to something like doing a body swap.

There's plenty of late model Charger/300/Challengers that have been reskinned, even by members here, Stevearino's 69 Daytona build on a SRT Charger, the thread build is on this site, he's currently doing a 71 styled RR/GTX build on a newer Challenger, plenty of other builds out there...Google is your friend

[Stevearino]

So there is a lot to consider and many ways to go about this. The easiest of course is to do a suspension upgrade on your Charger and shoehorn the Hellcat in. If you have someone well versed in the computer technology they can sort the electrical but I think you will need the steering column and gauges at minimum. The gas tank will have to be modified for return lines. If you go this route you can pretty much get all the support you need from Cleveland Power and performance in Ohio. They will sort and palletize everything you need. The engine will start and run on the pallet when you get it.You will have to modify the mounts and there will be fab on the "K" frame ect. but still the least fuss ala the General mayhem.

The second route which includes the suspension and running gear I have seen started but never finished This is quite involved and includes creating shock towers in the front of the car and spring buckets in the rear. Also you will have to mount the engine cradle . The upside is you get the engineered ride of the new car.The downside is all of the careful measuring you will have to do to make sure the geometry remains correct The biggest issue with this is starting with the SRT and above packages you have to accommodate the larger and wider wheels and tires that come with these cars. You will be locked into 20" minimum wheels as all the up model brakes are the large Brembo calipers and I think there is only one set of Torque Thrust 18" wheels that will clear the calipers. This might not seem that big a deal until you see that small second gen body with those big wheels. Also some of the Hell Cats have a wider track. This will not fit under a gen 2 Charger unless you wide body the rear of the car and widen the front fenders to fit. Not a small job. If you want to see what this looks like you can Google the Cleveland Power and performance project "Reverence" . You will see all they had to do to fit a Hell Cat under that body. You may or may not like it.    

Finally doing a complete body over as I did with my car is not for the faint of heart. If you are going to hire someone to do it know that I spent 3000 hours on my project and it was quite involved. I will not bore you with the details here. If you have any specific questions you can P.M. me here and I will share what I know.

Thanks
Stevearino

[alfaitalia]

Here ya go...I like it....
https://www.clevelandpap.com/69-dodge-charger-hellcat-gallery/

[ACUDANUT]

The front Valence looks horrible to me.  
One heck of a labor of love and Money. 

[VegasCharger]

Here ya go...I like it....
https://www.clevelandpap.com/69-dodge-charger-hellcat-gallery/

A 1969 Charger turn into a ricer!!! That hood is gawd awful too.

[Stevearino]

The front Valence looks horrible to me. 
One heck of a labor of love and Money. 

Apparently it is headed over to Saudi Arabia to an auction over there. Be interesting to see what they can get for it.

[Stevearino]

 Here is one that just got the engine trans and dash out of a Hell Cat. I wish they had just done a front air dam instead of the valance treatment on this one to hide the large radiator bottom .  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsA9kOdXzpU&t=2s

[cdr]

Here is one that just got the engine trans and dash out of a Hell Cat. I wish they had just done a front air dam instead of the valance treatment on this one to hide the large radiator bottom .  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsA9kOdXzpU&t=2s

Hey Steve, I used to go street racin with Kenny Bumbera back in the late 70's , his shop was here in Katy Tx, around the corner from me, they just built a very large & nice shop in Sealy TX, I agree on the valance , but that is how the customer wanted it done, in person the car looked surprisingly good,, that said. NOTHING compared to your Daytona & what you are building now.

[Stevearino]

Here is one that just got the engine trans and dash out of a Hell Cat. I wish they had just done a front air dam instead of the valance treatment on this one to hide the large radiator bottom .  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsA9kOdXzpU&t=2s

Hey Steve, I used to go street racin with Kenny Bumbera back in the late 70's , his shop was here in Katy Tx, around the corner from me, they just built a very large & nice shop in Sealy TX, I agree on the valance , but that is how the customer wanted it done, in person the car looked surprisingly good,, that said. NOTHING compared to your Daytona & what you are building now.

I remember we talked about this one when the video first came out. They did a really nice job.  I think a front air dam like the one you have on your car would have hidden the radiator bottom just fine. I realize the customer is happy it is just my opinion on the look of it. It is problematic to hide that radiator bottom without making the front look fat. I boxed mine in and if you look at the car in profile down low you can see it and it looks odd but it is what it is. Thanks for the compliment on my car as always and we shall see on the Challenger GTX if I can get some hours in on it.

[70B5Cuda]

I would love to own/drive either one of those Chargers.

[bigdsul]

Here ya go...I like it....
https://www.clevelandpap.com/69-dodge-charger-hellcat-gallery/

Nice looking car bud gawd damn that is some custom work! I could only imagine the man hours and the amount of people working on that car.

It's always impressive to see what sort of magic a custom shop can make with anything on 4 wheels.

I imagine something like that running north of 200k if it were put up for sale.

[bigdsul]

So there is a lot to consider and many ways to go about this. The easiest of course is to do a suspension upgrade on your Charger and shoehorn the Hellcat in. If you have someone well versed in the computer technology they can sort the electrical but I think you will need the steering column and gauges at minimum. The gas tank will have to be modified for return lines. If you go this route you can pretty much get all the support you need from Cleveland Power and performance in Ohio. They will sort and palletize everything you need. The engine will start and run on the pallet when you get it.You will have to modify the mounts and there will be fab on the "K" frame ect. but still the least fuss ala the General mayhem.

The second route which includes the suspension and running gear I have seen started but never finished This is quite involved and includes creating shock towers in the front of the car and spring buckets in the rear. Also you will have to mount the engine cradle . The upside is you get the engineered ride of the new car.The downside is all of the careful measuring you will have to do to make sure the geometry remains correct The biggest issue with this is starting with the SRT and above packages you have to accommodate the larger and wider wheels and tires that come with these cars. You will be locked into 20" minimum wheels as all the up model brakes are the large Brembo calipers and I think there is only one set of Torque Thrust 18" wheels that will clear the calipers. This might not seem that big a deal until you see that small second gen body with those big wheels. Also some of the Hell Cats have a wider track. This will not fit under a gen 2 Charger unless you wide body the rear of the car and widen the front fenders to fit. Not a small job. If you want to see what this looks like you can Google the Cleveland Power and performance project "Reverence" . You will see all they had to do to fit a Hell Cat under that body. You may or may not like it.    

Finally doing a complete body over as I did with my car is not for the faint of heart. If you are going to hire someone to do it know that I spent 3000 hours on my project and it was quite involved. I will not bore you with the details here. If you have any specific questions you can P.M. me here and I will share what I know.

Thanks
Stevearino

Steve did your charger body over build go similarly to the Cleveland power and performance charger? That is a lot of work but damn that car turned out nicely. Every facet of the car has some sort of custom work done to it.

Is there a build thread on your car to browse through by chance?

I was thinking of going the general mayhem route as it would be the most feasible way with the resources that I have available to me. I'd love to have a fully stocked shop to do all the work a custom shop can turn out. In reality I have a small garage and even smaller collection of tools lol.

[70 sublime]

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,101925.0.html

[Stevearino]

Steve did your charger body over build go similarly to the Cleveland power and performance charger? That is a lot of work but damn that car turned out nicely. Every facet of the car has some sort of custom work done to it.

Is there a build thread on your car to browse through by chance?

I was thinking of going the general mayhem route as it would be the most feasible way with the resources that I have available to me. I'd love to have a fully stocked shop to do all the work a custom shop can turn out. In reality I have a small garage and even smaller collection of tools lol.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,101925.0.html

What he said. Also there is a guy on Facebook named Michael Misky who is doing a body over in a two car house garage in a development so it can be done. I also know a guy who used to be on this forum who built one in his driveway. It is a ton of work and there is a lot to consider.