New Parts - New Pics - New performance!! WHOO HOO!!! (Long)

[NYCMille]

Hola' guys -

Here is a listing of the parts we just had installed on the Charger - its long, but I thought it should be posted so people could get an idea of what was involved - please feel free to PM for any questions.

- 4 Wheel BAER Disc Brakes
- Hydroboost hydraulic brake assist system
- Hotchkis Front Sway bar Kit
- Magnum Force fully adjustable Tubular upper control arms
- Crow Shoulder harnesses
- Coolant reservoir tank
- Heat wrapped fuel lines and put in Phenolic Spacer

BAER BRAKES AND HYDROBOOST
Ok - I'll start with the brakes. I went BAER Racing 4 wheel disc brake kit - I have the Track system up front which consists of 13" Discs and 2 piston PBR calipers and the Sport system in the rear, which consist of 11" discs and single piston calipers. Keep in mind you need have A/E body front disc spindles for this to work. The install went relatively ok, but not without some problems. We had to have some grinding of the spinals and some custom parking brake cables made up. When we first put the kit on we found that my original power brake booster was bad - the brake pedal was going directly to the floor. We then bought a remanufactured booster and installed that one. Now, something to keep in mind if anyone else is interested in this disc brake swap. When I initially purchased the kit I was making about 22" vacuum which should have been adequate - fine, I thought... well not fine - once the kit was installed with the new power booster I was getting a rock hard pedal and the car simply would not stop, it was down right creepy.

I called BAER to get some info. and they said I should be making at least 27-29". Anyway, after doing some research I found that I had 2 options. One was to install a remote vacuum pump, which would have been hassle since I would have had to find a spot to mount it and then on top of that it would have to be operated manually every time I got in the car. The other option was to get a system known as a Hydroboost. This is a unit that replaces the original power booster and uses the hydraulic pressure from you power steering box to actuate the pistons in the calipers. So now instead of getting 600-640psi with the power booster I am getting 1400-1600psi to the brakes with the Hydroboost. Needless to say I can now stop the Charger on a dime - they brakes with the Hydroboost are AWESOME. This entire system was NOT cheap in total it ran me about $2700 before the install labor, but I can safely say that it was worth every penny as my car now stops on a dime.

HOTCHKIS FRONT SWAYBAR KIT / CONTROL ARMS
First off this bar is almost 2" - it's friggin enormous! The old sway bar was removed and two new holes were drilled to mount the new sway bar - this is a nice kit with greasible fittings that are very easy to access.

The Control arms are also really nice pieces - we we're able to correct the camber problem that I was having. The only real issue is that the control arms kind of' drove the alignment guys crazy, but they finally got everything set up correctly - they suggested 5 turns out when mounting and then adjust from there - honestly I probably could have gone with the non-adjustable ones, so unless your car is REALLY slammed save yourself some money and get the standard tubular control arms.

The handling of the car was changed DRASTICALLY - the car now tracks perfectly straight and is a riot going around corners - rock stable with hardly any body roll - I will be doing the rear eventually because I can now slide the ass of the car without even thinking about it, its fun because I can do it all the time, but I really want the car to remain firmly planted so the rear will be coming shortly.

CROW SHOULDER HARNESSES
This was an easy install - we actually installed them so the go through the body of the car behind the rear seat. They were installed directly behind the driver/passenger seat and mounted through the center portion of the back seat - basically right between the legs of whomever is sitting behind you.

OVERFLOW TANK
Nothing to this one - a nice bracket and tank, so no more pissing antifreeze on the driveway.

Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of doing any of these installs.

Cheers - Mike

[NYCMille]

More pics...

[Lowprofile]

Nice Job Bro.   Your Ride is a "inspiration". Keep up the great work.

I know you've probably posted this before, But I haven't seen it......What are you running for a driveline? I am seriously thinking about building my car along the lines of a road racer. I'd like to take it out to the "Silver State Challenge".

[NYCMille]

Thanks for the compliments - the Driveline is a 727 with a reverse manual valve body through a Cheetah SCS Turbo action shifter. I am also running a Gear Vendors OD unit to an 8 3/4 rear with a 3.55 SureGrip - final gear ratio is around a 2.76 when OD is engaged. The set-up is a blast because I can now "split" gears - 1st/1st OD, 2nd/2nd OD - makes for a lot of fun, plus you can suprise the hell out of a lot of unsuspecting exotics when your right next to them at speeds of 120 +... they just keep looking over at you - they're reactions are priceless...

[ramit]

Looks like an aweome car.  Do you have more pics of the whole car?

[Lowprofile]

Excellent!

[Goldfinger71]

 

[Silver R/T]

I bet it handles as good as most of 2005 import cars out there. looking nice, and nice job on seats, I always liked those over stock, especially for road racing.

[ChargerRob]

Excellent job on you car. We need more pics.

[MoparYoungGun]

Great job ! That's one of the best looking Chargers I have ever seen! Congrats on all the new parts !

Here are a few pics of the whole car for everybody !

[Charger_Fan]

That's friggin' cool! Those big front brakes sure fill in the wheels nicely!

Your car now has the performance to match it's killer looks, congrats!

[Khyron]

I'm still forming an opinion on the rims, but the rest looks sweet! :thumbsup:

good job!

[89MOPAR]

 So does the hydroboost have a separate diaphragm that keeps the power steering fluid separate from the brake fluid ??
I don't get how you only had 600 psi with stock booster.??

Something to think about with your harnesses ...  Most sanctioning bodies {NHRA SCCA etc}  wouldn't let you mount your harnesses like that.
Reason being -the high angle between the seat back and the mounting point will cause the harnesses to tug down- wards in a crash - compressing your spine !

Not meaning to tell you how to go about it, just something to think about, don't want to see you unnessecarily hurt....

[NYCMille]

Hi Guys -

I appreciate all the kind reponses - thank you.

89MOPAR - It's interesting you bring that up about the harnesses (and thank you) - since I do not have a roll cage in the car we we're looking for a good mounting point. We couldn't mount the harnesses directly behind the front seat into the floor because we didn't feel as though it was a secure mounting point due the basically 90 degree angle - that is why we went on an angle through the back seat - this was actually a recommendation by Crow due to lack of a cage and since we are not road racing the car (yet). I would love to hear other suggestions though if anyone has any, as I can remount those belts in heartbeat.

As for the hydroboost - here is the website http://www.hydroboost.com/ as it will be able to explain how the unit works better than I can. With the brakes and the hydroboost on the car the thing will stop on a dime... it is actually pretty amazing. My wife has SAAB 900 Turbo and I have no doubt in my mind that the Charger will now out brake the SAAB. Again, it was expensive, but after getting the bugs worked out the brakes are worth every penny.

Mike 

Cheers - Mike

[MyMopar]

89 Mopar, the hydroboost uses power steering fluid to operate just like a regular power brake booster uses vacuum.  Neither are ever in contact witht e brake fluid.  Just a different method for power assist.  Most Box trucks that have hydralic brakes instead of air use a hydroboost system, but it also has a backup pump.
That car is bad ass.  An idea for the harness would be to weld in a single tube for now to use as a mounting point.  I'm not sure of the purpose of your car, if you use your back seat or not, so this idea may not be a good one.  The belts can't be mounted to the seat mounting area?

[89MOPAR]

 I'll have to check the hydroboost website out.

Mentioned the belts 'cause I had a set of Schroth 5 point Center cam lock harnesses in a Conquest. Mounted like you had them- with the shoulder harnesses attached at the rear seat belt mounting point. It was fine in everyday driving , but the tech guys at local NHRA track frowned on it, and it wouldn't have met the SCCA rules either- I was in the same predicament - wasn't ready for a rollbar / cage at that point.   

Charger is looking very nice indeedy !

[RT DAVE]

I'm still forming an opinion on the rims, but the rest looks sweet! :thumbsup:

good job!

The rims are nice but he could go bigger...     

Love the car BTW...

[SuBLimE 69]

Nice mods Mike, I need to go rob a bank so I can get the $$ to do mine ! 

[cudaken]

 I like the brakes, but for me a little over kill. I don't speed any more (my charger also as a 318) hee, hee, hee, you believe any of that I got some land I want to sell you as well.

Had a buddy that races overto check out the Charger last night. He told me something I did not know, the blower staps are out of date. Track won't let me run the Charger due to the staps. If I take them off they will let me run the Charger with the blower as long as I keep it tame, 12.0. But, if you have any SEMA gear on your car must be up to date.

Reason I bring that up is the seat belts, must be replaced ever 2 year's if SEMA approved.

Yep, you are right 2.76's being a BLAST on the inter state! I have the old fashion kind, sure grip 2.76's.

Later after I spend other money I do not have I will use Aspen Dic up front on the 69 Charger like I have on my 68 Road Runner. Cheap and way better than drum's.

                                 Cuda Ken

[4cruzin]

Wow your car looks awesome!!  Nice job on the upgrades!!   

[alenglish]

Way to go    MR ANGRY         Big Al

[bull]

Looks good! Say, what's the advantage of having tubular upper control arms?

[hydroforce]

a couple more...........
the 1st one I use for wallpaper...

[greenrt_se]

here is mine hydroboost,just a little problem whit brakes master cylinder (I think)
hydroboost is were easy to hook in charger so big Thanks to the Paul