V10 Charger (Update 5/25/21)

[bull]

Life of the truck started in MO, moved to AK were it was wrecked, bought/hauled to OK where I picked it up and now resides in TX      Story has it that some guys girl friend wrecked it    Supposedly no serious injuries...

Oh! I bet that played hell on the relationship.

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

should use those seats in the charger 2 very comfy

[GT]

I plan to use the seats and recover the rear stock charger seats to match.

OK - I found my answer from the good folks from moparts on the SKIM/security stuff.
This place: http://www.bgperformancepcm.com/  can reprogram and disable the SKIM
codes for $230.  So - I hope I am set.  Gonna give a call in the morning and ship the PCM
off to them.

[Forza]

You're in for alot of work but damn that's gunna be 1 cool ride when its done. Good luck and we sure do love progress pictures!

[GT]

I have been battling the v10/6spd install for a while now.  It's been a ton of work - my hats off to folks that have done it before.  Either they are super patient, have a big bank roll, or both.   

I kept running into one problem or another and decided that I need to mock up a bunch of stuff.  I need to order the radiator and modify/mock up the core support and hood latch. 

I had one of two options to get the long v10 to fit.  Either hack up and move the firewall back 4-6" which would have removed the possibility of using my a/c & heater core.  Second option (which I am using) was to move it as far back as possible and move the radiator in front of the core support.  There is room, but I'll need to modify the hood latch support which should be straight forward. 

Here are some pics of the progress along with a neat little trick I came up with to help mock up the trans tunnel for clearance.  Essentially I cut up 2" wide strips of cardboard and wrapped each around the tranny tightly and taped 'em up.  Then I cut it off, tapes it back together and voila!  A lot easier and quicker to mock up using a card board dummy vs. the real thing.

[GT]

Once I marked it up - the sawzall provided the necessary motivation for the next step.     Unfortunately, I had to cut out the cross member - so I'll need to mock up a way to reinforce it...  Here she is with the motor/tranny dropped in for a clearance check.  Other than modifying the transmission tunnel (and not by much) it fits fairly well.

[GT]

Plenty of side to side clearance - no surprise there.  I can still pull the engine back another inch or so - but I'll leave as is to provide space for wiring & such.  Not how little clearance there is for the radiator/fan arrangement.  As it is now - only 4" of space is available in front of the engine.  I can fit in a radiator fine, but not the fan unless I did a pusher fan (which really stink).

[GT]

Here are some bottom/clearance shots.  It tucked up quite nicely - plenty of clearance on the transmission.  Believe it or not, the original K-frame does bolt in just fine.  The oil pan still concerns me... betting i will need to section out 2". 

[GT]

I spent a great part of this afternoon mocking up some interior stuff to check on clearances and such.  Installed the brake pedal, steering column, A/C-heater box, gas pedal and the seat.  Wanted to know how the shifter handle position would work out.   I plan to rebuild my existing A/C box.  I have a 4-speed pedal setup on order from Keisler - I'll let y'all know how that looks.  I will probably just replace the steering column with an after market unit.  I see that XV sells a nice looking one... big $ however 

I already see that I have a problem with the gas pedal pivot point.  I need to figure that one out a bit.  Maybe modify the bracket and move it over (not the pedal) 3/4"... that should do it.

The shifter handle is a bit of a reach - to far forward and down.  I think an A-body or possibly the short style B-body pistol grip would solve the problem nicely. 

[GT]

I wanted to show you how well the stock truck exhaust manifolds are going to work out.  That'll save me some big bucks over custom headers.

Hard to see it - but there is room for the steering column shaft too. 

I think my next step in this affair is to sort out the front suspension - I really want to use the Alterkation...motor mounts are going to be a challenge - I bet the ones on the engine must weigh 10lbs each (cast iron).

[GT]

Last update for now.  Here is a shot of the stock radiator in front of the engine.  First, this 26" 3-core radiator won't work, and secondly, it would never cool the v10 anyway.  I've been looking at some dual 1" core aluminum radiators... I'll be ordering one of those next for mock up.  I also have to contend with the fan and the a/c condensor too.  It never ends I tell ya.

It is much better to mock this up than to guess, paint, and then have to modify and jack up the paint job... but that means building parts of the car twice...

[Blakcharger440]

Dude this is an awesome project that you have going!    Keep posting more pics and updates on this build up!
Are you going to use the original K-frame and modify it or will you get an aftermarket one?

Keep us posted on this awesome 70 Charger!!! 

[Paul G]

It is much better to mock this up than to guess, paint, and then have to modify and jack up the paint job... but that means building parts of the car twice...

Doesn't building it twice mean twice the fun? 

[69bronzeT5]

That thing is gonna ROCK when its done!!! Vintage Dodge and modern Dodge...best of both worlds!

[GT]

Dude this is an awesome project that you have going! Keep posting more pics and updates on this build up!
Are you going to use the original K-frame and modify it or will you get an aftermarket one?

I'd like to use the Alterkation - there is no way the stock power steering box is going to fit.  The exhaust manifold and motor mounts are in the way.  I'll put the Kframe on and snap some pics to show everyone.  I have seen some rack and pinion setups that bolt to the stock k-frame... those seem to be cheesy (but cheaper) as compared to the alterkation.  Besides, taking the t-bars out of the pic will give me more space for the exhaust and take some load off the frame where I had to cut the transmission mount... options options

[NYCMille]

Damn Dude, your hammering with this... way to go!

[Back N Black]

Man! nice work.

[Ponch ®]

You're nutz man....this is gonna be insane when it's done! 

[PocketThunder]

       

[Musicman]

Pretty Cool... 

[Charger_Fan]

Man, this project looks fun!
I'm surprised there's as much stuff lining up nicely as there is, judging from previous V-10 swaps where the moved the firewall back & such.
Looking forward to updates.

[TruckDriver]

Man, this project looks fun!
I'm surprised there's as much stuff lining up nicely as there is, judging from previous V-10 swaps where the moved the firewall back & such.
Looking forward to updates.

[plum500]

Friggin awesome. Keep those pics coming. 

[Charger_Croatia]

That is amazing job so far and still more in front of you.
I think that we are all waiting to see it done!

[dkn1997]

the charger GTS, silver one from a few years ago, put the rad in front of the crossmember...could you do that?