Oldcarnut's Superbird Clone

[Musicman]

  Progress... it's a wonderful thing.

[oldcarnut]

Steering wheel came in today.  Mounted it and letting it set in for a bit to decide.  The wheel part blends in ok I think but I may change the grip to black since there are many interchangeable grips to use with it. May also take the horn button and machine in the space for the RR decal and plastic cover. $131 to the door wasn't too bad. Gonna try and make a new engine harness this weekend and start cleaning up the engine bay to get it in order and rest of A/C installed.  Motor hasn't run since I pulled it out of the Challenger several years ago and it would be nice for a change to move it around under power instead of pushing it.

[Stevearino]

Love that wheel. I works well with the dash.  As you said I think you need to live with it for a bit to see if it is what you really want though.

[BigBlockSam]

 

[Musicman]

WOW... I really like that wheel Dave!  Good Choice!

[oldcarnut]

Just a little progress update. AC has been installed and blowing cold.  Finished making the engine bay harness and some other upgrades to wiring for the 90 amp alternator.  Have the temp motor installed completed, wired, and running.  Got power to the dash and checked a few things out.  I like the dash lighting.  Kinda hard to get an exact color view pic because the camera wants to blur or change the tone a little but the pics are close.  Next is to get the nosecone lighting and power headlight motor wired to the vehicle circuit along with installing the relays to keep the amp draw off the switches and dash circuits.

[Dave Kanofsky]

Lookin' really good!

[Musicman]

Look'n real sharp brother 

[oldcarnut]

Thanks!  Wish I didn't have all those hoses but I rather stay cool in the summer .  

I'm getting ready to put on the nose to start mocking up some thinks and got a question about the latch tray bracket to radiator support connection.  I saw on originals where it was spot welded on about every 2 1/2".  How did you others do yours?  I was thinking of just drilling and bolting it on across from the bolts on the latch tray side.  Any foreseeable problems or different recommendations?

[mpdlawdog]

Your not done with that yet ......looks great!!!!

[oldcarnut]

Mounted the nose and wired in the lights and electric motor.  Also made up the relays and fuse block for the front of the car for the lights, motor, and aux radiator fan to do the wiring upgrades. Headlight switch also triggers the doors up and down.
https://youtu.be/OSAbZ-h7a3k
https://youtu.be/5Hk9r9HrLSs

[Hemi Runner]

Nice design. I really like it.

[Stevearino]

Fantastic. Simple and Elegant. Most importantly no vacuum line BS.

[oldcarnut]

The wife is starting to get antsy about the parts I have in the spare room over the garage because she wants to get it cleared up for Christmas and Thanksgiving family visitors to stay in.   So I think I'll work on the window plug next.  I have both steel and fiberglass pieces to work with. One will fit right in and the only thing I feel I have to worry about is after all the paint and body work is the flexing that everyone has said will start showing up cracks, outlines from heat between fiberglass and metal joint lines etc    There won't be a vinyl top put on to hide it.  Steel one on the other hand is going to require too much metal work, welding, and shaping to get the right contour and fit.  Real glass window is going in but I think both will support the weight.  I don't understand why the fiberglass install is supposed to give problems with issues showing up but the steel insert doesn't with all the filler it takes to make it look smooth and blend in.  Same with hood extension but I've all but decided to use the fiberglass pc.

[Stevearino]

There are a bunch of epoxy products for fusing modern auto body panels together today. I have used some Fusor products to join dissimilar materials together in the past but it would be worth investigating if there are any specific products for mending fiberglass to metal at this time. I have been led to believe the cracking is a result of a differing rate of expansion between the metal and the glass but I don't know if that is true or if the products to bond these two properly were not available in the past.

[moparstuart]

There are a bunch of epoxy products for fusing modern auto body panels together today. I have used some Fusor products to join dissimilar materials together in the past but it would be worth investigating if there are any specific products for mending fiberglass to metal at this time. I have been led to believe the cracking is a result of a differing rate of expansion between the metal and the glass but I don't know if that is true or if the products to bond these two properly were not available in the past.

seen several daytona clones crack , you can tell which ones are glass or steel when you come out in the morning at wing meets and check out the condensation and dews   

[oldcarnut]

There are a bunch of epoxy products for fusing modern auto body panels together today. I have used some Fusor products to join dissimilar materials together in the past but it would be worth investigating if there are any specific products for mending fiberglass to metal at this time. I have been led to believe the cracking is a result of a differing rate of expansion between the metal and the glass but I don't know if that is true or if the products to bond these two properly were not available in the past.

seen several daytona clones crack , you can tell which ones are glass or steel when you come out in the morning at wing meets and check out the condensation and dews  

That's exactly what I've heard that both of ya have said.  But why does a pile of bondo used on body panels not have the same effect?

[Stevearino]

There are a bunch of epoxy products for fusing modern auto body panels together today. I have used some Fusor products to join dissimilar materials together in the past but it would be worth investigating if there are any specific products for mending fiberglass to metal at this time. I have been led to believe the cracking is a result of a differing rate of expansion between the metal and the glass but I don't know if that is true or if the products to bond these two properly were not available in the past.

seen several daytona clones crack , you can tell which ones are glass or steel when you come out in the morning at wing meets and check out the condensation and dews  

That's exactly what I've heard that both of ya have said.  But why does a pile of bondo used on body panels not have the same effect?

Depends on how deep the pile is. But what you have if you install the steel plug is a metal base and you are just covering over the imperfections in what should be a continuous weld. Basically the metal part is then just one piece. The problem with the glass to metal is how well the two are bonded together and again the differing rates of expansion with temperature changes. If not bonded sufficiently and completely the two dissimilar materials will pull apart at the bond. Not an expert on this but it might be possible once the glass plug is bonded in to cover the seam with some fiberglass cloth and resin then bondo. I don't know if that would be wise but it would span the joint the same way you would spackle a wallboard joint with mesh or paper tape to keep a crack appearing between wall panels in a house. Hopefully someone here has some experience with this and will weigh in.     
Aren't some of those fiberglass body kits with the ground effects and wheel house extensions glassed to the metal body in some cases?

[oldcarnut]

Depends on how deep the pile is. But what you have if you install the steel plug is a metal base and you are just covering over the imperfections in what should be a continuous weld. Basically the metal part is then just one piece.  Hopefully someone here has some experience with this and will weigh in.     
Aren't some of those fiberglass body kits with the ground effects and wheel house extensions glassed to the metal body in some cases?

What you say makes sense but originally they were just spot welded on but I guess the vinyl top hid it. Picture is of the one Corndogs charger did.

[Hemi Runner]

I'm going to use the steel one if it kills me but that fiberglass one would come in real handy as a template to get the steel one correct.

[Stevearino]

Depends on how deep the pile is. But what you have if you install the steel plug is a metal base and you are just covering over the imperfections in what should be a continuous weld. Basically the metal part is then just one piece.  Hopefully someone here has some experience with this and will weigh in.     
Aren't some of those fiberglass body kits with the ground effects and wheel house extensions glassed to the metal body in some cases?

What you say makes sense but originally they were just spot welded on but I guess the vinyl top hid it. Picture is of the one Corndogs charger did.

The vinyl roof definitely covered a multitude of sins. I always liked the look of the car without the vinyl roof because I liked the race car versions first and there were none with vinyl roofs. So yeah.

I'm going to use the steel one if it kills me but that fiberglass one would come in real handy as a template to get the steel one correct.

That is a great idea . The main thing about the metal plug if it is a little off is that you have to make sure not only the perimeter fits well but that the window bed reasonably conforms to the shape of the glass. You don't want the glass to be teeter-tottering on the bed and put stress on any one point. Back when stock cars used real laminated glass windshields you had to make sure when you built the window bed that it fully supported the glass and there were no high points as they would break the glass once the car got to moving around.

[oldcarnut]

My initial thoughts were to try and cut some wood blocks to the fiberglass shape and my window curve.  Form the window curve first and then the steel body and see how it goes.  Don cut the window to a templet of my glass so it should be good

[oldcarnut]

Took a road trip to Tennessee and picked my rechromed bumper from tricity plating and see some fall colors.  They do a nice job

[tan top]

Mounted the nose and wired in the lights and electric motor.  Also made up the relays and fuse block for the front of the car for the lights, motor, and aux radiator fan to do the wiring upgrades. Headlight switch also triggers the doors up and down.
https://youtu.be/OSAbZ-h7a3k
https://youtu.be/5Hk9r9HrLSs

clever stuff !! 

[oldcarnut]

It's plug time.  First is the steel and what work I have to do to make it fit.  Second is the fiberglass and what it should fit like.  3rd is the blocks I made formed to the glass so I can start shaping the steel one first.  Last is a little progress after some hammering and bending.  It also helps to have Teds pc to compare it side by side