My V 10 Charger Project

[Hemidog]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to keep the inspection holes, with that huge engine?

[john.v]

  that is some mayor power plant you are putting under that hood 
nice looking project 

[tan top]

doing some nice fabrication  ....  looking  real good  , nice work going on Dude  , keep the pictures coming 

[sardillim]

Last weekends plan was to install the XV Motorsports lower tie bar and Cowl to apron reinforcements.  Before I got started I set the car up on the lift and got it completely level.  Then to make sure their was no twist in the body I hung a few frame gauges.   There was a slight twist in the nose of the car but just by bolting in the Alterkations K member the twist came out.    This was important to do if there is any damage in the chassis and it is not corrected prior to installing these parts the damage is in the car fore ever

[motorcitydak]

I am also planning on using the XV stiffener stuff. I saw on their site that they also fully welded the shock towers to the inner fender to further strengthen the unibody. I know the pic on their site shows that, so I am planning on doing that when I install the rest of their setup

take a look here, in some of the additional pics before paint you can see that it is fully welded up http://www.xvmotorsports.com/products/detail/index.cfm?nPID=24&cid=105&cdesc=Chassis%20Stiffening

Hemidog, I dont think he needs those inspection covers anymore since they were used to adjust the eccentric bolt for the upper control arms. He has the alterktion front end now so he wont be needing the holes for that reason. They may come in handy for some access down the road but that front end needs to be as rigid as possible

[sardillim]

Now that I know the chassis is straight I start to test fit the upper cowl brace and   PROBLEM     The brace from the right shock tower and the apron was installed by the factory in the wrong place. about a 1/2 inch to far back.  This would have never effected anything if i were not installing these reinforcements.  This bracket was so far off the the gusset for the XV braces were not even close to fitting.  So the solution was to surgically drill out the spot welds and remove the brace and re locate it.      Anybody ever see a B-Body with this brace this far off??

[sardillim]

Now finally i can install the xv stuff, I will say it fit right out of the box very well   just a little minor trimming and done.    Still a little cleaning up to do and i need to close in the ends of the frame rails.  Then I can start laying out the engine compartment.  I realy need to figure out were I am going to hide a lot of wire

[motorcitydak]

It wasnt just your car, my brace is far off too and will more than likely be cut off. Ill probably brace it while I have it off and then weld it back in in the proper location just like you did

[sardillim]

 
motorcitydak 

When I drilled out the spotwelds i was tempted to drill the top welds from the apron side downward as the metel is much thinner.  I wound up drilling all the welds through the brace.  I was afraid that the holes drilled in the apron would not be re useable and need to be filled

[jeepjack1995@aol.com]

awesome man.

[PasiR]

Absolutely awesome project, keep the pics coming! 

[200MPH]

Lot of work,but its going to be awesome !!

[66chargerkid]

Wow this build is AWESOME
that is sweet as hell.
Your fab skills are incredible!
Q

[greenpigs]

Makes the rust repair I need to do look like cake. Anyone else wish he could work on your charger even just for a week?

[200MPH]

 

[BBKNARF]

Its a Big project and its looking good  Keep us posted 

[chargerhunter]

Now finally i can install the xv stuff, I will say it fit right out of the box very well   just a little minor trimming and done.    Still a little cleaning up to do and i need to close in the ends of the frame rails.  Then I can start laying out the engine compartment.  I realy need to figure out were I am going to hide a lot of wire

The frame rail may be just the place to hide alot of wiring...Just an idea...

[sardillim]

Been back on the car for the last couple of weekends.  Not much to show but a bunch of worn out grinding disks.  I have been  mostly welding up seams that have only been spot welded by the factory and then cleaning them up so they can be finished during bodywork.   The most noticeable progress was that I removed the shock mounts and the bulges in the aprons since they won't be needed with the alterkation front end kit.

[sardillim]

I 'I've been looking at the front aprons forward of of the shock towers and after all the patching and filling of holes I decided to remove the front section on the drivers and re make it.  I realized that I don't need all the inserts and steps for the battery tray and vacuum reservoir and quite frankly since this is not a restoration It made sense to me to smooth is out.  next weekend will be to passenger s side

[Patronus]

this isnt "My V 10 Charger Project", its "The V 10 Charger Project"
I hope to stare down this baby down one day!

[sardillim]

Back at it this weekend, I went to the right side inner fender to make it flat to match the re worked left.  This was easier than the left side since all it has is a slight dish in it.   The easy way out was to cut an x in it and re work the metal and then weld it up.   Just a little shinking left to do on both sides.

[sardillim]

Now I wet back to the lower tie bar to re attach the bracket for the vertical grille support.   I 'm glad i did this when I did because i realized that some of the mounting point for the lower valance need to be re made

[mopar73]

Keep at it

[charger_cody]

 

[Silver R/T]

Nice work