Recent upgrades on my 69 - 2018 time to clean things up

[Dino]

Finished up the 67 charger arm rest and had it wrapped in leather to match the seats.

Hey, I thought I remembered this from this thread...... My car is finally out of paint, and just waiting on a headliner. I found a 66-67 front console lid with the armrest on it, where you lift up the armrest to access the console. The bottom of the lid(the part you replace our lid with) is bare. Could you tell me what hardware I need to connect to my console? A hinge and a latch I assume? Or do you bolt it to the console using the 4 holes hidden under the armrest?

Also, is the height of that center console where you'd actually need it to be for it to be useful to rest you elbow on?

Thanks again
Brad

You need angle brackets to attach the piece to your console. I just made my own from aluminum stock. Drilled a few holes, painted it black, and bolted it in place. There's some pics of it here: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,94375.2525.html

To make the armrest really useful you'll need to thicken it a few inches. It's really low as is.

[darbgnik]

You need angle brackets to attach the piece to your console. I just made my own from aluminum stock. Drilled a few holes, painted it black, and bolted it in place. There's some pics of it here: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,94375.2525.html

To make the armrest really useful you'll need to thicken it a few inches. It's really low as is.

Hey, thanks Dino for that! Exactly what I was looking for. The piece I found doesn't have the push button to latch the armrest down, do you have any pics of that?

Brad

[WHITE AND RED 69]

You need angle brackets to attach the piece to your console. I just made my own from aluminum stock. Drilled a few holes, painted it black, and bolted it in place. There's some pics of it here: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,94375.2525.html

To make the armrest really useful you'll need to thicken it a few inches. It's really low as is.

Hey, thanks Dino for that! Exactly what I was looking for. The piece I found doesn't have the push button to latch the armrest down, do you have any pics of that?

Brad

Dino nailed it on the brackets. I got lucky and found an original set but the install is exactly the same.  

Adding extra padding made a huge difference for me. The original was just too low for my liking. With the extra inch or so of padding and my seat being about an inch lower than stock it made the armrest nice and usable.

I can post some photos of the latch later if nobody posts them.

[Derwud]

Have you started the harness yet?

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Have you started the harness yet?

Nope. Sadly the charger has sat neglected and untouched for the last six months. But it is going to happen in the next few weeks.

[Dino]

You need angle brackets to attach the piece to your console. I just made my own from aluminum stock. Drilled a few holes, painted it black, and bolted it in place. There's some pics of it here: http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,94375.2525.html

To make the armrest really useful you'll need to thicken it a few inches. It's really low as is.

Hey, thanks Dino for that! Exactly what I was looking for. The piece I found doesn't have the push button to latch the armrest down, do you have any pics of that?

Brad

You're welcome! I can post pics of the push button tomorrow, I don't have access to it right now. I don't have the wire latch itself though, never had one.

[Derwud]

Have you started the harness yet?

Nope. Sadly the charger has sat neglected and untouched for the last six months. But it is going to happen in the next few weeks.

Oh I can understand

[darbgnik]

You're welcome! I can post pics of the push button tomorrow, I don't have access to it right now. I don't have the wire latch itself though, never had one.

Well shoot...... some body scooped the arm rest on me while I waiting on a shipping quote...... I guess the search continues, now that I know what I have to do.

[Dino]

You're welcome! I can post pics of the push button tomorrow, I don't have access to it right now. I don't have the wire latch itself though, never had one.

Well shoot...... some body scooped the arm rest on me while I waiting on a shipping quote...... I guess the search continues, now that I know what I have to do.

Well bummer. They do pop up on ebay quite a bit, and I'm sure someone here has one for sale so I'd post a wanted ad.

Edit: I just noticed you did just that not long after you posted this. Ignore me... 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Well it has been a long time since I updated this thread...Sadly not much got done in the later half of 2016 & most of 2017, basically just walked away from the hobby for a while and left it to sit. But I did find some time to mess with it just didn't really get it out on the road. Rewired the entire car with the American Autowire kit, switched to Holley EFI, and chipped away at little items. Still haven't installed the aluminum heads though which is killing me.

Had problems with it for a while, the Fitech EFI was giving me issues and the company was zero help. Not only did it take weeks for them to get back to me but they kept pushing me off to other employees and making me do the same troubleshooting over and over. I knew it had something to do with a faulty ECU but they wouldn't fully admit it. I changed ignition boxes, distributors, coils, and the entire wiring harness but in the end it was a faulty unit that screwed up the internal ECU. When they wouldn't take the unit back to test (I offered to pay shipping and for their time) I said screw it and in late 2016 switched to the Holley Terminator EFI. I did like the Fitech unit and it worked great for a while but their service swayed me away. Makes me wish I kept the first unit I was running.    But right now I am very happy with the Holley unit, starts perfectly every time and no issues so far. My only gripe is that the injectors are a bit loud but so was the Fitech unit.

I originally liked the idea of an internal fuel pressure regulator but when troubleshooting it made it a pain. Never could tell if there was a fuel issue. With the new Holley unit I am able to monitor it and many other gauges. Also have a mechanical gauge in the engine bay so its easy to tell where it is at. I am planning to get the Holley digital dash to get rid of the gauges under the dash to simplify everything but that will be much later.

Also a couple pics of how I routed the fuel lines with 2 3/8 lines with AN fittings on both ends.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

With the American Autowire harness, this kit was put together very nicely. Everything is labeled and all the connectors are included which made for a nice install. A couple notes, you must use a one wire alternator and the kit does NOT work with the factory A/C box. A little pissed that I didn't notice the note about the a/c info but am planning to switch to a Vintage Air unit since I want to clean up the engine bay and hide all the hoses or at least clean up the routing. And get a proper set of crimpers. I thought mine were great but after the first couple crimps I knew they were not going to hold so I got a nice ratcheting crimper and it went smooth after that.

A couple other notes on the install, the kit does not come with a map light wires but you can purchase it from them. The console connection is right in the middle of the dash so the wires do not run all the way to the door and under the seat. Not sure why they did this since the original routing was a cleaner install? It is not set up for the key light but can be modified to work. And does not work with the door buzzer but that crap is annoying anyway. And hides the horn relay under the dash so another thing to make the engine bay a bit cleaner looking.

The bulkhead needs to be bolted in which is a pain. Wish they would have made clips like the original but at least I don't have to worry about loose connections.

Kit also includes a light for each side which really brightens up the interior.

The cool part of the kit is it is ready for power windows (which I will be installing), electric fans, fuel pump, and other accessories that just get plugged into the harness. Nice and easy!  

[myk]

Good to hear you're still out there Clayton.  As usual I love what you've done with the car.  I especially appreciate the feedback about Fitech, because I'm considering the EFI craze as well; i had a feeling that Holley would ultimately be my choice because I've read too many complaints about Fitech.  

Are you going to resume auto X 'ing?  Why did you have to rewire the car?  Is the Holley digital dash something that you integrate into your cluster or a separate unit?  Again, glad to hear from you again.  I'm still loving that '67 console arm rest you sent to me!

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Good to hear you're still out there Clayton.  As usual I love what you've done with the car.  I especially appreciate the feedback about Fitech, because I'm considering the EFI craze as well; i had a feeling that Holley would ultimately be my choice because I've read too many complaints about Fitech.  

Are you going to resume auto X 'ing?  Why did you have to rewire the car?  Is the Holley digital dash something that you integrate into your cluster or a separate unit?  Again, glad to hear from you again.  I'm still loving that '67 console arm rest you sent to me!

Thanks Myk. Yeah I kinda vanished for a while but still lurked around, just didn't post much. Super bummed to hear about your mishap. My big issue with Fitech is I just couldn't understand why they wouldn't take back the unit to test even after I did all the troubleshooting they asked me to do? One guy even mentioned a faulty ECU but still made me do the same troubleshooting I had done multiple times. I just chalked the whole thing up to a bad unit which I've been hearing is happening more. But The first unit I had worked perfectly, I wanted the upgraded unit which could control more but that turned out to be a mistake. So don't let my experience sway you. And there are a lot of happy customers out there with Fitech.

I do plan to get out to more events. The optima challenge doesn't go to Thunderhill anymore which sucks but I'd still like to get out more since I've put all these fancy parts on it. I'm going to try to do more Goodguys events at the Pleasanton show but for now I just want to rack up some miles.

The rewire was just something I felt needed to be done. The old harness wasn't made to handle all the extra crap I've been adding so I felt it was maxed out. EFI, fuel pump, 2 electric fans, electric headlight doors, a/c, stereo, amplifier, extra gauges, and so on was just too much for me. So when this kit came out I just felt it was the right thing to do. I never intended to modernize everything but it just happens that way.  

The digital dash will be alongside the current dash. It can be used as a full dash since it has its own gps adapter and hooks up to the tach signal from the EFI but i'm going to use it for the trans temp, oil temp, fuel pressure, oil pressure, and data. It will go right where my aux gauges are but all this is a dream right now, I first need to come up with the cash. It is one of those "want" items that is not really needed. 

The console is still one of my favorites! Still need to figure out a solution to the cup holder dilemma though.  

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Here's a couple other things I played with. I plasti dipped the wheels for a while just to change things up. New spoiler made from steel. Also got new headlights that are are a true projector headlight that works much better with the LED bulbs.

And the car after it got cleaned up and taken for a spin.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

One thing that I screwed up is during the wiring I pulled the radiator support cover off and accidentally stepped on it!    So I made another. I figured I document this one a bit better for anyone who wants to make their own.

[cdr]

Thank you for the updates, what a BADASS Charger !!!! love it  

[keepat]

 Nice update, glad to see you're still at it! I was inspired by your first core support filler and your second one turned out even better!
Thanks
Pat

[Back N Black]

I like the core support filler, are you going to mass produce? I would buy one. 

[myk]

Dammit!  I was sure you'd have figured out the cup holder situation by now lol...

[TexasStroker]

Nice!  I've still not installed the AAW Kit, but I'm getting close...good to know in advance about the console lights as I can try and factor that in ahead of time.  Also glad to hear the Terminator Stealth is running well...with the advent of the Fuel Cell drop-in I will be using the Duster as the guinea pig after all.  The Digital Dash is on my short list as well, but funds are too tight.

The new filler panel came out great...sounds like you could sell a few to fund the Digital Dash, lol.

Hopefully you can get the car out and enjoy all the upgrades!

[Derwud]

Thanks for the updates.. I am glad FiTech got the low cost F.I. ball rolling..

The AAW kit is very nice.

[kokxville]

Hi Clayton,
Nice to see you back here 
Your charger is getting better and better.
Good job buddy 


John

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Thanks guys! 

I haven't quite nailed the design yet on the filler panel. I need to close the gaps on 2 small areas before I am happy with it. Couple more tries and I will get it right.