74 Dodge Charger Build thread! Step 1, CHASSIS! Lots of pics = no dialup

[moparguy01]

well, first you start by adding subframe connectors, then you continue onto a full roll cage of course!

The goal was to add a full cage to the car, and this is the thread where I will be talking about it. The cage is being installed by MW Racecraft. http://www.mwracecraft.com/ The cage is a 10 point if I don't end up installing the front bars, or a 12 if I do install the front bars. The goal here is to be able to use the entire interior. Rear seat, side panels, door panels, even the factory headliner AND dome light. Big order? I would say so. Granted the carpet will have to be custom, and I have to modify the dash some for the A pillar bars, being as I must be able to remove the dash once the cage is in place. Keep in tune for more pictures as the build progresses, and sorry Mods if I put this in the wrong place. Here are some pics.

the subframe connectors


so far the back of the cage has been mocked up and tack welded in place.

[Ghoste]

Nice work, I look forward to the whole series.

[FLG]

Nice work..those connectors look identical to the ones custom fabbed in my 73...think they were 4x3 square tubing?? They work great!

Just noticed...yours are sitting up a bit higher than mine...make sure there not going to interfere with the seat tracks

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,59101.0.html

[moparguy01]

We already checked the seat clearance and it fits good. Now on yours you may have went further forward with the tubing. What Mw raceworks did was to cap the front and run tubing to the front mount, allowing stock location of fuel and brake lines.

[mwracecraft]

Should finish rear on Tuesday nite. Will post more pictures.
Thanks Mike

[nvrbdn]

great pic's. nice set up 

[moparguy01]

Some update pics!
He has the rear all set up and welded in place. Mike also welded a few nuts into the rear bars for a good ground, and has setup the battery disconnect since the battery is going out back. the rear is also setup for a fuel cell that I'll be putting in sometime in the relatively near future. I'm incredibly pleased with how this has turned out so far. Now onto the front of the cage!

[firefighter3931]

Russ, your chassis guy is doing an awesome job !  That's one of the nicest cages i've seen. 

I like the trunk bars and how the fuel cell is surrounded by tube. Is that mild steel or chromoly ?

So when is the beast going to hit the track ? 



Ron

[moparguy01]

Its mild steel. I have to put it all back together once i get it back, so i got abit of a journey yet on it. hope to have it done by may.

[moparguy01]

Here we have a few new tricks....

First, the dash bar---now you see it.....



and now you dont.


i cut the dash in order to mock it all up, and will have to modify the a/c ductwork, and cut a few holes in the dash i'm using to make this setup work. bars through the dash. and yes, it'll be legal. by using a 1-5/8" bar behind the dash in this fashion, we can use a split bar up front, allowing us to keep it nice and tight to the a pillars.





and here's the bar underneath that its going to be welded up to.

[moparguy01]

A pillar and halo!







Getting real close here! Soon itll be time to start reassembly!!!

[RallyeMike]

Oh, man. Front hoop through the stock dash. Lots of fun to be had now!

Ducts, e-brake, dash pad, gauges, A-pillar plastic......   takes some real careful planning and a ton of work. Will be interesting to see how you sort it all out.

[moparguy01]

ok, testing to make image links work again

[moparguy01]

Oh, man. Front hoop through the stock dash. Lots of fun to be had now!

Ducts, e-brake, dash pad, gauges, A-pillar plastic......   takes some real careful planning and a ton of work. Will be interesting to see how you sort it all out.

The dash in the pictures is not the one i'll be using in the car. the bars actually will only go through the metal part of the dash, not the pad itself. so I will be notching the metal part of the dash behind the pad for the bars, and also the bracing underneath on the sides for the downbars. E-brake is a thing of the past, I honestly have not used one since i've owned the car almost 10 years. In actuality it has not even had parking brake cables in that time either. The A pillar plastic will fit with where the bars are.  I'm working on building a custom gauge cluster as well, and i'll be running Autometer Phantom series gauges in it. and duct work did have to be modified, and I will be using flexible ductwork and modifying the existing ductwork so that it will hook up the way it should. Oh yeah, and the kick panels fit too.

[RallyeMike]

You the man! I took one look at that mess and then put the down bars just in front of the dash and cross bar under the steering column. Got rid of the stock door panels so I could run a decent door bar.

[moparguy01]

actually, Mike's the man. i'm just doing the interior after he's done with my cage. It took quite abit of talking and figuring to get it where its all good. And boy those door panels are being a major pain in the butt right now.

[RallyeMike]

I don't suppose you have some pictures of your cage and what you did for door panels? Just curious as to what others have done.

Here's a shot from one my several engine/trans swaps... or whatever I was doing (?)

The cage is pretty basic - go, not show. Nowhere near as nice as yours is going to be, though the parking brake still fits in my set up (good to have for towing on a trailer 800 miles). I had to shorten the window cranks by 1/2" to clear the front down bar. The cross bar at the bottom of the dash bolts in (out of the car in the pic).

For door panels, I took an old cruddy set of the lowers, chopped out the bulges for the arm rests, and recovered them with pleated material. Not gorgeous, but functional. It let me run a straight door bar. I just could not figure out a good plan with the massive arm rests in place. You probably dont want to follow my example!

[mwracecraft]

Russ's cage is done. See all the photos at my Photo Bucket account.
Here is the link: http://photobucket.com/mwracecraft "1974 Charger"
Was inspected this morning, certified to NHRA 8.50.

Thanks Mike