my daytona clone project

[Nwcharger]

i was going to wait until i had my car on the road before starting my post but its close enough and ive had a lot of people want to see pics of the car. at first i had no plans on doing a daytona clone, this was going to be a cheap 5k or less charger that i can drive to work and take to the track but not really do any body work to it, kinda joe dirt style. then i started thinking it would be cool to have a joe dirt daytona. so i here are some pics of how it started. the first pictures are crappy but this is how the car looked when i bought it, but it also came with a lot of extra sheet metal from another charger that was parted out year ago...

[Indygenerallee]

Cheap 5k or less Charger??? 

[Patronus]

 

[Nwcharger]

by this point i had the car running and driving with a rv 440/727 that i put a long tailshaft on so it would work in a car. i drove it around my neighbor hood for a couple weeks for fun and then decided to make a c500 clone.

[Nwcharger]

Cheap 5k or less Charger??? 

yes 5k. i bought the car for 2600. i then bought a running driving motorhome for 200 bucks i had a blown car 727 just laying around. i got a cheap set of headers and a holley 650dp for 100 bucks on craigslist. i replaced all the suspinsion bushings and tie rods along with shoes, wheel cylinders and brake master. ill dig up all the costs but it was less than 5k to get it on the road running and stopping. just looking rough.

[Indygenerallee]

Yeah, I bought my complete 69 for $5000 but your not gonna have a nice running and driving 2nd gen for that....

[Nwcharger]

so i bought a vega hatch for 50 bucks and started looking into how to install it. i got a trunk lid closeout panel and shortend my trunk lid.

[Nwcharger]

Yeah, I bought my complete 69 for $5000 but your not gonna have a nice running and driving 2nd gen for that....

it actually runs and drives very nice. just looks bad but thats fine, it fits me.

[dads_69]

Right on! Another clone, just please your's vs what I did and sell it, I was having a bad day is all 6 years ago, goodluck with you're clone and keep the photos coming!

[djcarguy]

    great to see and read info on your project. like the budget and drive to get one get it running and out an enjoy it.  get some welding skills and confendence built up to dive into the save the daytona project.. great ta see an all da best on this an future builds,like 68 an tona. wish i would of  kept my 70 rt an done a daytona years ago,sold it to put money toward a superbird ,that 1st wife veto'd.. well take care an enjoy, think i all ways had more fun in my projects with primer ,than new paint.   later oregon rules.DJ

[Highbanked Hauler]

 Good deal man

[BigBlockSam]

 

[Nwcharger]

so i shortend my trunklid and ordered a 3rd gen dutchman panel to use for the new trunk gutter. i made my trunklid before i got the dutchman panel and when it showed up i realized the curve in the trunk is quite different to the dutchman panel. so i removed the section of the panel i needed and with a little work i got the dutchman panel to have almost the same curve has the trunk, after hours of looking threw pictures i cant seem to find the ones of me installing the plug but basically i installed my shortend trunklid to see where i needed to weld my dutchman panel. once that was welded i layed the plug over and welded it it too.

[Nwcharger]

 

[wingcarenvy]

Thats very cool. 

[BigBlockSam]

looks good bro 

[mauve66]

 
great work finding that beginning stuff cheap, don't loose the dream

[hotrod98]

so i shortend my trunklid and ordered a 3rd gen dutchman panel to use for the new trunk gutter. i made my trunklid before i got the dutchman panel and when it showed up i realized the curve in the trunk is quite different to the dutchman panel. so i removed the section of the panel i needed and with a little work i got the dutchman panel to have almost the same curve has the trunk, after hours of looking threw pictures i cant seem to find the ones of me installing the plug but basically i installed my shortend trunklid to see where i needed to weld my dutchman panel. once that was welded i layed the plug over and welded it it too.

The thing that I pointed out back when I first discovered that the 3rd gen dutchman had a similar curvature to a Daytona deck lid was that you need to make the front lip of the deck lid longer or your closeout panel is going to sit right on top of the steps of the drip trough. The deck lid wil never seal properly and will leak like a sieve. In addition, I make a lip at the back edge of the vega plug that overlaps down into the dutchman. This makes for a cleaner looking piece and is less likely to leak. When I first started doing the conversions, I would make the large cuts in the vega plug to relax the metal but now I use an English wheel instead and just make a couple of small cuts at the lower corner of the glass opening. Less welding and less bodywork.
The way that you're doing it will definitely work. Have you checked to see where the deck lid sits on the ledge where your trunk seal goes.

Congrats on living the dream.

[Nwcharger]

so i shortend my trunklid and ordered a 3rd gen dutchman panel to use for the new trunk gutter. i made my trunklid before i got the dutchman panel and when it showed up i realized the curve in the trunk is quite different to the dutchman panel. so i removed the section of the panel i needed and with a little work i got the dutchman panel to have almost the same curve has the trunk, after hours of looking threw pictures i cant seem to find the ones of me installing the plug but basically i installed my shortend trunklid to see where i needed to weld my dutchman panel. once that was welded i layed the plug over and welded it it too.

The thing that I pointed out back when I first discovered that the 3rd gen dutchman had a similar curvature to a Daytona deck lid was that you need to make the front lip of the deck lid longer or your closeout panel is going to sit right on top of the steps of the drip trough. The deck lid wil never seal properly and will leak like a sieve. In addition, I make a lip at the back edge of the vega plug that overlaps down into the dutchman. This makes for a cleaner looking piece and is less likely to leak. When I first started doing the conversions, I would make the large cuts in the vega plug to relax the metal but now I use an English wheel instead and just make a couple of small cuts at the lower corner of the glass opening. Less welding and less bodywork.
The way that you're doing it will definitely work. Have you checked to see where the deck lid sits on the ledge where your trunk seal goes.

Congrats on living the dream.

ive been inside my trunk several times to see how the lid will seal, witch by the way is a major pain in the ass with the short trunk. but i think i got that part handled by trimming the lip back on the dutchman panel to avoid any contact. i still have lots of work to do but when i finish it shouldn't leak. at least i hope it doesn't since i live in Oregon and see a good amount of rain.

[Nwcharger]

i found a 70 hood on craigslist for cheap so i picked it up. its fairly straight too but has a six pack scoop on it, but thats ok for know because im building another motor for it and using an old weiand cross ram and six pack.  i also picked up a 18 spline 4speed with a hurst vertigate shifter. it had the linkage modified for a dart but i got a bunch of replacement parts from someone on this forum.

[Nwcharger]

next i found the nose cone. i bought it on ebay shipped for 765.00. the hideways drop down instead of popping up, i was going to change this but they seem to work just fine for know. soon after buying the nose i got ahold of dane and put a deposite on a wing

[moparstuart]

    very nice budget built  , only way some of us can have a wing

[BigBlockSam]

very cool idea with the lights . i bought my stinger nose off of ebay for $450 . you did the rite thing by buying one of Dane's wings. makes the car worth more 

[Nwcharger]

i wanted to see how it looked on my car right away. after a quick mock up i can see there would be a lot of work to make the 69 fenders work.

[Charger-Bodie]

Ive got a set of 70 fiberglass fenders tha would be pretty cheap...