What have you done with your Charger lately?

[timmycharger]

Restored my steering column, just waiting on the lower bearing, o ring, and coupler seal and its going back together Saturday

Before pic...

[timmycharger]

After resto.. hopefully back together soon

[Musicman]

Nice Job 

[timmycharger]

Thanks!!

[twenty mike mike]

Cut a hole in the floor.

[Ghoste]

And a very nice one too.   

(whats the next phase?)

[twenty mike mike]

And a very nice one too.  

(whats the next phase?)

Thank you. It is thanks to you!  Edit: Oh, that was Troy. But thanks, anyway.

The hump's flange doesn't meet the floor exactly right in a few places, so I'll massage that a little bit. Next I'll paint the bare metal and the rest of the area that will be covered by the hump with weld through primer. I'll also paint the inside of the hump silver, leaving the bottom of the flange painted with the primer. Then, I'll take it to my welder's shop to get it welded in, along with the z bar bracket.

[JamieZ]

Are you saying you installed motors to replace the vacuum system for the headlight doors?

Yes, linear actuators replace the vacuum system.  I still have to make the brackets to mount them, but that shouldn't be too difficult once I get the materials.

All told there's maybe $100 in parts to do it.  2 Linear actuators off ebay for $50, some wire, 3 relays, 3 relay harnesses, 1 circuit breaker, 2 diodes.  Probably will put another 20-50 in the brackets depending on what type of metal I use and what's available.   Still cheaper than the $400 replacements, and it was fun to figure out.  They aren't that fast (see the video) but I can't think of a lot of cases where I need to turn my lights on rapidly.

Wow, you're actually fabricating the mounting points.  I was just thinking about buying the "kit" off of ebay/online that has the motors and linkages already installed; I presume you'd still have to do some minor 'fabbing to get them in.  As for speed, it looks fast enough for me; definitely faster than the miserable vacuum system and you wouldn't have to worry about repairing leaking tin cans or inspecting 500 feet of vacuum hose to figure out where any problems are. 

Myk your vacuum operated doors should open quite a bit faster than that.  If they don't then something's wrong with the system. 

Great job on fabbing this yourself Jamie!   

Made a bracket to mount the linear actuator.  Due to a minor sizing issue I had to make a new clip to attach to the bar as well.  I'm not sure if this is the final design I'll use, but it does work:

Rough cut out of steel with the angle grinder:


Bent using a vice and a hammer:



Assembled and bench testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg3bUblPdc0

[Rosco]

I'm looking forward to seeing how that linear actuator setup turns out! Is there a way to get them to move a bit faster though?I mean, can you adjust the speed on that one? or would you have to buy a different one that operates at a different speed?

[JamieZ]

I'm looking forward to seeing how that linear actuator setup turns out! Is there a way to get them to move a bit faster though?I mean, can you adjust the speed on that one? or would you have to buy a different one that operates at a different speed?

You would need to buy different ones, they are not adjustable. You could do something like increase the voltage but that tends to be detrimental to the life of the motor.
Faster actuators probably cost more, most of the ones if could find on eBay were about this speed

[69wannabe]

Got mine out and drove it to town and back today. The temp here finally broke 45 degrees since bout two weeks ago and it's not muddy and mushy behind the house so got the old car out for a run to town and back!! It musta been in hibernation since it was a lil stubborn to get it started!! Just an old cold natured big block!!!

[HeavyFuel]

Installed the freshly rebuilt steering gear from Firm Feel.  Went with the Stage II.

That, combined with some offset UCA bushings will hopefully get rid of that squirrelly feeling at highway speeds. 

[Finn]

Finally got the hood fixed and back on since it blew off 3 years ago. 

[Lord Warlock]

Got the new trunk floor in place and am finishing up the welding as weather permits.  Have the interior guy lined up to come over and put the headliner in this weekend, and will have the front glass finally installed again once the headliner is done. 

[68killerbee]

Still deciding to keep it or sell it.
Vacuumed it all out, made up a list of parts I need as far as interior and sheet metal 
Oil change, primed it up, new plugs, new wires.  Got it to crank once, waiting for friend to help see if it will run....

[Bob T]

Finally got the hood fixed and back on since it blew off 3 years ago. 

Whoa, what went on then??

[myk]

Installed the freshly rebuilt steering gear from Firm Feel.  Went with the Stage II.

That, combined with some offset UCA bushings will hopefully get rid of that squirrelly feeling at highway speeds. 

NICE.  Let us know how that works out...

[don duick]

made a temporary redneck fuel gauge. drill a small hole in front of the filler neck grommet and use a piece of rusted wire as a dipstick. use a small bolt to cover the hole.  Hey its better than guessing and 100% accurate.

[67440chrg]

As the weather allows im reassembling the top of my 440 putting eddy rpm heads & new cam and lifters. Putting a firm feel box on too. should be more fun next year.

[JamieZ]

Bracket version 2:

The original bracket had some fitment issues and used a lot of metal. Not to mention fitment took some work. I had an idea to use the stock brackets and build a mount where the vacuum pods connect. It takes a lot less metal, is easier to fit and so reduce the clearance issues when mounting it on the car. So enter version 2. I cut the metal a little wide and had to make some rough cuts to get it to fit. Not to mention a few of the bends are not as good as I hoped. But it works and I like it better than the original version. I'll still need to fab some pieces to hook to the stock bar as the original clip is just a little short. The one i have on there is junky.

[Finn]

Finally got the hood fixed and back on since it blew off 3 years ago. 

Whoa, what went on then??

Stupid mistake, I was working under the hood and kept hitting my head on the claw latch so I took it off. Completely forgot about it on a test drive and off she went. 

[tan top]

Finally got the hood fixed and back on since it blew off 3 years ago.  

Whoa, what went on then??

Stupid mistake, I was working under the hood and kept hitting my head on the claw latch so I took it off. Completely forgot about it on a test drive and off she went.  

damn  hood catch 

[The70RT]

Went out and looked at it....smh then went back inside

[Charger-Bodie]

Went out and looked at it....smh then went back inside

She looks beautiful Dennis. Don't matter when it gets done.

[The70RT]

Went out and looked at it....smh then went back inside

She looks beautiful Dennis. Don't matter when it gets done.

Thanks Brian, my wife is still having medical problems and was laid off again last year and just now got another job that is letting here be treated when she needs to be. Unfortunately I had an accident at work and am off for awhile recovering from a dislocated shoulder....not sure if I have to have surgery as of yet