Rear Suspension Assembly on Project '69 - IT'S IN! ***MORE PICS***

[bill440rt]

Well, it's a cold winter night here in NJ. I took advantage of that to do some work on the Charger in the garage, & installed the rear suspension.

I removed it several weeks ago from the car & disassembled it. Turns out the Sure-Grip unit was blown.  That was something I did not expect. I pulled out several pieces of gear teeth, but surprisingly they were NOT FROM THIS REAR!!! Someone blew it up before me & never cleaned the junk out!    They just left it all in there. The Sure-Grip unit in this one was just worn out. It was a 489 case with a cone-type unit, it was replaced with a clutch-type, all new. Ring & pinion was OK. Lucky for me, the car had 3:91's in it.    How this car was even going down the road before with all that junk in there baffles me. 

I painted all the parts last weekend, & just put it together tonite. The gas tank I put in a few weeks ago, those are the repro stainless straps polished to a mirror finish. Hopefully tomorrow I can finish by installing the brakes & the sway bar. Once this rear is done I'll move on to the front.

BTW, there was a thread here recently on rear sway bars, & I mentioned the Hotchkis setup I'm going with on this car. You can see the beefy end links in these photos. They have greasable urethane bushings.

[tan top]

   looks good  .... nice job  (Bill440rt)     would like to see   more pictures of you charger   

[Shakey]

Well done!   

She'll be a beaut when it's all completed.   

I agree with Tan Top, post more photos.     

[Back N Black]

Hey Bill looks good,
Did you clear coat the tank or put anything on it to prevent it from rusting? looking for options on my tank.

[bill440rt]

Hey Black,
Yes, I used Eastwood's Nyalic clear in a spray can. I'm not sure whether they carry it anymore, if not their Diamond clear is about the same. It's designed to go over bare, plated, or polished metals.
I did both my other tanks in my '68 & '70 Chargers the same way, they look like the day I took them out of the box. The '70 has been done for almost 10 years now, tank looks great. A much better alternative than to spray paint it silver or "Tank Tone." It retains the true look by just clearing it. I also cleared the axle U-bolts and all attaching hardware. The plating doesn't oxidize that way & it stays looking good for a long time.

The springs are done with Rust-o-luem Industrial Professional semi-gloss black in a spray can. The axle is DuPont ChromaOne single stage urethane. The shackles & front hanger bracket is Eastwood Detail Gray & the pumpkin is Cast Gray. These items were also cleared with DuPont ChromaClear High Glamour urethane. This is a modified car, & I prefer to clear some of these parts not only to make them look better, but it's also easier to keep clean.
The Hotchkis sway bars come already powder coated black, I just cleared the attaching hardware with more Nyalic clear.

Tan Top & Shakey, THANKS for your compliments! I'll get some more pics up soon for you. Unfortunately, progress is sometimes a little slow on my part, but I'll do my best.

[Back N Black]

Thanks Bill,
Lots of good info...just what i need to know

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Looking great Bill!  Only you would polish the gas tank straps    Nice touch!

[mikepmcs]

You do nice work sir.


v/r
Mike

[bill440rt]

Thanks again, guys!!! 

I managed to get out there a little more today. I installed the brakes on the driver's side & finished off the rear sway bar.

I'm going with a manual 4-wheel disc brake conversion by SSBC. Right now, the caliper is sitting too far outward. The shims they give you in the kit only allows you to move it outboard even more. I need to move it IN. I spoke with them today, they are very helpful. I sent them pics & they called me back right away. Someone from their engineering dept is supposed to call me back tomorrow morning to help me solve this dilemna.     They DO look nice on the car, though!
Here are some shots:

[tan top]

more nice work    the more i am looking at you sway bar set up ,  i think  i should of gone hotchkis in stead of addco on mine . hmm...
thanks for posting the pictures 

[bill440rt]

Here are some pics of the rear sway bar installed in the car. There was a previous thread about rear sway bars, hopefully these pics are helpful.

I went with the Hotchkis sway bars, they come already powdercoated black. They also come with greasable polyurethane bushings, even the end link bushings. You can see the zerk fittings in these pics. The rear bar sway bar is also adjustable with 3 stiffness settings. I placed mine in the middle, not sure how the car is gonna handle yet. It is 1" inch thick, and are HOLLOW. Being hollow, it actually adds rigidity to the bar. I only had to drill one hole in each frame rail for the end link brackets, the rest is a bolt-in deal.

[resq302]

Bill,

That is looking horrible.  Just Kidding.  It is turning out fantastic.  I can't wait to see it in person.  I know pictures are nice but never truely do a car justice.  And knowing how your cars are with your perfection that you strive for, it will truely be a work of art.

Keep up the excellent work.

[mikepmcs]

Those tank straps are blinding!

v/r
Mike

[tan top]

more informative pictures    thanks (bill440rt) for the info on the sway bar   hmmm ... adjustable rear bar i'm liking them a lot

[lasvegas69charg]

bill440rt-where did you get the driver side exhaust bracket that mounts under the rear seat? Thanks.

[lasvegas69charg]

nevermind-I just found it at yo

[bill440rt]

 

BTW, you can find it cheaper at Mega Parts, Jack's, Herb's, etc. 

[Tom Q]

Beautiful car & work...may I please run it on the road course when you are finished??

[bill440rt]

LOL! 

Thanks, Tom! But, the car has been finished for some time now. This particular thread is old ('07).
Here's a link so you can read all the threads on it if you'd like:
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,64641.0.html