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

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Ha!  Looking at the entire kit picture, I thought for a second "wait, these have to be plugged into your house 110v to work?"....looking quick at the plugs


PS--this link gives a better description of them....

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kits/led-headlight-kit-h4-led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kit-with-flexible-tinned-copper-braid/2221/4993/

It does look like they have extension cords.

How the hell did I miss all of this?  Clayton I had no idea you're actually tracking the car.  The two of you must've turned a lot of heads and raised a few eyebrows when you blasted through that road course.  Hopefully I'll be able to follow in your footsteps in the near future.  Thanks for being an inspiration!  

Hey Myk, you've been too busy staring at those new Hotchkis parts that you missed it.    If you get a chance to try it out, go for it!

There is a Hotchkis event sometime in June and one in Sept. down in the LA area. I don't know how far you are from it but I might drive down to attend one of them.  

[WHITE AND RED 69]

What better way to start spring than to tear down the charger.    

My heater A/C box has been giving me issues so I decided it was time to replace all the seals and internals. At first I was just going to freshen it up with a gasket kit but after pulling the box and seeing how bad it was I'm going to send it out to be 100% redone. Should have it back in 4-6 weeks so I'll post up some pics of the finished product.

Also while the heater box is out I decided to replace all the firewall insulation and really clean up the under dash wiring. But the wiring has been patched and spliced too many times it just needs to be redone, so I'm going to rewire the entire car. I've got new M&H harnesses ready to go in but am waiting on the rear light and front light harnesses. Year one says a few more weeks so hopefully it shows up before the heater box comes back. The plan is to make it perfectly clean with every wire nicely routed and braided wrapped without any spices or questionable areas. Not looking forward to the wiring so I'll start this project in the next few weeks.  

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I also had these other valve covers I never installed so I wanted to see how it all looked with the orange. I think it looks pretty good but still not sure which look will stay on the car. 

Also mounted an oil breather catch can, ran the lines, and got new reproduction horns. I'm not too fond of the stock location for the horns so I'm going to move them under the oil breather. Soon as I get the interior back together I'm going to mount the MSD box in the interior to help clean up the look of the engine bay.

[VegasCharger]

Good luck with those projects Clayton

I'm about to do the same with my A/C-Heater box but I think I'll try the regasket kit from DMT. My box isn't too bad and I have it out anyway due to my dash resto project. Are you going to use the typical firewall insulation kit? Or are you going to use your own material or both?

Good luck with the wiring as well, I went all new wiring myself except for the console wiring harness.

Bryan

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Good luck with those projects Clayton

I'm about to do the same with my A/C-Heater box but I think I'll try the regasket kit from DMT. My box isn't too bad and I have it out anyway due to my dash resto project. Are you going to use the typical firewall insulation kit? Or are you going to use your own material or both?

Good luck with the wiring as well, I went all new wiring myself except for the console wiring harness.

Bryan

Thanks Bryan   

I hear nothing but good things about the DMT kits, I was tempted to order one and tackle the project but I want to have all the core tubes redone since they aren't looking too good. I ordered the stock appearing firewall kit from DMT    I might add a small amount of dynamat but I think the stock insulation should be fine. I also don't want to add to much material that might mess up the fitment.     

The wiring shouldn't be too bad (famous last words  ). I've got my original wires still in place so I'm just going to go one harness at a time and take my time.

[PlainfieldCharger]

Clayton, I am surprised your not doing the heater box yourself. It is really not bad at all to do....

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Clayton, I am surprised your not doing the heater box yourself. It is really not bad at all to do....

I thought about it Kevin, I knew that the gaskets and paint wouldn't be too big of an issue but with getting the metal parts re-plated I figured it would just be best to send it out. I also wanted to add in a new aluminum evaporator core that is supposed to work better so they are adding that piece in.

I've got a ton of other projects so I don't feel bad about farming this one out...Until I get the bill! 

[GT]

Actually thats a nice heater box to start with...  The valve covers turned out nice too...
Where did you get the catch can?  I'm in need of one and like it.

[MxRacer855]

Wow Clayton! Amazing car!
Those Fesler hinges are going to look amazing under there. 

I'm happy to see that Wilwood master cylinder with that hydraulic booster!
I just recently put that RMS AlterKation kit on my '68 (as you've seen), and through 12.19" Wilwood rotors up front w/ 11" in the rear. Reilly Motorsports is selling that hydraulic setup with the master cylinder. I've been looking into it like crazy. Just happy to see someone else running it!

I guess RMS wants you to tap into the power steering lines when using their kit... is that what you did?
I'm going to go through this thread now.



Jeff

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Actually thats a nice heater box to start with...  The valve covers turned out nice too...
Where did you get the catch can?  I'm in need of one and like it.

Thanks GT! It's an Allstar catch can from summit but I added a different filter to match up with the air cleaner. It normally comes with a white filter. They also offer it with fittings on both sides. 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all36108

Wow Clayton! Amazing car!
Those Fesler hinges are going to look amazing under there. 

I'm happy to see that Wilwood master cylinder with that hydraulic booster!
I just recently put that RMS AlterKation kit on my '68 (as you've seen), and through 12.19" Wilwood rotors up front w/ 11" in the rear. Reilly Motorsports is selling that hydraulic setup with the master cylinder. I've been looking into it like crazy. Just happy to see someone else running it!

I guess RMS wants you to tap into the power steering lines when using their kit... is that what you did?
I'm going to go through this thread now.



Jeff

Thanks Jeff!    I can't wait to get the hinges...a few weeks and i'll be in business   

The RMS kit is the one I have and has been one of the best improvements on the car so far. Other than the price I don't think I've heard a single complaint from anyone who has used it. Even when I was running a 10.75" wilwoods up front and drums in the rear it made a huge difference but now with the big Baers all the way around it really makes the bigger brakes perform as they should. Fit was spot on and have had zero issues in the last few years with it. It does tap into the power steering to work but is a pretty straight forward install. Just a couple braided lines from the pump and steering box to the hydroboost unit and then a rubber hose tees into the return line. It will definitely bring out the full potential of the wilwoods you are running. 

[MxRacer855]

Great to hear Clayton!

Words cannot even describe how happy I am to have this thing on the road within the next year or two! 

Thanks for all of the info.
Please keep the posts coming! I love the pics!     



Jeff

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Got a bit of work done over the weekend...My lower control arm bushings needed to be replaced so I figured it was time to clean them up since the paint has chipped away over the years. To speed up the swap I had an extra set of lower arms so I had them powder coated before I started pulling the front end apart. Figured while the arms were out I would upgrade a couple other spots so I added a larger set of torsion bars, replaced the heim joints on the strut rods(didn't need to replace them but figured while it was all apart might as well) and added the dust boots to keep them clean.

 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

finished lower arms  

But the new shiny parts make everything else look beat up so I'll need to do some cleaning up one of these days.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

While staring at the engine bay I wasn't really happy with the placement of the oil breather catch can. So I moved it onto the other side of the fender and ran the hose through with a bulkhead fitting.

Also got the locking transmission dipstick installed. Went in fairly smooth but as usual with any transmission work for me, fluid ended up everywhere!    Didn't expect that much to flow out when I pulled the old dipstick out. 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

And I finally got my trunk hinges! These things are sweet! I'm going to wait a few weeks to install these though, still waiting on the rear wiring harness from year one so I'll do both items at the same time.

A couple more weeks and the hood hinges should be here.  

[VegasCharger]

 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

A couple other new parts showed up as well. The Milodon road race oil pan is one cool looking product. Pricey but looks like it is worth it. Hope the install goes smoothly.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Trunk hinges are sweet!  Helped Bill (bill440rt) install his in the green car.  Just gotta remember they are gas charged now....twist of the key sends the trunk-a-poppin! 

[keepat]

Nice oil pan and easy to install. I put one in my silver Charger years ago. It's great that you can drop the oil pan on most mopar with the motor in the car, not on GM's!
Good luck!
Pat

[MxRacer855]

And I finally got my trunk hinges! These things are sweet! I'm going to wait a few weeks to install these though, still waiting on the rear wiring harness from year one so I'll do both items at the same time.

A couple more weeks and the hood hinges should be here.  

Looking great! 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Trunk hinges are sweet!  Helped Bill (bill440rt) install his in the green car.  Just gotta remember they are gas charged now....twist of the key sends the trunk-a-poppin! 

They are sweet Chris.    It was Bill's advice and photos that sold me on them, they looked so good on his I had to get a set.     He said the worst part was getting the rear seat out but at this point I've done it so many times it should be a breeze. My only worry is getting the trunk aligned where it needs to be. 

Nice oil pan and easy to install. I put one in my silver Charger years ago. It's great that you can drop the oil pan on most mopar with the motor in the car, not on GM's!
Good luck!
Pat

Hopefully the install will go smooth. I've heard a couple people say they had some clearance issues and had to do some trimming but hoping I won't run into any issues. Did you use bolts or studs when installing the pan? I usually go with bolts but it might make it easier with the studs? 

[kokxville]

Amazing 
Your charger gets better and better Clayton.

John

[Godsmack635]

What color was the paint that you ordered from Eastwood for the grill? 

I've been doing a lot to my charger the past few months and thought it was time to post some pics. I started with my grille which was cracked in a bunch of places and was starting to fall apart. Soon as I got it off the car I realized how bad it was, it was only held in by 3 bolts and every other mounting tab was long gone. So I used a product called plastifix to get all the cracks and broken tabs fixed, got all new hardware from charger specialties, and all the paint from eastwood and got to work.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Amazing 
Your charger gets better and better Clayton.

John

Thanks John!   

What color was the paint that you ordered from Eastwood for the grill? 

SEM Trim black for the center area and argent silver wheel paint for the surrounds.

[keepat]

Nice oil pan and easy to install. I put one in my silver Charger years ago. It's great that you can drop the oil pan on most mopar with the motor in the car, not on GM's!
Good luck!
Pat

Hopefully the install will go smooth. I've heard a couple people say they had some clearance issues and had to do some trimming but hoping I won't run into any issues. Did you use bolts or studs when installing the pan? I usually go with bolts but it might make it easier with the studs? 
[/quote]

I used bolts for the pan and attach the gasket to the pan 1st to help with alignment
Pat