1974 Challenger Restomod

[Dmod1974]

Great update there.
Was wondering because you had previously set the update frequency.
Must be great feeling to be so much closer.

I've been crazy busy with work, that and trying to enjoy the solid 3 weeks of decent weather we receive in Soviet Republic of Illinois each summer.  I've been busting butt lately to get it ready to hand off to a real body guy to finish in fall.  There were a few times I was so rushed that I simply forgot to take pictures to post.  I just shipped parts to SF Resto today.  Shipping to Canada was ridiculously expensive.  Hopefully I get the latches and whatnot back before it gets really cold so I can drop the car off to get done.

Nice work! 

Thank you!

[Dmod1974]

Busy, busy day today.  Got the freshly primed skin welded up, ground down, and epoxy primed (poorly as usual) to prevent flash rusting.  Got all of the trim holes drilled too.  I used seam sealer between the two crossmembers, of course  I'm really happy with the way this piece fit.  It fits better than the original ever did, especially at the sail panel seams.  Anybody needing to do extensive roof repair should seriously consider giving this a try.

[Scooter]

hat's off to you... doing some really nice work there... and lots of it!

[RUNCHARGER]

Nice! Good to know that's a good piece.

[Dmod1974]

Officially done with the metal resto and on to fun things!  I sent out a bunch of stuff to SF Restoration to get restored.  In the meantime, I finally ordered and just received my Tremec T56 Magnum kit from SST.  I'm really impressed with the completeness, quality, and engineering of this kit.  Today I mocked up the pedal set and clutch master cylinder and stiffener to drill holes and check fit.  I'll be doing the crossmember mods this next week.

[YellowThumper]

That looks great.
Particularly like the clutch cylinder setup.

[Dmod1974]

That looks great.
Particularly like the clutch cylinder setup.

Yeah, I priced out and considered engineering my own setup, but at best, I would have only saved a couple hundred dollars that I most certainly would have blown (and then some) doing sub par fabrication and working through issues.  Plus, it comes with a 3 year warranty.  I'm cheap and prefer doing things myself, but this is one area it just didn't make sense.

[anlauto]

Just to be anal....

This clip is on the wrong side of the clutch/brake pedal assembly. You may have difficulty getting the flasher unit to reach over there.
In that hole you're using there should be a black plastic clip to retain the speedometer cable 

[Dmod1974]

Just to be anal....

This clip is on the wrong side of the clutch/brake pedal assembly. You may have difficulty getting the flasher unit to reach over there.
In that hole you're using there should be a black plastic clip to retain the speedometer cable 

Good call!  I'll move it over.

[Dmod1974]

Didn't have as much time as I wanted to work on it this weekend, but I did get the trans crossmember mods completed.  Overall, pretty easy and uneventful.  The new crossmember has both the early and late E-Body crossmember bolt pattern.  After removing the arch piece, there are two neat little caps that get welded in to box the crossmember and also provide reinforcement tubes to prevent crushing the crossmember when the bolts are torqued.











I'm hoping to at least get started on the tunnel mods next weekend.  SST includes templates to tell you exactly where to cut and how to shape the tunnel.

[anlauto]

Interesting....does it not have a piece to loop over the new transmission to connect the two halves back together ?

[Dmod1974]

Interesting....does it not have a piece to loop over the new transmission to connect the two halves back together ?

The crossmember is a structural piece in this kit.  It's reinforced, boxed, and gusseted and much heavier gauge steel than the factory one.  Once bolted in and torqued, it's solid.  Not that it matters for me since I'm running an Alterktion setup, but this is strong enough to still allow the use of torsion bars.

I also have subframe connectors, torque boxes and all of the other US CARTOOL pieces so I have zero concerns about loss of strength.

[anlauto]

That makes sense, especially if there's no torsion bars being used

[Dmod1974]

That makes sense, especially if there's no torsion bars being used

Yeah, I honestly wouldn't hesitate to use this setup even with torsion bars after seeing just how thin and subject to deflection that the factory sheet metal is.  The SST crossmember is without a doubt substantially stronger than the flimsy torsion bar crossmember, even with it being "boxed" by the maybe 18ga floor pan above it via spot welds.  It's the strongest part in the system.

[Dmod1974]

Picked up a junk 5.7 that I stripped and used the bare block to fab and locate the mounts as well as aid in lining the trans up for tunnel mods.





I also built a drivetrain cart to make my life easier






I installed the rear axle and wheels since I didn't feel comfortable raising the front end on just the two body casters.



Driveline set in place, and I definitely need to cut and reset the mount brackets.  Annoying, but not the end of the world or unexpected.  The tailshaft isn't quite centered with the crossmember so it isn't as square as I could measure with just the block and subframe.  The oil pan to rack clearance isn't enough and my driveline angle isn't either.  Once I raise the engine a hair and reset the mounts both will be corrected.







Access to the bellhousing bolts for both the engine and trans side is good.  The only other unknown is how much clearance I'll have from the rear of the blower to the firewall.  Won't know that until I have the engine on hand, unfortunately.