1974 Challenger Restomod

[Dmod1974]

This Saturday the shell gets shipped out to the body shop for the final work and paint.  I'm super excited to finally get it looking like a real car again!

My supercharger LTR arrived and I got it fitted up before the big day.  It completes my supercharging cooling system build.  This is an off the shelf Koyorad (P/N KH183627) unit that I was able to get mounted even with the A/C condenser, receiver/dryer, and oil cooler in the way without drilling any holes in the body.  The LH side uses the two factory radiator bolt holes with longer bolts, and the RH side mounts to the Vintage Air receiver/dryer bracket bolted to the condenser.  It's rock solid.

I have plenty of access to the bleed and drain plugs as well as the hose fittings, and there is adequate clearance around everything including the hood latch support. 

Between the core dimensions and dual pass flow, this should have similar cooling capabilities to the stock primary/secondary LTR setup used on the factory Hellcat.  If I up the boost and need more I'll likely install a Killer Chiller with an LTR bypass setup, though I doubt I will without repeated back to back time at full engine load.















I'm going to paint the brackets and heat exchangers black after I get done trimming them to length.

[Katfish]

Got more details on this?  What GM pedal did you use?
Is this the process?
- Cut Mopar electronic pedal off
- Get GM pedal (which 1?) and fit to cut off electronic pedal
- Tap GM pedal shaft to accept original style Mopar pedal

Last update for now - I managed to get my accelerator pedal figured out borrowing from @303 Mopar (thank you for that sticky!!!!) and adapted the factory pedal to the electronic pedal that comes with the control kit.  I tapped the metal GM pedal bracket so that the factory pedal hex bolt threads into it.  I also used the factory pedal pivot spring too.

[Dmod1974]

Got more details on this?  What GM pedal did you use?
Is this the process?
- Cut Mopar electronic pedal off
- Get GM pedal (which 1?) and fit to cut off electronic pedal
- Tap GM pedal shaft to accept original style Mopar pedal

Last update for now - I managed to get my accelerator pedal figured out borrowing from @303 Mopar (thank you for that sticky!!!!) and adapted the factory pedal to the electronic pedal that comes with the control kit.  I tapped the metal GM pedal bracket so that the factory pedal hex bolt threads into it.  I also used the factory pedal pivot spring too.

I used an accelerator pedal out of a 2006 Chevy Impala.  Since you're only using the metal pedal bracket, it doesn't matter if the APP sensor is good or bad.  I picked one up for like $20.  There is a rivet that you'll grind off to remove the GM pedal and pivot pin.

Your other steps are correct.  After cutting off the Mopar pedal, you'll need to "gut" the plastic webbing enough to allow the metal pedal bracket to sit flat inside the cavity.  I then drilled holes and used 1/4" 20 bolts and flange nuts to retain it.

Obviously, you'll need to spend some time to get the pedal height and side to side alignment right before doing anything permanent, but it's pretty simple other than that.  The stock pedal, spring, and pivot screw work perfect.

You will not use the massive clunky plastic pedal adapter that the Mopar pedal comes with.  First, it's hard to find space for it with a 4 speed hump, and second, the pedal travel and angle is completely wrong and weird compared to the factory pedals.

You could even possibly reuse one of the 2 factory pedal holes in the firewall too; I had to move mine over about 1/2" for the APP connector to clear the American Autowire fuse panel.  It might clear a factory one, but don't quote me on that.

[Dmod1974]

It's been a while, but I finally have something worth updating.  I got the car shell shipped off to the body shop to get the last finesse metal work done and get her painted.  They're progressing fast; luckily the metal work needed was relatively minor.  They got it stripped back down to bare metal and resprayed in epoxy primer.  Clearly, they are much better than I am at laying down paint. 

It'll be getting painted in Go Mango orange with a black vinyl top.

[ledphoot]

Looks awesome. I like the early style side markers, I wish I had frenched mine. Very cool project and excellent progress.

[Cbridgewater]

Did you build or purchase your body dollys?

[Dmod1974]

Did you build or purchase your body dollys?

I bought them. They were cheap enough where it didn't make sense for me to waste time buying raw material and building my own. I did build my powertrain dolly myself though.

[Jsand73440]

Nice work on the challenger.  Mine is also a 73 to 70 clone. Finishing up a the subframe connectors and body panel alignment and gaps. Waiting for paint shop to get to me on their list. I look forward to seeing your progress.

[Dmod1974]

It's been way too long coming, but I should have the shell back in my hands in the next two weeks.  The body shop should be doing the blackout treatment and assembly this week, and then it is off to the trim shop to get the vinyl top and headliner installed.  I was there on Friday to install the Acoustishield headliner insulation kit, run the dome light harness, and install all of the screws that will go through the headliner.

[Katfish]

Looking nice, thx for the update

[anlauto]

Looking great !
What's the wire coming out of your rear side marker light ? Do you have the front marker lights on the rear ?

[Dmod1974]

Looking great !
What's the wire coming out of your rear side marker light ? Do you have the front marker lights on the rear ?

The resto side marker assemblies from PG Classic come that way both front and rear for whatever reason. Same pigtails at all corners.

[Dmod1974]

The shell is wet sanded, buffed, assembled, and off to the trim shop on Monday!  Should have it back by Friday if all goes well with the headliner and top.  The car is gorgeous; it is such a night and day transformation and I'm glad I went with K2 for the paint. 

I'm going to have to take extra time and care assembling this thing since I can't be a slob anymore with it like I did when it looked like Joe Dirt's car.  I see a lot of masking in my future to protect the paint job during assembly!  They even gave the engine bay the full treatment; I can see my damn reflection in it!  I'm beyond happy with how it looks now.  I will remove the hood scoop block off plates to black them out along with painting the fender bolts with the leftover touch up paint that I have; that's on me since I didn't tell them to do them.  Other than that, the other blackout areas I specified were done.  Yes, I know the tail panel is supposed to be body color, but I just think it looks weird that way with certain colors.  Shoot me.

[anlauto]

Looking great !
What's the wire coming out of your rear side marker light ? Do you have the front marker lights on the rear ?

The resto side marker assemblies from PG Classic come that way both front and rear for whatever reason. Same pigtails at all corners.

Well I think they sent you the wrong ones, but easy fix, just remove the pigtails at the rear so you can plug in the harness.

[anlauto]

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT EVERYBODY go back to page one and look at what he started with and scroll through the 100's of pictures of rust repair.......All I can say is WOW  VERY IMPRESSIVE build