71 Charger Superbee Tribute/Restomod Build

[70chall440]

I might be ahead of you in that department but you are ahead of me on getting the bell housing indexed and the transmission attached. I got my engine put back onto my table and just started to set it up to determine the run out.

I did get my new CFR valve covers installed but discovered I need some hardware to mount the coil packs.

 

[70chall440]

Today I was able to get the bellhousing run out measured, according to what I am seeing I got .002 total or .001" indicated.. I followed the instructions and this is what I got. I also got my hydraulic clutch cylinder mounted, making progress.

 

[supergluehero]

Today I was able to get the bellhousing run out measured, according to what I am seeing I got .002 total or .001" indicated.. I followed the instructions and this is what I got. I also got my hydraulic clutch cylinder mounted, making progress. View attachment 1513261View attachment 1513262View attachment 1513263

Mine came with a reinforcement bracket to keep the firewall from flexing. It's one of the later steps for some reason. I missed it first time through.

 

[70chall440]

Mine came with a reinforcement bracket to keep the firewall from flexing. It's one of the later steps for some reason. I missed it first time through.

Yep, mine came with one as well and I installed it today. I had to modify mine some though.

 

[70chall440]

Progress for today;
- I sanded down my dash frame and got it into primer
- Applied Loctite and torqued the flywheel bolts
- installed the clutch and PP
- Installed the clutch MC reinforcement brace

 

[70chall440]

Progress for today;

- painted the dash frame with VHT satin black epoxy. Looks good but I got 2 small runs that I need to deal with once it cures.

- set up the hyd throw out bearing, ended up with about .140 clearance.

- got the transmission mated to the engine, it went in very smoothly (much better than pretty much any A833 I ever installed)

- rough assembled some of the front end components to include the Hellwig sway bar

- installed the starter

- got the coil packs bolted down (I was waiting on some M6-1.0x35mm SS bolts and some 3/4" rubber spacers)

- put the UCA's into place (just stuck them in there)

So far so good/ok... lol

 

[70chall440]

Yesterday I focused mainly on getting the pedals sorted out but found time to install the headers. The pass side is a breeze but the drivers side would be a bitch inside the car.

I spent some time welding up my brake reinforcement plate, basically it is a stock plate turned upside down to align the hydroboost rod to the brake pedal. While the bolt holes basically line up either way, it does look goofy as the long (or wide) side is closer to the bulkhead connector, so I just cut off the sides and rewelded them where I wanted them.

Next task is to short the rod and make it adjustable.

Oh, almost forgot that I got to spend some quality time reinstalling the needle bearings into the clutch pedal since they all fell out when I was removing the rod stud so that I could attach the stud for the new HYD clutch.

 

[ckessel]

Needle bearings are fun to capture. Get them all?

 

[70chall440]

Needle bearings are fun to capture. Get them all?

Fortunately I did, then spent about an hour repacking them in there.

 

[supergluehero]

Fortunately I did, then spent about an hour repacking them in there.

Those needles always pick up every spec of dirt too. That's never a fun job.

 

[70chall440]

Yeah it sucked but it was a exercise in patience which is something I definitely need more of.

 

[70chall440]

Yesterday I worked on the Hydroboost system, this thing is fighting me every step of the way which is actually probably more due to my lack of knowledge about the system. I needed to make an adjustable pedal rod which in my mind meant removing the pedal rod from the HB unit. I made up a plate to allow me to pull the rod out which I did successfully. I was thinking that I had a unit which uses a rubber grommet of sorts to hold the rod, well turns out mine is a new unit which is crimped or staked in and is not meant to be removed (again, I did remove mine).

I chopped off the rod as now I was committed either way, I made a new adjustable rod using a piece of the original and an old mechanical brake rod (so I could use the stock pivot bolt). The removed rod end up popping back into the HB alright so I am not sure if all is good or not, seems like it is. I've read that removing the rods can destroy the unit and that trying to put them back in can have the same effect, however in my experience with this perhaps I got lucky.

 

[70chall440]

Looking at the above pictures you can see the "stake" or "crimp" on the rod, when I had it out I took a pick and felt around in there and only 1 of the 3 stakes were protruding into the ball cavity so maybe I just got lucky.

 

[64fury74charger]

Yesterday I worked on the Hydroboost system, this thing is fighting me every step of the way which is actually probably more due to my lack of knowledge about the system. I needed to make an adjustable pedal rod which in my mind meant removing the pedal rod from the HB unit. I made up a plate to allow me to pull the rod out which I did successfully. I was thinking that I had a unit which uses a rubber grommet of sorts to hold the rod, well turns out mine is a new unit which is crimped or staked in and is not meant to be removed (again, I did remove mine).

I chopped off the rod as now I was committed either way, I made a new adjustable rod using a piece of the original and an old mechanical brake rod (so I could use the stock pivot bolt). The removed rod end up popping back into the HB alright so I am not sure if all is good or not, seems like it is. I've read that removing the rods can destroy the unit and that trying to put them back in can have the same effect, however in my experience with this perhaps I got lucky.

View attachment 1516246View attachment 1516247

The booster is obviously designed for the hydraulic pressure instead of the vacuum diaphragm which would apply the force to the brake system. This is a good learning experience working out different solutions to make it work. I am following along with great interest because I am considering going to hydraulic boost when the original booster finally gives out on my Charger. Thank you for posting and passing along your information.

 

[70chall440]

The booster is obviously designed for the hydraulic pressure instead of the vacuum diaphragm which would apply the force to the brake system. This is a good learning experience working out different solutions to make it work. I am following along with great interest because I am considering going to hydraulic boost when the original booster finally gives out on my Charger. Thank you for posting and passing along your information.

No problem, I am happy to post information and pictures if it is helpful to someone else. I am pretty sure that this HB system is going to work out but you never know I guess. I would have to say that the biggest issue that I have encountered is the lack of information in general or perhaps specific to what I am doing (depends on what info I am needing).

The people who sell HB systems tend not to want to post any details of their stuff (which I understand) and most of the forum information you find is typically not for whatever you are working on (classic Mopar), so you are never quite sure what is what.

I spent a fair bit of time researching this issue and in the end decided to use a 03-10 Ram 3500 HB unit from Rock Auto (~$200). I chose this one bc I figured I could get another one if I needed it and could get parts should that be an issue.

There are a lot of HB units in use out there in the world, many people cite the Astro Van unit or perhaps the Mustang unit, I do think that either would work as well. The 2 larger issues you have to deal with are;

1. getting the HB unit to mount to your firewall
2. getting your MC to mount to the HB unit

Once you have this sorted the rest is relatively simple I think (I cannot say for sure because my car is not running or working at the moment).

 

[70chall440]

I decided that I will be mounting the engine/trans very soon so I had a number of things to get done first. One thing I wanted to get done was make a torque strap/rod just because it is easier to fab and mount with the engine out. Just to be open about this, I am not super worried about all of the torque this engine will make rather I am more interesting in preserving the motor mounts. I also installed the clutch cylinder lines because they are much easier to get to without an engine in.

 

[70chall440]

Big day today, I got the engine/trans installed permanently, got the T bars installed, tightened up all of the front suspension, got the torque strap installed and finally got the car off the rotisserie for good (its been on mine since 2019 and was one another one probably 10 years before that).

I am very happy with the fitment of everything and I have to say that I am really happy with the valve covers, they add just the right about of bling IMO.

 

[70chall440]

Some more pictures of the engine fitment, again I am using TTI motor mounts which use stock isolators (rubber) although they are slightly modified. The trans mount is the one provided with the TKX

 

[70chall440]

Here are some pictures of the transmission fitment.

 

[70chall440]

Well today was a mixed bag to be sure, I wanted to spray some color into the trunk before I got too far a long and before the weather turned too cold to paint. I had bought some B5 from TCP global a while back so I mixed a little up, however it is way too "blue" and doesn't have enough silver in it to look right, fortunately I have some spray can B5 that I could just shoot over it to give it the right appearance (which I did). Maybe I didn't mix it up enough but regardless I got it sorted.