71 Charger Superbee Tribute/Restomod Build

[It’s just me]

Here is the "adapter" or cap, I still need to add the 2.5" tube that the AC hose will attach to. This is kydex and I will eventually pop rivet it to the duct itself. I also have to make some similar ones for the Evap unit which has 4 outlets but I only need 1.

View attachment 1557426View attachment 1557427View attachment 1557428

I

Here is the "adapter" or cap, I still need to add the 2.5" tube that the AC hose will attach to. This is kydex and I will eventually pop rivet it to the duct itself. I also have to make some similar ones for the Evap unit which has 4 outlets but I only need 1.

View attachment 1557426View attachment 1557427View attachment 1557428

did you heat the whole Kydex sheet and form it, or just use a heat gun on the edges?

 

[70chall440]

I

did you heat the whole Kydex sheet and form it, or just use a heat gun on the edges?

@It's just me

Initially I heated the entire sheet and put it into a press but the edges didn't fold over partly because I didn't cut the seams. This did put an impression into the kydex which then allowed me to cut the seams and then use a heat gun to fold down the individual edges/sides.

You could easily accomplish the same thing without heating the entire thing, in fact it might be better to do it that way. The key is to make a buck that is VERY close to the shape you need. It should be to every edge of the opening, mine is just a little small on one corner but it will work.

I used some relatively thick Kydex because that is what I had but also I am going to attach a 2.5" tube to it so I wanted enough material to weld/glue to.

 

[It’s just me]

@It's just me

Initially I heated the entire sheet and put it into a press but the edges didn't fold over partly because I didn't cut the seams. This did put an impression into the kydex which then allowed me to cut the seams and then use a heat gun to fold down the individual edges/sides.

You could easily accomplish the same thing without heating the entire thing, in fact it might be better to do it that way. The key is to make a buck that is VERY close to the shape you need. It should be to every edge of the opening, mine is just a little small on one corner but it will work.

I used some relatively thick Kydex because that is what I had but also I am going to attach a 2.5" tube to it so I wanted enough material to weld/glue to.

Thanks, my thoughts were to mark the edges to fold over and heat them and fold them on the bench. You are always a few steps ahead of me heading the same direction.

 

[70chall440]

Thanks, my thoughts were to mark the edges to fold over and heat them and fold them on the bench. You are always a few steps ahead of me heading the same direction.

@It's just me

I don't know how much experience you have with Kydex so if you know this then just ignore it.

You need to hold the buck with something so that you can heat up the edge and manipulate it independently of the buck and sheet.

It takes a bit to get the kydex flexible but not a lot. It will be firm and then all a sudden its flexible.

You have to hold the edge down until it cools a fair bit to hold its shape. I used welding gloves which makes it easy.

You can always reheat and manipulate the kydex

Be careful of how you heat the edge to be bent, meaning if you blow heat onto any other part it will get flexible as well. I cover the part I dont want to bend with a piece of scrap sheet metal.

 

[70chall440]

I managed to get the rear valance installed and bumper mocked up. I have to pull it back off to install the taillight housings but I wanted to see how it looked.

 

[70chall440]

I have been working on my LED tail lights which is a bit tedious. I think it is going to work out but we will see. Don't hate on me too hard for the pic with the LEDs lit, the panel is just laying in there so it appears like some of the LEDs are not working, they definitely all are. I test each 4 bulb stripe as I go plus I test the each bank consisting of 2 rows (8 LEDs). This is where **** gets real because if you have a bad LED then you have to dig it out which is not fun.

 

[Rennkafer]

I have been working on my LED tail lights which is a bit tedious. I think it is going to work out but we will see. Don't hate on me too hard for the pic with the LEDs lit, the panel is just laying in there so it appears like some of the LEDs are not working, they definitely all are. I test each 4 bulb stripe as I go plus I test the each bank consisting of 2 rows (8 LEDs). This is where **** gets real because if you have a bad LED then you have to dig it out which is not fun.

View attachment 1560531View attachment 1560532View attachment 1560533

What made you decide to breadboard a bunch of discrete LED's rather than use 1157/1156 LED bulbs?

 

[70chall440]

What made you decide to breadboard a bunch of discrete LED's rather than use 1157/1156 LED bulbs?

@Rennkafer The reason I am going down this path is multifaceted. First off 2 of the 3 sockets on the right taillight housing were corroded beyond repair so I needed to replace them which I could easily have done using something like a Dorman replacement socket. However in going that way there was a possibility that the replacement sockets could vibrate their way loose and fall out which would require the removal of the bumper to fix. Secondly I discovered that trying to get a bulb into the housing when it was all mounted to the car was a real PIA, at least it is for me.

So all this led me down the path of looking for alternatives. I have done some LED stuff before but not a whole lot, but it does intrigue me. Given the simple nature of the standard taillights I figured this would be a good chance to learn this aspect of car building.

I have discovered that there is more than one way to do this and the way I am going is perhaps one of the harder ways. I could have used LED strips which would be much faster but I would not have the quantity of LED bulbs (not sure if this is good or bad). I could have used an acrylic plate cut to the size of the lenses and then drilled for the LED bulbs themselves. This would probably yield a cleaner look when apart but I don't know that it would have been any better as far as light goes.

We will see how this all works out, I am confident that it will work and function and be much brighter than the stock lights ever were. I just don't know how durable it will all be and how long it will last. These taillights will be sequential so there is that as well.

 

[Rennkafer]

@Rennkafer The reason I am going down this path is multifaceted. First off 2 of the 3 sockets on the right taillight housing were corroded beyond repair so I needed to replace them which I could easily have done using something like a Dorman replacement socket. However...

We will see how this all works out, I am confident that it will work and function and be much brighter than the stock lights ever were. I just don't know how durable it will all be and how long it will last. These taillights will be sequential so there is that as well.

I'm in the same boat with my Coronet, my left side sockets were rusted badly enough to require complete destruction of the bulb bases when I removed them. I've thought about new sockets as well, and even putting those in requires bumper removal since the tail light housings attach to it and I can't get my hand in behind to remove the old sockets. Not to mention doing a proper wiring job would be a fair bit more difficult.

So I'll be keeping on eye on this... how are you handling the brake light/turn signal/running lights?

I don't need sequentials, the taillight design on the Coronet doesn't really lend itself to that unless I made a completely different lens/housing.

Oh man.. is this another 3D printing project...

 

[70chall440]

I'm in the same boat with my Coronet, my left side sockets were rusted badly enough to require complete destruction of the bulb bases when I removed them. I've thought about new sockets as well, and even putting those in requires bumper removal since the tail light housings attach to it and I can't get my hand in behind to remove the old sockets. Not to mention doing a proper wiring job would be a fair bit more difficult.

So I'll be keeping on eye on this... how are you handling the brake light/turn signal/running lights?

I don't need sequentials, the taillight design on the Coronet doesn't really lend itself to that unless I made a completely different lens/housing.
Oh man.. is this another 3D printing project...

@Rennkafer So for the light function here is the deal (bear with me here), as you know the stock lights have 3 functions (stop, turn and parking) and they have at least some bulbs with 2 filaments (1157) that will perform the stop/turn function with single filament bulbs (1156) providing the parking light function (aka daylight running lights - DRL)

When trying to do a DIY LED solution you have some issues to deal with, first off if you use all the same type LEDs (like I am, white ones) then you essentially have 1 filament bulbs.

So now you have some choices to make:
1. you can basically carve out a population of the bulbs to perform as parking lights and leave the rest for the stop/turn function.
2. you have to configure a method to get them all to work in all 3 functions

The way I am choosing to do this is to use a module made by Corso Motion (https://corsomotion.com/collections...-channel-gnd-power-control-ver-1-10-eachwhich) takes the 3 inputs and then sends that signal out to LEDs as needed. This module also can provide sequential tail lights.

There is another way to do this using relays



and then you could use a dual filament bulb with the other filament performing the parking light function. That said I am not 100% sure how this would work out but I believe it to be possible.

Using the module leads to another issue and that is your wiring, typically the wiring in classic cars as well as after market harnesses (I am using one from Kwik Wire) provide a feed for turn/stop and one for parking and the module calls for 3 separate inputs. There are 2 solutions for this;
1. you can run an independent wire from the brake switch back to the module (if you are using a new after market harness there is already one there labeled 3rd Brake Light).
2. You can use this device which separates the brake and the turn signal DIGI-TAILS Taillight Signal Separator Module | DIGI-TAILS

So no this is not plug and play but it isn't all that difficult either, you just have to work at it some.

 

[ckessel]

I'm in the same boat with my Coronet, my left side sockets were rusted badly enough to require complete destruction of the bulb bases when I removed them. I've thought about new sockets as well, and even putting those in requires bumper removal since the tail light housings attach to it and I can't get my hand in behind to remove the old sockets. Not to mention doing a proper wiring job would be a fair bit more difficult.

So I'll be keeping on eye on this... how are you handling the brake light/turn signal/running lights?

I don't need sequentials, the taillight design on the Coronet doesn't really lend itself to that unless I made a completely different lens/housing.

View attachment 1562108
Oh man.. is this another 3D printing project...

These may work for old sockets.
RR-11 Special Billet Aluminum Sockets

 

[70chall440]

These may work for old sockets.
RR-11 Special Billet Aluminum Sockets

Yeah those would work I think but at $42/each its a little expensive, however I would have to do a cost analysis of going LED it might be a wash.

 

[HEMIB]

Will 2 adjustable led driver supplies work 1 for tail & a higher current for stop

 

[70chall440]

Will 2 adjustable led driver supplies work 1 for tail & a higher current for stop

@HEMIB I don't know if the LED drivers would work as I don't have any experience with those so I don't know how they work, but its possible. I am using dimming modules and the sequential modules for the rear and just dimming modules for the front (marker and turn). The dimming module essentially protects the LEDs from power surges from the alternator.

 

[70chall440]

I decided to put the front fenders on more for a boost in morale but I will probably leave them on at this point, might have to take the passenger side off to make some adjustments.

 

[70chall440]

I spent some time getting the HVAC ducting sorting out, I've made some good progress there. I plastic welded the tube onto the cap using a wood burner, since both are ABS or thermomoldable plastic it worked very well. I then used the JB plastic cement for both support and to clean it up.

 

[HEMIB]

The dimmer module is probably the same beast

 

[70chall440]

So here is something a little different, a couple of years ago I hatched a plan to return to building model cars during the winter months because I was spending less time in the shop building real cars. I then decided to build models of past and present cars I owned and make them look like the actual car I owned, here is the first one a 1974 Roadrunner.

This was the first "good" car I ever owned. I had quite a few cars prior to this but they were all pretty much junk that usually didn't run or run very well.

My RR started life as a gun metal grey with black stripes and with white plaid interior, 318 3 speed on the floor. It didn't take me long to put a 4spd into it and then a 340 and eventually to paint it yellow in Emron. I did catch it on fire once trying to weld spring perches on to the rearend when put a 8 3/4 out of a 69 B body into it so I could get some fatter tires on it. Eventually I spun a rod bearing street racing it and traded it in for a 74 Challenger (318 AT) which I had to pay an additional $634 because I was young and I absolutely had to have the Challenger and the dealer knew it.

 

[70chall440]

I solved my VA ducting issue by making an adapter for the exhaust part of the VA Evap (part where all of the hoses connect to. I have the same adapter (other half actually) on the factory vent duct so this will not connect.

That red gun like deal is a plastic welder, it uses these stable type deals to melt into the plastic connecting 2 pieces. I bought this awhile off amazon and today is the first time i used it, I have to say it falls squarely into the MUST HAVE category. This thing is fast and easy to use not to mention it will work on pretty much any plastic.

 

[70chall440]

Worked on the defrost ducts/vents today, also mocked up the DD cluster.