73 Charger K Member Rebuild

[Pouria]

Hello everybody;
After three years of being idle in my project, I am back again to continue my job on the 73 Charger. I have better give you a brief summary:
- I am from Iran and purchased my Charger 6 years ago.
- It is a 73 charger originally with 340 motor and 727 tranny that is replaced with a 4 speed manual by the previous owner.
- I have already got a 400 block to make a stroker motor.
- The body work was finished 4 years ago but after this long time I can see some rusts that should be repaired ASAP.
- The car is compeletly teared apart. Engine, Tranny, seats, bumpers and side glasses are off the car and I recently removed the K member as well.
The most important matter to consider is that Iran is in critical economical conditions right now and the rate of USD is 3 times higher than what it was 4 years ago and it means I have to spend three times more money to get this car on feet again so I have to be very careful about the costs. As the very 1st step I am going to rebuild the K member. My cousin is a professional welding inspector and he inspected the part with UV device and we saw many micro tracks on its body. Does anybody have any idea about the steps on rebuilding the K member to tell me? I am able to tear it down completely and have it re-welded better than factory but what I am worrying about are the exact dimensions of the part. Is there any drawing or something that can help me perform this job clean? Here we are at ultimate lack of resources and parts so it is almost impossible to get spare parts and we have to pay the most possible attention and care to rebuild what we have. Your help is very critical to me and also highly appreciated. I took some pictures from the frame that can be found here: http://rapidshare.com/files/307072649/My-K.rar
I compressed them all in a file named my-k.rar for easier download. All the possible views and angles are covered for your review. It seems that this car had a very hard accident on the driver side because the K is completely teared apart and broken at that side and then re-welded very unclean

Yours - Pouria

 

[twinscrew698]

Here is something that might help you...
http://dartslantsix.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/how-to-reinforce-the-k-frame/

- - - Updated - - -

Here is something that might help you...
http://dartslantsix.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/how-to-reinforce-the-k-frame/
I know it is probably not what you was looking for but will give you some idea on how to rebuild the crucial areas!

 

[Pouria]

Here is something that might help you...
http://dartslantsix.wordpress.com/2012/09/23/how-to-reinforce-the-k-frame/
I know it is probably not what you was looking for but will give you some idea on how to rebuild the crucial areas!

Thanks indeed. I read the entire article and found useful data that will help me do the re-inforcement better. Did you see the pics of my K? I would like to know your opinion if it is repairable at all.

 

[twinscrew698]

Thanks indeed. I read the entire article and found useful data that will help me do the re-inforcement better. Did you see the pics of my K? I would like to know your opinion if it is repairable at all.

Link did not work for me so i did not see any pics.

 

[Pouria]

Thanks. Actually I checked with a couple of friends and they could DL the RAR file but it is better to share the pics with everybody here. They are as below:

Impatiently waiting for your comments.

 

[twinscrew698]

Wow after seeing some of these,I think i would try to find another one as this one looks like it has been repaired more than once from either a wreck or a break in this one!
Or at least try to find out some specs to make sure everything lines up from factory specs.
Maybe some more will chime in.
Good Luck with your repair...

 

[Pouria]

In order to repair the tips of the sticks of the frame that are badly rusted, I made some parts cut from 3mm still sheet by water jet:

The tips of the sticks are originally two layers, so two sizes are cut. The edges of the bigger ones will be bent and the smaller ones will be placed inside the bending in a way that the oval holes match each other completely.

The two washers are also cut to reinforce the lower control arm holes.

 

[D575]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/70-71-72-73...Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e794201ff&vxp=mtr

 

[rsd859]

For $175, I would rather swap than fix one thats already been banged up......but shipping on that isnt going to be cheap to Tehran.

 

[Pouria]

Regardless to the shipping cost to Tehran that makes the thing too expensive for me, the K frame shown in the ad wont fit 73~74 chargers. beginning 1973, the front suspension of the Chargers were highly modified and MAYBE improved in comparison to previous model years.

 

[rsd859]

Did not know that, looks like your going to have your hands full!!! Best of luck and keep us updated.

 

[RustyRatRod]

That thing looks rough. Good luck fixin it up. Keep us posted.

 

[hunt2elk]

If it was mine, I would try to find a better one somewhere. Looks like numerous repairs have been made to that one already.

 

[YY1]

Something tells me there aren't too many 73/74 Chargers in junkyards where he is.

Looks like he's got access to some good fabricating equipment, though.

 

[Pouria]

Well, after a month of delay due to the welder's being busy on a big project in another city we finally did the job! It took much more than expected and kept us busy for three working days. I took many pictures that can be seen below. All the factory welds are redone and the water cut pieces I showed in previous posts are welded in place. The white substance on the frame body is called "White Contrast" and is used to find the micro cracks. After it is applied on the body, a magnetic agent that has micro particles of iron immersing in the water is sprayed and then the body is magnetized. The cracks are then easily seen on the "White Contrast". You can see these cracks welded on different parts of the body in the pictures:

My new friend, the welder is seen in the last two pictures It is now the time to de-grease the K and have it powder coated. Like always, opinions are more than welcome. I am also about to start the engine and tranny rebuild and will open the threads today. Please follow then up and help me do the job better.

 

[rsd859]

Looks better than it did to begin with! The welds look real nice too.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Geez ... it's been a ton of work already by the looks of it. I hope your welder used a tig set up to repair that.

Regardless of who does your powder coating work, absolutely INSIST that it be well outgassed first before they do anything else with it. Otherwise, you're going to have blow outs around all those welds.

Good luck!

 

[Sputnik]

MIG would be fine in the right hands - just seeing the care you're taking on the K member leaves no doubt the rest of the car will be done right - great to see another one being saved. 4 speed and a 400 stroker will be awesome. Are there many American muscle cars in Iran ? Where did you find your Charger ? Pictures of American muscle cars in Iran would be cool to see (or is there a website ?) Keep us posted !

 

[D575]

I can't help but think with all that welding without a jig , gonna have some warpage.

 

[CudaChick1968]

Not to be argumentative Sputnik, but even in good hands migs can introduce too much air into the welds which will blow right through the coating when the part is coming up to temperature and the powder is curing.