Don's 1969 Charger Restoration

[mopar4don]

If you lived just a bit closer I'd let you borrow my shrinker and stretcher. They are nice to have.

Hey thanks for the offer BB61! I should look you up one of these times when I'm in Metro Detroit.
And you can show me your project.

Me too . . . I'm just a little bit further away . . . dang it ! ! !

You're making it look easy Don . . . good work !

Hey Kahn........ road trip!

Man it really feels like the metal work will never be done with you fixing every single little piece, you got some serious patience!

TELL ME ABOUT IT!
I have to admit I am a bit A.D.D. about this. (I think its the mold maker in me)

 

[mopar4don]

Bellhousing find

Finally found a 2626 bellhousing!
Now I need an inspection cover. And a clutch fork, rubber boot and spring for the fork, ball stud, flywheel.
Not sure what else but will most likely get this stuff from Brewers if I can't find it.

 

[conv67bdere]

Very cool find there Don ! ! ! Best of luck tracking down the rest of the parts too ! ! !

 

[SGTPaul]

Finally found a 2626 bellhousing!
Now I need an inspection cover. And a clutch fork, rubber boot and spring for the fork, ball stud, flywheel.
Not sure what else but will most likely get this stuff from Brewers if I can't find it.

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I think I have an extra flywheel. Give me a call next time you are in my hood.

 

[Ron 73]

That's a good bell housing Don, good score being able to find an original!!

 

[mopar4don]

I think I have an extra flywheel. Give me a call next time you are in my hood.

Thanks Sarge, I will do that!

That's a good bell housing Don, good score being able to find an original!!

Thanks Ron, these are available through Brewers, but I didn't want to pay the big bucks. So I just kept looking and found one for my price.

 

[mopar4don]

Wheel house de-hump

I decided a while back that I would dehump my wheel houses. I figured that a little more room for the tires can't hurt! And now would be the time to do it rather than get the car done and have the tires rub when going over bumps!
So following is how I went about it. I'll show you the good and the bad. What I learned worked and what did not work.
Keep in mind this entire process took approx, 2-1/2 months (yes I had trouble)

So I already had the wheel wells installed and mocked up to the quarters, rockers, trunk floor, and trunk extensions. So knowing that everything looked good, I made these braces to help hold the outer lip of the well. (I was concerned that they might move)





Here are my first cuts or slices




The idea is to slice the metal and hammer it out to make a smooth dished out transition on the outer half of the wheel well.

Here is a side view showing the hump that will be removed.


More slicing and hammer work




Here you can kinda see the shape I am try to get to. More of a dished out radius.

 

[daytona kid]

Different from the way some of us did it, but very nice idea! Be careful to keep that outer lip in place..

 

[conv67bdere]

Having access to the well like you do, seems like a very good option - and you've already taken into consideration preventing the lip from moving . . . looks like the plan should work well Don ! !

Now . . . are we having a "competition" on how much time is spent "in" the wheel well ( which of course nobody is EVER going to see ? ? ) LMAO . . . I know exactly what you're going through . . . UGH !

 

[BigBlock61]

That's sort of how I did mine.

 

[Ron 73]

I think you have this under control, the wheel well is looking killer... even though noone will see it.. nice!!!

 

[mopar4don]

Wheel house de-hump

Ok, now for some of the ugly.

I diced the wheel well up pretty good and started the long process to weld it up.



The gaps were so large I had to use a copper spoon on the back side






I did not get a lot of pictures, but at this point I was getting so many welding blow outs, it was driving me crazy!:angryfire:


What you cant see in the pics is that nothing was smooth. What I wanted was a nice smooth transition. I wanted it to look like it came from the factory. Thats not what I had...... so




I decided I would remove the wavy welded up mess, and patch in a new piece.
















I like the profile!


Much better than all that slicing and the shrinking I was getting

 

[daytona kid]

Looks good! Good recovery from a plan going sour, been there done that. Guess its to late now but I think uscartool is making a kit for this mod now., now that they've seen so many of us doing this. I used some fiber-filler on mine just to insure for pinholes that I may have missed.

 

[mopar4don]

Looks good! Good recovery from a plan going sour, been there done that. Guess its to late now but I think uscartool is making a kit for this mod now., now that they've seen so many of us doing this. I used some fiber-filler on mine just to insure for pinholes that I may have missed.

I believe the uscartool kit is a mini tub kit. I have not seen anyone selling a new outer wheelhouse that removes the hump. Good idea on filling in the pinholes.

 

[daytona kid]

My bad, I thought I saw someone making a kit for the dehump, was thinking it was them. Irelivent for either of us anyway. Enjoying your thread and pics. Good work!

 

[b-body-bob]

Hi Don, it's Bob from GJ, signing in to follow along.

FWIW on the de-hump, I only wish someone made a kit, but I can guarantee you that if one is coming, it won't be until after I've got the quarters back on my car. It's just my luck. I also apologize for buying a diesel truck back when diesel was cheaper than gasoline, and right before the price shot up.

 

[showard]

I like that you don't get discouraged. If something does not work try something different. It looks like a good job.

 

[conv67bdere]

Nicely don Don . . . I sure know that feeling, I think that I re-welded the patch in the engine compartment 3 before I finally got it right . . . and to think ( as you pointed out ) all this work in an area that no one will ever see ! ! !

I really am beginning to wonder about the two of us . . .LMAO . . . keep at it, - looking good ! !

 

[mopar4don]

Drivers side de-hump

I'm not real happy with the front side of this, but for now I want to go to the other side and maybe try something a bit different



Alright, Time to switch to the drivers side.
Here are some good before pics showing the profile of the stock wheel house






Ok this time I started slicing along the crease


Then I hammered out effectively closing the gap
NOTICE the white marks. this is what happens when you hammer on that PPG shopline epoxy paint.
I am really impressed how tough this stuff is! it DOES NOT chip crack peel or scratch after wailing on it with a hammer! I don't know if all epoxy primer can take this abuse but I feel pretty good about protection from stone chips on the bottom side of the car!


Worked my way up (LOTS of hammering)


put my first vertical slice in..... (LOTS of hammering)


put my 2nd vertical slice in and it started to feel like I was about to repeat the problems of the pass side...........
WHEN THE LIGHT BULB CAME ON!
I would stop the horizontal slices, and try vertical slices only. (farther apart than the pass side)





SUCCESS! :dance:
See how the crease is gone (LOTS and LOTS of hammering)


Here is a good shot showing how much I moved that crease

 

[pat1969charger]

This is awesome Don! I really like the idea of the dehump as oppose to mini-tub. With the right offset wheel and tire combo it should work perfectly for a good street or weekend strip car. I am unsure if I'll do any thing like this as I am an old school fan of magnum 500 and RWL BFG radial TA in something around the 235-245 section width. By far my favourite thread going I'm sure I mentioned before! Can't wait to see more!