Ron 73
Deceased, But not forgotton
It sure turned out great! You guys sure are good with these grills, you have this looking killer, love those dash lights!!
JamieZ's 68 Charger
- Thread starter JamieZ
- Start date
JamieZ
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Weather was "good" for the past few days so I managed to get it all painted between the rain drops. I need to do some detail touch up on some overspray/paint that came off with the mask, but it's pretty much done!
Lots of tedious masking:
But so worth it:
Put a few pieces together on the floor really quickly just to get the full effect:
Lots of tedious masking:
But so worth it:
Put a few pieces together on the floor really quickly just to get the full effect:
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Most of the mounting points for the grill had been broken. I experimented with some plastic repair solutions but decided I'd be better off putting metal plates there. The connection points aren't visible so I wasn't worried about the appearance, just the strength. I ended up picking up some mending plates from Lowes for $0.57 each. I bent them up on the vise, trimmed, them and then drilled the required holes. They are a lot stronger than the plastic so hopefully they'll hold up better:
I also got a lot of the wiring pieces for the headlight conversion (relays, plugs, breakers, etc). I'll start laying that out over the weekend. I'm still waiting on some small parts (diodes and the like) so I'll only be able to get so far. Hopefully they'll show up shortly.
I also got a lot of the wiring pieces for the headlight conversion (relays, plugs, breakers, etc). I'll start laying that out over the weekend. I'm still waiting on some small parts (diodes and the like) so I'll only be able to get so far. Hopefully they'll show up shortly.
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Getting very close on the rewire of the front harness. I have all the lights set up and the correct 6 pin connector to go back into the stock harness. Of course the Hi/Lo pins are just used to trigger the relays, with the power for the lights coming directly from the battery (with breakers in between).
I also wired in 3 other relays to run linear actuator to operate the headlight doors. I haven't worked out how exactly I am going to mount them but I have them wired up using extra long wires that I'll cut to length when the time comes.
I'll be removing the vacuum can, front harness, and stock tray and placing them in storage. I have a new tray I am going to mount the relay plate to the under side of. It looks like this:
All said and done it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuGT-bO2kSM
(the Linear actuators are in the center, you can see them contract when the lights go on. Killing the power to the lights has them go back out.
I also wired in 3 other relays to run linear actuator to operate the headlight doors. I haven't worked out how exactly I am going to mount them but I have them wired up using extra long wires that I'll cut to length when the time comes.
I'll be removing the vacuum can, front harness, and stock tray and placing them in storage. I have a new tray I am going to mount the relay plate to the under side of. It looks like this:
All said and done it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuGT-bO2kSM
(the Linear actuators are in the center, you can see them contract when the lights go on. Killing the power to the lights has them go back out.
Hazzard Lugnut
Well-Known Member
sweet looking Charger , I also have a 68 Charger and as of now it's just a shell and am starting to reassemble everything .
Propwash
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Good work Jamie! Way to bring it all together and have a decent relay driven light & door system. Pretty neat.
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Last edited:
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Made a bracket to mount the linear actuator. Due to a minor sizing issue I had to make a new clip to attach to the bar as well. I'm not sure if this is the final design I'll use, but it does work:
Rough cut out of steel with the angle grinder:
Bent using a vice and a hammer:
Assembled and bench testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg3bUblPdc0
Rough cut out of steel with the angle grinder:
Bent using a vice and a hammer:
Assembled and bench testing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg3bUblPdc0
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Bracket version 2:
The original bracket had some fitment issues and used a lot of metal. Not to mention fitment took some work. I had an idea to use the stock brackets and build a mount where the vacuum pods connect. It takes a lot less metal, is easier to fit and so reduce the clearance issues when mounting it on the car. So enter version 2. I cut the metal a little wide and had to make some rough cuts to get it to fit. Not to mention a few of the bends are not as good as I hoped. But it works and I like it better than the original version. I'll still need to fab some pieces to hook to the stock bar as the original clip is just a little short. The one i have on there is junky.
The original bracket had some fitment issues and used a lot of metal. Not to mention fitment took some work. I had an idea to use the stock brackets and build a mount where the vacuum pods connect. It takes a lot less metal, is easier to fit and so reduce the clearance issues when mounting it on the car. So enter version 2. I cut the metal a little wide and had to make some rough cuts to get it to fit. Not to mention a few of the bends are not as good as I hoped. But it works and I like it better than the original version. I'll still need to fab some pieces to hook to the stock bar as the original clip is just a little short. The one i have on there is junky.
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Finished off the brackets. The new versions fit better than the prototype and I did a much better job bending them. The design is pretty simple, just a modified U with a few holes.
I hit them with a quick coat of black paint and mounted them up. They only end up being slightly longer than the factory braces so there should be no clearance issues.
Now I just have to reassemble everything and make some longer tabs to attach them to the bars.
I hit them with a quick coat of black paint and mounted them up. They only end up being slightly longer than the factory braces so there should be no clearance issues.
Now I just have to reassemble everything and make some longer tabs to attach them to the bars.
cdr
Well-Known Member
very cool!!!! i like!!!!
cdr
Well-Known Member
:glasses1:
Nice job on the headlight doors. I was debating switching my 69 over to the electric kit that is now sold, but decided I could always do that at a later time if needed.
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
I looked at the kit too, but the price was just too much for me to swallow. Since I was already converting the lights to relays I had no issue doing the extra wiring involved in adding the electrics. Cost wise, it was about $200-$250 in materials (some of the wiring costs are shared with the lighting upgrade, as is the battery tray I modified). If you include my labor, I lost out on the deal, but if I didn't like working on old cars, I wouldn't have bought a second one 
Plus it was a good indoor winter project. A lot more fun than scrubbing the challenger's interior which was my project last winter
Plus it was a good indoor winter project. A lot more fun than scrubbing the challenger's interior which was my project last winter
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When you go to sell it, keep me in mind.
:toothy2:
:toothy2:
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Finished the clip to link the actuator to the the door arm for the driver's side:
http://youtu.be/LMKNcmV_h9U
Camera isn't quite centered which is why the passenger's side doesn't look like it quite fits right. Also I haven't installed the surrounds that go around the lights. They don't quite run at the same speed, but then again neither do the vacuum ones so it's not a big deal to me.
Only thing I have left is to build a little splash shield to give a little protection to all the relays/breakers that I am mounting to the under side of the battery tray. Unfortunately to do that I have to work with it on the car...and it's too cold for that! Towards the end of the week it might reach a tropical 40* F so maybe I can sneak out there and get some quick measurements.
http://youtu.be/LMKNcmV_h9U
Camera isn't quite centered which is why the passenger's side doesn't look like it quite fits right. Also I haven't installed the surrounds that go around the lights. They don't quite run at the same speed, but then again neither do the vacuum ones so it's not a big deal to me.
Only thing I have left is to build a little splash shield to give a little protection to all the relays/breakers that I am mounting to the under side of the battery tray. Unfortunately to do that I have to work with it on the car...and it's too cold for that! Towards the end of the week it might reach a tropical 40* F so maybe I can sneak out there and get some quick measurements.
JamieZ
Well-Known Member
Swapped in the Halogen bulbs and it's pretty obvious that they are out of alignment. I read a bunch of articles and watched some YouTube videos on headlight aiming. Old school aiming kits (designed to work with headlights that have nubs) are pretty cheap on eBay so I picked up an old AC Delco kit for ~$100. Now I just need to get the lights back on the car.
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