JamieZ's 68 Charger

[JamieZ]

The charger needs a brake upgrade, manual drums on all 4 corners is just not something I am comfortable with. Looking at the offerings on the internet, it seems like most kits need at least 15" wheels. So I pulled a 14" wheel off the back of my charger (225 70R14):

Then I swapped on one of the rears off my challenger (275 60R15)

So the 15" x 8" with 4.5" backspacing fit with tons of clearance. So now I can order wheels. When it comes to tires I'm not sure what I'll go with...probably Cooper Cobras for that RWL look.

 

[roadrunnerman]

That 15" tires fills that area a lot better. I've always like the cooper's with the RWL's

 

[charger360]

really nice car and great work too!

 

[JamieZ]

Spent some time practicing welding. Finally got the settings right and was able to get a decent looking weld. Practice Practice Practice.
While I was playing around with the welder, my new wheels showed up:

So pretty. The rubber should be showing up next week. I went with Mickey Thompson Sportsman 245 60 R 15s for all 4. Nice RWL tires that should be a good upgrade over the little 225 60 14s that it has on it.

 

[JamieZ]

I offered the wheels up to the charger to make sure they all fit...although since I'll be changing the front for the brakes I am not sure what this tells me:

Charger is starting to feel like a money pit. In the past 2 weeks I've ordered wheels, tires, power disc brake conversion, shocks, and a whole front suspension/steering kit (bushings, ball joints, etc). Not to mention tools: Ball joint socket, pickle forks, and an alignment kit.

Parts are starting to trickle in....today the center caps showed up so I mounted on the wheel I unpacked.

I also got the sway bar bushings and the lines for the master cylinder. This weekend might be busy if the big stuff starts showing up.......

 

[Budnicks]

Nice Road wheels, should look great, fill the wheel wells much better

 

[MT_Mopar]

I offered the wheels up to the charger to make sure they all fit...although since I'll be changing the front for the brakes I am not sure what this tells me:
Charger is starting to feel like a money pit. In the past 2 weeks I've ordered wheels, tires, power disc brake conversion, shocks, and a whole front suspension/steering kit (bushings, ball joints, etc). Not to mention tools: Ball joint socket, pickle forks, and an alignment kit.

Parts are starting to trickle in....today the center caps showed up so I mounted on the wheel I unpacked.

I also got the sway bar bushings and the lines for the master cylinder. This weekend might be busy if the big stuff starts showing up.......

Sounds like fun! Money pit it is LOL, oh well, I can think of a LOT worse thing to blow dough on. New front discs, ball joints, bushings, will be awesome. - Lots of peeps doing front end work lately.

I love those new wheels, looking good!

 

[steved033]

I feel your pain Jamie. I just wish I was only buying car parts. New sofa, new fridge (that was unexpected), I'm doing 4 discs on the GTX, and building the 440. My other problem is time, as there's a 240z and a '66 C10 pickup elbowing in for time, too.

 

[JamieZ]

Parts started showing up this week. As of now I'm just missing the booster, master cylinder, linkage/bracket and some lube for all the bushings. But as of now:

Everything except for the welder, chairs, and the water jugs is for the project. Definitely won't be able to complain I don't have anything to do for a while.....

 

[MT_Mopar]

Nice looking parts! That will keep you busy for a while. :headbang:

 

[JamieZ]

Disc Brake Swap/Front end rebuild has begun. First to come off was the sway bar. Did I need a complete front end kit?

Check out the sway bar bushing:

Or the end link:

Pretty much every rubber part looks like that and is as hard as a hockey puck.

Saturday I pulled off most of the driver side. The lower ball joint put up a struggle, but pretty much everything came apart easier than I expected. I'm waiting on a tool to pull the torsion bar to complete removing the lower.

I then went to work on the UCA. I used the special socket on the ball joint and it came out very easy, in fact I found the threads coated in nice silver anti-sieze. The bushings? Not so much. I still haven't gotten them out. I tried using my vise and some sockets to push them out.....

So until the UPS man arrives with a new vise or torsion bar tool, my options are limited. I can still pull the tie rod or paint the sway bar bits that need it.

Also does anyone know if the control arm access doors are repopped? My driver's side is missing one (the one by the brake line). I searched on eBay with no luck but I'm not sure of the official name. I could make one I suppose.

 

[747mopar]

Ouch

 

[JamieZ]

The UCA is all back together, new bushing pressed in, ball joint attached. I might give it a quick blast of chassis black just so it looks nicer. Also my new vise showed up. Never realized how much I used the old one until it broke. Ain't that always the way?

As for the remaining parts, The tie rod came off pretty easily. I've got the strut rod ready to come off....but the torsion bar tool is still MIA and the damn thing won't come out. So I started doing a little cleaning. I think the state of Michigan might show up looking to collect some property taxes:

I knocked a lot of dirt/clay off the bottom of the car. Metal looks good once you get all the crap off. Maybe it was just driven on a lot dirt roads? Sure makes a mess.

Hopefully next week I'll get the LCA off then I can work on reassembly.

 

[roadrunnerman]

Looks good.Hopefully your torsion tool shows up soon.

 

[JamieZ]

Torsion bar: 20 Me:0.

My dad came over and we attached a wooden block/clamp set up to it and beat it with a hammer. Tried ratcheting straps, pry bars, etc. No luck. Both my dad and me are convinced it's rusted to the cross member. So I guess it's torch time.

But hey the day wasn't a complete loss, the license plate I got off eBay showed up:

I scored it off eBay for $10 and it's just perfect for a 68 charger built in 1967 (C23).

 

[Richard Cranium]

Looks good. Any plans on putting a/c back in it?

 

[JamieZ]

I have lots (all?) of the pieces of the stock ac system, and would like to put it back in or upgrade it. But for now I'm working on drivability. Brakes, suspension, carb swap, full fluid swap. That will probably eat my weekend mechanic time (and $$$) for quite a while

 

[Ron 73]

You'll get it Jamie!! Man thats one great looking car and hope you get it as planned!! I love the shot of those tail lights and back panel!!!

 

[JamieZ]

I think I nicked it:

Felt good to angle grind that beast! :tongue5:

Now that the lower is out, I can see one of the bushings was maybe only a 1/4 left. Not to mention everything being coated in the oil/mud/grime that I've come to expect. I'll try and remember to shoot some before pictures.

I'll probably spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning parts. Or maybe I'll call my dad and we can torch the other end of the bar free.

 

[JamieZ]

Now that the torsion bar is not holding it in I was able to remove the lower control arm. The bushing was completely shot, I put one of my replacements next to it for comparison:

Of course removing the outer shell from the LCA is always a challenge. I did some reading and decided to use the 1-3/8" tap method. It worked pretty well, bud once the shell was out, I couldn't figure a good way to get it off the tap, so I just chopped a groove in it with the angle grinder and vice gripped it off:

The lower control arm was filthy...I spend a good few hours cleaning it. Once everything was clean I hit it all with some chassis black: