Restomod charger pics

[jeepers007]

I'm posting this very reluctantly because #1 it's embarrassing and #2 It's very painful. Today I come home from work and the kids are at my moms (lives right across the road) and wanting to eat with her so I figure tomorrow being Friday I'll get the Charger on blocks while they're eating. I have 8X8 blocks about 20" long I use to sit the car on when working on things that require it to be weighted down like pinion angles so I jack it up and get blocks under all 4. I then proceed to remove the driveshaft when I hear a squeak.............. you know that one you hear when the parking brake isn't quite holding a car? I look at the tire and see it's on the edge of the block and scoot out of there to reposition the block when blam it comes crashing down seconds after I got out from under it :cwm10:. My first thought was O.K. what did I damage? The car rolled off backwards landing on the side exit exhaust shoving them into the quarter panels and doing some serious damage (both sides puckered out with cracked paint). So after I started cussing up a storm I realized the good Lord just spared me my life and I should be greatful to be alive right now and not so concerned with the dam car. I did jack it back up before leaving and saw where I screwed up, I always jack the rear first because of how far under the jack has to reach and then when jacking the front it pulls the rear tires forward even in gear (need to adjust my parking brake). Three second away from being trapped under a 3,600 lbs car is an eye opener for sure, what an idiot!

Looking at the damage makes me sick to my stomach uke:. I won't waste anytime fixing it nor tackling the vibration issue I'm still chasing down.

Glad you survived it! Sounds like a close call!

Everytime I jack the car up, I think about the accidents that could happen. Yours is a reminder to us all to be that much more careful.

 

[747mopar]

You know I'm pretty good about always making sure my stands are locked in and in a good location and always leave the jack under it for insurance. You would think sitting your car on blocks on level ground would be pretty safe but you always got to be on your toes.

 

[BigBlock61]

Dude!!! I'm just glad you're ok. Either someone’s looking out for you or they don't want you tearing around heaven in the Mopar. Been there done that with falling vehicles and it sucks to hear about the damage to the Charger.

 

[a68postcar]

you are lucky you are astute enough to hear, and react. I'm happy you are ok. you can't fix one up from a hospital bed. and you can fix any thing on it.

 

[conv67bdere]

I'm really glad that you're okay . . . that's the first thing, and you made a very GOOD point to always be on your toes - I'll keep this in mind always as a reminder of how quickly something can go wrong. SO sorry to hear about the damage, but that's secondary to the fact that you're OKAY . . . and I've seen your work, so I know it'll be fixed to the n-th degree . . .

Thanks for sharing your story so we can all learn . . . and thank God you're alright.

 

[Bladecutter]

Thank God You are OK

747.......Glad that YOU are OK....Long while back, a friend of mine was under His Camaro on stands. apparently one wasn't square to floor....fortunately the wheels were on...the stand tipped and car came down on His chest. was on him for about 5 min before we could get jack wedged under frame rail by lifting car.....sore chest but no broken ribs. Awful sorry to hear of the damage Charger sustained...thas a heartache for You, but I'm Glad that You are not hurt.
jim

 

[HYRDGOON]

I'll echo everyone else and say first and foremost I'm just glad to hear you weren't hurt or possibly worse

Heartbreaking to read your description of the damage and I can imagine it hurts to look at but it is just a car... You have the talent and fortitude to put everything back to the way it was

Just really sorry to hear it happened.

 

[71airgrabberRR]

Everyone here agrees that your a lucky man even though your car didn't fare too well. Sorry to hear about the damage but thank God you didn't get hurt. Even though its a PITA the car can be fixed.

Many years ago I had a similar experience if it helps you some. My buddy had a 350 powered '74 Camaro. It couldn't hang with my Challenger, so he bought a 69 Caprice wagon for the 396 / turbo 400 that was in it. I helped him do the swap. We had almost everything hooked up, including all of the electrical. We bypassed the neutral safety switch stupidly. The transmission was supported with a floor jack and the front was up on jack stands.

Just before I bolted the transmission cross member in, my buddy was playing with the key switch, as I was under the car bolting up the header collectors. Needless to say, the car started in gear and drove off the jack stands. When it did the floor jack flipped out from under the transmission and the transmission dropped down pulling the driveshaft yoke out of the transmission.

Luckily for me I heard the key switch as he turned it. To this day I don't know why, but I had a sense of urgency to get out from under the car. I didn't know the transmission was in drive. I was able to roll out from under the car in the nick of time. The passenger side header collector just grazed my left shoulder and left only a red mark on my skin.

I could have been killed. Like you I was extremely angry and believe me we had more than an exchange of words. I still have a scar on my right knuckles from his front teeth.

But I lived to wrench another day. I have worked on MANY cars since then.

Luckily you can too. Someone was watching out over you !!!!!

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BTW even after the 396 swap was done, he still couldn't keep up with my Challenger !!!!!!

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And we stayed friends.

 

[747mopar]

Haha, those Mopars can be a menace to the Chevy boys.

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He sounds like my boss at work, always gotta have your eye on him if you want to live (sawmills most dangerous man).

 

[Average Joe]

Good that you made out from underneath the car.At least you didn't get hurt and it can be fixed.
You are definitely not the only one to do that and feel like an idiot.I lifted up my charger by the front crossmember a few months back to adjust the power steering pump and I didn't put jack stands under the front .I thought it would be ok because I was only lifting up about a foot and the car was in gear(STUPID!!). When I got on my creeper to slide underneath the jack slid off the crossmember.When the car came down the top of the jack went through the rack and pinion breaking it in half then hit the sway bar bending it up and right into the oil pan smashing the front of pan in.It stopped there and I had enough time get out of the way.I got lucky too.
I Definitely know what your feeling right now. SORRY
Joe

 

[747mopar]

Ewwww, sounds like it cost you more work and money than me. Hope you get it all fixed ASAP, can't have them down in the Spring months! I've neglected to tell my wife (don't need her worrying about my garage time haha). I think my blocks will be getting chaulks and a new jack is in the future (one that rolls instead of dragging the car).

 

[Average Joe]

Ewwww, sounds like it cost you more work and money than me. Hope you get it all fixed ASAP, can't have them down in the Spring months! I've neglected to tell my wife (don't need her worrying about my garage time haha). I think my blocks will be getting chaulks and a new jack is in the future (one that rolls instead of dragging the car).

Hey 747, I did get it repaired even the pan.I jumped up and down on my sway bar its still a little bent but I am going to let that one go.LOL
I hope your repairs go smooth.

 

[MT_Mopar]

Wow Devin, glad you are OK, I remember a post long ago that a guy was killed under a car, that has always made me think when I am jacking up mine.

Your car can be repaired, but your life cannot. So glad your family has you around to be part of their lives! The last thing I would want to read is a tragedy happening involving a BBO member.

I drove my son 9hrs east yesterday to get him signed up for college this fall, time fly's and soon we will have an empty nest. Enjoy those kids while you can my friend.

 

[747mopar]

Wow Devin, glad you are OK, I remember a post long ago that a guy was killed under a car, that has always made me think when I am jacking up mine.

Your car can be repaired, but your life cannot. So glad your family has you around to be part of their lives! The last thing I would want to read is a tragedy happening involving a BBO member.

I drove my son 9hrs east yesterday to get him signed up for college this fall, time fly's and soon we will have an empty nest. Enjoy those kids while you can my friend.

Your not kidding, I can't imagine having an empty nest but they are growing fast. I just got back from my 8yr old daughters ball practice where she somehow conned me into being an assistant coach, she's got me wrapped around her little finger haha. Yeap, good times although I'm now laying on the floor with ice on my back right now erhhhh.

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Unfortunately no real progress so far on the Charger, a couple setbacks. #1 I have the tranny opened up for the new tail shaft bushing but the new one isn't any better (a .006" feeler gauge slides right in) and I don't want to do any sanding with it opened up. #2 after assessing the damage I decided to not touch it until I borrowed a buddies stud gun so I could pull the body line down while hammering the pucker back in. #3 I had a hard cover (for a truck bed) for a friends Ram to sand and buff. #4 I had to seal all of my concrete work I've been doing now that we have clear weather. #5 My wives Cruze needed a new fender so I had to paint that today so as you can see I've been busy.

Not sure what to do about the sloppy new bushing, I guess I might have to make my own unfortunately. I also think while I'm under there I'm going to do some more clearance work so I have more room to tinker with the tranny angles, doubt that's a problem but having more wiggle room won't hurt. Really the only tight spots are the shifter (the new Hurst has a ton of extra material around it for some reason) and the area right by the hydraulic clutch bleeder. I've already shaved the shifter down to the Viper shifters size seeing how it was fitted with one and since that bleeder is a real PITA to bleed I'm going to knock a hole in the floor and make a nice inspection cover for it.

Headed to the garage in a few and will at least get the damage hammered out, possibly bag the tranny and get to the body work.

 

[747mopar]

Progress made! metal is all back in place with ease thanks to a buddies stud gun and slide hammer. I'll show a few pics for those who have never seen or used them (probably most have). It's basically a spot welder that welds a stud to the panel eliminating the need to drill holes for screws and then you just grab the stud with a slide hammer and pull it out.




Here's the damage.






Here's the work in progress.




And here's the finished repair.




I took this for Goon, since I had the tail off of my tranny I snapped a picture showing where the reluctor wheel likely goes if you decide to install one for your speedo.



Here's my stencil I'm sending to Emblempros to get my scoop call outs.



Here's the dam bushing that I bought and still have .006" slop, doesn't sound like much but the slip yoke wiggles allot in it. I compared it to a 727 I have in the garage since they share the same yoke and it was way tighter so I thought...... Let's just put the 727 bushing in it. Believe it or not they are the same (a 40 year old bushing is still being used in the Viper T56) but same thing. This leads me to believe the T56 has a slightly larger bore that doesn't compress the bushing as much seeing how it's snug when installed in the 727 but has a loose fit to the slip yoke even though it fit the tranny tight. My next game plan is to try and install it with a .0015" shim wrapped around it.

 

[chargin']

Thank goodness your okay,I spent all day yesterday crawling around under a car. Repair looks good too! Don't feel so bad,I was at the drag strip one year and a guy needed to remove his drive shaft,so he parked it on the loading ramp to his trailer so he could get underneath to remove the shaft between the ramps. LOL, Removed it and the car rolled off the trailer across the pit,but didn't hit anything. He then yelled at some guy" I had it in park! " lol

 

[HYRDGOON]

Great to see the Charger is recovering nicely from it's wounds. Interesting revelations about the bushing. Is there anything on mine I could check to see if it's any different for you? Thanks for the pic for the reluctor wheel location too but at this point still leaning GPS

 

[Bladecutter]

747...Nice it stayed low and didn't cause any buckling beyond the lower peak. tidy looking work.....do You use the pull handles and spring hammer at all. The nail spotters...the first gen of them was Fitz a dent patented by a Guy in Santa Rosa in early 80's, Sonoma is a big part of my past, first spotter i used up there was in 82...great tools....new car thin sheet...the pull handles are bitchin...the metal so easy to move, get a nice group of nails going and then use 4 pull handles simultaneously You can counter the forces and mimick off dolly hammering movement....with the thin sheet......You gonna pull a blend off on lower peak by back taping?

 

[747mopar]

747...Nice it stayed low and didn't cause any buckling beyond the lower peak. tidy looking work.....do You use the pull handles and spring hammer at all. The nail spotters...the first gen of them was Fitz a dent patented by a Guy in Santa Rosa in early 80's, Sonoma is a big part of my past, first spotter i used up there was in 82...great tools....new car thin sheet...the pull handles are bitchin...the metal so easy to move, get a nice group of nails going and then use 4 pull handles simultaneously You can counter the forces and mimick off dolly hammering movement....with the thin sheet......You gonna pull a blend off on lower peak by back taping?

All I used was the slide hammer in the pic and a body hammer, worked great. Yeap, I'll bend the paint at the very bottom body line by masking right at the body line and rolling the tape up to create a very soft line that will buff right out. They way my luck is with paint I'm not painting anymore than I have to haha................ Well I guess I did decide to fix a bunch of little nicks while I was at it.

 

[747mopar]

Hoping to be onto something with the vibration at coast, after reading non matching leafs could cause vibration I started looking into this. I've mentioned before that I bought the complete suspension kit from Just Suspension including 1" drop leafs, from day one the car sat 1" higher on one side. I've been running a 1" block on the one side while I try to get them to make it right with no luck. I talked to a local shop that specializes in springs and they said absolutely that can cause my issue especially with the block on one side so for $90.00 they're going to de arch the springs dropping it another 1" and make them match. I'll send Just Suspension the bill alrhough I doubt they'll care.