Thank you. The car is teaching me a lot.
A childhood of assembling general lee models has paid off, and my welding project has finally turned into a charger.
OE truck fit check, and everything is gapped pretty well with just minor fitting of the rear deck filler panel.
Front fenders ended up hanging pretty easily once the doors were fit, and I built a quick structure to make adjustments a bit easier. We put the tram gauge on the car and verified key dimensions side to side are identical. That was actually a huge relief.
And something I've been excited about for months now...
That was my super bowl.
A few details. I picked 68 fenders and quarters because the marker light holes are smaller and easier to fill. The fenders will be modified to have a 1970 forward edge that matches the bumper, and I'll reference the pair of '70 fenders I have as a template. The front suspension is set about 2" forward from OE, so the arches will get moved and modified to fit the 305s at full lock.
The Speedkore hood is 21.5lbs where the factory one weighs 70 (that figure includes a bunch of pecan shells a mouse stored in there at some point). The trunk lid is 13.2lbs versus 34.5. All together, it's about a 70lb reduction that would have otherwise set high in the car.
I still have a ton of work to get the body locked down, but the first orders of business are reorganizing my shop to accommodate this seventeen footer. It was pretty easy to work on it when it was just a go kart, but that day has passed. And, getting a green laser because my red one is almost impossible to use with the lights on, and the long body line won't forgive a half-baked effort.
It'll be good to take a break from all the body setup, so steering column and headers are probably next.
David
