The Willomet Charger

1970RT · Jul 30, 2018

It was a longish weekend (and early Monday) of details. I pulled a half day on Friday, and I still didn’t make my goal of getting the front rails “done.”

I underestimated the time required to juggle some kitchen renovation tasks alongside car fab. Also, the Hobart’s new potentiometer died, and so I ended up TIG’ing a lot more than I planned, and while I like the practice and learned a lot, it’s a substantially slower process.

Outer plate burned in

Inner plate ready to tack

Lots and lots of blending original shapes to match the new overlay plates. The original steel doesn’t weld nearly as nicely as new A500 plate, so I’ve got to be careful with the current input and use a slight weave to maintain a consistent puddle.

This gobbles up the hours, but the result is worthwhile

I had some pretty radical tungsten stick-out to get to those corner welds

More time tonight, and now that the front plate details are complete, I just need to start fitting the top plates and get the rear plates tacked.

Closing in.

David

1970RT · Jul 31, 2018

One rail, fully welded internally, assembled, and tacked externally.

Still quite a bit of finish welding and blending remains. This sub-project really chews up the hours.

David

1970RT · Aug 1, 2018

Copy, and paste.

Passenger rail is welded internally and tacked externally. I’m planning to close up those open corner welds tonight and tomorrow. Parts for the MIG should arrive tomorrow, and I prefer to use that machine for plug welds.

I’m not yet a strong out-of-position TIG welder, so I’m leaving the overlay triangle welds until I can get the car on the rotisserie...unless I get brave.

David

1970RT · Aug 2, 2018

Inner part of the rails are welded - plugs, seams, corners. All of it.

Next is the outer plates.

David

5.7 hemi · Aug 2, 2018

I like what I’m seeing, but what’s the reason for the plating?

1970RT · Aug 2, 2018

5.7 hemi said:
I like what I’m seeing, but what’s the reason for the plating?

The short answer is that the .120 overlay and expansion plates will make the factory 14ga rails better match the strength of the much stronger rocker and torque boxes. Without them, the rails would likely fatigue and possibly crack where they intersect the torque boxes.

The objective is to make the rockers and rails act together with the rest of the structure to be a rigidly framed unibody.

David

5.7 hemi · Aug 2, 2018

That sounds good to me! Weld on!!

1970RT · Aug 5, 2018

Spent the early morning finishing welding the overlay plate. I still have to do the other side, but that will have to wait for several weeks.

The Charger build is idled while I turn my attention and time to suburban prep in advance of its next adventure.

I know exactly where I have to start - finish weld the other overlay plate and start building the floor support structure. If you look closely, you’ll see that 3x1 steel for the floor stored inside the car.

Until then.

David

aussiewannabee69 · Aug 12, 2018

Great work! Love the pics!

1970RT · Nov 8, 2018

The Trail to SEMA is done, and I’m back in the shop. Met a bunch of folks, and learned a lot, but it’s good to be home and getting back to building the car.

David

1970RT · Dec 9, 2018

Back at it.

Passenger rail is welded and blended. I spent Saturday dialing in the welder, and getting back in the groove. It’s been 4 weeks since I’ve struck an arc.

And then there’s this. Working with some new contacts and partners I met at SEMA, there’s a real possibility I’ll be able to push the engine back a significant amount. In addition to recentering from the factory position, the weight balance should be much more favorable.

I’ve been working on a revised plan for the rear chassis and the front suspension, and hope to have some clear updates on that in the next couple of weeks. Again, I’ve learned a lot in the last few weeks, and it’s better informed my approach to the suspension design.

David

watermelon · Dec 10, 2018

is that a new gen hemi?

still following along

:thumbsup:

watermelon

5.7 hemi · Dec 10, 2018

Oh HELL NO! That my friend is an LS.

Hemirunner · Dec 10, 2018

5.7 hemi said:
Oh HELL NO! That my friend is an LS.

It’s entertaining to see the responses to the LS but I think the purists need to accept that facet of this project and just appreciate the workmanship and engineering going into this. It’s just an engine... and below the heads, the G3 and LS aren’t all that different.

1970RT · Dec 10, 2018

watermelon said:
is that a new gen hemi?

still following along

It is not. There's a whole story, but I'm pretty far down the LS path.

5.7 hemi said:
Oh HELL NO! That my friend is an LS.

Yessir. It's a 6.0L iron block that will get some boost, and should be plenty happy in the 600-700 range. For that platform, it's nothing too radical.

Hemirunner said:
It’s entertaining to see the responses to the LS but I think the purists need to accept that facet of this project and just appreciate the workmanship and engineering going into this. It’s just an engine... and below the heads, the G3 and LS aren’t all that different.

It's an extremely compact powerplant; more so than I initially imagined. I think it will fit extremely well, and have a decent amount of room for my header design. Following SEMA, plans for induction have changed slightly, and for the better. The 1.9L LSA supercharger is sold, and I'm working with the folks at Procharger on a D1SC that should be sized just right for this build and is also a significant weight savings. I'm still aiming for a 3500lbs dry weight with the iron block.

While I sort out the front and rear suspension details, I'll spend the next several nights and weekends sorting through the miscellaneous fabrication tasks - firewall cleanup, rocker weld and blending, rust repair on on the passenger door latch, and other random tasks.

David

moparedtn · Dec 10, 2018

LS???
*unwatch thread*

5.7 hemi · Dec 10, 2018

That’s not right. There’s a lot of engineering that’s going into this car and I for one can appreciate that. Guess you’ll be heartbroken to hear the General Lee also used small block Chevy’s?

HD539 · Dec 10, 2018

Nice craftsmanship 1970RT.

rescuediver1982 · Dec 12, 2018

5.7 hemi said:
Oh HELL NO! That my friend is an LS.

I was checking out pictures and was like, wait... that's an LS! :rofl:

I appreciate the awesome work you're doing, I was waiting to see the backlash after that picture! I have a Gen 3 in my car but I also have an LS swap in my C-10 and will be doing many more LS swaps in the the future, and not just in GM cars! I am in the planning stages of an LS swapped Triumph Spitfire for my daughter. The Gen III is an awesome motor but the options for the LS are endless and soooo much cheaper! And they are nearly identical in architecture. Hide the valve covers and no one will be able to tell!

It's your car, you do you!

1970RT · Dec 13, 2018

5.7 hemi said:
There’s a lot of engineering that’s going into this car and I for one can appreciate that.

Thanks man. I’m definitely pouring myself into it, as I’ve never taken something down this far.

HD539 said:
Nice craftsmanship 1970RT.

Thank you. That’s my goal - to do the best work I know how.

rescuediver1982 said:
I appreciate the awesome work you're doing...Hide the valve covers and no one will be able to tell!

Much appreciated. I like that idea - even simple coil covers clean up the look.

David

The Willomet Charger

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