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Voodoo Rising - A Build Thread

VICTORY.

With a significant amount of heat and one last round of persuasion with a mini sledge the passenger LCA is now off. Definitely had corrosion in the socket binding it up. While I as feeling motivated, I also pulled the torsion bars and dash harness. It's in pretty good shape, but I have a new replacement one. At some point I will re-home a lot of these parts here on the forum, but I want to get the car running first.

IMG_9147.jpeg


I am going to pull the heater box from under the dash, as I purchased a new heater core a while back. REALLY don't want a leak, so I figured that was the safest call. My initial plan was to just bypass the old one, but by the time the car gets on the road, we will be approaching cold (well, Florida cold) weather season and having defrosters is a good plan.
 
Voodoo said:
So my original plan was to leverage the three day weekend to get the engine bay and floor painted, but that has been sunk by a tropical system bringing tons of rain and humidity. 80% humidity does not play well with paint, so looks like I have to push off another week or so on that. Instead I have been finishing the teardown on the K frame. Got 80% disassembled so far, and should have all the components I am reusing stripped by the end of the weekend. Always fun removing 10lbs of old grease and road dirt buildup.

View attachment 1879746

View attachment 1879748

I did discover that my car was not equipped with a sway bar during all of this. That is yet another setback. I definitely want one as I plan on "driving the piss out of this car", to put it politely. Took advantage of the Jegs 4th of July sale and got the weld on LCA sway bar mounting tabs, and the Jegs sway bar kit. Also realized my poly front end kit did not include the strut rod bushings, so I am getting those on order too.

Still haven't got the last LCA off on the passenger side, but I am planning on going maximum-attack on that tomorrow now everything is out of the way. Here's hoping I can get that freed up and get those torsion bars out as well. Really hoping I succeed without having to resort to cutting. Fingers crossed, and happy 4th!
Click to expand...
If it didn't have the mounting tabs, then it came with the earlier clamp on swaybar. Someone removed it
 
RemCharger said:
If it didn't have the mounting tabs, then it came with the earlier clamp on swaybar. Someone removed it
Click to expand...

Hm interesting, so all Chargers had a front sway bar from the factory? The red charger had the earlier clamp on style one in place still, so I did get to see what one of those looked like. I wasn't super thrilled with that design, is it possible to adapt to a later style one? I see they sell a weld-on tab kit for the LCA to add end link mounting points.
 
Boot the old harness but keep the molded connectors. You may need them down the road.
 
Voodoo said:
Hm interesting, so all Chargers had a front sway bar from the factory? The red charger had the earlier clamp on style one in place still, so I did get to see what one of those looked like. I wasn't super thrilled with that design, is it possible to adapt to a later style one? I see they sell a weld-on tab kit for the LCA to add end link mounting points.
Click to expand...
Should be pretty easy to put the "modern" style on it.
 
More progress over the weekend. Pretty much no one in my area will press out bushings apparently, kind of a crazy gap in the market that I never expected to be an issue. The largest machine shop in town, who I've worked with several times for cylinder head work, apparently used to be the only game in town and all the smaller shops and individuals just subbed out to them. Figured since I not only needed to do the bushings on the Charger, but also on my XJR, it would cost a lot less to just buy a big press and do them myself.

IMG_9205.jpg


IMG_9207.jpg


For the notorious LCA bushings, I pressed out the central pins, then pried out the rubber with a screwdriver. I did not have ready access to a welder for the "weld on a big washer" method, so I took a different approach. I used a Dremel and a burr bit to score the inside of the outer bushing sleeve. I went as slow and careful as possible to minimize scoring to the inner mating surface. I also notched the flared top to complete the new "Split" in the bushing.


IMG_9208.jpg

IMG_9216.jpg


I then applied a lot of heat with a blowtorch, and proceeded to use a hammer and chisel to curl the sleeve in on itself. Didn't take much curl to free up the sleeve, and I was able to pry it up then wiggle it out with pliers. Was it a fun job? No. But it was not as bad as I had imagined after reading online. After that, getting the upper control arm bushings out was easy thanks to the big press.

IMG_9218.jpg


Now I just need to get the balljoints out of the uppers, and I need to weld on the later style sway bar mounting tabs for the lowers. Can't wait to get these out for powder coat!
 
Someone needs to make it cooler here in FL, I swear. Anyway more updates! I pulled the hood off the car, as well as the hood hinges. Tons of fun doing that on your own! Incredible timing though, I found out that my new fiberglass six pack scoop hood was complete and ready to roll!

IMG_9244.jpg


I also had a blast pulling the heater box out from under the dash. It was relatively straightforward, but doing this in a 95 degree tent with zero breeze makes everything that little bit more challenging.

IMG_9247 (1).jpg


The firewall pad seems to be in really good shape so that is a plus at least! I plan on rebuilding and repainting the heater box before it goes back in, but that is lower priority for now.

IMG_9246.jpg


I also had my welders add the 67 style swaybar tabs to my LCAs. The tabs I got were made by Hotchkiss and seem to be really well made. They did a good job welding them on to the arms too, all in all, happy with the result and now legitimately ready to drop stuff off to powder coat tomorrow.

IMG_9271.jpg


I ended up purchasing a new set up upper control arms and upper engine mounts, as the old ones were not really playing ball. Not wildly expensive, so the money vs. time element made sense. Also less stuff to send off to powder coat! I spent a few hours beginning the process of wire wheeling and sanding the engine bay in prep for paint. I hit it with a little rust neutralizer just to seal it and prevent more rust from forming until I can get back on it this weekend. It also helps seeing it in a solid color, as the minor imperfections are easier to identify. I might even do a little smoothing, that has yet to be determined though.

IMG_9269.jpg


My future now holds several days more sanding and prepping, but I am feeling good that the engine pay is going to look great once the epoxy primer and green paint get laid in there.
 
Voodoo said:
Someone needs to make it cooler here in FL, I swear. Anyway more updates! I pulled the hood off the car, as well as the hood hinges. Tons of fun doing that on your own! Incredible timing though, I found out that my new fiberglass six pack scoop hood was complete and ready to roll!

View attachment 1888405

I also had a blast pulling the heater box out from under the dash. It was relatively straightforward, but doing this in a 95 degree tent with zero breeze makes everything that little bit more challenging.

View attachment 1888409

The firewall pad seems to be in really good shape so that is a plus at least! I plan on rebuilding and repainting the heater box before it goes back in, but that is lower priority for now.

View attachment 1888411

I also had my welders add the 67 style swaybar tabs to my LCAs. The tabs I got were made by Hotchkiss and seem to be really well made. They did a good job welding them on to the arms too, all in all, happy with the result and now legitimately ready to drop stuff off to powder coat tomorrow.

View attachment 1888412

I ended up purchasing a new set up upper control arms and upper engine mounts, as the old ones were not really playing ball. Not wildly expensive, so the money vs. time element made sense. Also less stuff to send off to powder coat! I spent a few hours beginning the process of wire wheeling and sanding the engine bay in prep for paint. I hit it with a little rust neutralizer just to seal it and prevent more rust from forming until I can get back on it this weekend. It also helps seeing it in a solid color, as the minor imperfections are easier to identify. I might even do a little smoothing, that has yet to be determined though.

View attachment 1888413

My future now holds several days more sanding and prepping, but I am feeling good that the engine pay is going to look great once the epoxy primer and green paint get laid in there.
Click to expand...
I would suggest checking the bushings on the new upper control arms.
Make sure they are a press fit and won't spin in there once you've installed everything.
They aren't as good quality as the originals but then again they don't have to do much.
 
Don Frelier said:
I would suggest checking the bushings on the new upper control arms.
Make sure they are a press fit and won't spin in there once you've installed everything.
They aren't as good quality as the originals but then again they don't have to do much.
Click to expand...
The good news is, I will ironically be replacing the brand new bushings when they get here. I have a set of poly ones on the shelf. Will definitely allow me to inspect them thoroughly during the process.
 
Voodoo said:
Someone needs to make it cooler here in FL, I swear. Anyway more updates! I pulled the hood off the car, as well as the hood hinges. Tons of fun doing that on your own! Incredible timing though, I found out that my new fiberglass six pack scoop hood was complete and ready to roll!

View attachment 1888405

I also had a blast pulling the heater box out from under the dash. It was relatively straightforward, but doing this in a 95 degree tent with zero breeze makes everything that little bit more challenging.

View attachment 1888409

The firewall pad seems to be in really good shape so that is a plus at least! I plan on rebuilding and repainting the heater box before it goes back in, but that is lower priority for now.

View attachment 1888411

I also had my welders add the 67 style swaybar tabs to my LCAs. The tabs I got were made by Hotchkiss and seem to be really well made. They did a good job welding them on to the arms too, all in all, happy with the result and now legitimately ready to drop stuff off to powder coat tomorrow.

View attachment 1888412

I ended up purchasing a new set up upper control arms and upper engine mounts, as the old ones were not really playing ball. Not wildly expensive, so the money vs. time element made sense. Also less stuff to send off to powder coat! I spent a few hours beginning the process of wire wheeling and sanding the engine bay in prep for paint. I hit it with a little rust neutralizer just to seal it and prevent more rust from forming until I can get back on it this weekend. It also helps seeing it in a solid color, as the minor imperfections are easier to identify. I might even do a little smoothing, that has yet to be determined though.

View attachment 1888413

My future now holds several days more sanding and prepping, but I am feeling good that the engine pay is going to look great once the epoxy primer and green paint get laid in there.
Click to expand...
It definitely will, went through the process on my car, it took a couple months for me because of work , but the results are worth it! Just keep pushing and you’ll find out yourself

IMG_1080.jpeg


IMG_1119.jpeg


IMG_1424.jpeg
 
Cheapsunglasses said:
It definitely will, went through the process on my car, it took a couple months for me because of work , but the results are worth it! Just keep pushing and you’ll find out yourself

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View attachment 1888437

View attachment 1888440
Click to expand...

Pesky work is always getting in the way. But without it I can't afford to work on the car, what a conundrum haha. I am very excited to get it back into the assembly phase, that is where I am much more comfortable. I did a full teardown and refurb of the engine bay on my '59 Chevy and it was equally taxing, but well worth it.
 
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