SGTPauls 68 Charger RT project

[Propwash]

I can see I need to raid the local tool store for Vise Grips! Nice job!

That's his trademark man......Think we need to give SGT a new callsign. Maybe...."The Vise"

Stick with what works for ya! Looking good SGT.


BTW...How you like that Craftsman LED droplight? Wife picked me up one, bright as heck, but the thing I dont like about it is the limited view it lights up. I guess, better than cooking yourself with an old school trouble light

 

[SGTPaul]

Ha ha funny… Thanks for the comment Prop. The LED light is just like you say bright but limited distance. I use it mainly while I’m welding in a dark wheelhouse. The light is bright enough for me to see but not too bright to activate the dimming on my welding helmet lenses.

 

[Propwash]

That is a good application for it! Isolated light source. Unlike a Halogen that flips your helmet within 8 feet. Hmm, I'll have to remember that. Thanks!

 

[SGTPaul]

big steps

Hey gang! Well 3 weeks since my last post. I bet you all think I’ve been sitting around drinking beer, going to Tiger games, going to swap meet / car shows, and hanging out with family and friends. Well I have. :icon_pidu: But I’ve also have been bustin my but getting a lot done on the R/T with the nice two week stint of cool weather. I finished prepping all the panes for installation except for the deck lid filler. Identified that AMD made it about ¼” to narrow in width. They agreed and will correct for future pressing. In the mean time they are going to help get mine corrected. Luckily I noticed on a car I saw on eBay the jack brackets on the driver’s side trunk, so I was able to pick those up before I set the quarters in for the last time and made it a lot easier to install. Got all the rear metal aligned and fit in to my liking. Will need to do some adjustments but that is expected. Started the 1st pass at welding on the tail, rear valance, bumper reinforcements, and deck lid lock pillar. Working on fitting the package tray and plenum before taking them in for blasting and massaging the deck lid filler. FYI AMD informed me the lower rear window corners on the quarters are a little lazy when it comes to fitting the window trim. Haven’t checked it yet but they said that area will need work.

 

[snakeyes]

looking good as usual , now get back to work we`ll be watching for new updates :headbang:

 

[Propwash]

Great work SGT. How you liking the fit up of the AMD stuff thus far? Pretty happy?

 

[Donny]

Nice!!

 

[smyythe68]

Ya got me beat, I can only see your taillights(holes) LOL! looks great. I'm not happy to hear about the deck filler though. I'm looking to buy one myself but don't want it to be short. You say they are going to change the pressings, but when. Keep up the good work...

 

[roadrunnerman]

looking good with everything going back on. p.s., can i borrow a couple vise-grips? JK

 

[SGTPaul]

Great work SGT. How you liking the fit up of the AMD stuff thus far? Pretty happy?

Thanks! Well I don't have a comparison so I guess it's pretty good outside the deck lid filler issue. I also have a couple of areas at the gutter near the sail panels to spoon out a bit.

 

[SGTPaul]

Ya got me beat, I can only see your taillights(holes) LOL! looks great. I'm not happy to hear about the deck filler though. I'm looking to buy one myself but don't want it to be short. You say they are going to change the pressings, but when. Keep up the good work...

Thanks! On the filler panel I spoke to Aaron Hopkins at AMD. Based on their current stock it will be sometime in the spring. I took the new and old panels into B&B collision today. They don’t think you can knock that out and get a good straight line since it is pretty complicated at the window opening. They are thinking they will cut it down the middle and graph in a pieces from the old panel. Waiting to hear back on that.

 

[Donny]

Nice! I want to see relational photos of the outer wheelhouse to the qtr panel, got any?

 

[SGTPaul]

Nice! I want to see relational photos of the outer wheelhouse to the qtr panel, got any?

Can get some. Do you want to see it from the trunk or wheelhouse side?

 

[Donny]

Both.

 

[SGTPaul]

Here ya go Donny. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

[Donny]

Exactly what I'm looking for! I think I hung my right inner wheelhouse too low, rather, I KNOW I hung it too low! Was in a rush...wanted to make progress! Now, I'm going to have to slice and dice it, insert some new metal, trim off the bottom here and there!

Got my machine working to get me some new qtrs, doing some media blasting 'trading' with an AMD dealer here in town. Thanks for these pics! I see on one picture, one outer wheelhouse meeting lip is lower than the inner, I assume this is 'normal'?

 

[SGTPaul]

I see on one picture, one outer wheelhouse meeting lip is lower than the inner, I assume this is 'normal'?

Normal? Maybe not. I looked at a parts car a friend has and they are pretty close from what I can tell thru the undercoating. Even with the inner and outer halves off the car (original inner) I had a hard time aligning them on the bench. I think a combo of the thicker metal AMD uses makes it harder to finish up (less flex in the metal) and the part might also be off slightly vs the original.

 

[RyanSchoen]

How's it feel to have it all welded up?

Do you have any close up pics of the valance corners? Curious how yours lined up compared to mine.

 

[SGTPaul]

Let the grinding begin…..

Well in the last two weeks I fixed my deck lid filler panel width issue by adding some 12 gauge material to each end. I’ll have the body shop finish it off. Installed the trunk hinge supports, package tray, plenum, and deck lid filler panels. Welded in all these pieces and finished off welding in the quarters, tail, and rear valance. All is welded in now except for a few minor brackets and such. Normally I’ll grind as I go with a panel but this time I just kept installing and welding. All temporary braces and roof supports are removed. Now I’ll pick up some grinding supplies and hit it all with the grinder. Progress pics below.

 

[Donny]

Effin Awesome! Now, get down to TX and provide guidance to me and my GTX!