Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Thankfully I kicked it by Saturday and was able to go full throttle the next several days. Today or tomorrow I am hoping to install the fuel and brake hardlines and figure out where I want to place the fuel pump.
Voodoo Rising - A Build Thread
- Thread starter Voodoo
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So...whats the story on the 63?
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Belongs to my dad, he has been pushing hard to get it on the road at the same time as mine. The wagon is presently 440/auto powered with a GearVendors behind it set up to be a street/strip car. Lots of great goodies in the build, it is super nice! Hopefully both of us will be able to cruise out to the Mopar show at the Don Garlits Museum at the beginning of November!
So, the 63 is a wagon? Nice. I have the GV on my do list down the road for my 67 wagon. 440 power already, not original though.
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Very nice, something about having overdrive in a classic is just so sweet.
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Made tons more progress, but all on smaller stuff that is less photo-able. I got the Radiator in, which took a little custom work, but MAN that is definitely about the biggest one you could fit in there. I'll be working on the electric fans, wiring and shroud over the weekend. Also got the headers in, and have started getting the engine bay wiring harness situated. The under dash harness is roughed in, and the rear harness is 100% in and ready to roll. I have some grounding straps and heavy gauge battery +/- cables showing up this week too. Not shown in the pic, but I also have the battery tray in, and Red Top in place.
I am also about half way with the fuel system. Running a return style electric pump for this one. I have the blockoff plate in, the feed hardline is about 90% where it will be, and I will be running the return hardline tomorrow. The last parts for the tank side of things arrive Friday, so like the fan, the fuel system will be getting buttoned up over the weekend too.
Gas pedal is mounted, and the pedal box has been completely refinished. I left the hardware at home, so for now it is just sitting on the floor, but it will be bolted up soon. The linkage is installed from the Z bar down to the transmission already, and the firewall rod is loosely in place waiting on the pedals to go in. I have the brake booster parts on hand ready to go as well.
By my estimate, first or second weekend of October I should be ready for first start. The engine was already broken in by the engine shop thankfully, so I can test it on open header just to make sure it generally runs. After that, going to weld up my exhaust system and work on final shakedown! It is going to be tight, but it is looking possible that the car will be out at the Don Garlits Museum Mopar show at the beginning of November!
I am also about half way with the fuel system. Running a return style electric pump for this one. I have the blockoff plate in, the feed hardline is about 90% where it will be, and I will be running the return hardline tomorrow. The last parts for the tank side of things arrive Friday, so like the fan, the fuel system will be getting buttoned up over the weekend too.
Gas pedal is mounted, and the pedal box has been completely refinished. I left the hardware at home, so for now it is just sitting on the floor, but it will be bolted up soon. The linkage is installed from the Z bar down to the transmission already, and the firewall rod is loosely in place waiting on the pedals to go in. I have the brake booster parts on hand ready to go as well.
By my estimate, first or second weekend of October I should be ready for first start. The engine was already broken in by the engine shop thankfully, so I can test it on open header just to make sure it generally runs. After that, going to weld up my exhaust system and work on final shakedown! It is going to be tight, but it is looking possible that the car will be out at the Don Garlits Museum Mopar show at the beginning of November!
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
More progress over the weekend, getting real close now. I got the tail light assembly installed, figured it was high time to get it out of my shed. This also 100% completes the rear wiring all the way up to the dash connector. I still have to install the trim along the trunk lip, but it is starting to look more and more like a complete car.
More work at the rear of the car, I modified the fuel pickup/sending unit so it has a provision for the return line. Inside I had the bright idea to add a short length of hose so it did not have the constant sound of a waterfall of fuel trickling back there.
My dad helped me wrestle in the gas tank, along with all new rubber for the filler neck and vent tube. It was just as much fun as I remember it being on the other Charger. The secret to the install is knowing a diverse range of curse words and using them liberally throughout the process.
I then moved on to installing the new fuel pump. This spot on the passenger side up above the rear axel seemed perfect. It was located near the small body plug that gets hidden beneath the package area riser inside the car, so tucking the wiring away is extremely easy. I had just begun text fitting the soft lines when I took this photo.
And here is everything clamped up, plus the addition of the return line. I will be removing the old parking brake cable of course. If the new cable still makes contact with the fuel line, I will add additional mounting to keep it clear. Please excuse the rusty old exhaust hanger blocking part of the view. That will be taken care of soon when I start on the rear brakes/suspension.
Up front I got more wiring done in the engine bay, and routed the hardlines up the firewall and behind the motor. From there I can carry flex lines up to the pressure regulator for both the feed and return while keeping things relatively tidy. Not trying for a "show car with everything tucked" look, but here and there little clean touches can make a nice improvement. I also began mocking up the brake booster, couple of small details I need to look into there, but nothing insurmountable.
I gave in to my inner child, and added this decal behind the glovebox about as near to the EL power pack as possible. I figure it will serve as a nice reminder for me not to get too confident when working in that area, and also a humorous touch for a possible future owner haha.
During the week I will be working on the braking system more, hoping to have all of the pedal connections tied in soon. I will also be stripping the front seats back to their bare frames. I have new foam and covers on the way. REALLY did not want to do them myself. I had been quoted a reasonable price by a local interior shop after giving them a detailed rundown over the phone. The price magically increased by 60% when I showed up with the seats a week later. Is what it is, I need seats if I'm gonna drive this thing haha.
Tune in next week for more of "The Ridiculous Adventures of Voodoo Man!"
More work at the rear of the car, I modified the fuel pickup/sending unit so it has a provision for the return line. Inside I had the bright idea to add a short length of hose so it did not have the constant sound of a waterfall of fuel trickling back there.
My dad helped me wrestle in the gas tank, along with all new rubber for the filler neck and vent tube. It was just as much fun as I remember it being on the other Charger. The secret to the install is knowing a diverse range of curse words and using them liberally throughout the process.
I then moved on to installing the new fuel pump. This spot on the passenger side up above the rear axel seemed perfect. It was located near the small body plug that gets hidden beneath the package area riser inside the car, so tucking the wiring away is extremely easy. I had just begun text fitting the soft lines when I took this photo.
And here is everything clamped up, plus the addition of the return line. I will be removing the old parking brake cable of course. If the new cable still makes contact with the fuel line, I will add additional mounting to keep it clear. Please excuse the rusty old exhaust hanger blocking part of the view. That will be taken care of soon when I start on the rear brakes/suspension.
Up front I got more wiring done in the engine bay, and routed the hardlines up the firewall and behind the motor. From there I can carry flex lines up to the pressure regulator for both the feed and return while keeping things relatively tidy. Not trying for a "show car with everything tucked" look, but here and there little clean touches can make a nice improvement. I also began mocking up the brake booster, couple of small details I need to look into there, but nothing insurmountable.
I gave in to my inner child, and added this decal behind the glovebox about as near to the EL power pack as possible. I figure it will serve as a nice reminder for me not to get too confident when working in that area, and also a humorous touch for a possible future owner haha.
During the week I will be working on the braking system more, hoping to have all of the pedal connections tied in soon. I will also be stripping the front seats back to their bare frames. I have new foam and covers on the way. REALLY did not want to do them myself. I had been quoted a reasonable price by a local interior shop after giving them a detailed rundown over the phone. The price magically increased by 60% when I showed up with the seats a week later. Is what it is, I need seats if I'm gonna drive this thing haha.
Tune in next week for more of "The Ridiculous Adventures of Voodoo Man!"
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Another week, more progress. The fuel system is now 100% complete. Regulator is installed, return and feed lines are sealed up and routed correctly. I even tested the fuel pump. Woke up right away, and it is nice and loud haha.
The car spent a little more time playing leapfrog with the wagon while my brother did some work in the space behind it. I took that time to button up more of the wiring inside. I also removed the driver door window regulator. Sadly about half of the teeth on the arm that lifts the window are wiped out, and from my research these regulators are charger specific because of the window crank shaft being longer than that of a Coronet. I will be posting a want ad on here in case, otherwise I may try for a hail Mary and see if I can maybe modify a coronet one and attach the Charger shaft to it. Looks possible assuming the aftermarket ones are made essentially the same as the OEM ones.
The big project from last night was removing the dipstick tube blockoff plug. Does appear the 440 came out of a truck in it's original life, and from what I read the aluminum plugs were put in from the factory. I made several attempts to get it out from the top, to no avail. I found several folks on here who said if you drop the pan it can be easily popped out with a hammer and punch from underneath.
That advice proved to be correct. A 1/4 drive socket extension and hammer did the trick within seconds! Draining the oil, removing the steering center link, dropping the pan and so on too a bit more than a few seconds... Because of the amount of work going into that project, I decided to install a windage tray "while I was in there". I opted for the Summit Racing composite one with the integrated reusable gasket. Supposedly made the same way the GenIII Hemi ones are, but shaped for a 440. We will see if it is any good, the price was right and I liked not having to scrape gaskets off anymore!
After all that was back together the big reward was seeing a dipstick in place, as silly as it sounds. I had to custom bend the tube a little to get a bit tighter to the header. My brake master cylinder will sit further forward than most, so I needed the stick more upright.
I did a bit of wiring tidy-up and looming, then wrapped up. Mission over the next couple of days is to get the brake booster situation figured out, then get the pedal box secured and connected once and for all. The seat foam and covers arrived for the front seats, so later in the week I will be starting to strip down the old ones in preparation for cleaning and painting the internals. As much as I feel so close to the finish line, I also feel like it never ends.....
The car spent a little more time playing leapfrog with the wagon while my brother did some work in the space behind it. I took that time to button up more of the wiring inside. I also removed the driver door window regulator. Sadly about half of the teeth on the arm that lifts the window are wiped out, and from my research these regulators are charger specific because of the window crank shaft being longer than that of a Coronet. I will be posting a want ad on here in case, otherwise I may try for a hail Mary and see if I can maybe modify a coronet one and attach the Charger shaft to it. Looks possible assuming the aftermarket ones are made essentially the same as the OEM ones.
The big project from last night was removing the dipstick tube blockoff plug. Does appear the 440 came out of a truck in it's original life, and from what I read the aluminum plugs were put in from the factory. I made several attempts to get it out from the top, to no avail. I found several folks on here who said if you drop the pan it can be easily popped out with a hammer and punch from underneath.
That advice proved to be correct. A 1/4 drive socket extension and hammer did the trick within seconds! Draining the oil, removing the steering center link, dropping the pan and so on too a bit more than a few seconds... Because of the amount of work going into that project, I decided to install a windage tray "while I was in there". I opted for the Summit Racing composite one with the integrated reusable gasket. Supposedly made the same way the GenIII Hemi ones are, but shaped for a 440. We will see if it is any good, the price was right and I liked not having to scrape gaskets off anymore!
After all that was back together the big reward was seeing a dipstick in place, as silly as it sounds. I had to custom bend the tube a little to get a bit tighter to the header. My brake master cylinder will sit further forward than most, so I needed the stick more upright.
I did a bit of wiring tidy-up and looming, then wrapped up. Mission over the next couple of days is to get the brake booster situation figured out, then get the pedal box secured and connected once and for all. The seat foam and covers arrived for the front seats, so later in the week I will be starting to strip down the old ones in preparation for cleaning and painting the internals. As much as I feel so close to the finish line, I also feel like it never ends.....
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Great work!
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Worked on the car till midnight last night, couple of breakthroughs. Finally got the spacing correct for the brake booster assembly, that let me get everything bolted down and the linkage all hooked up to the pedal. I also connected the clutch rod, which completes all the pedals! Just got a bit of cleanup to do now.
I also finalized a lot of the connections under and around the dash now that is all in place, all that is left wiring-wise in there is the gauge cluster and head unit. I moved on to the cooling system after that. My brother donated me a set of dual electric fans that he used to run on his 65 Mustang. They handled a 500+ horse 408 stroker just fine, so I think my mild 440 will be happy with them too. I made up some brackets to attach them to the radiator, and they fit perfectly. Just have to connect the power feed and grounds for the fans, then connect up the switched 12 and the override "on" switch and that completes the cooling system.
I am now torn between doing the seats, or getting on with the gauge cluster and other dash parts. I'll make a snap decision before I get off work today. We will see!
I also finalized a lot of the connections under and around the dash now that is all in place, all that is left wiring-wise in there is the gauge cluster and head unit. I moved on to the cooling system after that. My brother donated me a set of dual electric fans that he used to run on his 65 Mustang. They handled a 500+ horse 408 stroker just fine, so I think my mild 440 will be happy with them too. I made up some brackets to attach them to the radiator, and they fit perfectly. Just have to connect the power feed and grounds for the fans, then connect up the switched 12 and the override "on" switch and that completes the cooling system.
I am now torn between doing the seats, or getting on with the gauge cluster and other dash parts. I'll make a snap decision before I get off work today. We will see!
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Back once again with more updates. Getting really close now. Before installing the gauge cluster, I made up a switch panel to handle the fuel pump and fan override switches. Kept it simple, just cut it out of .040 aluminum with snips, drilled the holes, rounded the corners and put a little bend in it with a bench vise, then painted it up.
I find the "?" label on that black/white wire in that pic amusing. I still have not 100% figured out what that goes to, but everything else made sense. I decided rather than letting that hold me up, I would move on to getting the gauges connected. Anyone that has put one of these dashes together knows that there is quite a lot involved and you really have to make sure you do everything in order, otherwise you'll find yourself undoing a bunch of work to put in something you missed.
There may be a better way to connect the wiring, but this is the best I have found so far. Feels weird bolting on these perfect parts into a dash that has not been refinished yet, but I simply do not have the time to get that done and still make it roadworthy by the end of the month.
I got on with stripping down the seats. Forgot how much fun removing hog rings is. I left my Dremel up at my brothers shop, so I had to resort to using two pairs of needle nose pliers. Talk about hand cramps after doing about 100 of em. At least it's over now!
I got them stripped further than what this photo shows, and got the frames wire brushed, sanded and painted. Paint should be dry by tomorrow, so I can start putting the new foam and covers on. I plan on assembling the full seats including the bases, as the floorpan does not have the holes pre-drilled. Figure the safest bet is to plop the seat in place and mark where to drill based on where the studs want to go.
I got the front brakes finished up, had to modify the hardlines but it was relatively straightforward. This kit includes a brake bias adjusted to account for the disc/drum setup, so I ran that on the frame rail right after the distribution block.
I have managed to avoid making my own brake lines for 15 years now, but finally I had to make one to get this done. I made the teeniest "jumper" line to come from the distribution block right into the bias adjuster. You can imagine how fun it was bending something this short without kinking it.
Up top it uses a GM style master cylinder, mounted notably higher and further forward than a stock power setup. I had to modify the feed lines, but managed to make them work. Going by memory (off of the old '59 Bel Air I added power brakes to) I believe the front connection does the rear brakes, and vice versa. Let's hope I remembered correctly haha.
My brother helped me overcome my transmission issues. The box was not going into any gear, and for a minute I was worried it was stuck in two gears at once as I have read is possible. Turns out it was just the locating pin for the Hurst kit, it had been left in and I was fighting against that. Definitely felt dumb with that one. Suddenly it now goes into all gears just fine! I dialed in the shift stops and we are all set there. I did a test fit of the driveshaft just as a sanity check to make sure the length was good. We are indeed all good there too.
We are getting down to the home stretch now. I aim to complete the front seats this week and get them installed Monday, then start on the rear suspension/brakes next week. I plan on adding a drain plug in the rear end per the Hot Rod Magazine article I found, already have the drill bit and tap on the way! Should be looking at static leak check and brake bleeding the week of the 20th, and likely a first start just a few days after that. Should leave about a week for shakedown and Gremlin hunting, then off to the show...
I find the "?" label on that black/white wire in that pic amusing. I still have not 100% figured out what that goes to, but everything else made sense. I decided rather than letting that hold me up, I would move on to getting the gauges connected. Anyone that has put one of these dashes together knows that there is quite a lot involved and you really have to make sure you do everything in order, otherwise you'll find yourself undoing a bunch of work to put in something you missed.
There may be a better way to connect the wiring, but this is the best I have found so far. Feels weird bolting on these perfect parts into a dash that has not been refinished yet, but I simply do not have the time to get that done and still make it roadworthy by the end of the month.
I got on with stripping down the seats. Forgot how much fun removing hog rings is. I left my Dremel up at my brothers shop, so I had to resort to using two pairs of needle nose pliers. Talk about hand cramps after doing about 100 of em. At least it's over now!
I got them stripped further than what this photo shows, and got the frames wire brushed, sanded and painted. Paint should be dry by tomorrow, so I can start putting the new foam and covers on. I plan on assembling the full seats including the bases, as the floorpan does not have the holes pre-drilled. Figure the safest bet is to plop the seat in place and mark where to drill based on where the studs want to go.
I got the front brakes finished up, had to modify the hardlines but it was relatively straightforward. This kit includes a brake bias adjusted to account for the disc/drum setup, so I ran that on the frame rail right after the distribution block.
I have managed to avoid making my own brake lines for 15 years now, but finally I had to make one to get this done. I made the teeniest "jumper" line to come from the distribution block right into the bias adjuster. You can imagine how fun it was bending something this short without kinking it.
Up top it uses a GM style master cylinder, mounted notably higher and further forward than a stock power setup. I had to modify the feed lines, but managed to make them work. Going by memory (off of the old '59 Bel Air I added power brakes to) I believe the front connection does the rear brakes, and vice versa. Let's hope I remembered correctly haha.
My brother helped me overcome my transmission issues. The box was not going into any gear, and for a minute I was worried it was stuck in two gears at once as I have read is possible. Turns out it was just the locating pin for the Hurst kit, it had been left in and I was fighting against that. Definitely felt dumb with that one. Suddenly it now goes into all gears just fine! I dialed in the shift stops and we are all set there. I did a test fit of the driveshaft just as a sanity check to make sure the length was good. We are indeed all good there too.
We are getting down to the home stretch now. I aim to complete the front seats this week and get them installed Monday, then start on the rear suspension/brakes next week. I plan on adding a drain plug in the rear end per the Hot Rod Magazine article I found, already have the drill bit and tap on the way! Should be looking at static leak check and brake bleeding the week of the 20th, and likely a first start just a few days after that. Should leave about a week for shakedown and Gremlin hunting, then off to the show...
Your before shot of the seat reminded me of when I worked on a customers 50 F1. I think I just took the hot wrench[ torch] to it to avoid getting rodent cooties in and on me.
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Hahah now that must have smelled great.
Oh, it did. I used the torch in several areas to take care of Spiders. They were immune to Brakleen, but not heat.
Encswsm
Well-Known Member
I would clean it and paint it. It would make things easier in the future.
Last edited:
Encswsm
Well-Known Member
Negative all 66 and 67 chargers did not come with Sway Bars. If you have clamp on type its a after market kit from Hellwig. I just went through this. when you put the weld tabs on you need to mark them up with the car on the ground at normal ride height. I took some advice and screwed myself when I put tabs on my LCA. the location was the 68 and newer location for the tabs not the 66 location. they moved them after 67 to accommodate disk brakes. and my sway bar did not fit up. If I may offer up some advice when planning up your front end I would go with some QA1 or equivalent adjustable UCA's. At the very least you need adjustable Strut Rods and a LCA reinforcement plate set. Our cars were designed to have Biased Ply tires and and are very difficult to set up for modern radials. I'm about 80% through the front end on my 66. The Bregman Auto Craft link on the upper right is a pretty good place to get stuff. plus they have A21 tech help on all their stuff. Looking good though
My friend! You've posted alot of info! Let's break it down;
wrong
wrong
Always have a grasp of what youre doing before doing it. And the changeover was 70
not true
a reasonable but unnecessary idea
both are extremely unnecessary
not difficult. 99% ( or more) of the people on this site have factory suspensions with radials out driving around to car shows
That's great! It should handle ok.
Voodoo
Well-Known Member
Looks like some of these posts are from a few pages back, most of this stuff has been handled one way or the other by now. Thankfully the sway bar went in beautifully, and it is a pretty heavy duty one! The engine bay paint job came out excellent. I did end up with QA1 adjustable strut rods, but only because I discovered my stock ones were damaged and they were the only set I could get in time to move the car for it's engine install. The rate things are going, car should be in shakedown within two weeks, and on the road in three!
Encswsm
Well-Known Member
I'm enjoying your build as I'm working on a 66 Charger right now. I had one as my first car when I was a kid and always wanted another one. I found mine last year. This one was originally a Poly 318 that someone swapped for a later (1973) 360. My original one had a 383. I'm debating on either picking up a 440 or stroking the 360, but for now I'm just trying to get it running so I can have fun with it (Roadkill style)LOL
Encswsm
Well-Known Member
Do I know you? I don’t think so. I had a 1966 Charger back in 1978 it was my first car and belonged to a family member who bought it brand new. You are Wrong. That car did not have a sway bar, had no provisions for such. So all 1966 chargers did NOT have sway bars. Maybe the tab location changed in 1970 this is a 1966 car, but who gives a damn when they changed and to be truthful the sway-bar did change in 68 it passed through instead of in front of the K member.
Plus you may think something is unnecessary and I don’t, it’s a difference of opinion and you know what they say about opinions.
I think my comments didn’t need to be Debunked by you.
I’m going to quit now before the Navy Chief comes out in me.
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