The Dream

Designs from @abimelecdesign for the possible final look.

The MOTOR!!!

I finally got the powerplant!! It’s a 5.7L Hemi from a 2015 Challenger, complete with the Shaker intake system. The yard that I purchased it from also cut out the hood so I may be able to graft that into the dart hood. Engine mounts inbound from Welder Series out of Canada. Now I need to find a SBM 727 Torqueflite transmission to begin installation!

The motor mount kit from Welder Series is very cool – included templates for the uprights, and even a hotrod coloring book!!

Rotisserie Time!

Working on getting the car on the Eastwood Rotisserie. Cleaned up the bumper mount areas and put a quick coat of primer on. I cleaned up the bolts in the blast cabinet. Then, I used some chase taps from Summit Racing, along with some rust penetrating fluid to clean the holes. Finally, when bolting on the supports, I put anti-seize on the bolts.

With the rotisserie, I’m struggling a little bit as I don’t understand why there is a nut welded into the support arm, keeping it from accepting 2″x2″ square tube. I ended up cutting out the nut, which means I’ll have to tack weld the arms in place on the supports. I sent support an email asking about this design. I also need to cut down the attachment bars as they’re too long, I think. But, progress! Up next is figuring out the rear rotisserie mounting.

Front Fender Extensions Complete (?)

Another round of bondo, sanding, and primer and I’m happy with the results. Will get a final coat of hotrod gray primer and will go on the “done” table.

More Hinge and Fender Extension Work

A bit of a delay on getting any work completed – recovering from neck surgery (disk replacement: C5-6). However, I did get the other side (driver’s) door hinges cleaned up, along with filling some damage on the pot metal of the front fenders. Haven’t worked with bondo a lot – I expect the body folks will have to redo my work when it goes for paint. Next step is primer.

Front Fender Extension Repair

Working on the front fender extensions…it’s a mixed bag. The lower posts are too chewed up to tap for a nut, but the upper ones seem to work just fine with newly cut threads. The lower ones, I’m cutting off the upper part of the post, drilling a hole, then gluing in a screw that I turned down part of the threads to be just a post. We’ll see if the JB Weld holds. I’m okay with this for now as I have the upper two post that I feel will hold the fender extension on if one of the glued posts fail.

Rear Fender Extension Repair

The front fender extensions are missing most of their mounting posts. Luckily, only one post was missing out of the two rear fender extensions. I was able to drill and tap the mounting post for a 10mm bolt (it now has VW parts on it 😉 ).

Hinge Work

Pulled the door hinges off the passenger side to clean up. They were pretty rusty, but the Eastwood Blast Cabinet took quick care of them.

And so it begins…

These photos are from the day after it was delivered. We took inventory and vacuumed out the car. Then doing an inspection found a couple additional areas that will need some rust repair. I was hoping to not have to do any welding on the body directly, but looks like I will have to learn a new skill.

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