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Old 05-01-2017, 09:57 AM
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Default The Willomet Charger



Before we dig into the build, there's a long track that brought us to this point. From the beginning (excuse the large photos for the first page)...

I picked up this 70 R/T nearly four years ago. Since then, I've built out the shop in preparation for this build and some major modifications to the shop truck, a squarebody suburban. That Duramax intercooler hanging in the background has a new home...


It's fairly complete - interior, trim, mouldings, lights, glass, suspension, drivetrain - really a rolling shell with no engine or transmission; perfect for my purposes.


It arrived at the shop filled with three things: lots of parts, copious amounts of rat scat, and a rattlesnake that had taken up residence in the truck. No doubt it wanted to be close to a reliable meal. The snake didn't wait long to move out, and truthfully I only ever knew he was there from the shed skins in the corner of the shop and the trunk. I try not to hate things in nature, but snakes are different.

The interior was a biohazard, and I ordered the 3M mask and glove setup and got to cleaning the emptied car. I filled my shop vac several times and finished with a thorough rinse of the floor and inner door panels. It was funky.


Having never disassembled a Mopar, I started cataloging and bagging and tagging the screws, clips, brackets with detailed notes as to how they went together and where. The reprint service manual was a useful guide. I should also say that every project - garage, house, car - is a chance to work with friends and family.


Disassembly would move along nicely from this elevated height:


The objective is to build a car that will drive across the country and perform competitively against whatever monochromatic German machine it might encounter, as well as more recent iterations of American pony cars.

We'll keep the solid rear axle, and make upgrades to the unibody so our chassis is rigid and predictable. After visits to Rad Rides, The Roadster Shop, and Gap Racing, I'm set on building a new front suspension and losing the torsion bars. The hope is to deliver power to ground rather than just evaporating the rear tires, which will have the largest contact patch we can reasonably fit in the wells with a mini tub. Big brakes, precise steering, a well sorted suspension, around 600hp, an overdrive, and a target dry weight of less than 4000 lbs are all part of the plan. Maybe I'm aiming high.

Performance and long range comfort are the priorities, and in that order. It will be built by hand, and after stripping part of the rear quarter, it looks like I'll be placing at least one order with AMD for some new sheetmetal.


I guess the previous owner thought 1/4" of body filler could hide all the past sins.

Next up: lots of sanding.

David

Last edited by 1970RT; 05-10-2019 at 08:59 AM.
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Old 05-01-2017, 03:58 PM
Zoomin Zoomin is offline
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I never cease to be amazed at how many botched sheet metal repairs there are out there.

Oh well, looks like you're not going to be hurt too bad on this. Looks forward to hearing more about your plans on this one.
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Old 07-20-2018, 10:58 AM
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Originally Posted by Zoomin View Post
I never cease to be amazed at how many botched sheet metal repairs there are out there.




David ---- just started at the beginning of your thread and after the quarter panel "reveal" post --- I saw this.....


Sorry guys --- this is an utter failure to understand not only the AGE of these cars -- but the simple truth that for many many years (decades) NOBODY WANTED THESE CARS....or '69 Camaro's either.

Body shops -- yes I worked at one --- were paid for insurance work -- and a bodyman gets about half the labor quote.... The faster he can get the car out of the shop and back on the road -- the more money HE makes..... We were in the era of "bondo" -- when I started -- we LEADED repairs..... that's right -- leaded.... with wood paddles etc. When sheetmetal came in wrinkled like this -- we'd pull on it - beat on it - stretch it - shrink it - use "crease pullers" and dent pullers -- and slathered it with mud.... I'm "ASSuming" this might have been an older repair that was deemed "okay" given the value of the auto at the time.... these weren't all $100,000 cars for their entire lifetime.


NICE PROJECT and fun to watch come together!
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Old 07-20-2018, 05:49 PM
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Originally Posted by GregWeld View Post
...I'm "ASSuming" this might have been an older repair that was deemed "okay" given the value of the auto at the time.... these weren't all $100,000 cars for their entire lifetime.


NICE PROJECT and fun to watch come together!
Thanks, Greg. I think you're reasonably safe in your ASSumtion, and it's clear this car was unloved for an extended period of time, yet managed to survive with the important bits still intact. It's mine now, and I've cut out most of the offensive stuff.

I've studied several of the builds you've shared, and it's greatly informed my way of thinking as I pursue a predictable and stable chassis that lets the suspension spread the workload as evenly as possible across the tires. There's a long way to go before it's back on tires and motivating under its own power. I just want to have the engine and trans stabbed before the end of the year.

It's a record-setting 109F today in Dallas, so I'm hydrated and headed out to the shop to get in some hours on these front rails.

David
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Old 07-23-2018, 10:27 AM
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If y'all are tired of looking at front frame rails, too bad. There's still a good ways to go, but we're down to final fitment and welding. The most useful tool I have in my drawer is time, and I use it liberally to keep me moving ahead and avoiding as many mistakes/rework as possible

All the plates are welded, blended, and required only minor refitting to account for shrinkage. The Cleco holes all still line up, which is a good sign. I also went ahead and added a gusset to better transition the shock tower to the outer frame plate. Acute angles like that on a structural area bother me.


Why go through all this effort to expand the front rails? Here are two photos to illustrate. Before:


After:


The section height at the critical connection is about 2x from factory. While the inner fender sheetmetal does transfer loading from the front rails to the firewall and the rest of the unibody, it's not up to the task by itself given the handling goals for the car.

Final task is prepping the rails for welding - making sure the control arm hardware doesn't interfere with the lower plate and welds, grinding the uneven flanges on the upper part of the rail, and making sure I seal up the new frame shape from any water intrusion. Just taking my time, mocking up, and setting up the weld sequence.


Busy week ahead of day job stuff, but I'm grabbing the hours where I can.

David
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Old 07-24-2018, 07:05 PM
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Thanks for the detailed photos, David. I appreciate the work you're putting in there so people like me can drool and aspire to more.
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  #7  
Old 07-25-2018, 08:52 AM
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Originally Posted by WSSix View Post
Thanks for the detailed photos, David. I appreciate the work you're putting in there so people like me can drool and aspire to more.
Glad to share progress. It takes me a while to figure how I want to approach some parts of the chassis build, and taking a lot of photos is as helpful in planning next steps as it is documenting.

David
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Old 05-01-2017, 04:57 PM
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It's a solid car - good rails, unibody is level and square, etc. I feel like I got lucky.

David
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Old 05-01-2017, 08:25 PM
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Welcome David. Sounds like it's going to be a sweet project.
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Old 05-01-2017, 08:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WSSix View Post
Welcome David. Sounds like it's going to be a sweet project.
Thank you. I'm enjoying the process.

The next several posts are all disassembly and discovery. Mainly, that this car was neglected and someone prescribed it way too much body filler.

I spent a good bit of time pulling the last of the underhood hardware, and took apart the driver door trim, and can now add at least a passenger rear quarter repair panel or skin to the AMD shopping list.








Quick shot at what happens when you stitch too quickly over rust, and try to cover it up.


Both rear quarters are still leaded smooth to the roof skin.


Next: still, more sanding.

David

Last edited by 1970RT; 05-01-2017 at 08:39 PM.
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