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

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.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kc...w1138-h1516-no

Why go through all this effort to expand the front rails? Here are two photos to illustrate. Before:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/P2...=w1024-h768-no

After:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/9s...=w1024-h768-no

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.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sY...w1024-h1365-no

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

David

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

Just catching up progress.

Front frame rails are just about fully welded. These will get blended and corners rounded. Inside:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Wt...=w1024-h768-no

Driver outside overlay after wire-wheeling:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/We...=w1024-h768-no

And a parting shot, all cleaned up.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bW...=w1024-h694-no

Lots of hours on this sub-project, and I'm idling the Charger for a few weeks as I prepare my suburban for its next adventure. I'll pick this back up after SEMA.

David

Looks good, David. Is that a Handler 140 behind the car? Is that what you've been using this whole time? It's what I have and love. I especially like it now that I have 023 wire in there now. It does everything I need well enough for my skill level.

That’s my 210MVP. Big fan. That 140 handler is a good pick, too. When I convert to 110, that’s basically what it becomes.

It’s about as close to the good soft Miller arc as I’ve been able to get without actually buying a 211.

David

The Trail to SEMA is done (episodes start airing 12/12), and I'm back on the Charger.

The passenger rail is welded and blended. I spent Saturday dialing in the welder, and getting back in the groove. It’s been 4 weeks since I’ve struck an arc.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Eb...=w1024-h768-no

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Zl...=w1024-h768-no

And then there’s this. Working with some new contacts and partners I met at SEMA, there’s a real possibility I’ll be able to push the engine back a significant amount. In addition to recentering from the factory position, the weight balance should be much more favorable.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rb...=w1024-h768-no

I’ve been working on a revised plan for the rear chassis and the front suspension, and hope to have some clear updates on that in the next couple of weeks. Again, I’ve learned a lot in the last few weeks, and it’s better informed my approach to the suspension design.

In the meantime, I'm working the litany of open detail fab projects - firewall, finish weld and blend the rockers, etc.

David

Sounds awesome! I can't wait to see your updates. Good luck!

I’m glad to be back working on it, and plan to focus a good bit on this project in 2019.

David