The Dark Horse project

[rtgambit]

Obviously my plan to work a bit on the car every week kind of went by the wayside. It doesn't help that I was fighting depression for the last month and a half. The night shift was not working very well for me, as I wasn't seeing Sarah very much, and only getting to put Abby to bed two nights out of the week. Bedtime is a pretty special time in our house.

I managed to get a temporary day shift until the end of September. Hopefully I can do well on the shift bid to keep a normal shift.

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things on the Challenger, but I need to get my wife's Cavalier fixed up first so we can sell it. About a month ago we picked up an 09 Patriot North Edition, so we're finally an all Mopar family!

[dutch]

sorry to hear you`re not doing so well...  I`m fighting dips almost every winter and found out a few years ago that the major problem in my case was a lack of sunlight.  Whenever I start to feel not so good I start using my" daylight replacement light "     I use it for a few weeks ,one or two times a day, and it sure makes a difference... Too little daylight can really make you sick for sure.  The fact you don`t see your family as much as you`d like doesn`t make things easier ofcourse...
the car won`t walk away. You will find it in the garage when you`re ready for it...      
good luck with keeping the dayshift.   

[Mr. 440SixPack]

Anything new on this project?

[thelittles]

Matt, It is so good to see you have gotten so far on your project.  Things are looking so good.  Your welding skills have improved greatly as well.  I too have practically taught myself how to weld on challengers.  Every small step is something to be proud of.  Thanks for sharing all those pics.  You might have covered this in your tread but are you going to add sub frame connectors?  I have been thinking very hard about adding them to mine.  Have anyone else added them and did they improve the ride?

[rtgambit]

Anything new on this project?

Unfortunately not for the past few months, no. However, there have been other developments that should help it along over the next bit.

I'm no longer at the same job, for starters. I started working for a Heating/Cooling company on Sept 28, and now have weekends off with a 7:30-4:30 shift. Can't ask for much better than that.

I'm almost finished on Sarah's Cavalier, as well, so that's another bit of time freed up.

When it's all said and done I'm hoping to get a fresh start on the Dark Horse in December or the new year. Of course, I'll post any updates as they come along. I've even put a computer in the garage, and plan to hook a webcam up to it for a live feed.

Things are looking up!

[rtgambit]

Matt, It is so good to see you have gotten so far on your project.  Things are looking so good.  Your welding skills have improved greatly as well.  I too have practically taught myself how to weld on challengers.  Every small step is something to be proud of.  Thanks for sharing all those pics.  You might have covered this in your tread but are you going to add sub frame connectors?  I have been thinking very hard about adding them to mine.  Have anyone else added them and did they improve the ride?

Thanks for the words of encouragement! I've been debating the subframe connectors too, but haven't put a whole lot of thought into them yet. Once all the sheetmetal repair is done (ie. the rusties) I might look into that further.

[wagesofsin]

so glad to see your on the upswing and back on track.

 

[rtgambit]

The Dark Horse project is back in swing! Tomorrow I'll have an entire day to get back into the car! I'm out in the garage at the moment getting things cleaned up for a fresh start.

I'm hoping to have a webcam setup in here before too much longer, too. Should be fun!

[rtgambit]

Here's my commitment! I'm hoping to spend at least every Sunday and one night during the week on the Challenger. I've got the webcam up and going (check my sig for the latest picture).

I'll have pics of progress up later on today.

[Bullitt-]

Any way we can get live streaming?....

[rtgambit]

Any way we can get live streaming?....

I'm not sure if the board software supports it. Aside from that, our Internet connection (wireless radio) won't work for that kind of outgoing feed.

[rtgambit]

Not a huge amount accomplished for today, but at least I got a bit done.


I started with the lip from the quarter panel to the trunk gutter.




Section cut out with the cutoff wheel.



New replacement metal cut out with measurement guides written in. I'll take this piece into work and use the big sheet metal brake there. I'm hoping I can pick up my own brake sometime soon.

[rtgambit]

Just a tiny bit of work on the car today. I used the sheet metal brake at work to make the bends I wanted in the piece. I really can't wait to buy one of them for my own garage!




And based on the latest live feed pic in my sig I forgot to turn the lights out in the garage.  I'll go out and wave hello before I shut them off.

[rtgambit]

What a great day for working in the garage! It's cold, raining, and the wife and kid are off to church. Time to fire up the welder and get that trunk lip connected! Pics to follow, of course.

[rtgambit]

Aside from having a shortened day for garage work I got the work finished that I was hoping to do.


New piece in place (with notes for where the bends needed to be).




Got the correct curve with a bit of help from the bench vise (no anvil here!).




Getting ready to tack down.




Tack-welded for now, and I'm outta time. I'll come back to it later on this week to finish it off.