Brad's 1970 Challenger, living the dream! The evolution continues!

[brads70]

Stop Dreaming...Start cutting !

Go guts no glory....
I bought one of those cut off die grinders..... didn't work so well , so I bought a air body saw. That was the ticket worked great! Fast and easy to control.
Kenny I tried your way but no way you could bend it down. It would have really screwed up the fender.  Those body lines are just to far away from the fender lip.
I carefully bent some 3/16" rod and tacked it around the cut off fender lip. Now using the English wheel I'll make the panels fit in between those rods. I'll cut out the spacers when I'm all done.

[brads70]

I have the long top panel almost finished. So far I have about 4 hours into the one panel rolling it out. Sure takes a long time but it's fun..... sort of? 
This is the hardest panel to make, the others I expect will go quicker?

[hemiken]

I hope it goes well brad.........

[brads70]

I hope it goes well brad.........

Thanks Kenny!
It's poring rain outside tonight so I can't  cut some more metal.
 ( need a bigger garage! ) So I made up some poster board patterns. Gives me a rough idea what it will look like.

[anlauto]

Won't it look odd with the front done and not the back

[ChallengerHK]

Won't it look odd with the front done and not the back

I was wondering that too.

[brads70]

I was wondering that too.

maybe, but the tires fit in the rear and I want it to always be able to go back to stock.

[dodj]

maybe, but the tires fit in the rear and I want it to always be able to go back to stock.

Ya, working the rear quarters would be a 'no turning back' move.
Hope it turns out well, I'm having a tough time liking the idea of bigger tires on the front?
You definitely keep this thread interesting! 

[anlauto]

 

[blown motor]

Hope it turns out well, I'm having a tough time liking the idea of bigger tires on the front?
You definitely keep this thread interesting! 

  I'm struggling with that one too. But it's your car and you're having fun with it and that's way cool. Looking forward to the finished product.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

He will never finish it. Its that extra energy from dreaming of my GTX        

[brads70]

He will never finish it. Its that extra energy from dreaming of my GTX        

Well if you would hurry up and set me up with it so I have something to work on, I'd leave the Challenger alone!

The tires are only .800 wider on the front, hardly noticeable, but even though they are wider they are not as tall as the rear tires. So if I swapped them around it would look noticeable. With the rake bassackwards .

Good grief it's quite the learning curve with the English wheel. I scrapped one part so now I have 10-12 hours making the first panel still. 

[ToxicWolf]

Come on, Brad.  Quit teasing us.  We want to see one.      

[jordan]

Hi Brad,  Killer project.  Were you having a lot of understeer?  Will you be able to steer at slow speeds easily without power steering?  I had a hard enough time with my narrow tires, with a small steering wheel, long pitman arm, and a stage 3 firm feel box.  I understand that traction is based on a balance between your rear tires pushing your front tires.  Too much rear and not enough front equals push.  You make sense by making your front tires wider if that was your handling issue.  Your tires are as wide as the new camero z28: the widest front tire on a production car!  I can only guess that you will have to upgrade to "steering by armstrong".  Might be time to hit the gym.  Just a guess, I don't really know.  Let us know how it handles once you get is welded up!  Good luck with your project. 

[dutch]

no flat fingers yet   
Maybe you already did, but it might help to leave a 1-1.5"  'frame" around the part you make.