Viper 6 speed in a challenger

[Topcat]

Incredible work done. Like a doctor performing a transplant.

[moparman82]

Any new updates?

[73restomod]

Yes, I have stopped with the trans oriented work for a bit, but it will start again soon.
Other jobs that have been done so far:
The motors is built and headed for the dyno on the 8th of March.
I have added the factory big brake front disc kit with slotted and cross drilled rotors.
QA1 Upper and Lower control arms, strut rods , and dual adjustable shocked are enroute from summit.
Firm Feel 1.18 torsion bars are the next tax return hit list item.

[73restomod]

Here's a quick pick of the QA1 stuff. Really nice pieces, also my FF 1.18 T-bars and sector support kit have arrived.





I will be posting my Mcleod RXT dual disc clutch install as soon as I get the motor back home, here's a pic, the part number is 6923-07. The nice thing about Mcleod is they use an adapter ring so the clutch can be mounted to any factory or aftermarket flywheel.

['Cuda Hunter]

So, today you got dyno results?     

[73restomod]

Here's a link to my 440's dyno day, for any who are interested.

http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=98093.0

[73restomod]

Okay, here's some more updates.

First came the initial clearance on the drivers side, which I don't have a photo of. It was relatively minor, and the factory oil pump fit....
However, there are enough differences between the melling Hi-Vol and the factory pump to cause more clearance problems. Now remember that I dropped the motor an inch and set it back 1.25 inches. The real issues stem from differences in the cap of the melling pump on its back side. So first came the initial round of chopping.



Then came the first round of gussets to lock everything together before the really drastic clearancing began. Started by finding areas that could be tied together without causing clearance issues first.







Here I tied the bottom side of the brackets together, I also re-welded all the factory welds while I was at it, they were so terrible its a miracle that anything held together. Seriously, way to much heat, tons of porosity, it looked like they were using a torch for gods sake.




The next step was to fully seem weld the K member, clearance it some more, and then add the last 3 gussets.



The passenger side mount however has no real issues, but I wanted it to be more sturdy.




Here is a full view of the K member.

[73restomod]

The small cup depression is where oil filter relocation kit just touched the K. Now I can yank the K and metal finish the welds, paint it up nice, and install all my suspension goodies. Look for those photos soon. If you are going to weld the seams on yours you must weld it in the car! The frame itself acts as a Jig which keeps the K from warping. Otherwise send it to someone like firm feel, they have dedicated jigs in-house.

Edit: Have also decided to add stiffening plates to the LCA, Strut Bar, and Steering Gearbox mounting areas. First thou, I will be dropping off the K-member for a thorough Hot tank this morning. Desert sand, oil, and time make for concrete like crap stuck throughout the K-member where it couldn't be directly blasted with a pressure washer.....

I will then reinstall the K member, lining it up will be easy because before I removed it I drill two 1/8 inch alignment holes, and lock it down before more strengthening work is done. I will then uses Eastwoods handy products to coat it inside and out.

Going to Carlisle tomorrow morning, looking forward to seeing you all there.

[SRVHEMI]

Hey All who have been keeping up with this read,
  Im new to this site. I just spent like 3 hours going through this entire thread. The guy doing all this is one of my best friends from high school. We grew up together (we were the only MOPAR guys in our circle of friends) He has been a phenomenal mechanic and fabricator for damn near as long as I have known him. I am like super impressed with the work pictured. I now live about 1900 miles away from him. But i wanted everyone to know that on top of what he has been doing and posting here, he is also doing some of the best port and polish work I've ever seen done on my Indy X heads that are going on a very expensive and time consuming 390 stroker. I live in Texas and there's a **** ton of places I could have had the work done, but this guy here, he's the f***ing man. I wouldnt want anyone else in the world to do it. I wanted to 1st and foremost let him know he is doing an amazing job on his car and 2nd let everyone else know that actually making time for other stuff at the same time. I'm so happy to see him making his childhood dream come true. It means a lot to me to see it coming true as we spent countless nights talking about things like this. Great to see you living it out brother. And get them heads back to Texas so I can work on my dream....lol. Keep up the kick ass work, brother.

[73restomod]

Thanks for the compliments SRZHEMI, those heads are in the home stretch, and will be in your hands soon. Now on with the install work.

Here are some more pics of the K-member.
This is of one of the final gussets, it will fully box the DS motor mount/ PS box mount.



Here is a pic of the typical terri-bad welds found on my K-member, and why anyone even getting remotely serious power should take some time to evaluate their own. Some of the welds on the motor mount, DS and PS, were so hot that there was less than a 1/32 of metal left holding it together, due to under-cutting, porosity, and corrosion.


Here is a large gap between the steering box mount and the K-member, it will also be getting fully welded.


I will have this work done this weekend, and get those pics up Monday or Tuesday depending on work.

[73restomod]

Here's a pic of the Gusset welded in. More pics to come soon I ran out of Argon.

[Topcat]

When I did my K frame, I could see the shortcuts you're mentioning.

Can you imagine being on the assembly line back then, expected to churn out 10 or more K members per hour and all pass inspection?

[73restomod]

I could imagine turning up the heat and wire speed some to make a hot pass and be able to go faster, but to have them be this bad is.....

Well I'll put it this way, if a welder were to make these kinds of errors in industry, your ATSM certs would get pulled, no job and don't weld again till you recertify. I do a lot of pipe fitting, and when the welder gets his root and cap done they have to mark the joint with their last name and last four; if the weld fails because of welder error it comes back to him. Rant over, lol.

[73restomod]

Here is a photo of the finished K member installed.



Here is another with the motor dropped back in. It's resting on the engine bar until I get the tranny tore down and inspected. I will show how to install the dual disc clutch, check the bell-housing on the motor for input shaft center (on newer style trans this is far more critical and the tolerance is lower than the ol 833), and finally reinstall the trans.

[73restomod]

As far as the hoses for the oil filter I will replace them with 1/2NPT to -10 AN lines and fittings shortly, the rubbers are just place holders. Inside the Oil Filter adapter ends I ported the housing and radiused the edges, for anyone who is buying one I recommend doing the same the sharp 90's in them is asking a lot of the fluid.