Author Topic: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!  (Read 29210 times)

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #60 on: November 17, 2013 - 07:24:15 AM »
As far as I'm aware this is an exhaustive list of what I need to do for registration:
1.     Break adjuster cover DONE
2.     Paint welds DONE
3.     Remove breather line DONE
4.     Plug redundant fuel tank breather lines
5.     Attach breather to filler neck DONE
6.     Sound deaden underneath floor pan DONE
7.     Contact MSD, distributor rust DONE
8.     Tighten sway bars DONE
9.     Mount battery DONE
10.   Re-connect all finalised wiring DONE
11.   Finish headlight install DONE
12.   Install fan controller DONE
13.   Rear lights DONE
14.   Finish dash wiring DONE
15.   Dome light DONE
16.   Lower engine DONE
17.   Treat dash rust DONE
18.   Freeze plugs DONE
19.   Modify tunnel, if required DONE
20.   Install AC DONE
21.   Finalise drive line angles DONE
22.   Dyna-mat
23.   Re-install dash DONE
24.   Install interior
25.   Transmission shifting issues
26.   Install distributor, coil, so on DONE
27.   Hydraulic clutch system DONE
28.   Replace section break lines DONE
29.   Fuel sender, pump, lines, so on DONE
30.   Fix any surprises
31.   Engineers Report
 
REGISTRATION

Some jobs will take 5 minuets, some could take a few days, depending on availability of parts and so on. I plan for registration before Uni goes back in February!

In April a bunch of mates are planning a road trip to Sydney drag way. That way I have two months to work on tuning and break in the transmission. Before then I plan to swap my rear diff gears from 3.23 to 4.10!
« Last Edit: April 21, 2015 - 07:37:01 PM by Tonker1 »




Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #61 on: December 20, 2013 - 03:50:46 AM »
Things are being crossed off on the list, progress is being made. Even better, things are bring crossed off faster then they are being added.

Couple of days back I started Installing a complete vintage air install kit. When I first bought the system I only purchased a complete evaporator kit, turns out that wasn't everything. That was totally my fault, the rest of the kit arrived today.

Started out by pulling out the old system. Didn't take very long, especially compared to how long if took to the pull the heater unit out of my Brother's Camaro. The thing has to come out through the engine bay. So much excessive hard work!

Cleaned up the dash paint, installed some dyna mat xtreme and started test fitting. Once the parts are fully test fitted, they install nicely.

Slight annoyance on test fitting, straight out of the box, some of the hard lines do not line up properly. This is solved simply by quite a bit of test fitting and bending the pipes by hand. Then again, if I wanted things to install perfectly first time, car work wouldn't be a passion and I wouldn't have bought a 50 year old car!

The new defrosters are more sleek and fit perfectly with a bit of pushing. Although I suspect once the 2" flex hose is installed it will be a quite a bit messier.

Pluses of the new system:
- The under dash vent matches the shape of the dash perfectly, even the curvature as it bends into the door seem is a perfect fit. It is a really nice piece.
- The new system looks much better, especially when you don't have a glove box
- The sliders on the control panel are really smooth, not that this shouldn't be expected, just that they are satisfying to move
- It was plus a 100 degrees outside today, I had a fan out in the car while working to keep the temperature down. Man I'm looking forward to having functional AC in the car. It also gets down to 17 in the winter, so I'll appreciate some better heating.

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #62 on: January 01, 2014 - 08:17:29 AM »
The AC install was essentially completed last week, I'm just getting the photos up now. Waiting on some different refrigerant line fittings before it can be completed.

I went through and wrapped all of the exposed aluminium hard-line with painless performance wire braid. Although they don't lines don't completely disappear, it does make them more subtle

Pluses of the system continued:
- The is a control valve which prevents radiator fluid entering the heater core when heat is not on. Even when you are not using the heating on stock system radiator fluid would still be dissipating heat into the cabin.
- The new control panel is very easy to install and looks great. The writing lights up when the markers are turned on.
- All mechanical cables from the old control panel are disposed of and replaced by a wires which are braided together and have a single terminal on each end.
- It blows out a ton of air. The vintage air fan leaves the AC from my parents Mitsubishi Lancer and Subaru Forester for dead.

Depending on how well your wiring is organised a test wire can be assembled in 10 minuets.

The control valve is light weight an can be hung off the heater hose if the hose is properly secured. Personally I'm not okay with hanging electronics, so I mocked up a bracket, now mounted to the firewall on some steel.

The ducting does not take up as much space as I expected. Although I would recommend clearing some room around the AC outputs before trying to installing the ducting.
The instructions for the ducting recommends using hose clamps to hold the ducting to the male ouput/inputs. That is complete overkill. Some big zip ties will do the job nicely and they are much easier to work with while lying under the dash.

One the system is filled with refrigerant and the engine electricals are wired again running, I'll park the car outside in the sun on a 38C or 100F day for a few hours and test how long it takes the AC to get down to a comfortable temperature with the car sitting stationary. At the end of the day, no one likes being branded by their steering wheel!!

I'll get some more photos tomorrow.

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #63 on: January 14, 2014 - 10:46:01 PM »
Progress has been slow lately, we've had a whole bunch of 39C/100F days. Walk outside, "nope", back inside. That process has been the car work ritual for the last week.

More on the AC.
After a rough positioning of all of the ac vent flex hose, I've finalised the hose positions with zip ties. I had a few conflicting space issues with the pedals.

The condenser is now installed. For installation the radiator bolts have to be removed and the radiator needs to be slid back about an inch. With the condenser installed, the radiator is moved toward the back of the car about 1/8". The provided mounts line up with the oem bolt holes. Since I'm using different bolt holes I had to slightly modify the brackets, with a drill press and die grinder, it took no more than 20 minuets. Since I'm using a non-stock aluminium radiator, the black painted condenser is a nice addition to the front of the car, as it blacks out the space behind the grill, for a more stock appearance.

I did not want to have the AC compressor mounted front and center on top of the intake manifold. Personally I find it makes the engine bay look busy and messy. Because of this, I have relocated the Alternator to low drivers side and the compressor will be mounted low passenger side. The compressor mount is completed, but not yet installed, I will take some photographs when it is.


Now for some wiring.
A quick job which I have done inside which will make life easier in the car. I wired a 60amp relay off the accessory wire from the ignition switch and placed a junction block up under the dash. Just incase I decide to install any electrical accessories in the future.

From there I bought a $10 usb out put, cigarette lighter phone charger. Hard wiring any cigarette lighter electricals is reasonably simple. The central terminal always goes to +ve and the spring loaded side terminals always go to -ve. Pull the case apart, and solder red and black wires to the connections for the central and side terminals, respectively. Reassemble and mount for convenience. Later down the road I will install some cheap sound into the car and I'll use my phone for music storage.

All the components of the original boot light system are missing, so I also bought a cheap led light bar and installed that underneath the package shelf. It's another simple accessory to wire. One wire goes to original pink dome light wire, the second wire goes a single terminal press switch, any single terminal door jam switch will do. Installed two switches, one for the boot light, the other for the car alarm. When wired in this manor the boot light will operate separately from the dome light.

Offline brads70

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #64 on: January 15, 2014 - 06:59:06 AM »
Looking good!  Funny I've had the opposite problem working on my car -30C something....  :lol:
Brad
1970 Challenger 451stroker/4L60 auto OD
Barrie,Ontario,Canada
Proud to own one of the best cars ever made!!!!!

My restoration thread 
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=59072.0
 My handling upgrade post
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=73985.0

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #65 on: January 16, 2014 - 08:17:13 AM »
Looking good!  Funny I've had the opposite problem working on my car -30C something....  :lol:

January last year I was in Mammoth Lakes, Sierra Nevada. In 48 hours I went from 38C/110F in my home town to -27C/-16F in Mammoth. The sudden drop of 65C/117F was one heck of a culture shock! With each breath of cold air I could clearly feel the shape of my lungs. On the flip side, the beer never went warm :cheers:


Sem Coat Flat Landau Black http://www.summitracing.com/dom/parts/smm-15013/overview/ is nice product. Applies easily and comes out really nicely. Since the dash is mostly out I decided to give the vinyl some attention. After giving the a good clean and 6 light coats of spray, it has come out really nicely. The photo below is of two interior panels which started out in comparable quality, both had faded and had white crazing. Now one has been cleaned and painted, the other hasn't. Under the camera flash the sprayed panel does appear glossy, in person it is a nice satin.

« Last Edit: January 16, 2014 - 08:26:17 AM by Tonker1 »

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #66 on: April 09, 2014 - 10:55:48 PM »
Not much progress has been made in the last few month.

The rear end has had a gear swap, stepped up from 1972 cast 3.23s to strange 4.10s. Now I just need to put the rear end back together, finish the transmission install..... lots of other stuff and I can take her for a drive!!

Last night I got sick of looking at my white washer bottle in the engine bay, so I carved it up, reassembled it, sprayed it black and slotted it away out of sight.

I've also decided to relocate the battery to the boot and move all unnecessary engine bay electronics up under the dash behind the glove box.


Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #67 on: April 24, 2014 - 08:20:10 AM »
Cleaning up the engine bay, round 3!

Spaghetti going from engine bay up under the dash.

Second year engineering is taking up quite a lot of time at the moment. The mechanics course makes total sense, electronics and signal processing, not my favourite subject I'll be honest. Mechanics is logical, when things go wrong look for the chunks and the shards, electronics on the other hand is all about distributing electrical gremlins around a circuit! For the time being I'm working on smaller jobs which I can pick up put down and not loose track of where I'm up to.

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #68 on: January 04, 2015 - 07:13:57 AM »
Its been so long since an update that I just got a 120 day warning message! The reason for that is uni work got harder and I had to fit in life around somehow so I took car work back a notch. It still happened just a bit slower than usual!

The past few weeks have brought in big change. I've been outside everyday literally every spare second I have cranking away in the summer heat and finally for the first time in 11 months the engine runs! The mufflers are not attached as they contact the modified section of chassis which allowed the TKO 600 to fit, that issue will be rectified in a few weeks. I only filmed the good bit, the previous 20 minuets of burning accumulated spilt oil off the headers due to a filter gasket leak was left out.

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/q514/Tonker1/It%20lives_zpsf09606j5.mp4


Along with that the list of work to do before registration has halved!
1. Wire dash lights
2. Wire power to rallye oil pressure/water temp gauges
3. Wire horn
4. Wire alarm + door actuators
5. Fix right front inidicator + marker
6. Exhaust contact
7. Shifting issues
8. Fill AC system + attach AC V-belt
9. Attach hood
10. Install interior
11. Countless, nameless small jobs
12. Fix any surprise
Go for registration

The shifting issues I suspect will come down to realigning the shifter forks inside the TKO 600. As a whole everything on the list is very manageable, it'll just take some time to get it all done. That noted I plan to have it pretty much finished by the end of February.

Offline brads70

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #69 on: January 04, 2015 - 08:42:42 AM »
I just figured you had it all done and were out wearing the wheels off it?  :stirpot:   Hurry up already!  :cooldancing:   :roflsmiley:

Looking great, won't be long now!
Brad
1970 Challenger 451stroker/4L60 auto OD
Barrie,Ontario,Canada
Proud to own one of the best cars ever made!!!!!

My restoration thread 
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=59072.0
 My handling upgrade post
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=73985.0

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #70 on: January 05, 2015 - 06:07:56 AM »
I just figured you had it all done and were out wearing the wheels off it?  :stirpot:   Hurry up already!  :cooldancing:   :roflsmiley:

Looking great, won't be long now!

Haha if only! There is only so fast I can work, but to be honest I'm living on a semi constant buzz. Every day where more parts go one than come off is a good one  :roflsmiley:

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #71 on: April 21, 2015 - 07:35:09 PM »
Wiring harness finished, its been 2 and half years, but it's finally done. Full painless performance wiring harness, painless performance fan controller, vintage air AC, battery relocation, car alarm, audio gear, relocate route all engine bay wire through wheel well, msd electronic ignition.

Hidden wires! A bit leafy due to the storms, but the wires are all gone!


Carb rebuilt and now waiting to be mounted and tuned! Link to my help thread, now fully of useful advice for any other first time carb re builders. http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=105687.0








Offline YellowThumper

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #72 on: April 21, 2015 - 11:15:37 PM »
Been silently watching this project develop for awhile now.
Congrats on the wiring. It is very low on my list of desires. Just another necessary evil.

Wow look at all that room you have without the battery and alternator in the way.
IMOP it needs something to fill them up. Twin turbos perhaps???

Thanks for the props on the other site about my setup.  :ylsuper:
I am 74chlngrTT5.9 over there. I do spend a fair amount over here as well and thought about bringing the build over here. Just haven't yet.

Mike.
Removing the warning labels one at a time.
Nature will take care of the rest.

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #73 on: April 22, 2015 - 04:39:01 AM »
Been silently watching this project develop for awhile now.
Congrats on the wiring. It is very low on my list of desires. Just another necessary evil.

Wow look at all that room you have without the battery and alternator in the way.
IMOP it needs something to fill them up. Twin turbos perhaps???

Thanks for the props on the other site about my setup.  :ylsuper:
I am 74chlngrTT5.9 over there. I do spend a fair amount over here as well and thought about bringing the build over here. Just haven't yet.

Mike.

Wiring is fundamentally the same as fighting a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired!  :2cents:

I fundamentally like the idea of twins, it's an efficient and effective method of adding power and I'll be able to do all of the install work myself, granted I need more experience with the tig. Unlike an engine build where I would have to pay someone to re-bore the block and align hone the heads and so on. In all fairness though I'm currently reading 'how to rebuild the small block mopar' by William Burt, a fantastic workbench book and I see a scat 416ci stroker kit in my future!

My major concern, is there a fewer and fewer things that 'need' doing on the Challenger as it nears registration and I really love working on it, but I also recognize that I love driving it. For me personally, I need something physical to work on and it's been like that since I was big enough to grasp matchbox cars. So the dilemma is, to find projects that are time consuming, challenging and can be done without taking the car off the road. This is why I like the look of your no sheet metal to be cut turbo build! One of these projects will be building a new set of headers as my current ones are shocking and I'm sure there is more that I'll find to do as time passes, I also want to learn how to port heads.

If I were to go down the turbo path I would definitely need different headers anyway, we will have see what the bank account has to say over the next few years!!

Offline Tonker1

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Re: 73 Challenger, part time project, full time lifestyle!
« Reply #74 on: August 18, 2015 - 02:42:00 AM »
Took the Challenger down for the first engineers inspection and there are only a few things that need fixing up for registration!!

1. Replace fasteners securing rear beaver panel
2. Replace front upper shock bushes. I need to some help tracking these down (http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=107967.msg1061076#msg1061076)
3. Stop carpet interference on headlight dimmer switch
4. Window tint is too dark
5. Lap sash seatbelts in rear (due non-stock condition of car and new regulations in Canberra)

Once all that is sorted registration and happiness!!!

In addition to materials and mechanical engineering at uni, I've enrolled in a TIG welding course for and will be getting a trade certification!