Man, where has the summer gone? Great plans for making major progress on the car got shelved by lots of other "life" that was more important.
Despite the other priorities, I'm continuing to do what I've nicknamed the "Viagara Treatment" to my car: installing almost every available stiffening product for the chassis and steering. Past posts have shown the inner fender braces (US Car Tool) and K-member plate addition (Firm Feel). Most of the time lately has been focused on adding the subframe connectors and torque boxes (both from USC). I also have a core support stiffener (USC), a sector support bearing (FF), and a Stage 3 upgraded steering box (FF) in boxes to add later.
What follows below is mostly me laughing at myself, but maybe there's a nugget or two for someone just getting started.
The inner fender braces were added by the guy that painted the car. I did a little bit of work on the K-member, but the first serious amount of welding I took on was installing the subframe connectors. Learning to weld laying on my back turned out be a bit of adventure. I ended up going through a couple of rounds of poor welds and then grinding them off, and then rewelding. The biggest issue was getting a good puddle. Early on, I mostly made turd piles with no penetration, which only got worse when I tried to add more material along the edges. Note to self: there's no way to improve a bad weld by making it bigger. I was also fighting a problem with an erratic welder wire feed rate that turned out to be a broken liner. The welding got better with practice and a replacement liner. The main "don't do what I did" advice I'd offer has to do with using a fluted carbide bit on a die grinder to remove the crappy welds. While a grinding wheel generates the equivalent of metal sawdust, the carbide bits generate really small slivers. I was working in short sleeves and made the mistake of putting my elbows down into the material I'd shaved off with the carbide bit (did I mention I made a lot of bad welds?). My wife ended up using tweezers and a magnifying glass to pull the slivers out of my elbows. There were over 70 in one elbow and about 30 in the other - no serious health issues involved, but it did give her additional reason to question my sanity. The carbide bits do a nice job on the welds - just be careful with the slivers.
The other mistake involved the heater control cable. I left it laying across the interior floor while welding on the underside. Before closing up a burn-through hole, I saw something flickering in the interior. It turns out the exterior cover of the heater cable had started to burn like a slow moving fuse. If you're reading this and planning to add subframe connectors, remove EVERYTHING from the interior before you start. Fortunately, I was able to get a replacement cable from Roseville.
I'll post some more pictures eventually. I'm trying to finish the application of Rust Bullet on the underside and paint the engine compartment (it wasn't painted when the exterior was done) before it starts to get cold, which will leave mechanical work for the winter. My wife has informed me that I'm buying her a remote car starter if all my Challenger pieces block her out of the garage during the winter again. I've gone from smirking "no way I'm going to have to do that" to "I wonder where I can get a good deal on a remote?". The race is on.
