Day 38 - Inner Wheelhouse 1

Today we removed the rear differential and leaf springs. Now we could take a look to see what needed to be done on the inner wheelhouse. The Chargers rear wheelhouse (or inner fender) is split right down the middle lengthwise creating and inner wheelhouse and an outer wheelhouse. Due to the water getting into the trunk, the rust climbed up the inner wheelhouse about 2 inches or so. I could get 2 new inner wheelhouses, but considering that 80% of the wheel house is still good, it makes sense to save the $250 and patch the hole with sheet metal. I am going to be replacing the outer wheelhouse on both sides as they are not only rusted through on the bottom but also along the outer edge that contours the Quarter Panel.

Travis was left to create 3 pieces to patch into the area between what was left of the inner wheelhouse and the new trunk pan. Travis first created a pattern out cardboard that would fit, and then transferred it to sheet metal. Once cut out of the sheet metal, he then cleaned up the edges on the grinding wheel, used the pneumatic hole puncher to create holes for plug welds and finally flanged the inner wheelhouse so the patch panel would fit flush against it. Travis will need to repeat this process 2 more times on this side to finish the patch work.

Day 37 – Trunk 3

Today Travis continued working on the trunk welding the 2 pans together and to the trunk brace. I finished work on the front suspension of the charger. I was able to install the updated and powder coated upper and lower control arms. All new bushings and reinstall the steering box.

Day 36 - Trunk 2

This weekend we worked on the trunk, By “We” I mean Travis. Travis got the panels fit and drilled them and also clekoed them in place. Clekos are those pins stinking out of the metal. They allow us to place a piece in place temporarily and remove with ease.

From 2010-07-31 (by Eye-Fi)

From 2010-07-31 (by Eye-Fi)

Day 35 Trunk 1

Travis stripped out a lot of the trunk and cleaned up a lot of the rusted areas. Although half of the trunk extsion panel just sort of fell out.

Day 34 - Even Still More Floors

Travis and I got the rest of the floor in, basically the 2 rear sections of the floor pans. With these installed the floor is complete. We still have to weld a few pieces from the other side and clean up the welds but its a big milestone. Now we are on to the trunk.

Day 33 - More Floors

Today, Travis and I got the Driver side floor in. This time around it was a little bit more difficult the new floor pan required some…” persuasion” to fit properly. After some negotiating with a hammer, we got the panel settled in and began to hammer and dolly the panel to fit. Travis began welding and we were off. We did hit a snag where the pan wasn’t making contact with floor brace. So we had to grind and re-drill the pan, hammer it down then re-weld.

Day 32 - Passenger Floor Installation

This weekend we busted out the welder and started putting the floor back in. We were using “0.23” welding wire which was pretty forgiving on the sheet metal but proved to be a bit more difficult welding the sheet metal to the frame. I also found I should have used many more plug welds to secure the floor to the floor supports. We will probably have to drill a few more just to secure the floor a little bit more. Travis cut out the driver side after we had the passenger side welded in. We just need to reset the Driver side panel tape line and then perform a few final cuts and it should be ready to weld.

Passenger Floor Removal pt 2

Today, Travis and I finished cutting out the floor. We then grinded down all the welds and re fit the panel.

We then re-drew the line in masking tape for our final cut. We left about 1/2 inch of the original panel on the inside so we could flange it and have a small over lap. While the floor was in place, I went under the car with a can of spray paint and sprayed the edges of the support brackets. This gave us an exact placement of the supports so I could pre drill the panel for plug welds.

We sanded down all the edges and spots that would be welded to ensure proper contact and fusion.

We flanged the panel on the inside and placed the floor pan for a final fit. Lastly, we riveted the panel in place. We should be able to begin welding next weekend.

Day 31 - Time to Rip, Grind and Burn!

The front end still has a lot of work to deal with, so while I try to get more tools in working order, Travis stopped by and started the cutting. We first placed the new floor on top of the old one. A couple of brackets were in the way so Travis had to grind down the welds on each bracket and remove them. Now with a closer to true fit for the floor, we masked off a line where the New Floor pan will sit (beige). We then masked off another 2 inches below that for our cut line (blue). Once set Travis used the cut-off wheel to remove the center section of our old floor pan.

Here is the section cut out. Quick note, The air hammer was great at seperating the panels. Here you can see the section of floor pan we are seperating from the support:

Day 30 (Front End 2)

I cleaned up the front end crossmember and engine bay. I then applied the POR-15. It looks pretty good now, but I will have to touch up some parts of it tomorrow.

Day 29 (Front End 1)

Today I took apart the front end. I had to remove the upper arm first, then the four bolts that hold the front end on. Once I lowered the front end the stress was removed from the torsion bar. The front end just slid off.

Day 28 (More Primer)

Today, Travis gave me a hand priming the car. I already noticed some rust on the car starting to accumulate on the charger. So we started by vacuuming the car out. The car was media blasted with wall nut shells so the stuff was everywhere. I would normally just blow it out with the air hose but I think that would have just spread it everywhere. Next time I am going to blow it off outside then vacuum it. I masked off the front half while Travis vacuumed. Since the front have is mostly going to be treated with POR-15, I didn't see the point in premiering it.






Once done, we wiped the whole car down with Lacquer Thinner, and started to apply the primer. We used the same Primer as before, just a lot more of it. We went through about a half gallon of the Primer. Anyway, here are the Pics...