74 Challenger. No sheetmetal to be harmed and adding twins

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Small wiring updates.
Made the connector plug extensions and after many iterations have a bracket plate that houses the positive "buss" bar and relays.
In it I also made an insulator block that allows me to utilize an inline fuse for the alternator charge wire (white piece up top in middle).

It mounts up front to the radiator relocation spacer bracket.

Delivery man brought me a present. It is only the condenser for now as I continue my mock up. But it is a start.

.

Finished the mounting bracket setup for the radiator and AC condenser and fans.
Primarily because the fans have wiring I will have to address.

Start of condenser mounting tabs

Lower brackets are just slots that will cradle the lip.

Top brackets bolt directly to the top lip.

Mounted assembly

Top view with condenser sandwiched between intercoolers and radiator. This is the first time I have had all items bolted in at the same time.
It is tight and requires a definite sequence for installation.

Back to more wiring now.
Mike.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

I had the intercoolers finish welded by a local shop to keep this moving forward.
His welding sealed well. Mine was questionable.

When testing the intercoolers, there were multiple pinhole leaks to address. Most of the leaks were on the upper tanks where I had ground the weld down. Visible surfaces when the hood is up. Ground some "fill" grooves at the seams and added some heat. Have tig welded for many years but am a novice with aluminum. Main issue was not giving the welder enough throttle. 99.9% of my tig experience is tooling steel P-20, H-13, 420ss etc...

Finished set

Some of my welding looks like works of art and then others not so good.

After tackling the leaks (some places several times) I am satisfied. Not perfect seals but close. Pumped them up to 20lbs and this is the drop after several minutes. I can live with this amount of loss.

Final assembly (for now) of the intercoolers, air condenser and radiator. Radiator fan wiring is also complete.

Next up is the switched relay connections and testing of the wiring.
Then moving on to the back half to complete the fuel pump setup.

Thanks for looking,
Mike.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Been plugging away at the wiring.
Started testing the added circuits and ended up having continuity when I should not...
Took awhile testing back and forth disconnect this, test that etc...
Could not figure it out then a light in my head lit. Yep, sure as $h!t the ignition switch is on. It has been on for 7-8 months.
No battery connected so no issue there. Odd thing is that I don't even recall why it would be on.
No pictures but all wiring is connected in the engine compartment. One batch still needs to be tied up better.
No shorts so I am happy.


Made a throttle return spring bracket

Mounted

Made a temporary block off plate for the air pump.

Second one not shown in this pic but both feed and return lines are now connected. And tight along with all the carb fittings.

At this time front is complete with the exception of a few zip ties.

Also managed to find the actual car.
Started with this

Now this:

Now on to the back end.
Finish the fuel line connections, finish pump mounting bracket, relays and wiring for pump.

Mike.

 

[03HDFB]

Really coming along well.....Love it!

 

[moparleo]

Looking good. I hope there is enough air flow through the combination condenser, intercoolers and radiator. Looks awesome though. Good job.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Really coming along well.....Love it!

Looking good. I hope there is enough air flow through the combination condenser, intercoolers and radiator. Looks awesome though. Good job.

Thank you...
And yes I do have a concern about airflow. If it is a problem I will first make fillers for the many gap areas. Then if still an issue I will fab ducting to direct more in.
Overall radiator size I am using is larger than factory unit.

 

[moparleo]

I would do the improvements anyway. You can't get too much air. Everything runs cooler which is the goal anyway.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Used some grommets to insulate the wires

Found out the cable had settled in and was rubbing on the rear sway bar. Added another strap to pull it up.

Made and wired up a relay plate for the ele fuel pump. Second one is only a spare for now.

Finally got the 8.5" widened Rallye wheels on. 28" tall tire sitting at ride height. 275/60/15

The rims that previously were on the rear are 15x7. they will now be going on the front. Anyone have suggestions/preferences on what size tire to use? I am torn between using a 225/60/15 or going up to a 235/60/15.

Fired up the fuel pump to test the circuit. Turns out when you "tighten" all the fittings you shouldn't forget some. Now that they really are all tight, the leaks appear to have been addressed. Have not run pump for very long though and will monitor for awhile.

Had to make a couple of custom wrenches to reach the hard to get places.

Went through the wiring over and over testing the added fuse block to ensure there are no shorts and etc...

Got fuel so it is time to fire this up.
Turns out not to have any spark. During the down time my original coil started to leak and loose its oil. So this was replaced. Also made a new coil to cap wire.
I robbed my 68 stang of its pieces to test. Nope still nothing.
Coil is getting power.
Timing?
When I changed to the Magnum TC cover I only casually checked to see if marks were in same places.
So checked for the compression stroke. Used a wire in the spark plug hole to measure the piston as it reaches TDC. No I did not crank with wire in the hole. Reset the distributor to what was TDC.

Try again and NOTHING.
Gave up and went online to research. As I was reading about others problems someone posted that they plugged in their distributor and a bright light went on in my head. After moving and rewiring almost everything under the hood I neglect to plug in the distributor...

Plugged it in and it fired right up!
It was late so I only ran it for a few seconds.

Next couple of days I will add some coolant, fire it up again and hope for more goodness.
Still old tired and stock but ready for more goodies after it is driven for awhile.

Mike

 

[moparleo]

I bet it feels real good right now. Keep up the good work.

 

[rbbruno3]

Nice work Mike , looking good

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Only update is a bit discouraging of one. Nothing major but this on just bothers me to no end.
I welded mounting tabs to my aluminum radiator and it ended up having 2 small leaks where I burned through the tank. I decided to take it to a recommended radiator shop to weld the repair.
They have pressure testing ability and I would have to make something up.
Shop welded on it and said he wasn't able to stop leaks and suggested using epoxy for the seal. Stated it would last forever and he would make it look good.

Well it doesn't look good and the mounts now look like huge gobbed on piles of s#!t. Nothing uniform, drip runs down the side. On top of the crappy look there is so much on them it no longer will mount to my brackets.
To use this radiator I either have to hack up my brackets to allow this abortion to fit, but that is not going to happen.
So I decided to grind it all off and start from scratch. Should have just touched up the weld myself.
Now that I am back to just the tanks again. I made some plugs up for the hose ends and pressurized it to test. I have 3 small pin holes. Next couple of days I will dig to clean them out and spot them with my tig.
New brackets will bolt to the mounting bracket and have C shaped pieces that I will fit around each tank. It will not clamp on to radiator. Just contain it with some rubber insulation.
Bottom 2 mounts will remain the same. Taking a positive from this frustration, I was concerned about having it mounted solid with the 4 mounts with flexing issues. This way it will be contained but not rigid.

It amazes me how clueless some people are to what is acceptable. They knew my story and I even showed them progress pictures of everything I have done to the car.

Waste of time and money.

Not even sure what angers me the most.
The crap work or me actually trying to talk myself into hacking up good pieces to make this work as is.

Mike.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Pics of above mentioned piles of gobbed on epoxy.

Decided to grind it all off and start from scratch.

.

Unfortunately, even after all the crap removal I could not get it to seal properly. The whole surface that I ended up welding (with tig) would seal but leaked at the edge of the parent metal. Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. used torch to preheat whole areas up but no luck.
Threw in the towel and ordered in a shiny new replacement radiator.

This one I am mounting with upper and lower foam padded brackets to cradle it instead of hard mounting. Probably better for an aluminum radiator anyway.
Lower mount. It sits in between the lower channel for location and will have a 3/8 thick foam pad on it for cushion.

Oops.

One of the items on my list is to "seal" off all the openings I created from relocating the radiator to make sure the air goes through it instead of around it.
So I decided to incorporate this into the upper mount. It will be a block off plate, locating bracket and will also mount the upper portion of the fan shroud. This will eliminate the current small brackets I made. Didn't really like how they looked anyway.
Bracket.

Open mounting

Cover bracket positioned. Still rough and you can see the foam. It will be pulled down when tightened.

Mike.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Started to make the passenger upper bracket to match the first drivers side. cut out and bent to match. But couldn't stand it any more. so...
Connected the hoses bolted on the one bracket. Crimped the fan wiring together and bolted on their controller and fired it up.
After it idled for awhile I did a thorough check of all the new fuel pump fittings to make sure there are no leaks. None found.
Dropped it on the ground and took it for it's first shakedown drive in 10 months. It ran well. Still an old and tired motor, but still felt good.
Solid mounts for the motor don't seem to be too bad with vibrations. The fuel pump sound minimal and vibration from it non existent.

Only immediate issue for now is to 1) complete 2nd top radiator bracket and 2) Address a fan controller issue. The controller is not working properly with the dual fans. When they come on they are only running at about half speed. I do have another of the same controllers that I was going to use on my Mustang. Unfortunately it also has dual fans and I will end up having the same issue. So... I will wire up the second one and run a single fan for each. Not really what I would prefer but better than throwing away $180 bucks.

Ahh the smell of oil burning off.

.

Mike.

 

[Bill]

Only update is a bit discouraging of one. Nothing major but this on just bothers me to no end.
I welded mounting tabs to my aluminum radiator and it ended up having 2 small leaks where I burned through the tank. I decided to take it to a recommended radiator shop to weld the repair.
They have pressure testing ability and I would have to make something up.
Shop welded on it and said he wasn't able to stop leaks and suggested using epoxy for the seal. Stated it would last forever and he would make it look good.

Well it doesn't look good and the mounts now look like huge gobbed on piles of s#!t. Nothing uniform, drip runs down the side. On top of the crappy look there is so much on them it no longer will mount to my brackets.
To use this radiator I either have to hack up my brackets to allow this abortion to fit, but that is not going to happen.
So I decided to grind it all off and start from scratch. Should have just touched up the weld myself.
Now that I am back to just the tanks again. I made some plugs up for the hose ends and pressurized it to test. I have 3 small pin holes. Next couple of days I will dig to clean them out and spot them with my tig.
New brackets will bolt to the mounting bracket and have C shaped pieces that I will fit around each tank. It will not clamp on to radiator. Just contain it with some rubber insulation.
Bottom 2 mounts will remain the same. Taking a positive from this frustration, I was concerned about having it mounted solid with the 4 mounts with flexing issues. This way it will be contained but not rigid.

It amazes me how clueless some people are to what is acceptable. They knew my story and I even showed them progress pictures of everything I have done to the car.

Waste of time and money.

Not even sure what angers me the most.
The crap work or me actually trying to talk myself into hacking up good pieces to make this work as is.

Mike.

How does that saying go. "If you want it done right.........."

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Still having issues with my fan controller. I talked to the manufacturer and tried his suggestions but they will not ramp up to speed properly. so...
Decided to kick the issue off to the side for now and will run them manually.
I will purchase a pair of new fans that will work properly with current controller and make my own shroud at a later date.
This of course leads to more "temporary" switches and wiring. Started to hack something together but my retentiveness kicked in again and I had to make things right.
Plan (very long term) is to have custom dash (one I have already made) that holds all the gauges including speedo and tach but for now as it progresses, it is going to be a center console.

Purchased a piece of ABS that has the textured face and went to town.
Template layout on the mill.

Cutout.

Mounted.

The 2 lower switches control each of the relays for the fans. One runs both fans on low while the other kicks them up to high. Also an accessory power plug in the lower row on center.
When remaining gauges and wiring is complete I will also add some sides to it.

Also:
Turns out the foam insulator I tried to use was too soft and ended up just crushing. So I machined up an insulator block out of some nylon stock. It functions properly and I also think it looks better.
Old

New

Nice sunny day with both cars outside for the first time in awhile.

First time with the 15" ralleys on all corners. 15x7 front and the widened 15x8.5 on back.

Now we are looking at several days of rain. So the test drive will have to wait until next weekend...
Fingers crossed that it is more than a few minutes of driving this time.

Mike.

 

[moparleo]

Almost!!!!

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Took it for a bit of a drive today. Drove around doing errands for awhile.
Wasn't very warm outside so it took awhile for car to get warm. Left the fans off altogether until it was warmer than should be. Watched temp climb while waiting at a long signal, flipped them on low and it came right down.

Still need to make the 2nd upper radiator bracket but that won't stop me from driving it for now.

Mike.

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Finished making up the second upper rad. Bracket. No pics. Still rough but functional. So with that out if the way I decided to be adventurous and took it to work last Friday. 70 miles round trip + some around town. Total of over 100 miles without issue. Felt good to be back in the seat again.

Mike

 

[74chlngrTT5.9]

Update:
Where at first you don't succeed try again and again...

First start on plenum design where the throttle body was going to face forward.

As much as I wanted a forward facing TB, the piping would have ended up with too many sharp turns over radiator, under hood bracing, over alt and AC pump. So it will now face sideways towards the drivers side.
2nd aborted design. Was trying to design it with more plenum volume but decided there would have been too much turbulence in it.

3rd design I am going with. Smooth back side curve. Used a pipe slice for the lower small radii.
The 4 hole adapter plate is for mock up only. I will be using the 1" plate. The thickness will allow me to machine from roughly the 4" x 6" shape of plenum base and transition to the manifold opening.

Also working on piping from intercoolers to TB.
Making merge pipes. At the end where the 2 pipes come together I am sizing them to match a 3" pipe diameter.

Here is a pic where I am using a thin piece of florist foam to determine the room I have to work with. It crushes easily and then retains its shape.
Really is helpful. One thing I have learned with all I am doing here is with these Challengers there is very little vertical room to work with.

.
Hood underside framework.

Also working on stripping down a factory Magnum harness for what I need.

Can any of you guys help me out here?
Is this the Tachometer wire plug in? If yes, does it connect to the negative coil terminal?
With my rewiring of things, this is the one item I cannot figure out.
Thanks,

Mike.

 

[ECPJT]

those coolers and that fab work is unreal!