See more at the movies
Did I mention I race rally cars? Red Rocket Rally

Charger - Flash - Rally

Saturday, September 25, 2004
Drag Races
by brian @ 01:12:46 - [perma-link]

I took the Charger out to PIR tonight, and made 3 trips down the strip.
The first was a 16.815 @ 84.13mph, then 17.126 @ 83.35 (ouch), then my
best at 16.773 @ 84.75mph.

Josh took videos. All 3 runs are in there. The second one was quite a mismatch :).

I made the second pass with the alternator field wire connected, and the
others with it off, so the alternator didn't put a load on the motor.
That seemed to be worth about .3 seconds.

 
Tuesday, September 7, 2004
Charger Update
by brian @ 23:46:12 - [perma-link]

I took the Charger down to Josh's shop today and he balanced the
wheels. It drives like a real car now, instead of a drunk driving
simulator. But balanced wheels aren't that interesting to look at, so
its more engine and suspension pics. Everything I worked on is
conveniently highlighted in red. :)

I fixed the (perhaps) last oil leak, a loose bolt on the valve cover,
and cleaned up some more wiring in the engine bay. Now I "need" a
braided stainless fuel line.


 
Monday, September 6, 2004
PIR Historic Racing
by brian @ 21:03:39 - [perma-link]

Josh, Connie and I went to Portland International Raceway to
dangerously drive my Charger as fast and as haphazardly as possible.
Just kidding, Mom!

We went to watch the historic car races. Connie drove her Mini, but
the show was small today, and there weren't many other Brittish cars,
so she bailed. Josh and I hung around for the races. It was really
cool seeing the cars in each class from different years competing
against each other.


 
Saturday, September 4, 2004
On the road again
by brian @ 22:38:25 - [perma-link]

I took the Charger into Josh's shop this morning to get the front end
aligned. It took a lot longer than either of us expected, but after
lunch it started going better. Now it drives pretty straight, and
turns really well, and even manages a good, smokey burn-out in the rain
(sorry, no pictures).

The alignment machine had a funny Mini sticker on the keyboard tray.
And it looks like someone didn't wipe their hands after the peanut
butter & jelly sandwich before touching the car. Or maybe I put too
much grease in the ball-joint seals.

 
Friday, August 6, 2004
Charger update
by brian @ 21:28:54 - [perma-link]

I hosed down the K-member and cleaned up the rest of the front end to
prepare for reinstallation. Josh showed up and we painted everything
black (its amazing how much nicer the car looks after just a little
cleaning and paint). And the floor looks nice again after mopping.

I tried test fitting the lower control arm, but the shaft seemed to be
a bigger diameter than the hole in the bushings... So that's where the
inner shell of the one old bearing that was totally shot. The rubber
had deteriorated so badly that it just fell out, leaving the inner
shell securely fixed to the shaft, and the outer shell securly lodged
in the control arm. The other day Josh "finessed" the outer shells out
of the control arms with an air chisel. Tonight I removed the inner
shells with a torch, vise grips, a hammer, and a few wrenches.

Tomorrow Connie's parents come to visit, so the project is on hold for
a few days.


 
Thursday, August 5, 2004
Front suspension ready to go back in...
by brian @ 22:28:18 - [perma-link]

Tonight I started putting the front end of my Charger back together.
The passenger side parts are displayed with the Puma Upper Control Arm
Support, in a rough exploded view of how they fit in the car. Oscar
gave them a final OK.

These all go up in the wheel well, so I cleaned it up a little before
putting the upper bumper and control arm into place...with a rubber
hammer, but it wasn't too bad. I checked out where the rest of the
stuff mounts, and I have some more cleaning to do tomorrow before I
continue reinstalling. I only did a light cleaning, since it started
getting down to bare metal. Eventually I'll have the body blasted or
dipped to remove everything, so I'd rather leave the inside a little
dirty than expose bare metal to rust. What rust I did find, i wire
brushed and sprayed with white primer.

I also might have found a source for brake pads (I have the "rare"
Bendix 4-piston disc brakes up front. They truly are rare, as are
replacement parts), so I'll hopefully buy a couple of sets and be set
for life.


 
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Charger stereo install
by brian @ 18:29:28 - [perma-link]

I built a bracket install the radio in the charger. its not perfect, but
it'll do for now.

Working with metal is pretty fun. I cut a piece of sheet metal, drilled
holes at the inside corners, cut out a section with a jigsaw, then
folded back the inner edges to give the radio tray something to grab.
And by "folded" I mean clamped it in a vise and pounded the tabs with a
hammer until the layed over flat.

After a little grinding, it fits pretty well, and will probably hold the
radio.

 
Sunday, June 6, 2004
Charger: New transmission wiring
by brian @ 20:18:36 - [perma-link]

This weekend I'm replacing the Neutral Start and Backup Lamp Switch
wiring in the 69 Charger. It seems 35 years of wear and tear left some
exposed bare wire to ground itself on the exhaust.

I pulled the stock wire, measured it, and cut of the connectors with as
much of the old wire that was undamaged. The last two photos show some
of the really bad spots.

I soldered 3 new wires to those ends to make up the length and wrapped
it all up in electrical tape (long and tedious). Now I'm going back
under the hood and under the car to install it.

I also need to check the fuel sender wire, as that gauge seems to have
mysteriously gone dead, too. If it's a single wire I'll try to just tape
up the exposed parts and route it better, since there won't be any
danger of crossing connections.

 
Wednesday, June 2, 2004
Charger update
by brian @ 17:47:26 - [perma-link]

Josh and I installed the new transmission mount in the Charger on
Monday. Turns out the motor mounts are shot, too, so the engine just
kind of flops over to the right when you step on it. So I need to
replace those, too. Its still fun to drive, but it will be way more
fun when all the torque gets applied to the wheels instead of lifting
the motor.

The last picture is my t-maxx. I fixed the broken front end today.
Now its all set to go run into something else at high speed.

 
Friday, May 14, 2004
Taking a break
by brian @ 13:25:36 - [perma-link]

I'm in the garage polishing the charger (that car is HUGE). Daisy is in
the backyard.

previous

 
copyright © 2002-2024, brokenvaporware.com

XML

.