Wednesday, August 21, 2013

This is what the Challenger headlights look like mocked up in the nose. I don't think they look too bad but the HID housing is definitely too bulky and I will be switching to OEM style halogen housings.



Monday, August 19, 2013

Sunday, August 18, 2013

So I finished closing in the new upper windshield bed to the roof.  I removed the rain gutters from the side of the roof and filled the gap between the glass seal track and the roof. The last picture here I hit the area with some rust primer to see how it all looked.




Once the body is cut away from the chassis I wanted to make sure that I get the maximum rake by getting the hood as low as possible relative to the engine manifold. Since I will have no references once the body is cut loose I made myself a center profile to determine this. The picture shows the profile with and without the hood in place.

To make the profile I cut pieces of .023 sheet metal and bent them into a 1" x 1" L shape. This makes them easy to shape with a shrinker/stretcher to quickly shape them to the profile . They are then just tack welded together.



Sunday, August 11, 2013

Well here's what I decided to do with the windshield bed. It's a minor custom tweak. Instead of mounting the windshield with the rubber gasket I decided I would like to mount it in a bed of polyeurothane. In order to do that and still use a stock glass I have had to modify the wind shield bed.
First I cut the cowl away from the part of the bed that holds the trim clips at the bottom and separated the layers, cleaned primed and re attached the two halves to re establish the base. I then spent a little time fixing pin holes and rusted areas.
Next I mocked up the old glass to see how far I would have to narrow the opening side to side. About 5/8th of an inch on each "A" post. I then made up some pieces that would create a new side bed for the windshield.





After I fit up the side pieces I cut away the rain gutter on the "A" post. I put the chrome track that holds the door seal back under the "A" post to look at what kind of transition I would need to finish it out and bent a piece of .035 steel in a "v" that was about 5/8th by 1/2". After installing it the "A" post had a smooth transition from the front to the trailing edge.






I went ahead and put some primer on the "A" post just to be able to visualize whether or not it would look to fat but removing the gutter seemed to help it retain it's proportions. 
In order to get the right shape for the lower and upper windshield bed I laid the glass upside down on the bench and taped a 1/8th" spacer to the back side top and bottom to simulate the poly bed material.
I then took a piece of .035 steel and broke it 90 degrees so that I would have a 1" x 1/4" piece that I could shape to the windshield base. 
I welded that piece 7/16ths of an inch from the base of the stock bed. This allows for the stock trim clips to be used.




Turning the windshield face up and taping the stainless trim piece to the top of the glass spacing it up 1/4" above the glass I shaped my upper bed to comply with the molding. I wanted to do a "z" flange but it was to hard to shape so I just went to a simple "L" 1" x 5/8th" and I will add the roof close out piece separately.
With the upper flange in I placed some 7/16th" blocks at the base and set my old windshield into place. I modified the chrome trim to fit the smaller hole and taped it into place.  I then used a dead blow hammer and a chisel to gently tap the top bed to snug it up to the chrome trim. I will add the roof closure piece latter. The last picture is of the glass in place in the modified bed with the trim taped in to place. I can now set the glass in a polyeurothane bed. Also the glass is now closer to flush with the outer body surface and the "A" posts have a smooth transition to the glass.