I unwrapped the drivers door harness to lay it out to reach everything the way I have it now. I also cut out the front of the door and the door jamb to accept the rubber harness boot.
For months I thought I had the side view mirror issue well in hand. Since the 06 Charger mirrors were integrated with the window frame there did not seem to be a way that I could use them. I purchased two 2010 Challenger side view mirrors because the way they mounted to the door seemed more appropriate and the wiring would be the same for the remote operation. Well I mocked them up and they looked ridiculous. Way out of scale for the car. They looked more like auxiliary fuel tank pods for a jet fighter than side view mirrors. I had no plan "B". I took the one 06 Charger side mirror (the other was wrecked off the car) and started whittling it down with an air saw until i just had the basic mirror with the harness and actuators left. I mocked it up as close to the car as possible and as low on the door as practical and then built a mount that would transition from the mirror to the door.
A number of trips in and out of the car and I got the angle where I wanted and finished up the cradle. There are 2 10-32 bolts welded into the base to attach it to the door and I made stand off pads from some 1/8 inch EDPM glass setting blocks.
The door skin is just mocked up in place by the way so that I can settle some of these issues. It is not ready to go on yet. Here are some pictures of the the way the mirror sits in its cradle and how it looks on the door. It is a lot farther forward that the 68 mirror would be but a lot lower because of it's size.
While the door skin was in place I went ahead and fit the outer door handle in as per the mock up pattern that I had made earlier.I bought 1970 Dodge Challenger window wiskers because of the vent window delete. They were only an inch too long which is perfect.
They curve up on either end so I carefully relief cut the stainless on the back side being careful not to cut through the top bead or the front whisker. After a few cuts I was able to hand shape it back out straight. I then had to drill out new oval holes for the clips to fit into. After marking out the locations I drilled two 3/16th holes about 1/2 inch apart and used a die grinder to connect the dots. Lastly I welded the two tabs for the door handle to bolt to on the back side of the skin.
In between things I was working on the inner door panels. It has been about 30 years since I did any auto upholstery and back then a door panel was a flat piece of masonite with some vinyl stretched over it and maybe a few pull buttons for style. I am trying to reproduce the SRT style inner door panel with the 68 door proportions so this is more than unfamiliar territory. I built the door panel out of .021 steel and I filled in the tight transitions with dense styrofoam. After that I smeared some bondo on to smooth the transitions. The first attempt at covering the lower panel was a bust so I had to strip it of all the glue and start over. The transitions were just a little to deep for the vinyl so I am in the process of remodeling them.
I did manage to get the arm rest covered with only a few mishaps. Kind of looks like a ship model
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