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The Willomet Charger

A desecration to Mopar nuts everywhere, this is my protouring, LS-powered, 1970 Dodge Charger; built at my shop, Willomet Motor & Fabrication.
Overview Gallery Discussion
If I did, it was accidental. I'll flip everything around again in the morning and check again. I've never assumed a need to verify 180* out, but you bring up a good point. The closest I come is repositioning the level somewhere else on the work.

It is a rabbit hole, indeed.

David
 
I'm pretty sure you're good to go using multiple levels and devices that all agree, but it only takes 20 seconds to double check.
 
AgDieseler said:
How flexible is your Corvette? Curious what you found through your build.
David
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It is only somewhat rigid around the inner steel structure that the body is bonded to. Once you get it off the chassis, things can move around quite a bit, mostly on the front end.
I replaced all four fenders as someone had flared them early in its life. The front end is very susceptible to sagging if not supported, and the best way to do that is to leave the core support in place. Corvettes are bonded together by many panels attached to bonding strips that are glued to the main body structure that is bonded to the inner birdcage. This pic shows where the bonding strips are for the panels that I replaced. In some areas the factory bonding adhesive was 3/4" thick and didn't even touch the outer panel...the rear quarters/roof were handled by 3 men and walked into position and pressed into place on the car.
Ill post up a video of the midyear engineering assembly in my Vette build thread if anyones interested in seeing how they were crudely made back in the early 60's.
 
AgDieseler said:
Lots of examples of incorrectly cut patches and quarters out there. Best tip I got from your page - dykem and scribe, cut 1/32 outside the mark, and disc grind to fit. Sharpie burns off, but I can see the scribe mark the whole way through.

It's easy to take away material, and a bit tougher to put it back.

David
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My attempt at humor hit the ground with a dull thud.

I wasn't talking about the width of the Sharpie line, but was going for a joke that the number of atoms of ink sticking up off the metal could affect your build given the level of precision I see in this thread.

:)

-G
 
Greg72 said:
My attempt at humor hit the ground with a dull thud.

I wasn't talking about the width of the Sharpie line, but was going for a joke that the number of atoms of ink sticking up off the metal could affect your build given the level of precision I see in this thread.
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But seriously, I've ordered a new set of straight edges that will measure panel gap in Higgs bosons.

David
 
The car is off the body cart, and locked to the table. As the build progresses, these mounts will change and move, but this is what I need to get started.
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Didn't get a good shot of the front, so that will be in the next round of photos. Busy weekend balancing family and Mother's Day.

At @tRustyK5's suggestion, I verified level 180* out on each instrument, and everything read as expected (and as hoped).

David
 
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I didn't get much more than an hour in the shop, so I could only remove the damaged part of the inner rail and prep for tomorrow. I thought I got all the mouse stuffing and blast media out, but I guess not.
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On that rocker, I still have two dents to hammer out, one hole to patch on the outer rocker, straighten the pinch weld, and blast it all with rust sealer. Then I can patch the inner rocker.
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Had to start somewhere, and this has been bugging me for a while.

David
 
Solid and uninterrupted time. That's what I needed to start repair on the driver rocker.

The rocker had a pretty deep gouge that the PO attempted to repair, and it also looked like the car was lifted by a forklift since the pinch weld was folded over completely.
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Hammer extension.
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Drilled peak of dent and the first few hits.
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Few more.
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Pretty much just the PO's rorschach grinding marks.
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Punch step up to build the internal rocker reinforcement.
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Hole filled and smoothed out.
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Side effect of quarter removal.
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The radius is a near perfect match for the heel dolly.
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Feels good to finally be putting steel back in the car.

David
 
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Looks like someone stuck some old bubblegum under it...

Let me know how you like those clamps. Got a few haven't had the chance to use them yet.
 
JoshHefnerX said:
Looks like someone stuck some old bubblegum under it...

Let me know how you like those clamps. Got a few haven't had the chance to use them yet.
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Took me a minute to figure out where you were looking for the bubblegum. Those are ground down spot welds that are reflecting the red vinyl of the creeper I'm sitting on.

Those clamps are the third hand you sometimes need. I used them extensively on the Suburban core support as it was modified to make room for the intercooler. They setup a very good panel alignment, and sets a nice gap for a one sided mig weld.
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There's a fresh spool of .030 wire in the machine, and I plan to burn some of that today.

David
 
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