The Willomet Charger

[Greg Ducato]

Torsion bars are used in many race chassis applications from Karts and Sprint cars all the way to Formula 1. They are light, easy to package and easy to tune. Chrysler torsion bars can also be heated in a forge and hammered into formidable weapons, or pounded into the ground to be used as incredible tent stakes, try that with a coil spring.

 

[1-ton]

Torsion bars are used in many race chassis applications from Karts and Sprint cars all the way to Formula 1. They are light, easy to package and easy to tune. Chrysler torsion bars can also be heated in a forge and hammered into formidable weapons, or pounded into the ground to be used as incredible tent stakes, try that with a coil spring.

I forgot about there many uses...such as hammer punches, and battle axes.

 

[Greg Ducato]

Also holding up the front of my Suburban with a pair of those battle axes

 

[AgDieseler]

I sold the original tent stakes.

The rough design for the inner rockers is complete and currently in production - basically an L that's 4.875 x 1. There's a local shop that shears plate for cheap, and they have a brake that can bend .120 with a sharp radius. Hopefully it will be done Friday, and I can start fitting this weekend when I'm done working on other projects.

David

 

[Greg Ducato]

Nice!

 

[1-ton]

Torsion bars are used in many race chassis applications from Karts and Sprint cars all the way to Formula 1. They are light, easy to package and easy to tune. Chrysler torsion bars can also be heated in a forge and hammered into formidable weapons, or pounded into the ground to be used as incredible tent stakes, try that with a coil spring.

I thought most open wheel type cars would use coil-over shocks on all four corners. I know old Dragsters and Funny cars used them back in the 60's and 70's. They would use one long one horizontally across the front of the chassis.

I sold the original tent stakes.

The rough design for the inner rockers is complete and currently in production - basically an L that's 4.875 x 1. There's a local shop that shears plate for cheap, and they have a brake that can bend .120 with a sharp radius. Hopefully it will be done Friday, and I can start fitting this weekend when I'm done working on other projects.

David

Are you going to be manufacturing body panels for Chrysler vehicles such as the Charger, Road Runner, and GTX?

 

[AgDieseler]

Are you going to be manufacturing body panels for Chrysler vehicles such as the Charger, Road Runner, and GTX?

AMD makes all the panels I’ll need.

I could definitely make these rocker inserts again for someone if they were looking to convert to fully boxed rockers, but I think few folks would want to do that.

David

 

[AgDieseler]

Here’s a clearer view of where I’m going.

The 1x4.875x.125 inner rockers fit pretty much as planned. There are 3 profile changes, so I cut vertically at the door jam and at the A pillar, and will start piecing those back together and smoothing the transition.

The rest of the bottom “lip” is all that remains of the factory inner rocker, and will be trimmed. The void is where the 4x3 tubing will slot in.


Another view from my “work station” in the car.


I’ll build one side, and mirror for the other.

David

 

[Greg Ducato]

Strong and stealthy

 

[AgDieseler]

It was a Good Friday.

With just a bit more 1970 steel removed, the inner rocker is ready for some fine tuning before getting templated for the other side, and ultimately burned in.




Namely, there are some internal gussets to be added, along with a dimple or three.






I almost ran out of clecos. Almost.

David

 

[ashman]

It was a Good Friday.

David

Lol

 

[sreidmx]

Epic.. as always..

 

[Greg72]

Lol

Oh Jesus.




-G

 

[AgDieseler]

Further along on the inner rockers.

Mirroring for the passenger side, there’s no way I could do this without the fixture table. This is the 1/8” offset for the rear 18”.


Lots of practice for the new TIG. You can see where I figured out I had too much torch angle.


Mirrored and marked for holes. The driver side has dimples in line with unibody pillars and other structural members.




@Deuling cut me some gussets for the internal reinforcements. 3/4”x3”


Noticeable rigidity difference between the dimpled and gusseted version - good validation that small reinforcements can have a large impact.


That’s it for tonight. Mock-up tomorrow.

David

 

[Bent77]

@Deuling is a whore. His tool touches everything

 

[Bent77]

Oh nice work

 

[76zimmer]

Adam is pretty much a whore right now....wait to see where he's at in another year!!!

 

[AgDieseler]

Mockup successful. Everything fits.





I took them to a buddy’s shop and ran them through his iron worker. Better to punch 102 7/16” holes than drill them.


One errant hole to fix, and lots of hood time ahead.

David

 

[NorCal69]

Nice job, David. They came out pretty sweet looking. Are all those new holes for new spot weld locations?

 

[AgDieseler]

Nice job, David. They came out pretty sweet looking. Are all those new holes for new spot weld locations?

Thanks!

Yes, the original rocker was spot welded every 1” to 2” depending on how drunk the operator was at the time of assembly, and at which end that operator started. There was some variation.

I standardized at 1.5” between welds. I’ll mig them sober.

David