1970 Challenger Convertible, Slant 6 Build

[ian ashton]

Here is what I have been working on since the last update...

I got the hood to a "good enough for me" state, and have been working on casting them. It turns out making a 2 part mold is easy, but it took me a few tries to get the casting down to an acceptable point.

Master, First good pull from the mold, 9 other attempts, haha!

Hard to tell, but here is a close up of the hood. I think I tapered the peak off a little too soon, but again, its "close enough for me":

And the finished underside:

^^This is what I've been fighting with the most, as I was having trouble not catching a ton of air bubbles on the bottom side. My solution is to overpour, then use weight on the mold after the 2 parts are connected. Works decently well. I may add vents to the mold or a pour tube and vents, I just don't think it will work well because the resin kicks so fast. I'm happy with the current process, although I think I'll be ordering some Alumilite White, which has a longer open time.

I'm now casting the 8 3/4 rear end from the AMT '71 Charger, should have some pulls tonight or tomorrow of that

[ian ashton]

Wow, those pics make the casting look like poo! Please understand that these aren't completely trimmed or anything, I just pulled the excess off!

[crazyjim]

So 2 part molds aren't so bad? I'd like to mold the Pegasus disk brakes and I think they'd need the 2 part process. Your hood looks pretty good.

[ian ashton]

So 2 part molds aren't so bad? I'd like to mold the Pegasus disk brakes and I think they'd need the 2 part process. Your hood looks pretty good.

Yea, its not hard at all, much easier than I expected. The issue, like I said, is casting without getting air bubbles. If this was a smaller piece it would probably work a lot easier, or if I was using a slower kick resin and pour through a port and use a vent in the mold.

For smaller pieces like the rear axle I'm working on right now, or your brake disks the "squish" method (what I'm doing) should work awesome.

[crazyjim]

I gotta try it. I poured molds for taillights yesterday andd I was just going out to the shop to check on them. If they're set, I'll try my first shot at clear Aluminite with red dye. It's only 52 degrees and the shop is probably cold.

[Nick Winter]

Those look Great Ian! How do I go about getting one?

[ian ashton]

Those look Great Ian! How do I go about getting one?

I'll send ya one with the return parts you sent me, thats kind of why I haven't sent that stuff back yet, working on getting some nice hoods out too

[Nick Winter]

I'll send ya one with the return parts you sent me, thats kind of why I haven't sent that stuff back yet, working on getting some nice hoods out too

Ok Thanks Ian, Gotta wait anyway, till Micheals has a 40% off and I can get the kit for $8

[montelsc]

I don't know why I painted the seats before I filled and sanded them, but I did, lol. They still need some more work, as the seem is not going away. I might just cast them in resin and be done with it.

Working on the exhaust:

I have no idea why the exhaust crosses over and exits on the opposite side of the manifold, but it does, so I copied it:

An almost finished exhaust system, with turndown tip:

Another test fit of the engine:

I've since made a little more progress on the engine and hood, more pics to come

nice and stock THATS THE WAY I LIKE EM!!!

[granada76]

I'll send ya one with the return parts you sent me, thats kind of why I haven't sent that stuff back yet, working on getting some nice hoods out too

[granada76]

I would like to know how much you would sell me one of your hoods for

[Foxer]

Nice work on this! I love builds of "ordinary cars"!

Edited December 7, 2010 by Foxer

[ian ashton]

I would like to know how much you would sell me one of your hoods for

PM'd

[ian ashton]

Slowly but surely getting there...

Some body work:

The way the front valence fits to the body is horrific, but I think its getting closer, need to shoot some more prime:

After the first prime/sanding:

Working on fitting the core support / radiator. It always bothers me that many older castings don't have hood latch hardware.

I just scored an AMT '71 Charger from a member here, which happened to have a great hood latch piece that I made a mold from. The B-Body hood latch is much different than the E-body, but with some trimming and fitting its better than nothing! This is the resin piece I made, trimmed to fit the E-body:

I also got some more engine details finished:

Along with the hood latch and 8 3/4 rear end, this AMT '71 Charger has THE BEST wheel backs that actually look like drum brakes - I've always found this to be the biggest deficiency in all of the models I've built, so I'm pumped to have pulled a mold of these, they will definately see a lot of use in my future builds!

[lillakev]

"(I recently drove a Hemi Challenger without PS and it was not hard to steer at all, lol)"

I can imagine with a Hemi that you could unweight the front end pretty easily.

[W-409]

Very nice project you have there. I like when someone builds Muscle Car, like this one, but uses slant six for engine. That's very great, 'cause it's different. That's not the same thing if you are building lead sled, slant six engine doesn't fit there at all... Nice job with this one so far, I'm watching it. Must get '70 Challenger some day !

[crazyjim]

Looks like you're on a roll, Ian. Keep going.

[ian ashton]

I've been slacking on the updates here!

Anyway, I've started working on the interior a bit more.

Here is the steering wheel (still have to ad the turn signal stick)

Dullcoat on the interior, and some sloppy paint on the woodgrain console:

I don't know why, but the real car has black seat belts. I was going to go with red, but I decided to keep it true to life, the interior has so much red, the black breaks it up, maybe thats why the real car has 'em:

(Model Car Garage Photo Etched buckles)

Ken's Fuzzy Fur'd up, rear buckles installed:

I'm waiting on some Keith Marks decals to arrive so I can use the window crank decals and gauges. The kit dash is an RT, but this car isn't, so I think I'm going to make a filler panel to re-arrange the gauges.

The rear valence is shaping up, one more fill & sand and I should be ready to rock:

And the front end is coming togather also:

First prime of the first "good" cast of my hood:

[Nick Winter]

Body work looks good Ian, Can't wait to use the hood your sending me to build a 318 powered Challenger.

Nick

[ian ashton]

I finally got a good method worked out for casting the 8 3/4 rear end, so with my drum brake wheel backs, and some Scenes Unlimited internal drum hardware I will finally be able to wrap up the suspension. I am SO pumped about these parts from Scenes Unlimited, ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL.

[charlie8575]

So far, that interior looks fantastic, Ian. Keep it coming!

Charlie Larkin

[ian ashton]

Slowly but surely, slowly but surely!

I ordered Keith Mark's decals for the '70 Challenger RT so I could use the window cranks, Challenger scripts, and gauges. They arrived yesterday and I couldn't wait to get back into this project. His work is so nice.

So, a few pics of my nearly complete interior:

Gauges and Challenger script on the dash (I decided to keep the RT dash, just because the gauge decals were so nice!)

Window cranks:

Seats in:

Almost done, just need to put the shifter in:

I'm hoping to get the first coat of paint on the body and hood today, hopefully progress will be much faster now that the holiday is over

Edited December 28, 2010 by ian ashton

[imatt88]

Looks great! Can hardly wait to see some more

[charlie8575]

Excellent interior.

Charlie Larkin

[ian ashton]

I'm so happy we are back online! Unfortunately I haven't made a ton of progress since the last update, lol.

I did get the first and second coats of paint sprayed, although I'm not super happy with how its laying down. Oh well, life goes on

This is after the first colorsand:

And the second coat applied:

I've got some sanding to do, and possibly a little more red to spray, then its decal and clear time!