Challengum!- Back at it

[Ryan S.]

Ok, so here's an idea I've had floating around in my head for awhile and I recently acquired the two kits to pull it off (hopefully) thanks to Michaels 50% coupons.

 

So the concept is putting a new Challenger front end on the Dodge Magnum. Challengum, Mallenger, doesn't matter what you call it, I think it would look pretty cool.

 

Here's my favorite photoshop that I found online *this is not an image I made*. This is the basis of what I'm going for, but with some of my own twists as well:

 

So, I'll spare you the pure white styrene shot and we'll just get down and dirty.

 

First thing was to cut the molded in grill from the Challenger front. The Challenger is wider than the Magnum in the front, so the whole front fascia will need to be sectioned some. We'll get to that...

 

 

Step 2 was to remove this piece from the front of the Challenger. There isn't one on the Magnum. We'll be cutting the front fenders off the Challenger soon as well.

 

As best I could, I marked out the center line on the Challenger front and will be cutting along the tape edges for the section.

 

I'll be following the blue lines to cut off the Challenger fenders. I'm going to leave the cowl intact in case this roof finds it's way onto another project someday.

 

Continued...

Edited December 3, 2015 by Ryan S.

[Ryan S.]

Continuing onward...

In order to keep the lines flowing and looking "correct" I've got to cut away a portion of the Magnum fenders, but leave the wheel arches so they will match the back of the car. The part that will be cut away will be replaced with matching pieces from the Challenger Fenders.

Here we see both our patients marked out for surgery.

I'm doing all my cutting with the back side of a #11 blade, for accuracy sake. It's slow going but the results are nice clean cuts. Here we see the Challenger fenders separated from the body. The cowl stayed in one piece, but had to be removed separately rather than stay attached to the A pillars.

Here I've started cutting out and around the Magnum wheel arches. You can see the line where I'll cut the fender from the body.

...and here's how it looks with the fenders cut away and the wheel arches left. I'll be getting the Challenger fenders prepped and ready for the transplant.

[Dr. Cranky]

You got Doctor Cranky's AND EYEGORE'S attention! Wow.

[Johnag4004]

You got Doctor Cranky's AND EYEGORE'S attention! Wow.

Same here, it amazes me how these things are done...

[Sixx]

That's gonna be COOL!!!!!

[SSNJim]

Looks pretty interesting. I'll be watching...

[BKcustoms]

Cool! I'll definitely be watching this one.

[Dr. Cranky]

All this cutting must have zapped you into a nap! LOL!

[4bangen]

I am interested

[Ryan S.]

Aaannnndddd...we're back. For now.

Here I have the right front fender glued into place. This wasn't easy and it got a little messy, so we'll be doing some clean up on this one eventually. Really all of this is going to take a lot of time and patience with the bondo and plastic to get it all smoothed out eventually.

The drivers side fender is just propped in place for right now and you can see how I sectioned the front fascia. Once the sides are put together I'll cut the inner pieces to fit the gap.

All this cutting must have zapped you into a nap! LOL!

Seriously Doc, my hands are sore!

[Ryan S.]

So I'll need the rest of the wheel flaring from the front fascia of the Magnum. So more marking and more cutting.

I decided to keep the whole bottom and use that as a guide for lining things up on the front and will probably base some sort of chin treatment on the original lower part.

This, too, was all done by scribing with the #11 blade.

[Dr. Cranky]

I bet they are, buddy, but you are getting some amazing results out of all that cutting.

Can't wait to see how you work the styrene and make it smooth . . . this one is going to be a killer ride.

[walt francis]

Ok , I am just amazed at this point so if you stop I won't get any sleep waiting to see more of this transplant.

[Ryan S.]

Both side fenders are glued in place and I've started re-assembling the front fascia. This is not easy!

Here you can see how the bottom lip gives some extra width to the bottom of the Challenger front. Despite being wider initially, the way this went back together makes the Challenger nose narrow compared to the squareness of the Magnum.

You can see that I've taken off the side trim on the Magnum. I think sleek and smooth will be a good look.

The flash really lit this one up, but you can see how I got a little overzealous with the Dremel while carving out the wheel opening on the Challenger fender. I'm a little worried on how to best fill this in. Probably going to go sparingly with scrap plastic and might try the baking soda and CA glue mix as body filler. We'll see...

[Ryan S.]

Here we've got the middle of the bumper back in place. The front is really starting to shape up now!

The very bottom lip got mis-measured so I've got to add back a couple of shim pieces. I've glued these in place with Tenax and I'm letting it dry over night so that it gets cured up properly. I'll have to trim the sides to match the contours of the piece and then sand it to fit the opening.

[Ryan S.]

Alright, now that we've got some of the transplant done and while we're waiting on some glue to dry, I did a quick mock up to see how it all looks:

This is with the Magnum hood on it, just to see what it looks like with a closed hood.

After looking at it, this is a bad angle. The front looks like it comes up because of the Magnum hood. I think I'm going to integrate the Challenger hood into the Magnum hood to get a fairly factory look. We'll see how that goes.

I like these rims best of the ones that came with both the kits, but I'm not sure they will make it until the end. I'm still exploring options and I'm certainly up for suggestions.

Another angle on the front. This one just looks mean!

Here I put the Challenger hood on just for comparison and to show how much different now the front end is when compared to a stock Challenger.

I might almost be able to shave the Challenger hood down to fit. I might try that first. I like the duel vents on this one.

Thanks for all the comments thus far, you can keep them and any criticism and critiques coming. I'm open to suggestions. At this juncture I have no idea on a paint color so if anyone has any thoughts, I'm listening.

I've got a busy weekend celebrating Halloween and all, so I'm going to have to leave this one like this until Monday most likely. Try and get some sleep, Walt .

Thanks for following along.

[Dr. Cranky]

Wow, great progress, and I think this one is going to require lots of smoothing, so rest your hands!

[Rob Hall]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out..great idea. As a similar idea, I've thought a Magnum would look good with a Charger front end..thought about building something like that myself..

[Chuck Most]

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out..great idea. As a similar idea, I've thought a Magnum would look good with a Charger front end..thought about building something like that myself..

I've thought about making a Challenger wagon, but by using a Magnum roof on the Challenger body. Very interested in seeing how this one turns out.

[moparfarmer]

I always wonder to myself why people model newer cars.Now I know why. The modifications aren't usually major and look like factory prototypes. You've done a masterful job on the Challenger/wagon. Looks like something Mopar should build. Go with the wheels you've shown, they look like you could get them from the factory option list.Please keep the paint moderate like something from the factory. This is building up into something very exciting. Keep us posted on results and progress.

[RodneyBad]

Amazing work on the front end conversion.

The front does look narrower on the photoshopped one too.

The Challenger hood with the scoops would look good on it.

Be keeping a close eye on this build..

[Tonioseven]

Excellent craftsmanship so far! I'm learning something and enjoying it at the same time! Thanks for sharing!!

[mytricia]

this is a wonderful project-simply amazing.your ideas and work is incredible.as far as color ideas i'd suggest very dk royal blue-the factory color that came on the magnum a few years back.congratulations.

[stulee11]

this is looking truly amazing!!!! for the colour i would say a black base with a red flip . can't wait to see this one done

[Dr. Cranky]

I keep returning to this one. You have achieved the level of styrene surgeon, Ryan.