Danko Charger WIDE BODY Finally FINISHED!!!!!!!!!!

[lowriderman3]

Nice update Mo! Widebody just makes ya warm and fuzzy on the inside!

[Pandora]

once again awesome update Mo!!!

[mopower]

x2.

I'll let you know for sure when I'm done but it's looking like atleast 2K without the tubs and 3K with the tubs. This is truely all out custom work.

[OLJustice]

Mo pics!!

[mopower]

We are now ready to install the matching front door panel. The first thing to do would be to throurouly sand both sides of the corner of the panel edge in order to remove the peaking mould flashing. If you don't, it will be impossible to see how to line up the panels correctly. After fitting it and seeing that this panel will need to be slightly bowed out in the center to match the rear panel shape perfectly, I will now show you how to correct this. The following fitting technique is an important skill and can be used when needed. Instead of mounting the usual (3) primary mounts (top,center,bottom) like we did with the rear, I left out the center mount for now. After attaching the (2) mounts with screws, I put adhesive on them, positioned them and screwed the panel in place to let the adhesive dry. I then removed the panel, and screwed the (2) mounts to the door so they will not pop off.





Before screwing the panel back on the car, I added the third center brace too and put some slow drying adhesive on it. Now here is the trick: Once the screws were in place, I drove a plasic (yellow) squeegy in between the body and panel (and trimmed it down with a razor knive ) to spread the center of the panel away from the car. I then closed the door to check repeaditly and then had to drive a thicker a squeegy in between until the center of the front panel lined up just right with the rear panel.



Since the Yellow squeegy piece will obviously fall out once I remove the panel for final bonding, I decided to force a little bit of polyester putty next to the squeegy to take it's place. I also used a razor blade to separate it from the panel so it will only stick to the car. As you can see in the picture, the top of the panel also needed a little squeegy attitude adjustment so I had to take out the screw, apply the squeegy and putty and then insert a screw in a new hole. It's important to mark with a grease pencil which screw holes are the correct ones and which are the primary mounts that you can trust.





When the door is closed it should be a perfect fit like this. The most important thing is that the outside edges match, do not worry about gaps between the body and panel, they will get filled.

[mopower]

Once the reliable mounting holes were marked, we can take off the panel again so we can install all of the remaining mounts in the usual way. Dont forget to install a few screws into the center mount. On the doors (only) you have to be very carefull to put the screws only on the very ends of the brackets so they will come out inside the door as you dont want to have to deal with all those sharp srews coming through the edge of the door into your weather stripping! Long pop rivets could also be used.






Once the glue has dried, carfully pry the panel off of the door and install more screws.



It's now time to prep the door for the final bonding process. Make sure to thougrouly grind all contact areas and clean them with solvent before applying the epoxy adhesive.







Here also, it's very important to squeegy the glue completely over any bare metal as to not create a future rust problem.




Now screw the panel on the car and double check the fitment. You can now inject plenty of adhesive wherever to fill up any gaps between the body and panel.



Once it's on, you can now remove the tape and clean up the mess with acetone or laquer thinner.
I highly recommend NOT to leave the screws in overnight, better to remove them in 90 minutes. This is some extremely strong epoxy and they will NOT come out without major effort if you wait too long. Thats all for now guys, stay tuned for the next update when we will install the Fuel system in the other side before we mount the driver's side widebody!

[OLJustice]

Updates?

[scisteve]

whats this kit run??

[wishing for hemi]

is it ready to order. i just got into a small accident that will completely be cpovered by this kit. insurance money should be here next week. only think i can get the rear widebody for now. front fenders will haveto wait.

[wishing for hemi]

so its 1695+295 and how much if i get the fenders and grill at the same time?? i know it willl be a couple G's worth of damage the dent is from the middle of the rear door to the top of rear wheel housing inluding the creases on the rear quarter so i am assuming at least a couple G's at least

[mopower]

OK now it's time to go to the other side and get the fuel situation taken care of before we install the driver's side fiberglass panels. My car had very little gas in it so I got no spillage but I'm not sure what would happen if it was full, you may want to avoid filling the car up before surgery. The first step is to remove the metal pipe from the fuel tank to the gas cap. It is easily accesible just beneath the plastic inner fender liner. Just undo the hose clamps and retaining screws and it pops right off. The vent line also has to come off and it has a connection that un-snaps. In the first pic you see where to cut the main pipe 2" north of the bracket. To keep little bits of metal from getting in your fuel line, I made a little thingy with some wire and a metal nut, wrapped it with a paper towel and shoved it into the line below where I was gonna cut, then cut it with an air powered hack saw (wire and all) and then pulled the wire out to clean the debri from the inside of the pipe. The other side is cut about 1-1/2" south of the weld as seen in the pictures.







Now we also need to cut a relief hole in the metal quarter panel where the round fuel hole is. this is because our fuel cap is relocated upwards and we need more space to clear the vent line. 2 slices with an air powered hack saw does it, then just push the metal in out of the way.



We custom modify each Fuel Door assembly at the factory by grinding the locking tabs and sanding the gelcoat completely off the inside beveled edge to make the fuel cap snap in properly. When priming and painting the car, be carefull NOT to build up the beveled seat area, as then, the cap may not snap back into place when assembling the car!



In order to install the fuel hoses, you need to temporarily install the fuel cap assembly. Once the assembely is seated in the hole, flip it over and take a flat end screw driver to push the 4 locking tabs outward.

[mopower]

Once you're done with that step, insert your factory Charger fuel pipe, rubber gasket and all into the Fuel door assembly. It slides in and fits like a glove just like OEM!! Now you can hang the wide body panel in place with a few screws. Make sure to put the Cap in place and close the door so it is in the exact right place when installing the hoses.




Here you can clearly see why we need to cut out the metal for the vent hose. When adjusting the hoses, make sure the hose in not getting kinked.



The hoses should already be cut in the correct length so it's pretty easy to assemble. In order for the hoses not to interfere with the plastic inner wheel liners, you need to stick the big hose under the metal shock tower lip and use a couple of straps to keep it in place. The factory brackets and vent hose connections are used.




This is what it should look like when it's all done!! Now we are Old School all the way! pretty cool huh?



Now if you want to remove it before painting the car, this is how it's done: First unhook the hoses/clamps, then you need a pretty long flat screw driver to reach up inside from underneath. Depress each of the four tabs while twisting on the housing and the assembly should pop right out. It's a little hard to see and reach as you can see from the last pic, but it's definitely doable, just get someone to hold a light for you while laying on the brakes/roter assembley (ouch!). Remember not to get too much build up of paint in the seat when painting the car! That's all for now, stay tuned for more updates!

[mopower]

Now that we have the Fuel filling system installed, it's time to install the panels. This side is basically the same as the other side so I'll try not to be too repetitive but just notate stuff that either wasn't covered already or is necessary to clarify what is going on in the pics. If things are not clear enough, just go back a few pages and thoroughly study the install on the other side.
The first step of course is to get both panels fitting nicely on the car and hung with a few screws. The rear panel should be all the way up against the car and the door panel just has to line up with the rear perfectly, don't worry if it is sitting away from the car a little, the gaps will be filled in later.



We will begin by screwing on our 3 initial brackets and marking their locations on the outside of the panel.




Here we are installing the remaining brackets to the inside of the panel.


Here we are lining up and drilling the holes for the tub. If you are not doing the tubs, then there will be a long 2" bottom flange that will simly bolt up into the bottom of the wheel lip to close it off and support the bottom of the widebody.





Now you have to bond the secondary brackets onto the car. Make sure to scuff and clean those areas. I went ahead and grinded the paint off the mounting areas, but that could be done later as well.





Once you take off the rear panel, you can now begin prepping and grinding al the mounting areas and screwing the brackets down to the car for extra support.



Test fit one last time the entire system. If you should need to jack the rear panel out, you can now do this by wedging it and drilling new holes to get everything to line up as good as possible. I made sure to cover the bad holes up with tape to make sure I don't use them.

[mopower]

Next step will be to put the 3M adhesive on and bond the panels onto the car just like we did on the other side.








The skinny 2" part of the wide body that wraps around the front of the wheel well does not get brackets, since you can access the back of it from inside the wheel well. Thoroughly caulk some 3M adhesive up in there, and then cut small pieces of fiberglass cloth. Using a squeegee, coat them with glue before laminating them in place using a brush. Make sure to use gloves !





Make sure you remove the screws within an hour of mixing the glue or you will be spending a lot of time trying to remove them with vice grips! that's all for now, stay tuned for the next step, installing the front door panel!

[OLJustice]

No updates in a while....