The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Onto the installation of the brake system, lines and some electrical wiring. Thanks Gary for the brake pedal linkage!

Looking Great. Very nice.

- rich

Looks like some good progress. Can I make a couple suggestions?

The small possitive battery cable wire should be bolted up the other way. Bolt it up from the front....don't loop it back like that. You won't have enough slack to hook the cable up to the battery. The cable then will get secured in white plastic straps. There should be a black plastic strap that hooks over the shock stud that also secures the possitive cable before it goes down into the metal bracket on the frame.

The upper control arm cam bolts should be installed the other way. Insert the bolts from the wheel well. The nuts should be visable in the engine compartment. That's how the factory did it and it will make life easier when the car is aligned.

There are a few other things you could do to make the engine compartment more factory correct but that's not a big deal. Not everyone cares about that. What you've done so far looks really good.

burdar wrote:Looks like some good progress. Can I make a couple suggestions?

The small possitive battery cable wire should be bolted up the other way. Bolt it up from the front....don't loop it back like that. You won't have enough slack to hook the cable up to the battery. The cable then will get secured in white plastic straps. There should be a black plastic strap that hooks over the shock stud that also secures the possitive cable before it goes down into the metal bracket on the frame.

The upper control arm cam bolts should be installed the other way. Insert the bolts from the wheel well. The nuts should be visable in the engine compartment. That's how the factory did it and it will make life easier when the car is aligned.

There are a few other things you could do to make the engine compartment more factory correct but that's not a big deal. Not everyone cares about that. What you've done so far looks really good.

I agree, he's done a really good job so far, I'm well impressed, fast worker too

Looking good............go ahead and crimp the cover on the steering coupler seal.........its a real pain after the engine is in..............

Thanks for the thumbs up!
I am open to anything that'll make this look correct. I welcome advice!!
I will change the cable route and re-do the cam bolts as well. Can you provide a photo of exactly where that black fastening strap would go near the shock tower?
I will make sure we get that coupling fastened too. They are a pain in the ass, you know!

Thanks!!!

If you want the engine compartment to look more correct, here are a few things that need to be done....

First of all the 1970 master cylinder was a one year only unit. They are expensive if you can find them but the one you have will look fine. In 1970, the master cylinder and brake booster were assembled as a unit and were then painted black. So, the master and the lid should be black.

The power steering boxes should be painted black. The factory used cheap paint and it didn't stay black for very long. Manual boxes were left bare but the power boxes should be a slightly flatter black then the K-member.

The end of the steering column as well as the coupler were most often painted black. Some original cars have been found with unpainted ends but most were painted black.

Is that black plastic tubing hiding some aftermarket wiring? It might look better if you just left the wires exposed.

1970's also had the cowl blacked out. Some original cars have been found without the blackout but most cars(except the dark colored cars) had the cowl blacked out. Dave has a link in one of these sections to a Mopar Action article that shows the correct cowl blackout.

Finally, the tie rods, center link exc...were left bare metal from the factory...they weren't painted black.

Again, I'm not complaining or trying to put the car down. What you've done so far looks nice. Some people just care about originality more then others. Either way the car looks good. I've got some pictures of the battery cable strap on the shock stud but they are on another computer. I need to take some pics of my engine compartment anyway. I just installed that strap a couple days ago.

I'm actually adding an aftermarket stereo and the loom is hiding some 4 gauge power cable.

Here's how my 73 is set-up. It will look a little neater once the battery and engine are installed. Right now the possitive cable is just hanging which pulls the rest of the wiring out of place.

Thanks for the great tips!
I've rearranged the cables and added the shock stud strap so it's correct. One question I have is the front mount section that houses the hood release/ spring and sits in front of the radiator. I have it painted body color- as I was under the impression that that piece (with the exception of the spring) is body color. Is that right?
I'm worried about the grille being argent/ black and having this section- which is orange- sticking out like a sore thumb.
I managed to also get the cowl blacked out and I think it came out ok. I actually used a large paint roller (measures about 16 inches in length) so I was able to get a straighter edge- even with the slight spray look.
Note: the paint is fresh and actually is flatter than it looks.

Nice.

From the front, the radiator support was only painted black in the area you can see through the grille and the opening below. The top of it (looking down) was body colour. There is a description and diagram on here somewhere...

"The front side of the radiator closure panel, below the top support (upper radiator "U" channel) and underneath the hood latch plate was painted Organasol Black. Overspray was permitted half way into the inside headlamp area."

This was not done on the dark colours of course.

Go buy a can of SEM Trim Black. It's a good quality paint and works perfectly for spraying the rad blackout. I like how you used the paint roller. The cowl blackout looks good.

Thanks. I'll pick up that can tomorrow on my way into the shop.