1969 Charger Hellcat Conversion

Well figured I would start a link now.
I will start posting more detailed pics within a week.

Long story short my buddy owned this car over 30 years ago.
He bought is back in this condition three years ago for $2000.

As is progressed over the last three years off and on...

And more. After about 1/2 the ware house of AMD sheet metal.

Till finally nearly done.

more

more....

Change of tires..
It does have rear marker lights.. just not installed yet.

So up until this January the plan was to install a second gen 426 hemi crate engine or equivalent. The $$ figures were estimated and then I went over what my buddy wanted from this car. He stated he wanted to drive it quite often, trips back and forth to shows, and some heavy miles being put on to Carlisle and similar shows.
We then proceeded to crunch numbers on the new Hellcat conversion. At first glance it looked pretty similar. I have a rolling list of costs to complete and I will update when we are completed how close it actually was. So far there have been some items that were nearly double what I/we expected. The engine however was bought local at our Dodge dealer with a price as good as any I found. The engine showed up in three days!

More.

So this is where we are at.

Suspension is shipping today from CA, Magnum Force Transformer was an 8 week build. Time estimate was right on.

Transmission package is a T56 coming from Silver Sport and is shipping today.

Cooling package will be ordered once installed in the car.

Purchased From Dealer.
Hellcat engine
Wiring Harness
Accessory kit for alt and steering.

Dana 60 is factory unit. 3.54 gears.

So next week the fun begins.

This is all new to me as I have only done factory builds so it will be learning curve. The large manual that comes with the hellcat engine is a great reference and goes into great detail to makes things as smooth as possible.

Did the transformer suspension this Saturday. Very nice kit and so easy a kid could do it..

Oil pan shows up this week and then I will build the drivetrain rack to install the whole set-up.

Back on the hellcat build.

Started building the engine cradle last night.

Hoping to have the whole assembly in by this weekend.

More

Keep em coming!!!!

Rack is complete with exception of trans brace I will install once the trans is on tonight. Works very well.

So had some issues I was concerned about so did a dry run last night. Major issue of concern were hood and exhaust manifold clearance. I see most people going with the TTI headers and was wondering if it was a fitment issues or more of a ease of assembly due to TTI making a complete system to fit it. We are going with a custom exhaust with cut-outs so will need some fab work anyway.

The manifolds clear perfectly with the Magnum Force Suspension but I have no doubt would not work with a factory suspension due to the torsion bar location..

The hood to my surprise actually closes with very little clearance as the supercharger is located just inside of the hood frame bracing on the charger hood. We still have some issues to work out however due to the engine flex under load. Not sure how I will address this yet. Here are some pics.

Another

That hood clearance looks awful tight

Great progress

The car looks great Will this car go to the track? Curious to see what the hellcat engines will do et wise in lighter car.

Tim

How about an update on this one?

Yes!

Very nice work. Looks awsome

Sorry guys my updates have been horrible... We tried to make a push on this car for Carlisle this year and I could make it I think if I had nothing else to do. However we are finishing up a Challenger T/A for the Carlisle that needs every second we have. My brother is now full time out of the garage during the days and I am in there second and third shift after my pay the bills job I work during the day.
The owner had some set backs in his daily life and has to hold off on parts however he made a big push with parts over the last month but unfortunately is was a little to late to make Carlisle.. We have a tent set up in the swap area so may put on the rest of the exterior items on the car and bring it as "in progress"?? Here's a few pics.

Few more.

Guess which mounts not to use....

Any updates on this build?????