well, it took several 'in and outs' of the radiator to fit the shroud. mine didn't fit the new radiator, so i drilled a few new mounting holes, and made some thin metal tab/extensions to reach on the driver side. (not visible, the right holes worked, the left ones were about an inch to shy of reaching, hence the tabs.) a fresh coat of sem black, and she looks/works as good as new. no clearance issues, yay!

all fitted! now, it's just about hooking up some loose ends, and firing this pig up!

all electrical, linkages adjusted, fluids good, i'd say we are ready to see what she sounds like........

looks awesome !!!
But please change out the radiator cap to a correct mopar one

fired it up!!!! no mufflers yet, just head pipes to where the mufflers would attach. sounded KILLER this way!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGhFH91HIQo

ok, radiator cap, and a few other hardware items, purchased through r/t specialties. we are getting there!

That looks great Hemis rule. I just got my hemi installed about a month ago. Enjoy and keep the pics coming like a first burnout pic!

now onto the first fun run in with people saying they can do something for you, and falling so completely short you can't believe your eyes. case in point, my exhaust........

i wanted to keep the side exit theme, because i had the mufflers, side exit pipes, and a solid rear valence, so it just made sense to keep the car side exhaust, like a true AAR. i wasn't sure of the tone that would be coming out of the pipes with the hemi, as the small block with no crossover was rather 'farty' sounding, but it grew on me. the plan was, just use prebent stock hemi headpipes, with crossover and adapt to the existing mufflers/exit pipes.......

there is a midas, literally behind my house. i didn't want to drive all over town with no mufflers, so i went and 'interviewed' them to see if they could handle the job. THREE times i went over, before bringing the car in, explaining to them that it was a 'show quality' car, and that this needed to be perfect to match the caliber of the rest of the build, no 'newbies' welding on it, i would be present though out the day, i would supply the materials, you just do the fabbing/fitting/welding. their lead guy, "oh yeah, no problem, we have done all kinds of show type vehicles". i explicitly stated that he do all the work, as i did see some 'new hires' there as well......

the car gets dropped of on a saturday morning, on the lift it goes. i lay out all the pieces on the floor, showing exactly how i want it to go in the car. the headpipes were a little wonky, one was lower than the other, and factory style had one tube with a straight exit, the other was curved to the outboard. i told him, "either make them both straight, or both curved, as i want them to match. and you need to tweak the headpipes, so the exits are level. you see the mufflers from the back, so they need to be perfect. got it?" "yep!" comes the reply. "then i will see you in a few hours". i made it back at closing time, the car was 'done' and off the rack, but needed a few 'pin holes' to be finish welded on monday, and i was to bring the car back for that, and then make payment. i took it home, and put it up on my rack......

what was to come, is nothing short of un believable.........

here is what i found:
the headpipes were as off level at exit as they could be. more than an inch of difference between the two. nothing had been done.
one muffler went straight back, the other was curved. nothing had been done to make them match angles, either both straight, or both angled to the side.
one muffler was literally 'pointing down', while the other flat. from the rear, it looked horrible.
the welding was not welding, but more like roasted bird crap glued to the pipes. cold, no penetration, full blown unwelded gaps, a blind six year old could have done better.

at this point, my blood was boiling. i walk over there, they are gone for the day. (it's saturday).
i sit on it for the rest of the night, but come sunday, i can't stand looking at it. so i see what's what. there is no way i am bringing it back, yet alone paying for anything. i want to save as much of this as i can, as money is dried up at this point, and the car is almost done for summer. so, i bust out the map gas torch, a couple of 2x4's, my tall threaded jack stand with foot lever, and go to town on getting things at least straight, and will deal with the burnt bird crap welds later.......

i get the system straight, and level, but there is no way to rectify the one muffler straight with the car, the other angled outward, with out cutting the entire system apart, and starting from scratch.......

so, i drop the entire system out in one piece, (that was fun on a four post lift!) and get one of my welder friends to come over for beers and repairs, and decide what is what from there......

here is some of what we found......

looks like full coverage here, just a 'pin hole' to fill in.

i call this one the 'burnt worm'.

wow - looks like they gave the job to their rookie welder....

i don't know what the heck was going on here. there was grinding, more burnt worm over roasted bird crap, you name the rookie element, it was here....
(RANT TIME)
are you serious? you do 'show' cars? you thought this was acceptable? how do you effing sleep at night?!?!? did you not see the rest of the car, and you somehow thought this 'matched' the caliber of the rest of the build? are you blind AND stupid?!?!?!?
sometimes, i lose faith in humanity, and am disgusted by it. this is one of those times......

now that i am done complaining about how lame some people run their business, it's time to get down to some of that myself......

friend elliott is taking first round of grinding this crap off, and doing it right.......

time to tig that bad boy up right.........

well, it came out as good as it's going to be. we welded, filled, ground, welded some more, to fix the utter mess they made. needless to say, it is not 'factory' show quality, but it is tidy, sound, gap free, level, and sounds great! i threw some high temp paint on the headpipes to blend them, and a fresh coat of black on the flowmasters and side pipes......

i went back on monday, they were all "hey, we are ready for you!". i had to tell them as nicely as possible, that there was no way i was bringing the car back. (they know me, i live around the corner, so 'bad blood' wasn't an option, a few guys there looked a little seedy, and i don't need my garage burning down right now.) i told them about all the things that were not done to how they were laid out, and that the welding was completely unacceptable. the manager pleaded for me to bring it back in, i told him i would bring him photos, and then he would know why i could not do that. he then yelled at the guys, while they are giving me the stink eye. i said let's call it a wash, i'm out, you're out, and lets all just walk away from this as is. at this point in life, i have to choose my battles. i did not feel like fighting with a business so close to me, as the repercussions to me and my property would probably put me worse off than i already was.........

like i said, it looks like it looks. not up to my standards, but once again, money is tight, got's to choose my battles. i am ok with compromising on this section of the car for now. if i ever sell the car, i will rectify it proper. but, sometimes you have to make lemonade out of lemons. this won't be the first time. all in all? it looks GREAT compared to what i had, and i can live with that.

next up? TEST DRIVE.

I can't weld in my approximation and I am waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what you posted.
Those wouldn't get a D in 7th grade metal shop.
I agree fully with the notion that if you look at the rest of the car , you have to know that this isn't going to be O.K.
But then Midas is the Earl Scheib of exhaust work.
I have a guy some 15 miles from the house , so I drive with helium filled shoes till I get there.
Made the trip three times now with no tickets.
But it is worth the trip.

shakedown runs:
i like to just creep around the block, the neighborhood, to test everything out. first time out of the garage, got her out, and went around the block. shifter catching up in neutral, hard to get to gears. pull back in, adjust one rod, and we are free to all gears. (was fine, i pinned it in neutral to set them, but once i drove it, applied a little torque to things, it needed a tweak....

back out: i had switched to manual brakes, and they SUCKED with the rest of my system, one inch manual master, ssbc discs up front, factory drum out back. back in the garage. after some homework here, dr. diff pointed me in the right direction of a 15/16"s power master from a later duster that still bolted up to all my manual goodies. tinier bit spongy on the pedal, but more pad pressure for sure. (hooked up a gauge to make sure things were right.) at this time, i decided to try some of those ebc 'red' pads as well. now, she stops just fine with the manual setup.......

at this point, i had not gotten the car over 15mph, or out of second gear. it was time to venture farther away, and get some heat and miles on everything. so, out we go. did 15 or so miles, got it up to 50mph, and everything seemed good. i pulled into the garage, and smelled burning oil, like it was on the pipes. figured it was just things breaking in, and left it at that. i also noticed a lot of blowby for a new engine. into the shop, up on the lift...

uh oh, already a half palm sized puddle of oil on the ground from just pulling in, and drips to it on the way in, NOT good........