Hadn't seen that yet! Cool!

The differential is going to be a limited slip Getrag unit that I pulled from a 2010 Challenger SRT8 I parted out. The Challengers with the 6 speed manual transmission received a 3.91 ratio vs the 3.06 that came with the automatic. My 2010 Challenger daily driver has the exact same 6.1L, 6 speed, and Getrag 3.91. With the .50 overdrive ratio, I am turning 2,000 RPM at 85mph. Should be fun off the line and still comfortable on the highway. The differential just got installed so that exhaust could be routed.

View from the right side...


View from behind:

The OEM SRT wheels just didn't look right so I finally decided on a wheel.....now that I know the 20x9 will fit over the Brembo calipers, I can order up the other 3 wheels.

The 3" Exhaust is mocked up and tacked.

Front tires are 245/40/20 and the rears are 315/40/20. I've got room for more tire on the rear, but I'm happy with the 315 size and price. Since 315/40/20's come on several production vehicles, prices are much cheaper compared to a 325 or 335.



And a few pics of the wheels on the car...

I bought a fuel tank (for fuel injection) from Tanks Inc. but the independent rear suspension frame is so huge that a stock fuel tank won't fit. So....the new tank had to be modified. Here's what it looked like in stock form:



And modified....

Very nice job on the tank modification!!
Pat

Thanks Pat!

This 6.1L came out of a 53K mile 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 that I parted out about 18 months ago. It ran great when I removed it, but I want a little more then the stock 425hp. I pulled the stock heads for inspection. The cylinder walls and pistons are in good condition.

I have a set of CNC ported 6.1L heads that came off a car I parted out about 4 years ago. I had then cleaned up and inspected by my machine shop. They did a valve job and installed new valve seals.
While the heads were off, I removed the lifters and installed an Arrington SR2B camshaft. With a good tune, the CNC ported heads and cam should be good for close to 500hp

I had a few changes made. I was not happy with the fit of the passenger side door. It must have been tweaked because it never fit right. So I ordered a new AMD door shell, but the quarter panel was installed using the original door so the leading edge of the quarter panel had to be sliced and worked to match the profile of the new AMD door.

Both front fenders had to be tweaked to fit the big tires and the low stance. The brace that runs from the top of the arch (up over the tire) had to be reshaped. Also, the front corner of the arch was modified. The corner was sliced and moved forward.

I also didn't like the driver's side front fender. It had a pinhole that turned into more then we planned on. Plus I had a brand new AMD fender that I had picked up for pretty cheap so it was installed.

I picked the car up yesterday and I'm very happy with what was done. I LOVE the stance! Part of me wants to just get it running and drive it as is!

The Roadrunner doesn't look like its any further along, but I have made some progress...Over the past couple months I've been really busy with coaching two of my children's basketball teams, band/school programs, and family get togethers/activities, but i have found the time to at least remove every ounce of undercoating from the Roadrunner. on previous cars I have removed undercoating with a propane torch and a thin paint scraper but I have found a superior method. I bought a cheap pneumatic needle scaler (about $30 on ebay), which has 12-15 rods which pop out and chip away at undercoating. It's dirty/messy, but its quick and it leaves a nice clean surface behind. The extra benefit is that you don't drop any burning pieces of rubber on your face or down the sleeves of your shirt. For reference, each inner fender took me about an hour to remove the undercoating. It would have been much faster, but my big compressor is down and I was using a 30 gallon Craftsman compressor so I spent a lot of time waiting for it to pressurize the tank.

Well, The last couple months have been nuts. On Christmas Eve I got T-boned while doing 55mph in my survivor 1969 Dodge Charger. Miraculously, I escaped the car accident with scrapes/bruises. I declined medical attention At the scene of the accident but a few hours later, my lovely wife convinced me to go the emergency room, where I received a chest x ray and a head CT scan. The ER Doc pronounced me healthy and sent me home but two days later I received a phone call. The head of radiology was at home on the day of the crash. Two days later, he was reviewing the work done over the holiday when he came across my chest x-ray. He spotted a bump on my right humerus (the big bone in the upper arm). Several x-rays/MRI's and 14 days later I was told I have bone cancer in my right arm. I'm only 36 and a father of 5 little ones so it hit me hard. The surgeon/oncologist said that I needed to have the top third of my right humerus cut out and replaced with a cadaver bone. It took 3 weeks to find a cadaver bone that had the right size/profile since the head of the humerus needed to fit my existing rotator cuff/shoulder. It took three weeks of taking it easy because the bone was so thin that it was close to breaking. The picture of the x-ray shows how bad it was-the black void is where the cancer had eaten out the bone. As soon as the bone came in, I had surgery. Before the bone could be removed, the surgeon had to cut/unhook and peel back all the muscles that attach to the shoulder (bicep, tricep, deltoid, pectoral, and 4 back muscles) before cutting the cancerous bone out and grafting in the cadaver bone section with a 6" plate and screws. After the graft, all the muscles had to be sown back in place. I spent 5 days in the hospital where the pain was BRUTAL. The first 5 days at home were pretty rough too but things got much better after that. I've been in a sling for 6 weeks now and I've never sat still so much. The surgeon thinks he got all the cancer, but I will be doing body scans every 3 months for the next 5 years. The bone was sent off for pathology and upon inspection, the bone was hairline fractured but the tissue above it tested clean. The surgeon says this bone can take 6-9 months to heal fully. If it's not healed by 9 months I will have to have another bone graft done so if you're a praying man/woman, please pray for healing. I have to take it really easy for the next year which is NOT MY STYLE!!
I'm not sure why this had to happen, but I believe that all things happen for a reason and I'm truly grateful to God have survived the crash and to have a solid chance at beating this cancer. I do know that without this wreck, the cancer would not have been found in time. This type of cancer does not respond to radiation or chemo so it can only be cut out. And when it spreads, it usually goes straight to the lungs....so all in all, I feel fortunate. If you pray, please keep me in your prayers. Enjoy the pictures...
The tumor....





One of my favorite pics from inside the 1969 Dodge Charger...



Video added Feb 2024...I pout together a youtube video of the wreck and cancer story.

For the first time in two months, I ventured out to the shop this week (twice!). My right shoulder (I'm right handed) has very limited range and i have to take it easy since the bones haven't grown together yet. The first day, I removed all the windshield trim clips from the window channels. Yesterday, I started the process of stripping the remaining red exterior paint. I only had 2 hours in me. In that time, I stripped most of the top of the right quarter panel. Here's about 30 minutes in...

This is all I got done


The disc on the left is the one I was using. I like them because they are quite effective and yet they don't build up much heat in the sheetmetal. I was using air and a fearless grinder.

Wow, just came across your story. Tough way to find out some bad news. Glad you are recovering, my prayers are with you that they got it all and the bones heal.

Good luck.

Nice progress..

Thanks! I really appreciate every prayer I can get!


I've SLOWLY been stripping paint over the past 4 weeks. I'm stripping the large open surfaces so the media blaster won't warp them. I'll have the media blaster use aluminum oxide to strip all the jams, inside, engine bay, and bottom side of the car.




I also dug out all the putty/sealant that in the gutter rail. That stuff was HARD and difficult to get out!

After getting t-boned in my 1969 charger in December, I started to really think and worry about side protection. If the other guy had hit me in the door of the charger (instead of the front fender), I would have been in serious trouble. After mulling it over, I decided to send the Roadrunner back over to my buddy's shop in order to install a 6 point cage that will provide me with some side protection. We will also plan for some modern seatbelts with inertial reels. I don't want the car to be annoying to get in and out of, but my wreck has made me look at things from a different perspective. While its there, the lower radiator support will get boxed/reinforced, and plates will be welded in so that it can be provisioned for a Monte Carlo bar.

Without the front fenders, the front wheels look so huge...it looks weird.

If the other guy had hit me in the door of the charger (instead of the front fender), I would have been in serious trouble.

Your comment reminded me of this picture I pulled off instagram several years ago. I *think* the car had the typical 4 point bar. The cowl/door jamb area took the brunt of the hit. Luckily there was no passenger, driver was bruised but no serious injury. If I remember correctly, light rain and an oily road didn't mix well and he slid sideways into oncoming traffic.

Yikes.....that picture is the stuff of nightmares.

The cage should finish up next week but here are a few early pics






Matt tabbed up some finish panels that I'm really happy with...