NEHA

Ive got a 1972 challenger in solid shape. And I found some inspiration.

I like it.

The 2010 UTC Challenger



Or its 2009 edition:

That 2010 HTC Challenger was built by the same guy I believe, its just a newer rendition. Look up www.glennbunch.com the picture I posted is of his original challenger race car.

You last name happen to be Dennis?

The less Mopar unibody you use, the better off you will be. The basic design is OK, but the execution is shaky. Figure on seam welding even a U car, and get ahold of the Mopar Action article (I think they have back issues or reprints) on gussetting the front crossmember. A good roll cage will help, but it's gotta be tied in EVERYWHERE.
The Challenger in the pics is based on a Zervakias chassis (known today as Stock Car Products - the Zervakias family bought SCP from Tom Hamilton in CA and adopted the name for their ongoing business), and the running gear is, IIRC, pretty much NASCAR stuff.
If you decide to lose your mind this badly - 1. Seek professional help - Smokey is deadly at swap-meet acquisition, and can provide some help in selling the inceration of paychecks to your better half. 2. Seek the company of fellow lunatics - I know most of the parts interchanges and sourcing for this stuff, and the Mopar engine and driveline as well. And I know Gramps Leavitt, and a couple of Jeff Spraker's main people, along with several Modified Tour guys. 3. read my ads in race parts for sale 4. Look around on RacingJunk.com and E-bay, and consider a Modified style car - Full-bodied stock cars present some visibility problems at what we do. Older ex-Cup and GN road race cars have a floor value, because HSR has a race series for them - but they can still be a good deal for a safe, rugged car, and a re-skinwith Challenger sheetmetal is possible.

Wow, you guys are just wealth of info, this is exiting. I think I have a lot to think about as far as what I want to do (ie how much I want to cut up my classic muscle car). And I also have to see if it wink be possible to keep it street legal.

sdwarf36 wrote:You last name happen to be Dennis?

I was wondering the same thing...

So there might be 2 70's Challengers competing in the next year (hopefully) or so...

Rule 1: Never hillclimb a car you can't afford to write off! If its a family heirloom-or a numbers matching Plum Crazy 4 speed Hemi ragtop-find something else. As a matter of fact, a "learner car" isn't a bad idea to begin with. There are a few already proven cars out there for sale. It would shorten up the learning curve a bunch. When you finish with your project, you will already have seat time -and can concentrate on sorting the car out-and resell your 1st car. I know of a caged VW Golf that would fit the bill nicely...

We've had several attempts hereabouts to build./race the Ultimate_______. As someone who's had some success at making that happen for myself and a couple others, I gotta say - You want to think this through for a while. There are a lot of issues to consider. Cars get wrecked, engines blow up, drivelines shit shiny steel gravel. None of those things are fun, and you want to avoid 'em if you can - but you don't want the first bump in the road to drive you out of the sport, or to make your "investment" worthless.
In my mind, reparability is paramount. Tube-chassis race cars have evolved to be repairable and upgradable, and oval track chassis builders have this dialed in - most series-built cars can be "clipped" in a week with sufficent money and help. Unique engine combinations can take months to fix if things go wrong (don't ask me how I know this unless you want to buy some drinks!), or may never live up to expectations. ("Blew up on the dyno AGAIN is no way to go racin'!") Caged and prepared unibodies can be as strong, light, and safe as any tube frame - but they are a b*^% to fix, and may have to be thrown away for a hit that would be an easy fix in a tube-frame car. Throwing away a Rabbit shell may not be a big deal, but a clean and desirable musclecar shell going to the crusher is gonna hurt.
Does this mean that you should'nt try to emulate the monster in question? No, not at all, but, IMHO, you don't want to hack up a nice car to do it. And you need to look at your own resources to see that you can do the project well enough to get a good outcome, and examine your desires to understand what aspects of your model are important to you.