09/16/02 Update

A lot has changed, and I have made enough refinements to have the Challenger driving. It took the longest time to get a complete set of pulley's and brackets that would line up. This was basically all I needed to get the beast on the road. Now the water pump, power steering pump, and alternator all worked. Finally I could drive the car. The first place I drove was to 'Mach I Muffler', where I had them install 2.5" exhaust system. As I mentioned earlier in the series, The light duty rear end would soon give way under the strain of the 440. I found a good 8 3/4" rear end from a big block challenger. $225 and a quick road trip got it back to my house. I also made the great leap into body work. It told me what I needed to know. I hate body work.

My power steering pump. I used the Saginaw pump from the '78 motor. Cleaned and painted. You can see the new brackets I bought on ebay. I added a new hose for good measure.

Here you see all the accesories cleaned and painted. I love to clean and paint things. I guess it's a fume thing. There's a correct 2-groove crank pulley for power steering and no A/C. To the left is the new alternator brackets and spacers. I used the flex fan from the '78 engine.

Here's the rear end. It's in pretty good shape. The guy I bought it from told me it had 3.23 gears but the tag says 2.94. It's no real biggie because I will have to swap in a posi carrier. It came complete with 10 inch brakes and new brake drums.

The new rear end is beefier than the old, so the shock plates and u-bolts had to be replaced. Got these on ebay for about $30 and oh yes, I will clean and paint them.

My first try at body work. I picked the front valence since the damage was minor andIf I messed it up, it was kinda out of the way. I sanded it down to bare metal and hamered out the dents. Primer, sand. primer sand,.......on and on. Finally a coat of black paint because I didn't want to try to match the oxidized purple. Turned out alright. The garage was a mess, dust everywhere. I can't imagine doing all the body work myself.

Here is a close up of the turn lights. Replaced the bulbs and everything works.

Here's the new exhaust. I had them turn it down at the axle. I will run it all the way to the back when I get a new rear valence. I had them add a functional cross-over. I hear it helps with low end torque. You can see the deep tranny pan I installed in the background. Also visible is the weak 7-1/4" rear axle.