My Front end before installation

[Scamp]

But after a lot of work and powder coating.

[MoPar_or _NoCar]

Very Nice !!!

[Scamp]

Thanks

Scamp

[Bill_Reilly]

Hey Scamp, looks like you did just about everything there except for a steering box and shocks. I imagine you did it all recently, so I'm wondering what the cost was of what I see there.

[Scamp]

Hey Bill,

I'm going to assume that you are asking about the powder coating?

That lot was about $90.  I blasted and derusted (electrolytically) and masked all of the parts.

Bud

[west]

that would cost at least $200 around here.
looks good

[MyCreation68]

geez I remember when I phoned the only local place and they said they wanted 1200 just for the front k member.

[abodyjoe]

looks great man.

[NYrr496]

About ten years ago, I got a K member done on Long Island for 75 dollars.  That included me sandblasting it.

You stuff looks good. 90 bucks is a steal.

[Scamp]

Sounds like if fuel hadn't gotten so expensive I could go into business as a middle man.

For $1200 I would build an oven and do it myself!!!  (I DID think about it) 

I have about $500-$600 total in PC
All suspension components (F&R) that don't have zerks.
8 -3/4 housing
All front end trim
Bumpers and all brackets & bolts (new SS)
Front Fenders including inner panels
All Rear Brake parts for 11 & 10 drums (except drums of course) (2 complete sets).
Front disc brackets for 10.87 & 11.75 setups
Every small part I could gather up!
Also included were a lot of parts for my Son's Charger (See pics. I stripped and blasted & painted the Engine compartment and re-did the engine)

For those that are interested Powder Coating Inc. ask for Jim Sanders and tell him that Keith sent you.

Contact Information (from their website)
Telephone
1-877-683-5550
FAX
425-349-5735
Postal Address
11324 Mukilteo Speedway Suite 7 Mukilteo, WA 98275
 
Electronic Mail
General Information:
Sales@powdercoatinginc.com

From the Blue Book
Powder Coating Inc.
11324 Mukilteo Speedway Ste 7
Mukilteo, WA , 98275-5440 
Phone: 425-743-4393
FAX: 425-349-5735
Website: www.powdercoatinginc.com

Products Description:
Applies dry powder coating to metal finished products Painting services, Web coating services, Plating services, Electro coating services, Dipping services, Wrapping services, Welding and brazing and soldering services, Machining and processing services, Machining services, Forming services, Heat treatment services

[west]

got pics of the powder coated fenders?

[bigtimeauto]

Bill it cost me $125.00 to get your front end powder coated.

[CudaDon65]

Wow!! that looks great. Keep up the good work.

[Scamp]

Sorry.  I looked through all of my pics of the SCAMP (over 1000!)
No fender pics that haven't been posted.

[dangerdawg]

looking good.

[rokketride]

Tell us about that strut rod

[Scamp]

Here are a couple of the inside showing the powder coat as I was making the rubber gaskets

Scamp

[Scamp]

Damn, I had this written once but I lost it because of over sized pics!!

I was wondering how long it would be before someone asked about those! 
It's all my design and original as far as I know
Howe racing ball joint sockets
Howe Racing rebuildable ball joints, dissambled and machined to screw into the aluminum tube and then pinned
15/16" HD Alum Tube, custom machined each end
Custom CNC ends @ LCA
(When I found out how much it would be for 2 I had him do 10!!) (Yes I still have the others)
The hardest part was figuring out how to open the K up for the ball joint sockets (see pic)
Others have adjustable now but they weren't available when I made mine

Scamp

[Daniel]

On powder coating if you clean up before you take it in you should save a good chunk of money. Some  of the shops charge much more for the cleaning then the actual powder coating.

[smitty72]

stuff looks real nice, wanna finish mine?

[Bugsy]

Nice! That is pretty close to what I was looking at. The biggest difference is that I put a 7° taper on the socket of the rod to receive the ball joint stud, rather than machining the stud. This makes the stud an off the shelf replaceable item. Also, (and I know I'll hear much about this) move the ball socket forward. That is a problem (in my opinion) with the Heim joint designs commercially available. The ones that I have seen place the heim joint aft of the original pivot point, shortening the strut rod arc. This pulls the lower ball joint forward on suspension travel and introducing stress on other components and alters the geometry.
The way I have looked at the suspension, the strut rod is the forward arm of an A frame, and the socket needs to be in line with the lower control arm pivot. Moving it forward or aft (from directly in line with the lower control arm pivot) changes the length of the arm, forcing the lower ball joint fore and aft on suspension travel.
   The rubber grommets used from the factory were inexpensive to produce, and had a long life in comparison to spherical bearings. They also insulate the passengers from noise and vibration. But they introduce resistance to the travel of the suspension, something that should be handled by the springs (torsion bars), and allow some fore and aft movement of the lower ball joint. Poly bushings reduce the fore and aft movement of the ball joint, provide some insulation from noise and vibration, but exasperate the resistance problem.
   Spherical bearings (including ball joints) do not provide much insulation from noise and vibration, but locate the suspension more accurately. Life expectancy is problematic as well, but these serviceable ball joints directly address that situation. I have been concerned though, about the axial loading capacity of this application, particularly under hard braking conditions.
   This is taking the suspension to extreme, but that is my intention. Some will tell me to just put in an Altercation suspension. I do not consider that an option. One of the reasons the mopars appeal to me is the suspension design. The torsion bars were unique to mopars, and while they present problems for clearance issues, it is a good design. Elements of it can be improved; particularly when economic factors that were involved in the manufacture of components make more elegant solutions possible.
Every vehicle is a compromise. My hobby allows me chose where to make that compromise. I am delighted to see the solutions that others have arrived at.

[Scamp]

Nice analysis, and pretty much what I went through.

As near as I could measure the pivot on the BJ pivot is almost exactly at the same location as the factory bushings.  The BJ I used are nothing like the factory (or chinese!!) units that you can buy for $20.  These are very heavy duty and I think as long as you don't let them pound or run them dry they will last a long time.  My CNC guy convinced me that taking the taper out allowed a better fit and pinning the BJ shaft to the strut rod.  My guess (& hope) is that it will last as long as the factory BJ.  I believe that it get's "exercised" less than the BJs on the upper and lower control arms.

Scamp

I do still have some of the CNC "bolts" that screw to the strut rods and into the LCA if anyone is interested.

[Bugsy]

I agree with you, they should work great! I used the Howe ball joints as well. I’m using tubular upper control arms, and replaced the uppers with the Howe joints there too, because of the lower friction and higher quality. I had to make some assumptions (read guesses) when calculating the stress they would see in the strut rods. What I arrived at leads me to believe that they are quite a bit stronger than the forces that they will experience, but I always have misgivings about things when I’m forced to guess.  I built mine the same way but used 1.25 DOM instead of aluminum shafts (aluminum looks much better and probably reduces the unsprung weight). The ones you made up look exceptionally nice, and I must congratulate you on the fine workmanship you have displayed on your car. I can only hope mine turns out as well.
By the way, do I understand correctly that you had your inner fenders powder coated? If so, how did you attach them at the firewall? I have removed mine and they will be replaced with .062” aluminum, but I haven’t come to any conclusions on a good way to attach them there. 

[Scamp]

I think I screwed up with "inner fenders".  The parts I had PC are the "shields" that mount between the fenders and the body towards the rear of the fenders behind the wheels/tires.  The actual inner fenders appear to be a part of the structure so I just painted/undercoated the outside when I had the fenders PC.

I think that the strut rods must take a pretty good whack in tension when you hit a bump. That means that they take a shock load in tension.  Your 1.25 DOM (wall thickness?) sounds pretty stout.  Assuming that your atytachments are more than strong enough the issue then becomes tensile strength.  Just compare the factory yield (1/2" Cold high strength steel) to yours.  You can find the specs and calculation methods on the web.

I also used Howe BJ on the UCA.

Thanks for the knid words.

Now if I only had an engine to suit the rest!  It looks like I wiped my CAM!! Hughes not MP. 
So look for a nice long tear filled post asking for good advice on how to proceed.
I have 2-400 blocks on hand as sewt on new Manley H beam rods and a stock 440 crank so???
BTW Anyone who is willing to recommend a GOOD machine shop in the Western Washington area?

Scamp