Front suspension custom built on Petty jigs
During our trip to North Carolina, we met great people from NASCAR past and present. Among those is Billy Biscoe. Billy was on Richard Petty's pit crew, a builder at Petty Enterprises and crew chief for Hershel McGriff, with the Almost Heaven WV Charger in 1974.
Nowadays, Billy restores vintage NASCAR race cars. When Petty switched to GM cars, Billy was able to buy the Mopar front suspension templates. He used those for years to build A-arms, wishbones, steering rods and steering boxes for all Chargers and Roadrunners that Petty Enterprises assembled in the seventies. Thanks to his experience and these tools, we will be able to have Billy build us brand new and historically correct front suspension parts for the Oly Express Charger! If you'd like to have such parts built for your Charger restoration, please leave a comment below and we will get in touch with you.
I own a 72 Charger and want that stock car look. Can you help???
Posted by: sean duffy | March 19, 2007 at 02:23 AM
Sean,
that is a great idea and much better than doing a drag car. Two aspects are most important for the right NASCAR look: front wheel openings and getting low to the ground! Browse through the archives of this blog to find helpfull hints.
Posted by: Christophe | March 19, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Sean,
It is quite easy to drop the front end of your Charger simply by adjusting the torsion bar bolts located just behind the lower control arms, however the rear end would need a little more work. If you have stock leaf springs in the car now they will keep you at standard ride height. You will need to find some softer leaf springs and install them, that will drop the rear of the car down a bit. Next look at your shocks, make sure you don't bottom out if you hit a good bump in the road, but soften them up a bit too. You will want a weaker bounch or a shorter shock, that also will help the car to set lower. After you have all of the rear done, then adjust your torsion bars down on the front end so the car is level.
You will probably have to radius the front wheel wells so the front tires will clear the sheet metal. This should be done at a shop with the right equipment, it is not easy to get that radius right if you try to do it by hand. It can be done, but it doesn't finish very well. Best to cut it out with a body hammer/chisel then turn the first 1/2 inch or so back under to create a rounded edge. Therefore mark your fender where you want it then add 1/2 inch to your cut and make your line to follow, cut on your line, then turn under the 1/2 inch. If you don't get quite enough flare you need simply get a baseball bat or something like that, place it at the rear of the front tire just under the beginning of the fender and roll the car forward putting pressure on the end of the bat, this will flare the fender a bit and create greater clearance for the tire. But be careful, if you have a nice paint job on your car this is not necessarily the best thing to do ! We used to do it in the pit if we brushed the wall or somebody got in to us on the track, just enough to get us by until we could get it fixed or replaced.
Hope that helps, good luck. You'll have to post a photo of your Charger when you get it where you want it.
Dick
Posted by: Dick Pierson | March 19, 2007 at 02:38 PM
I've been looking @ your Charger for quite some time..i need to talk with Bill Biscoe about doing the front suspension on a '71 Charger..would you please let me know how i might get in touch with him...Thank You
Posted by: Roger Maddox | August 03, 2007 at 03:53 AM
Sure. I'll send you an e-mail with his contact info.
What type of 1971 Charger do you have?
Posted by: Christophe | August 03, 2007 at 01:50 PM
You can get in touch with Billy at 336-859-3250
His shop, BOVAR'S, is located in Denton, NC.
Posted by: Christophe | August 04, 2007 at 06:43 PM
Hey thanks for the tip! Unfortunately I have fiberglass fenders. But the baseball bat is a fantastic idea. I'm one for old school, you get the vintage results. Kids now don't understand that. I will lower the car and strip the interior to get the nascar look. Plus build the cage. No one on the street has that look. I'm one for doing different things. My project stalled but now I can get back into it.
Posted by: sean duff | August 11, 2007 at 11:19 PM
Sean,
where did you get these fiberglass fenders for your 1972 Charger ? Do you have an idea how much lighter they are that the original steel fenders ?
Posted by: Christophe | August 12, 2007 at 10:20 AM
They were on the car when I bought it. They are not race weight, they are made from about 1/4" thick fiberglass. I figure they are at least half the weight of steel. I have a steel hood with a 6 pak scoop but I want to swap it out for a fiberglass hood with the same scoop. I feel I lost support with the glass fenders but at least I don't have any rot.
Posted by: sean duff | August 14, 2007 at 03:12 AM
I would like to find out more about the custom A-Arms, I am building a copy of the K@K 71 Daytona Charger I have copied a Ray Niclels Chassis and could use some help on the caster of the Pettys A-arms.
Posted by: CRAIG ADAMA | February 11, 2008 at 07:48 AM
Craig,
the caster depends a lot on what type of track you'll be running. If you plan to mostly run your Charger on roadcourses or on the street 1° to 3° positive caster is fine. On a superspeedway, you can go for up to 7°. On a short track, you'll want negative caster on the left.
Posted by: Christophe | February 12, 2008 at 08:17 AM