Slideshow: 1968 Charger Become Diesel 4x4

Straight from the small screen

For the final episode of the third season of Vegas Rat Rods, the folks at WelderUp took a classic American star and turned it on its head. WelderUp owner Steve Darnell came across the Charger at a salvage yard having been the victim of an ill-pursued project car. The previous owner had taken the iconic muscle car and hacked up the wheel openings along with cutting away swaths of the roof for a T-Top. When faced with another Charger at the salvage yard that Steve could have gone with he made a crucial decision. “There was another Charger there that was a little more complete, but the fender flares and t-tops added character.”

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Everybody loves a comeback story

Looking at all of the things missing from the Charger, Steve thought to himself about how the car could be restored and what direction the project would take. So, rather than attempt to put the car back to its former glory, Steve had the car moved to his Las Vegas shop where WelderUp could shake things up. The first order of business was stripping the exterior bare where the past history of the car's life, dents and all, were laid naked to the world. The panels were massaged back into shape and Steve filled any offending holes in the chassis with some silicon bronze welding rod. Then to make things more interesting, Steve drilled the body with more than 200 rivets which were all welded from the back side. 

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Quite the makeover

The Charger needed big tires, a big suspension, and significant reinforcement for the unibody. A full frame was fabricated using a 2x3 inch 0.120-wall steel tubing. A cage ties into the frame both in the engine bay and the cab. The cage in the engine bay completely encases the engine and provides an upper mounting location for King coilovers and triple bypass shocks. Those coilovers are attached to a Dana 60 front axle and a Dana 70 rear axle, which are in turn mounted to the chassis by way of a four-link suspension and giant helm joints. 

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Two of almost everything

A 5.9L Cummins 6BT was installed and served as the basis for a powerful performance build. The long block uses a P7100 injection pump that draws from a FASS fuel system. Steve and WelderUp fabricator Merlin Johnson mocked up three or four concepts for an intake manifold before settling on the dual 6-71 supercharger "birdhouse" manifold. The twin superchargers gave the WelderUp crew the symmetry they were looking for with the engine. The turbos are sort of symmetrical as two Phatshaft turbos from Industrial Injection spool with three cylinders worth of pressure. 

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One man's trash can be magical

Like all of Steve's projects, the goal of the Charger was to inspire those who see it that you can make something unique and fun from things that others consider garbage. With the right folks, the right parts, and gobs of imagination there is no limit to the wondrous vehicles that can be put to pavement. 

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