[MOC] 1968 Dodge Charger

[nicjasno]

So, i have decided to make/finish a model after quite a while.

It's my favorite car ofc. The classic 1968 dodge charger. The goal here is to use just unmodfied lego pieces, so that at the end instructions can be made and people can build their own.

It'll have many functions:

- Adjustable front torsion bar double wishbone suspension with semi realistic geaometry (scale and wheels don't permit it to be fully realised)
- Leaf sprung live axle in the rear
- Anti roll bars in the front and rear
- Unibody construction
- HoG steering and working steering in the interior
- 3 speed gearbox and fake v8
- Trunk lock and spring supported trunk lid
- Door locks
- Hood lock and spring supported hood
- Openable blinds for front headlights
- Adjustable seats
- Other

You can follow the streams on my youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/c/nicjasno/videos
 

Here's some pics:

Edited December 3, 2020 by nicjasno

[Parazels]

How does the steering system work?

I do not understand.

[nicjasno]

It's called paralelogram steering and is used in the 68 charger. The pitman arm links are weirldy shaped because of the size constraints of our scale.

This is how it looks in the original charger:

Some interior shots:

Engine bay:

Edited August 30, 2020 by nicjasno

[amorti]

Wow. Just wow...

[1gor]

I see nice rear leaf springs suspension buddy. It brings me back some 15 years... I was wondering what happened to your interest in muscle cars.

Panels and frames usage is what I really like in this build.

Regards

[chlego]

I don't get the way the rear suspension works. 

Otherwise, great MOC, the way the panels shape up is kinda cool.

[amorti]

7 minutes ago, chlego said:

I don't get the way the rear suspension works. 

Otherwise, great MOC, the way the panels shape up is kinda cool.

Those long plates are used as leaf springs. They flex, which allows the wheels to rise and fall.

I'm nearly there with decoding the front suspension. What do the 9L steering links do?

[Parazels]

15 minutes ago, amorti said:

Those long plates are used as leaf springs. They flex, which allows the wheels to rise and fall.

They are kinda flex, but they are not supposed to be used as flex parts.

So it's illegal technics.

Also your steering solution doesn't inspire confidence.

[nicjasno]

40 minutes ago, amorti said:

Those long plates are used as leaf springs. They flex, which allows the wheels to rise and fall.

I'm nearly there with decoding the front suspension. What do the 9L steering links do?

They are tension rods, basically like in the real car they prevent the lower suspension link to move in the lateral direction.

 

20 minutes ago, Parazels said:

They are kinda flex, but they are not supposed to be used as flex parts.

So it's illegal technics.

Also your steering solution doesn't inspire confidence.

The steering works flawlesly. I would not use it if it didn't.

The front torsion bar is illegal in this regard aswell, because it uses the torsion of the lego axles to provide the spring force. But no bricks have or will be modified.

And by this extent.... the anti-roll bars are also illegal, because they too use the axle torsion to do their job. But that's how it works in real life.

Edited August 30, 2020 by nicjasno

[nerdsforprez]

No worries about the "illegal" stuff.  I have followed your work for years (lots of "illegal" stuff) and enjoy it very much.  Any member work their salt knows this about you and that you are well aware of legal vs. "illegal" stuff. Just a matter of personal taste - that's all.  Keep up the good work, I am interested in seeing the final product. 

[Lipko]

It is a very exciting build, as your others, but I'm happy that you don't use modified parts this time. This model shows (or will show) also, that in the scale of the UCS cars, it's possible to make realistic chassis and other geometry. This will be a very educative model.

(though I wonder how durable the 8-teeth gears will be in the front suspension setup)

[nicjasno]

9 minutes ago, Lipko said:

It is a very exciting build, as your others, but I'm happy that you don't use modified parts this time. This model shows (or will show) also, that in the scale of the UCS cars, it's possible to make realistic chassis and other geometry. This will be a very educative model.

(though I wonder how durable the 8-teeth gears will be in the front suspension setup)

They are fine. No distortion. main reason for this is, because they are basically stationary once the suspension height is adjusted and they are not under as much stress as you might think.

[TeamThrifty]

I love that the first 3 points were related to realistic suspension - its an continual gripe of mine that 99% of mocers ignore such an important and interesting feature! You good Sir have just won the forum!! Awesome to see!!! Thank you 

(rest of it pretty good too )

(thats sarcasm by the way.... )

 

[nicjasno]

Door locks working:

[chlego]

2 hours ago, amorti said:

Those long plates are used as leaf springs. They flex, which allows the wheels to rise and fall.

I'm nearly there with decoding the front suspension. What do the 9L steering links do?

That's kinda 'illegal' technic, but anyway.

Thanks for the answer tho.

[amorti]

2 hours ago, nicjasno said:

They are tension rods, basically like in the real car they prevent the lower suspension link to move in the lateral direction.

Got it, because otherwise the torsion bar can flex in the middle causing toe out.

Your stuff is inspirational @nicjasno, and it'd be great if Lego would take some lessons from you. Sadly as the comments here show, many Technic builders are as/more interested in the use of panels, as the use of Technic.

btw, I'm happy you make this one without any scissors, but other than that I couldn't care less about legal or illegal use of a brick - especially not when the results are so good.

Edited August 30, 2020 by amorti

[deraven]

So many features, and I like that you're staying true to the solutions used in the real thing rather than just a "standard" Lego technique.  And those are some tough curves to capture, but you've done a great job of it.  Just lovely to see!   

[Gray Gear]

Intresting Build. I like the way you shaped the body of the car using these "seat" panels. Looks very smooth. The real roof pillar needs to be reworked tho, those stacked liftarms really dont look good.

While I respect you went out of your way to create the suspension setup of the real car, I still cringe inside when I see bricks getting bent or twisted 

Most of you seem to forget that while these wheels make it a lot easier to make a "realistic" suspension arm setup than the 1:8 Supercar wheels, they have a terrible pivot point for the steering wheels. A pivot point that isn't even inside the width of the wheels is very unrealistic and bad for steering. You always have to make some compromises, It just depends what the builder thinks is important.

 

Can't wait for the flip-up headlights, coolest thing about the whole car imo 

Edited August 30, 2020 by Gray Gear

[nicjasno]

40 minutes ago, Gray Gear said:

Most of you seem to forget that while these wheels make it a lot easier to make a "realistic" suspension arm setup than the 1:8 Supercar wheels, they have a terrible pivot point for the steering wheels. A pivot point that isn't even inside the width of the wheels is very unrealistic and bad for steering. You always have to make some compromises, It just depends what the builder thinks is important.
 

That's why it has a kingpin inclination, so that the pivot is inside the wheel still. Supercar wheels should make it easier to make realistic suspension. The porsche gt3 should really have had a macpherson front.

Mockup of the rear:

Edited August 30, 2020 by nicjasno

[nicjasno]

1 hour ago, Gray Gear said:

Intresting Build. I like the way you shaped the body of the car using these "seat" panels. Looks very smooth. The real roof pillar needs to be reworked tho, those stacked liftarms really dont look good.

The c pillar is a load bearing member of the chasis. It amakes evrything very stiff.

[astyanax]

My exact train of thought when I opened this topic:

"Hey that looks so coo- HOLY COW THAT'S A LOT OF 24116 PANELS"

[2GodBDGlory]

I quite like this model!

It is very unconventional, unlike the usual 1:8-independent suspension-piston engine-steering-RC-opening parts-pretty interior-pretty exterior cars we see these days. It has plenty of technical appeal, and uses interesting techniques to model the real car's body. I do prefer the '70 Charger to the '68 though, mostly because of the taillights.

[nicjasno]

43 minutes ago, 2GodBDGlory said:

I I do prefer the '70 Charger to the '68 though, mostly because of the taillights.

I prefer the 68 rear end and 70 front end. :P

[LvdH]

Looking really nice! I love the technique used for the sides. I’ve never seen them with a curve using soft axles. I will follow this project for sure.

Although I do agree the C pillars look cluttered. 

[brickless_kiwi]

14 hours ago, Parazels said:

How does the steering system work?

I do not understand.

You think that's bad wait till you build a double woop scissor front end....in real life...