The idea was to bring out the existing character of the vehicle by keeping color count to the original Inferno Red and flat/semi-gloss black.

I like the look of a sleeper, always have. No badges – except for the Griffin (a gargole - known to protect it's owner's belongings with it's life) where the front indented ram's emblem resided, trim removed, windows darker, all in an effort to cement that look like it means business but not Darth Vaderish. As for bling, it comes naturally if it looks like it means all business. Added trinkets are just that…trinkets.

The wheels are 20” x 9.5” copies of what is on the Mercedes-McLaren SLR. What appeals to me is they look similar to the impellor on jet engines, and since my other hobby is performance aircraft these tied in nicely. Problem was the bolt pattern was on 112mm centers for Mercedes platforms with a 35mm offset. I started by machining the on-centers out to 115mm by simply enlarging/offsetting the existing stud holes, and then machined the inner lands for readily available steel conical inserts. This worked beautifully, as now the Gorilla locking lug nuts engage metal-on-metal instead of metal-on-aluminum (never a good thing – aluminum galls). The center caps are machined aluminum spinners that I made back-mounts for. One observer stated they reminded him of a Roman chariot the way they protrude (only ~.05”). For me they represent the center cone on a jet engine.

To deal with the significant offset issue, I machined 0.75” hub-centric spacers for the front to clear the steering knuckle and 0.50” for the rear. This gave me adequate clearance (~0.3”) between the sidewall and steering knuckle. Not absolutely required by any means, but large diameter/width wheels that need to utilize spacers do benefit from being keyed and is added insurance under heavy cornering loads at the track.

Finally, the rims were painted titanium (2-stage) to complete the look of an impellor on a jet engine.

The next concern was finding longer wheel studs. The backs were easy thanks to another LX member. The fronts fit a 3-ton GMC truck. Although 0.005” smaller diameter in the spline area, I half-mooned the mounting pad and pressed them into the front hubs without issue. What was really nice was the ability to remove the hubs without removing half the suspension with them. In fact the rear self-contained hubs fell into my hand after removing 4 #55 TORX bolts. The longer wheel studs I employed are still the OEM thread structure (M14 x 1.5mm).

There is no clearance or turning radius issues, or bottoming out even though I am running rather large 275-35-20 Falken FK452’s both front and rear (for interchangeability). Breaking them loose once they are warmed up is, uh, difficult. The point is that wheel designs that would normally be unusable due to their normal configuration suddenly become an option with the right machining.

It took me a weekend to install the ST (KW in poor disguise) coilover suspension, the Hotchkiss anti-swaybars, StopTECH Pro drilled/slotted rotors, StopTECH stainless braided brakelines, bead-blast the caliper assemblies and shoot them with black 2-part epoxy to help dissipate heat. It went well; the biggest job was dropping the rear pumpkin/cradle assembly to R&R the rear swaybar and insert the new rear coils. I can’t imagine anyone using coil compressors, dropping the rear would be definitely easier I suggest.

I elected to set the rear coil adjustment to 0.2” and the fronts to 1.2” of exposed thread structure. These measurements represent the “A” dimensions as seen in the installation instructions (note: lower numbers means a lower drop). The result was precisely the look I was after, that being a grand touring stance.

I am still tweaking the toe-in/camber to get to somewhere I recognize on the track (better turn-in after entry). For a car with this much mass, it handles surprisingly well. Drifting when negotiating on/off ramps has become predictable. Brake pedal response/feedback is significantly better with the braided brake lines.

Drivetrain upgrades to date consist of Superchips (an excellent device), Diablosport (still working out the bugs), 170 T-stat, Corsa (excellent sound to my ears – an F430 driver the other day said it is a cross between a gnarly V-8 and a Ferrari V-12), AFE Stage II, DSS (CAN buss) disengagement, SRT8 NAG1 TSB firmware update, and Taylor Vertex shorties/07 coils. Kooks headers and hi-flow CAT’s are waiting to be installed when a decision is made regarding which aftermarket cylinder heads to install. Header installation goes from a 6Hr job (from underneath) to only 10min (through the top) with the heads off. This operation, and a cam, should occur in the next few weeks.

The Danko Direct Shaker System is probably the focal point for most observers. I have it plumbed into the AFE airbox. I needed to cut off the front drip rail on the shaker lower pan to allow it to sit properly over the AFE intake. It took me an afternoon to prep and paint the trim ring to match the car, cut the hood, and fit the inner hood fascia.

On the interior a 2-position gauge pod on the left “A” pillar holds water temperature and a wideband O2. The interior trim is light beige in color on the “A” pillars/headliner, so I painted the right “A” pillar semi-gloss black to match the gauge pod. Now when you look through the front windshield from outside the vehicle, there is continuity of color and no more "a" pillars that stand out like sore thumbs.

The headlight assemblies were baked and the lens removed. Parts of the silver/chrome interior were carefully masked and painted semigloss black, then reassembled. The only shiny bits on the entire vehicle are the headlight bezels, the center cones, the lips on the rims, and the Corsa exhaust tips.

I'm really happy with the two-piece front grille, it significantly moves away from the OEM cross-hair grilles seen on every Dodge vehicle. Shaving the rear hatch (wiper and lift latch), finish molding a new rear wing (extended lip), and building a functional rear (lower) diffuser over the winter (similar to the Viper/Ford GT), and smaller side mirrors, I'm sorta coming to the conclusion that's it for exterior mods. Then engine/drivetrain will come under full scrutiny.