The idea for the Magnum was to bring out the existing uniqueness and character of this LX platform by keeping color count to the original Inferno Red and flat/semi-gloss black.

UPDATE: Magnum is now Viper Venom Red (see more pics and brand new mods below). Here's a comparison; Inferno Red on the left and the new Venom Red on the right: 

I like the look of a sleeper, so the Magnum was de-badged – except for a Griffin (a gargole - known to protect it's owner's belongings with it's life) located where the front indented ram's emblem used to reside. The side trim was removed, windows darkened, all in an effort to cement that look like it means business but not Darth Vaderish. As for bling, it comes naturally with this vehicle. It now really looks like it means business. Adding external blingy trinkets are just that…trinkets. 

The wheels are 20” replicas of 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 pockets, and then machined the inner lands for readily available steel conical inserts. This worked perfectly, as now the Gorilla locking lug nuts engage metal-on-metal instead of aluminum. The center caps are machined aluminum spinners that I produced back-mounts for.

To deal with the 35mm 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 (~0.35”) between the sidewall and front steering knuckle.

Finally, the rims were painted titanium (2-stage) to complete the look of an impellor on jet engines. A departure from my efforts to stay with only two colors, but black or red would have looked weird. I tied them onto the vehicle by painting the lugnut pockets Inferno red and the faces of the spokes semi-gloss black to create the visual image they are actually thinner/lighter. This worked really well.

The next task was finding longer wheel studs. The back hubs were easy thanks to another LX Forums member. I found fronts designed for a 3-ton GMC truck were almost a direct drop-in (I actually had to shorten them to ~0.3"). Although 0.005” smaller diameter in the spline area, I half-mooned the pad (like the OEM units) to clear the hub bearing boss and pressed them into the front hubs without issue. What was really nice was removing 4 bolts and the hubs dropped into my hand without having to remove half the suspension. The longer wheel studs I employed are still the OEM thread structure (M14 x 1.5mm).

There are no clearance or turning radius binding issues or bottoming out, even though the rears are relatively wide 315-35-20's and 275-40-20's on the front. The point is that wheel designs that would normally be unusable due to their normal configuration suddenly become an option with the right machining.

The big brake package is from BAER; both front and rear utilize the Extreme S 6-piston mono-block calipers and 15" Eradispeed 2-piece rotors. The rear caliper's pistons are smaller, thereby creating a 66/34 bias to go with the Magnum's 51/49% weight distribution. There is no other brake package with more stopping power out there at the moment. Pad selection for the track is excellent (eg; EBC, Pagid, Hawk), and because both the front and the rears are the same configuration, they are interchangeable. This BAER system turns out to be less mass than the OEM system! 

The headlight assemblies were baked in an oven to soften the adhesive and facilitate lens removal. Certain parts of the silver/chrome bezels were carefully masked and painted semigloss black, the amber clearance lens area was reduced, then the headlight assemblies reassembled. The only shiny bits on the entire vehicle are the headlight bezels, and the wheel's center cones and bead lips. I shot both the taillight and headlight lens with 2-stage Inferno red so they blend better with the surrounding fascia.

It took me the better part of a weekend to install the ST (KW in poor disguise - same PN's) coilover suspension, the Hotchkiss anti-swaybars, Dropping the rear pumpkin/cradle assembly to R&R the rear swaybar and insert the new rear adjustable coil assemblies is the best way to do this.

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. Specific suspension bushings have been replaced with machined polyurethane pieces to reduce compliance. Drifting when negotiating on/off ramps has become predictable.

Some of the drivetrain upgrade highlights to date consist of Diablosport Predator with CMR tune files for street and track action (Johan at DS - the leader), 170 T-stat, Kooks longtubes and hi-flow CAT's, modified SRT 8 CAT-back (see article here: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=137457), AFE Stage II, DSS (CAN buss) disengagement, MOPAR TCM, Inertia stage II heads/Spartan cam, 25% underdrive dampner, modified 09' Eagle composite intake manifold (made to fit without port-matching spacers see article here: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=201388), and an 09' GETRAG 3.73:1 limited slip differential brings up the rear. 

I built a custom rear spoiler for the Magnum; the build process can be seen here: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=116998http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?p=1673618#post1673618

The Danko Direct Shaker System is one of the main focal points for most onlookers (the other is the wheels). I have it plumbed into the modified AFE II airbox. There is a second air intake from the bottom which feeds hi-pressure air from the lower/forward fascia area. The front drip rail on the shaker's lower pan was removed to allow it to sit properly over the AFE II intake system. It took me an afternoon to prep and paint the trim ring to match the hood, cut the hood, and fit the inner hood fascia.

When the new cylinder heads were installed, I tried anodizing the OEM cast aluminum valve covers. However it was likely not to work out due to the high silicon content. As expected, the results were terrible. But the process left a perfect substrate to paint them with Duplicolor's "Metalcast" translucent paint. They turned out great! The finish is actually heat-resistant. Go here for the details: http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=157189 

A number of parts under the hood, as well as a false firewall, have been treated to hydrographics; otherwise known as water-transfer printing. Go here to check out the amazing process: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=204447

As a result, no matter what angle, all the parts look like they are produced from 12K carbon fiber cloth. Rad cap etc are also painted with Metalcast red over a silver base.

The underood hoses and lines were covered in protective sleeving that resembles carbon fiber. See the article here: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=204761

Amongst many interior mods there is a 2-position gauge pod on the left “A” pillar which holds dual Aeroforce gauges. These two gauges are absolutely awesome! Everything I need to know about engine performance and diagnostics through the OBDII port can be displayed. Wideband O2 data from a Zeitronix system is actually fed into the Aeroforce gauges through one of the spare analog-in ports. That's right, the Zeitronix wideband output is being read through the Aeroforce gauge system. Eventually I'll use more of those analog I/P's to look at exhaust port temps.

The upper gauges 1st line displays wideband O2 constantly. On line 2 I can scroll through knock retard (LED alarm set to trigger at >1.5 degrees), actual spark, and P-ratio (these are but a few of the available parameters for the LX platform). In the lower gauges line 1 it automatically cycles between coolant temperature and oil pressure while line 2 cycles through IAT and transmission temperature. I could choose from "many" more parameters at any time. These two gauges keeps interior gauge clutter to a minimum. These gauges offer two-way communication; I can view DTC's and even turn the fans on while sitting in the staging lanes.

Part of the interior (upper area) trim is light beige in color, including the “A” pillars/headliner. I painted the right “A” pillar semi-gloss black to match the aftermarket gauge pod. Now when you look through the front windshield from outside the vehicle, there is continuity of color and the "A" pillars are no longer visible. I installed real Japanese cherrywood, mostly along the center console area. The Aeroforce bezels, as well as the main instrument bezel and steering wheel controls were painted first with Duplicolor's Metalcast red, then dusted with "Smoke" to blend in with the wood veneer.

The gauge cluster was recently changed to be black by day and cockpit green by night. It now matches the Aeroforce gauges mounted on the A-pillar.

                           Day                                                                        Night

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 and smoothes the overall appearance. The lower grille openings have also been cut out and custom grillework installed. Shaving the rear liftgate (wiper and lift handle) has cleaned up and simplified the rear view. After scuffing, I painted the chrome Porsche 993 exhaust tips with Duplicolor Metalcast's "Smoke" to match the wheels. The shape of these tips match the rear fascia cut-outs perfectly.

I finally found a pair of sideview mirrors I liked, between them and a donor set of OEM mirrors I mated the bases from the OEM mirrors to the new aftermarket mirrors and molded them in. In my opinion the stock sideview mirrors stick out like dogs b****. Go here to see how I did it: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=159217

Although hard to see in the pics, all the signal/clearance lights have been replaced with hi-performance LED's. Not only are they safer (reach full brightness in milliseconds and are significantly brighter), but when off the bulb lens are water-clear. Go here to get PN's: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=119356

Here are a couple of video clips of the modified OEM SRT 8 CAT-back exhaust system (turn your sound up):

http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z142/Moebius44/?action=view¤t=SRTmodExhaut1.flv

http://s193.photobucket.com/albums/z142/Moebius44/?action=view¤t=Underground.flv

September/2010 update:

Due to hail damage, the Magnum was re-skinned, and that set up the perfect conditions for a color change to Viper Venom Red. This 08'-09' only model year color is darker, has two (red) pearls and way more flake action with two different colors (green & red) which I think suits the Magnum much better. 

Walter Lehman and his staff at Continental (Germans - their bread & butter are Mercedes/Ferrarri/Lamborghini/etc) did an exceptional job. It's been blocked by yours truly, a color-matched sealer was applied, then water-born Spies-Hecker was laid down. The glass-like clearcoat has to be seen to be believed:

I finished the functional rear diffuser, and modified the new front bumper cover's lower grille openings and added matching extruded aluminum vertical grille material. The tail lights were changed again, this time they match the modified headlights:

Here's the thread showing how I fashioned a functional rear diffuser for the Magnum: http://www.lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=232863

Still trying to find the right light to show the new color. I think I need a better digital camera actually. I'll keep trying though, thanks for look'in...

Spring/2011 update;

Over the winter I sandblasted the wheels, straightened the minor ovalities from our terrible roads, then powdercoated them. GO here to learn how to do this yourself: http://www.lxforums.com/board/f116/diy-wheel-straightening-color-change-255256/

I added a thin red line along the lip that matches the Viper venom Red (the spoked versions you see are the winter wheels - Factory Reproductions):

Summer/2011 update;

Road course action has been a lot of fun! Hard to beat the feeling when staying with much more expensive marques into/through the corners, then passing them on a straight-away with a 4000lb station wagon :^)

The huge 15" BAER brakes on all four corners are excellent; after switching to a more aggressive front pad the brake bias/balance was altered enough that I elliminated the tendancy for the back end to get loose on corner-entry.

Engine braking when entering a corner from high speed has been greatly enhanced by modifying the tune (thanks to Johan at Diablosport) to allow instant closure of the throttle blade followed quickly by fuel cut-off (the throttle bodies on these vehicles are electronically actuated). The lack of engine braking became really noticeable when getting into a real track car. During deceleration the Magnum now reacts similar to a carburated car. Go here to learn more: http://www.lxforums.com/board/f252/off-throttle-fuel-cut-off-prior-corner-entry-277013/  

The switch to Pirelli 275/40 and 295/35 P-Zero's has resulted in significantly more dry pavement grip. They in fact stick better than SP2's with slightly more feedback under all driving conditions, but are predictably wearing out faster... 

                   Thee        end...