SEMA Behind the Scenes - RINGBROTHERS "TUSK"

Ring Brothers Unveils Stunning 1969 Charger with "Hellephant" Engine

Ring Brothers, the renowned automotive innovators, are back in the spotlight with their latest masterpiece, a meticulously crafted 1969 Charger. This stunning vehicle redefines subtlety, leaving anything less than stock in its dust.

At the heart of this beast is the formidable 1000hp "Hellephant" crate engine, guaranteeing that this Charger is anything but sluggish. The engine bay boasts a masterful custom design while maintaining an OEM appearance that seamlessly aligns with the stock crate engine. The result is a clean, reliable powerhouse that could easily be mistaken for a creation straight out of Dodge's own factory.

The front grille is a true work of art, milled from a single piece of aluminum weighing in at over 500 lbs. Ring Brothers developed custom jigs to secure this massive component during the multi-step machining process.

Numerous modifications have been applied to seamlessly integrate the bumpers with the body. Additionally, a full custom Roadster Shop chassis has been employed, with a modified wheelbase for improved body alignment and enhanced weight distribution.

The custom-finished Anodized gold wheels perfectly complement the billet machined hood vents, which have been coated by HRE to ensure a harmonious blend of colors and textures. Customized fenders feature reverse vents machined from billet aluminum, paint-matched to achieve a polished, clean appearance. Behind the striking HRE wheels, you'll find the powerful Gold BAER Brakes.

The interior exudes the same understated elegance as the exterior, showcasing tasteful elements and upgrades like a carbon fiber rearview mirror and restomod enhancements.

This car was painted months before we started this project, and Mike Ring and the guys had done the initial cut and polish where they started with 600 grit and slowly flattened the surface and refined down to 3000/5000 grit. After the paint had a bit to sit, shrink, and cure, we jumped in for a 3 day session to prepare for its debut at SEMA 2023

The first thing we did was tape off all the non painted panels to avoid any accidental contact with sandpaper and began to evalute the surface. WHile there was some random random isolated scratches that were not polished out, this paint looked really good to start with.

Dave decided to tackls a couple of panels with some shrinkage with P1000 and refined to 5k. The rest of the vehicle was sanded with 5k Trizact to make the cutting process easier and more complete. This helped refine any of the fine defects from sitting arounf and give us a clean slate to make sure and sanding marks were not missed.

After everything was sanded, we cut the entire vehicle with a Rotary polisher.

Large panels received the Oberk Thundercut Silk Wool pad paired with Oberk. Cut.

All the edgework was done with a knitted wool style pad. We have been prototype testing a knitted wool pad for almost a year now with great results. We used some Rupes Yellow Wool as well as Lake Country Low Lint wool as well to continue to dial in how we want the pad to perform. Both Pads are excellent, but differentiate themselves in different ways. The Low Lint wool pad is more aggressive, but the Rupes Yellow wool offers a more refined edge, finish and cleanliness. We hopw to have this pad dialed in for Release sometime in 2024.

The rotary allowed us to have the best control to polish edges out without the risk of damaging the edgework. After everythign was cut, we refined the paint down with the Oberk microfiber cutting pad and Oberk Sole.

After the second step was done, we completely finished down the paint with Oberk Polish. The paint looked almost perfect after the sole step, but we wanted to make sure any of the contours were finished down. Many times if the pad is tilted, andgled or masaged into areas, the edge of the pad may leave light hazing not present on a flat surface. The red pad worked great to work those curved areas and create a deep wet finish.

We have a ton more video that photography :)

Stay tuned for an exciting YouTube VLOG, where we detail this incredible car along with two other remarkable Ring Brothers creations on display at SEMA 2023. As always, our talented friends played a crucial role in bringing this project to life: