General Description
I just finished up my '73 Challenger in April of '23. Or at least got it to the point it was ready for car show season.
Then while out on a joy ride, I was t-boned. The car is in the shop getting the the body work done.
While on the way to the shop, the car started dropping a cylinder. this along with several other nagging issues, had me evaluating whether to pull the 340 out and go through it or not. In doing the math for the cost of updating/Rebuilding the 340, I thought I would take a look at doing a Gen III hemi swap. I put in 3.73 rear gears when I did the car originally and it turns about 3,200 rpm on the highway at 70mph, so adding some form of OD was in the plan as well. I've decided on doing the swap and bought a '06 Charger donor car. The car had a new engine installed in April of '22 and then was subsequently wrecked. I picked up the whole car for $4K.
Then while out on a joy ride, I was t-boned. The car is in the shop getting the the body work done.
While on the way to the shop, the car started dropping a cylinder. this along with several other nagging issues, had me evaluating whether to pull the 340 out and go through it or not. In doing the math for the cost of updating/Rebuilding the 340, I thought I would take a look at doing a Gen III hemi swap. I put in 3.73 rear gears when I did the car originally and it turns about 3,200 rpm on the highway at 70mph, so adding some form of OD was in the plan as well. I've decided on doing the swap and bought a '06 Charger donor car. The car had a new engine installed in April of '22 and then was subsequently wrecked. I picked up the whole car for $4K.
Center Console finished
The Challenger had a B&M quarter stick shifter when I bought the car. I wasn't crazy about it, but it was in much better shape than the original stick. (all wore out). So I built a custom center console that integrated with the quarter stick. used Green LED lights to light up the cupholders and phone slot. Construction is MDF covered by Fiberglass, acrylic and paint. Now that I'm switching to the 8HP70 transmission, I'll probably have to modify it for the new shifter, but that should be fairly easy.
Custom Door Panels finished
The original door panels were in pretty bad shape on this car. Plus I didn't necessarily like the style, so I created my own. I used an ABS foundation and molded a custom shape out of 8 lb polyurethane foam. I covered the foam in fiberglass and then wrapped them in two different texture black vinyl's. The doors now incorporate late model door pulls that I lifted from a late model car, LED backlit speaker mounts, custom 3D printed speaker covers, custom door pulls. I also wanted power windows, so I modified the OEM window regulators to accept a late model electric motor. Pretty happy with the results. I did two different speaker mounts using the Fratzog design. Still debating on which one works best for the application.
Upgrade to QA-1 Upper Control Arms
I have been looking for a way to improve the drivability of the Challenger and after pouring over many of the articles published on this forum, it appears the answer was in significantly increasing the Castor angle. I played with the stock upper control arms and found out that the best I could get (caster wise) and still have some negative camber was about 1/2 degree positive Caster. So, after comparing options put forth on this forum (many thanks to those that published their efforts), I decided to try the QA-1 uppers.
After the install I was able to get about 5 degrees of positive caster with 3/4 degree negative Camber. Once i had these installed I had the car out for a drive. This was the first time since I've owned the car that the steering and drivability of the car was starting to get where I wanted it. This was a very cost effective solution.
Other mods:
After the install I was able to get about 5 degrees of positive caster with 3/4 degree negative Camber. Once i had these installed I had the car out for a drive. This was the first time since I've owned the car that the steering and drivability of the car was starting to get where I wanted it. This was a very cost effective solution.
Other mods:
- Steer and Gear rebuild on the factory box with the firm feel level package and RT limits built in.
- R/T longer Pitman arm
- Long Idler arm.
- 17" rims front and back. (17 X 8 front, 17 X 10 rear)
- Relocated the rear spring perches inboard 1" to accomodate 10" wide rims (made my own relocation brackets for the body and springs, used Dr. Diff spring perches for the rear axle)
- Modified the steering column to include a bearing at the end of the column.
Bodywork has begun
Photo of my car as it sits at the body shop. They started on it this week! Expect it to be done in 2-3 months.
8HP70 and 5.7L Hemi
All, I've been able to sell of a fair chunk of the 2006 Donor car I purchased and acquire an 8HP70 transmission along with all the OEM parts needed to do this swap. I've uploaded a few photos of the raw parts, prior to dressing them up just to document the build.
Rear Quarter Progress
Went to the restoration shop last week and took a photo or two of the car. The quarter is off and the restoration has begun. Next comes the trunk floor and new sheet metal.
Body Shop update - Trunk floor and trunk drops
Headed over to the body shop to see what progress has been going on. Trunk floor had been delivered and they were removing the floor. Going to get new trunk drops and outer wheel wells on both sides. I am thrilled as that will take care of all of the rear of the car issues.
