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'73 Charger Build Log

looks great!
how about going with the factory style exhaust tips? and some 15 inch silver road wheels?
 
Love the 3rd gen Chargers. It's coming together very nicely. Thanks for sharing.
 
looks great!
how about going with the factory style exhaust tips? and some 15 inch silver road wheels?

I found some 3-1/2" chrome tip on Summit Racing I like. I shorten them about 5 inches since taking these photos.

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Love the 3rd gen Chargers. It's coming together very nicely. Thanks for sharing.

Heck yeah! Third gen Chargers remain my favorite with '71 to 72 Road Runner/Satellite/GTX a close 2nd.

I had big plans for this car, but I think I might keep like I had it in high school with some minor modern upgrades.

My next project with either be a '78 Ram stepside, a white '71-72 GTX clone, or an all out race '73 Charger with a big 6-71 super charger through a fiberglass front clip. All black of course. And a little bit of gray aluminum. I found a no rust gutted '73 for two grand on Craigslist.

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Heck yeah! Third gen Chargers remain my favorite with '71 to 72 Road Runner/Satellite/GTX a close 2nd.

I had big plans for this car, but I think I might keep like I had it in high school with some minor modern upgrades.

My next project with either be a '78 Ram stepside, a white '71-72 GTX clone, or an all out race '73 Charger with a big 6-71 super charger through a fiberglass front clip. All black of course. And a little bit of gray aluminum. I found a no rust gutted '73 for two grand on Craigslist.

View attachment 501649

My vote goes for the 73 Race car! Anything helps to get these later 3rd gens more recognition. I do really think they're underappreciated!
 
The big list:
  • AC delete/Coolant fix
    • bolts
      • 4x 5/16 18 0.750"
      • 6x 3/8 16 0.750"
      • 4x 3/8 16 3.000"
      • 3x 3/8 16 3.500"
    • 47.5" belt
    • 42.0" belt
    • lower rad hose
    • water neck gasket
    • water pump gasket
    • throttle bracket
    • hose clamps
    • 2x 4-way spark plug wire separator
  • Hood
    • Fender side bumpers
    • Adjust hood hinges
    • Safety latch
    • strip, clean, & paint
  • Valve Covers
    • strip, clean, & paint
  • Windows
    • replace front windshield
    • tint windows - 20%
  • Tires and wheels
    • Rear
      • Wheels: 15x8 Ultra Sawblades
      • New Tires: 275/60R15
  • Intake upgrade
    • Holley Street Dominator
  • Safety
    • driveshaft loop
  • Interior
    • Seats
      • New covers
      • New foam
      • New rear panel
    • Right side rear sail panel
    • Screws Set
  • Suspension
    • Front
      • torsion bars
      • sway bar
      • drop spindles
    • Rear
      • leaf springs
      • sway bar
  • Chrome
    • front bumper
    • front bumperletts
    • rear bumper
    • rear bumperletts
  • 'Dodge' Hood emblem
 
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1000 miles / first oil change update

The car is running better than ever! It drives a like a new car. Well, an early '70s new car!

I finally got the timing set right. I just kept moving it up until it was happy at 16 degrees. I figure what the hell. The engine idles around 850 when in drive with enough vacuum to make the brakes work good now. There's no shakes at idle, less heat from the headers, the engine runs cooler, and the car accelerate like it should without stumbling. Gas mileage is around 12 mpg. One issue I had was the vacuum line to the distributor was loose. Putting a clamp on it really helped.

I did the alignment myself after being turned away three times from alignment shops. Jerks. Never taking any of my cars to any of those places again. Camber is set at 0.4 degrees and toe is 1/16 of an inch. The car pulls slightly to the left, but that helps with our humped roads down here. The front spoiler is no joke. The car really does handle better at 80+ than 60. My lawyers says not to talk too much about that. Oh, I added a 150 speedometer to the big list... um... for reasons. Anyone with a 150 mph speedometer and a factory tach, drop me a line.

The exhaust is awesome! Loud but deep. The drone is brutal at 1800 but eases out above 2k. Above 3k, I feel the exhaust in my lower back more than I hear it! Very cool.

The engine does create a lot of vibration when going down the highway thanks to the solid poly mounts. With the transmission in neutral with the engine at 70, there's no vibration. Rev is and the car shakes. I'm fine with this.

The Hurst V-Matic shifter is great. I left the cover off because I like the raw look. The cover makes the shifter look like something 'ol granddaddy put in grandma's '64 Dart. Yuck! One day there will be a manual shifter, but today, just bare rare steel.

I also added OEM style hood pins after seeing them at a car show. There's just something about slamming the hood and popping it just didn't jive with me. I left the safety latch, of course. I can quickly put the latch bracket back on the hood if I need to.

The sub-frame braces were was worth the time and effort. The 2x3" frames really does make the whole car many times stiffer. Way more than I ever remember it.

The suspension need the most amount of work. It handles better than a dump truck, but it need work. Drop spindles, torsion bars, rear spring, and sway bars are a must.

Air conditioning? Screw that.

I still get fuzzes, almost surreal feeling, when I think back that this car was a bucket of bolts and parts on the shelf 18 months ago.

Latest pics:

At work:
20171002_131857.jpg


No AC compressor failed. The lower crack pulley is too big. The ALT belt hit the water pump bolt. I need a 7" or smaller 3 grove pulley to make it work.
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Current state:
20171001_144126.jpg
 
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I need a 7" or smaller 3 grove pulley to make it work.

I have this 3 groove crank pulley that's 7" diameter with the outer groove being stepped down in diameter approximately by a 1/4".

Does this look like something you need?

Thanks

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I have this 3 groove crank pulley that's 7" diameter with the outer groove being stepped down in diameter approximately by a 1/4".

Does this look like something you need?

Thanks

So, 7" on the two inner groves and 6.75" on the outer? That just might work. Let me run the number to see how it will effect things.
 
I bought a Holley Street Dominator from an old timer Mopar man that absolutely swore by the Holley SD. He had four of them. One on a 451 stroker in a '55 Plymouth, one on a 383 in a custom, and two on the shelf. One was painted and the other was port mapped. I grabbed the port mapped one.

Installation was super easy. It was as if the intake was actually designed for a stock 383 with a Thermo-Quad! I know right?! Crazy stuff. I'm so use to the "fiddle with it until it somewhat fit" nature of Mopars, that I was beside myself installing the intake last night.

Pics:

Holley Street Dominator verse a stock '73 400 iron intake
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Review: Hot Rod Maganize said the the intake loses 40tq below 2k and gains 50hp above 5k. My super reliable butt dyno confirms this to be correct. The engine can just breath much better with the SD verse the stock '73 400 intake. The idle is a bit rougher. The exhaust has more "pop" to it. The brutal drone at 1,700 rpm is even worst. Throttle response is WAY better. The engine bogs from 1,000 to 2,500 (because there's low air velocity at that RPM), then it kicks in hard around 3,000 and pulls like crazy all the way to 5,800 before the can or ignition falls on it face. Low speed driveability is also improved. The car had too much torque down low which made it hard to drive at low speed.
 
I took my daughter to school today in the Charger like I do every Thursday. This time was a little different.

So, I've been tweaking the carb, timing, throttle cable, and kick down to get the most out of the Holley Street Dominator. Well, I think I got it running very good. So good, in fact that I accelerated so hard today that a tooth snapped off the speedometer gear. This the result. The back ground noise is mostly from the gauge.



Edit: Just kidding. Bearing went dry.
 
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Here's the Charger in the parking deck last September.
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New valve covers and water pump housing. The old housing was so rust pitted that the gaskets couldn't seal it up. Funny thing about installing the housing was the fact that every time I picked up the new 5 pound housing I was picking it up like the old 40 pound housing. That made for fun times! Didn't toss it across the garage, but I came close a few times. And we figured out that the AC compressor weighs a few pounds more than my 8 year daughter.

...and I still need to sort out my pulley problem.

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Some people say we pour money into a money pit. I disagree. We do it for the smile we get when we drive these old cars. We do it to reflect on a simpler time. We do it because we love these old beasts and what they mean to us. As my dad said, I had this car since I was 17. It's a part of me. Of who I am. I had this car when my wife met me and I'll have it when we depart this world.
 
The car looks great ! Since your done with it and you have the urge to build another come on down to FL. And give me a hand ! I have basically everything here all I'm really waiting on is a stripper .metal repair and paint . Once that's done it's smooth sailing !
 
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