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1968 Charger 6.1L Hemi swap

I was actually VERY surprise at the fitment of the engine itself.... granted the headers were a PITA to get to - but having taken them off 3 times in the car its down to a science.... Overall though the engine has awesome clearance all around - you can pull the heads, valve covers, intake easily - Also remember I am using a factory K member - so I was originally worried about fitment - but it is a very easy engine to service in the vehicle.
 
Well - got the new PCM from Hotwire Auto put in and fired the engine today... had to redo the majority of the fuel system because of numerous leaks - ended up just ponying up the bucks and going with -AN fittings and lines.

Initial fire was strange as it sputtered out several times - I contribute this to the learning curve of the PCM - got it fired and idling on it's own - need to use the Diablo InTune to adjust some things once I get more time.

Crappy cell phone video just to prove it runs.

[video=facebook;10152652705075599]http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152652705075599&l=4984578792807559826[/video]
 
That's a hell of a job you got there, nice work. You must be like most of us, make any excuse to go the garage and do some work.:headbang:
 
Awesome Job.... That car is not reliable and no Ballist Resistor... lol
 
Greg Ducato said:
Very nice! What are you using for a fuel pump/fuel tank mods?
Click to expand...

fabbed a step in the top passenger side of the tank and made a small shelf. Then used a Fuel pump bracket from a 1995 Mitsubishi eclipse - Installed a -6AN compression fitting on the 5/16" line and capped the small 1/4" return. Ran my return line to a stock 3/8" sending unit.

I replaced the cheesy mitsubishi pump (170lph I believe) with a Walbro 255lph pump. Ran the lines to a 2005 Corvette fuel filter (it has a built in fuel pressure regulator and costs like $16.99) and then up to the factory fuel rail.
 
Well - after running the engine up to temp I realized I have a few issues...

1) valvetrain noise... originally I thought it was typical "Hemi tick" but...

2) Burning oil... light blue smoke at idle and lots at high RPM


Solutions - I pulled the driver's side valve cover today and found a bent exhaust pushrod... I believe this stemmed from the original owner of the engine. I ordered a complete exhaust pushrod set and going to go from there.

The smoke is bugging me so I am thinking what could be causing the hemi to burn oil... thinking it may be intake manifold gaskets or a high vac rate and just pulling alot of oil vapor through the PCV. Ordering a catch can to see if that gets rid of most of the oil consumption. My engine is a 2007 model and apparently they burn quite a bit of oil... I figure it can't hurt.

So - to be continued.
 
rolling_Thunder said:
Well - after running the engine up to temp I realized I have a few issues...

1) valvetrain noise... originally I thought it was typical "Hemi tick" but...

2) Burning oil... light blue smoke at idle and lots at high RPM


Solutions - I pulled the driver's side valve cover today and found a bent exhaust pushrod... I believe this stemmed from the original owner of the engine. I ordered a complete exhaust pushrod set and going to go from there.

The smoke is bugging me so I am thinking what could be causing the hemi to burn oil... thinking it may be intake manifold gaskets or a high vac rate and just pulling alot of oil vapor through the PCV. Ordering a catch can to see if that gets rid of most of the oil consumption. My engine is a 2007 model and apparently they burn quite a bit of oil... I figure it can't hurt.

So - to be continued.
Click to expand...

My 03 burns about a quart every 3-4000 miles mostly due to the pcv configuration but this is in my truck. You should not see any smoke. Now if you oiled the cylinders a bunch before starting that could happen but should eventually go away. I'd start with valve seals and if that does nothing then think about oil rings. If you just rebuilt the thing it may need some runtime to seat the rings and seal oil off from the bottom end, the 6.1 uses oil squirters for piston skirts and is likely to push more oil up into the cyl before rings have seated.
 
All very good points - Guess I'll just see what it's like with some run time one it and the catch can. I doubt the valve seals are bad - the engine only had about 1700 miles on it when I got it. BUT - you never know. I guess letting the rings seat is the major thing and to prevent the PCV from sucking too much oil.
 
Alright... checked the pushrods - found a bent one... replaced it and managed to snap a rocker shaft bolt reassembling it. I replaced that as well, got it back together and fired it up... still ticking.... went around with a wooden dowel to try and locate it better and I accidentally hit a fuel injector and the noise instantly stopped... and has not come back.... weird but i'll take it.

I installed my Billet Technologies catch can and there is almost no oil burning currently - So it looks like most of my problems have been solved --- so this week I plan on doing a lot of work in finishing up the details, getting it inspected, insured, and on the road to enjoy for summer.
 
Strange but I cant see the pictures , just a black x I see pictures on the other threads whats up with that?
 
I can't see the pictures too and please can you post how exactly you modify your wire harness I think t would be really appreciate by a lot of us here in the site. Thanks
 
Last edited:
My old photo host changed their locations so i'll have to go back and change all the hotlinks....


Also - I did post a rough guide on the wiring here in the forum
 
rolling_Thunder said:
Yep - modified a 2005 Ram harness, removed the Automatic transmission stuff, downstream O2s, and EGR and made the harness stand alone with a fan, fuel, injector, and ignition relay... So... only makes a couple hook-ups needed.... Ign, 12V, Ground, A/C trigger, Fan trigger
Click to expand...
RT ,
How much trouble was it? I wanted to try building my own harness with my 03 engine and harness. It has 2 computers one for the engine one for the transmission. I want to just run a SB 727 for now. And yes I know the 03 computer isn't as good as the later ones. But I want to get mine running in my 68 charger as low cost as possible. I am not sure this is the engine I want so don't want to spend a ton doing it. I have done my own harness on a 91 5.0 cobra engine but I think fords computers are much easier to understand.Thanks
Don
 
If you start out with a 5.7L harness you're not too far from firing it up - I wrote a simple how to somewhere showing what wires need to be discarded and where to wire up the relays.
 
rolling_Thunder said:
If you start out with a 5.7L harness you're not too far from firing it up - I wrote a simple how to somewhere showing what wires need to be discarded and where to wire up the relays.
Click to expand...
Thanks,
I will try to dig that up. I might change things later but for now I just want to get it installed and fired up with my 727 and see how things look and if it is how I want to proceed.
 
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