1972 Dodge Charger SE bring it back to life

[Runcharger]

I love this car and it certainly is yours, however that Six Pack has been on the car for more than half it's life. I'd be tempted to leave it on. Nice to have the 4 bbl setup to remain with it though.

 

[Kobrak]

My biggest issue with the Six Pack is I have no idea how to make it run! LOL! I guess I better hang on to it and maybe run the 4 barrel for a bit, then try to get the Six Pack running? Man, I don't know!

 

[Runcharger]

Ha, ha: Honestly they're both good choices. The Six Pack is no more complicated than the 4 bbl, actually a bit less complicated. Three very simple 2 barrels to rebuild and set a couple of adjustments.

 

[RemCharger]

Ha, ha: Honestly they're both good choices. The Six Pack is no more complicated than the 4 bbl, actually a bit less complicated. Three very simple 2 barrels to rebuild and set a couple of adjustments.

On paper maybe. Mixture adjusting is certainly not a 2 second thing like a 4 bbl.

 

[Kobrak]

Well, with both the front rear carbs being rears, wouldn't I need to change something out on the front one to get it to work right?

 

[RemCharger]

Well, with both the front rear carbs being rears, wouldn't I need to change something out on the front one to get it to work right?

Interesting. Minor jetting changes ( I would assume!).. but in the end they are both out board carbs.

 

[Kobrak]

Interesting. Minor jetting changes ( I would assume!).. but in the end they are both out board carbs.

I think the metering plate might be the difference between the front and back?

 

[Runcharger]

My bet is you wouldn't even notice it.

 

[Kobrak]

Thought I should start a thread here on my 1972 Charger SE. The car has an interesting story that I thought some folks might appreciate. The car was a barn find car I guess, although it was stored inside for most of its life. The story starts a few months back when my cousin gets a call out of the blue from the son of an old boss he worked for many years ago. The son asked my cousin if he could store a few cars over at his place as his dads girl friend had someone push the cars outside and was starting to sell parts off of the cars. A few days go by and the cars arrived. A Testarossa, Pantera, ZR1 Vette, 32 Ford Vicki, and the Charger. I had flown out to my cousins place to take in a few car events including the Mecum auction. This was back in August. I took one look at the car and bought it.
So the car had been through a few things back when it was driven a bit, about 1 month after he bought it new, the car was keyed. So the car has one re-paint. About three months after he got the car it was gone from his driveway after a night of partying with a coupla gals. After the police report was filed and a few days passed, the gals returned with the car none the worst for wear.
At some point he bought a wrecked 71 Rally with a 440 6 pack in it and swapped the hood along with all the 6 pack parts. That is how I received the car. The odometer shows about 4.5 miles on it, but as several members have pointed out it is doubtful that is is actual miles due to a few items related to the odo as not being original. #1 is the bezel in the car which I guess wasn't available in 72.

Anyway, that is the background of the car, it is in nice shape for sure, but it did sit outside for about two years and it shows. The very first thing I will be doing is an engine soak as seeing how it sat for well over twenty years, the engine is stuck! The other day I did manage to get the plugs out, and then last night I filled each cylinder with Knock'er loose (s). We'll see how it goes! I pulled the radiator out as I'll have it pressure tested before re-install.

The car has a few neat options on it. The car has the 440 HiPo along with the automatic. Front and rear sway bars, factory sun roof, AC, tinted glass, power windows, black vinyl top, dual racing mirrors, and concealed headlamps. A few other items that I don't understand how to decode the trim tag.

Also, enclosed are two pics that show a Gear Vendors Over/Under drive box and what seems to be a factory cassette deck with a mic option?!?! I don't have the Mic though.

So I had also thought the tires were original to the car, but if I am decoding them correctly, it seems the date is 13th week of 1979.



Anyway, the plan is to get the engine to rotate, then throw some new plugs/wires at it. get it to fire and then drop the oil and check the trans fluid etc. I think the rear trans seal is shot, I'll need to replace it. The biggest issue right now is the wiring. Not sure what they were trying to accomplish as the steering column was just hanging there and a bunch of wires are disconnected. I now have a FSM on order so I can start tracing things out. I know for whatever reason the cruise connector is not hooked up and I can't find the other end that goes through the fire wall. misc other connectors under the dash are hanging there. I haven't even looked at the brakes yet, but it does have some brake as I used them to get it off the trailer.


I appreciate the help so far on a few questions I've asked on this forum. I haven't owned a Mopar since I was very young!!

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So I ended up doing a bit of work on the car yesterday. I wanted to get a handle on the gas tank and try to understand if it was in good shape. I took my electric pump and hooked it up to the hose coming to the gas pump. Let her buck and it pumped about ten gallons of pretty nasty gas out of the tank before it went dry. This is good news though. There wasn't any sign of rust and no particles present so I believe the tank is good to go. I also took a good look at the Six Pack Air cleaner and was in for a pretty big disappointment. Check out the pictures. I mean on one hand it is pretty neat for a redneck fix or trying to be cheap in getting a base for the setup, but wow?!?! Why, what the heck happened to the real base? How the hell did I not see this until now? LOL! Anyone have a base??

 

[Kobrak]

A little update on the effort to get the ol Charger going again. I finally had an afternoon yesterday to get the motor out of the car and over to the machine shop. I did also get to confirm that the mota is original to the car. This is good!! LOL!

 

[Kobrak]

I was able to spend about 5 hrs this last Saturday cleaning the engine bay. Ended up pretty good. Still need to finish the K member paint. Question to yous.....any idea what can be done to get rid of the rust on the ac lines? Please see the enclosedpics. The line(s) are in good shape, but have some rust. Would be nice to not have to replace them

 

[Charger72]

For rust I use any of the following:

 

[Kobrak]

Charger72, never heard if the stuff. Where does one find it?

 

[Charger72]

Hey Kobrak, I am in Canada and I get it from an automotive place called Princess Auto, also Amazon.
I think in the States it's O'Reilly, Advanced Auto Parts, Home Depot, Napa, etc.
Really good stuff.

 

[Kobrak]

OK, I'll check both next time I run into town.