71 Charger Superbee Tribute/Restomod Build

[70chall440]

I got the AG done, installed and the hood back on, I have to say that I am VERY happy with the AG as well as the paint on the hood.

I didn't realize how fragile the Ramcharger stickers were until I cracked the drivers side one, it does kind of blend into the overall car well though.

I am still waiting on my seat tracks I bought off ebay...

 

[70chall440]

I finally got my seat tracks from eBay, must have been pony express... LOL

Anyway the good news is that while beat and battered they are usable, however I noticed something odd about them which is that the outside tracks do not have the arm to pull the wire to release the inside tracks.

So I did a little research and discovered that 72+ cars only released the outside track (something I never knew). So this left me with 2 options;

1. Disable the inside track latches and just use the latch on the outside
2. Make an arm for the outside track and weld it on so that they function like 71- tracks.

After thinking about it I am opting to go with option 2.

 

[70chall440]

Today was a big day, I got the car fired and drove it for the first time!!!

PROs
All of the gauges work (not sure about speedo)
The car stops like its chained to bulldozer...
Transmission shifts well
Airgrabber works
Lights all work to include dome

CONs
AFR at idle is WAY off
AFR at cruise is a little lean
Clutch needs to be bled again, very slight
Windshield wipers do not work (they came on when I started the car but then went off)

Sorry about the sideways filming..

 

[70chall440]

I need to work on the AFR issue

 

[64fury74charger]

I’m not recalling which fuel injection system you are using, does that system have a basic starting menu where you set the initial parameters for the afr, idle, timing if your using one with ecu controlling timing etc. The sniper seems relatively easy to do an initial setup and then tune as needed.

 

[70chall440]

I’m not recalling which fuel injection system you are using, does that system have a basic starting menu where you set the initial parameters for the afr, idle, timing if your using one with ecu controlling timing etc. The sniper seems relatively easy to do an initial setup and then tune as needed.

I am using a Holley terminator X system and it uses the same software and what I think you use with the Sniper system. I know its the same as my HP system. I just need to get into it and begin tweaking/tuning it.

I am on another project (my 01 Ram 1500 refurb) at the moment but will get back to it soon.

 

[64fury74charger]

Sounds like your charger is going to be fun to play with.

 

[70chall440]

Sounds like your charger is going to be fun to play with.

Yeah it should be but we will see what happens. I've already leaning into the next project, my 70 Hemi 4spd Roadrunner..

 

[ckessel]

AFR.
Another Ffn Relative?

 

[70chall440]

AFR.
Another Ffn Relative?

 

[Budnicks]

Today was a big day, I got the car fired and drove it for the first time!!!

PROs
All of the gauges work (not sure about speedo)
The car stops like its chained to bulldozer...
Transmission shifts well
Airgrabber works
Lights all work to include dome

CONs
AFR at idle is WAY off
AFR at cruise is a little lean
Clutch needs to be bled again, very slight
Windshield wipers do not work (they came on when I started the car but then went off)

Sorry about the sideways filming..

Congrats

 

[70chall440]

Congrats

Thanks, I need to work on the tune.

 

[70chall440]

Well it has been awhile since I posted anything so I thought I would provide an update should anyone be watching.

Unfortunately life got in the way of doing much until recently. I needed to give my 01 Ram 1500 Sport some love (had it since 02). I needed to address a few things but mainly I wanted to install a backup camera and I took the opportunity to install LED lights throughout.

 

[70chall440]

I finally got back to the Charger and began by attempting to get my "tuner" laptop sorted out. I have an old Lenovo X200 that I've had since 08 that I like to use but it too needs some love. I wanted to replace the HDD in it but it would not recognize the new HDD. I tried to upgrade the Win7 operating system but it was not having that either so I am back to where I started with that. It works but its clunky and very cluttered.

The first issue I encountered was that I had the 3.5 TSLCD and my Dakota Digital dash connected to the CanBus but now I needed to connect my laptop, so I purchased another splitter cable. This however was not necessary because I needed to connect the laptop directly to the ECU and was then informed that my firmware was out of date.

I first reconnected the 3.5 and pulled down the tune that I already had that was built by the 3.5 to get it running. I renamed this file and stored it onto the SD card. I then took the SD card and went to the comp in my office and updated the firmware. Then back to the 3.5 and updated the firmware in the 3.5 and the ECU. At this point I reinstalled the tune which requires that the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) be reset. This did not work saying that the voltage was wrong. After a moment I decided to install the tune that the 3.5 had create (of which I had renamed and saved a copy), then everything worked again.

So now I about to start tuning the car and have been looking at the existing tune, made a few tweaks and will be installing it perhaps today and see what we get.

 

[64fury74charger]

I finally got back to the Charger and began by attempting to get my "tuner" laptop sorted out. I have an old Lenovo X200 that I've had since 08 that I like to use but it too needs some love. I wanted to replace the HDD in it but it would not recognize the new HDD. I tried to upgrade the Win7 operating system but it was not having that either so I am back to where I started with that. It works but its clunky and very cluttered.

The first issue I encountered was that I had the 3.5 TSLCD and my Dakota Digital dash connected to the CanBus but now I needed to connect my laptop, so I purchased another splitter cable. This however was not necessary because I needed to connect the laptop directly to the ECU and was then informed that my firmware was out of date.

I first reconnected the 3.5 and pulled down the tune that I already had that was built by the 3.5 to get it running. I renamed this file and stored it onto the SD card. I then took the SD card and went to the comp in my office and updated the firmware. Then back to the 3.5 and updated the firmware in the 3.5 and the ECU. At this point I reinstalled the tune which requires that the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) be reset. This did not work saying that the voltage was wrong. After a moment I decided to install the tune that the 3.5 had create (of which I had renamed and saved a copy), then everything worked again.

So now I about to start tuning the car and have been looking at the existing tune, made a few tweaks and will be installing it perhaps today and see what we get.

View attachment 1946439View attachment 1946440

I am looking forward to trying to build a tune for my Sniper 2 hopefully in the near future. I am still not sure if I will buy a cheap laptop or run back and forth from my mini computer that’s running Windows 11. I have the other cable to connect a laptop but I am still not sure about actually building the tune.

The videos make it seem relatively simple but I am not very confident in my computer skills.

 

[70chall440]

I am looking forward to trying to build a tune for my Sniper 2 hopefully in the near future. I am still not sure if I will buy a cheap laptop or run back and forth from my mini computer that’s running Windows 11. I have the other cable to connect a laptop but I am still not sure about actually building the tune.

The videos make it seem relatively simple but I am not very confident in my computer skills.

It can be pretty intimidating but it isn't all that difficult so long as you adhere to some basic rules;

1. save the tune that got the car running
2. only make 1 (maybe 2) changes at a time
3. always save the tune after you have uploaded it and made changes, then save it again when you are done with that tuning session. I always name mine with the date i.e. 11-11-25V1, then if I make another change that day it would be 11-11-25V2.
4. do not be in a hurry, let the car tell you what it wants in terms of fuel and/or spark. Keep an eye on the AFR, do not let it go real lean.
5. make sure that the car is functionally good meaning that all of the mechanical and electrical components are doing what they are supposed to do. The ECU is VERY sensitive to electrical fluctuations so having a weak battery will absolutely make tuning at a minimum frustrating but potentially impossible. Weak electrical systems are probably the #1 culprit of bad EFI issues.

Spending some quality time watching videos is great but until you actually go out and do some of it, its moot.

Lastly, you don't need any real computing skills other than the very basics like being able to download and open software.

 

[70chall440]

I was able to get some tuning done on the car today. I modified the tune I started with (that the wizard built via the 3.5 TSLCD), specifically I adjusted the fans turning both on about 5 deg sooner. Now the first fan comes on at 190 (vice 195) and the second comes on at 200 (vice 204). I also added about 5% to the first 3 columns of the fuel table since I knew that there was an issue here.

So today I went out and plugged in the laptop and uploaded the new tune, then I got the car started. It was a bit rough going as it didn't want to idle (which I knew) but I kept it alive until it got to about 150 deg and then it barely would idle.

At this point I really focused on the Base Fuel table and looked for the "ball" (for those who haven't dealt with Holley software, when the car is running a round "ball" is present on the base fuel table showing where the engine is at reference MAP pressure and RPM).

I then selected a group of boxes around the ball and held the Ctrl button and pushed the right arrow button which adds 5% with each push. Instantly I could hear the engine improve so I kept at it for a bit but then the ball moved so I repeated this process until I got the AFR to 13.8:1 which is exactly my target AFR. Along the way I smoothed out the table as well just to try and improve the overall situation.

After awhile I turned the car off a let it sit a minute and then restarted it, man what a difference. The car fired on about the 2nd revolution. I will see tomorrow how the cold start is.

Next steps are to drive it and data log it. I also have to take a look at the valve cover and see if I can get it to stop leaking.