'72 Battlewagon

[chademinent]

I recently procured a 1972 Dodge Coronet custom station wagon. has a nice little 318, front disks, power steering and brakes and factory A/C. The plan here is to concentrate first on making some decent power in the form of a turbo . Then work on suspension and interior, and lastly the exterior. Here are a few pics to hook you.

 

[chademinent]

I have on order the following:
Edelbrock RPM Airgap intake
Hughes Engines "Whiplash" cam with lifters and springs
Already have a Holley 750 DP I bought from a forum member (going to send out to CSU for blow through)
MOPAR Performance double roller timing chain and seal, intake man. gasket with heat shield, valve cover gasket set, head bolt kit and heater bypass fittings and tube. (pays to work at a CJDR dealer)
Passenger front door glass from a fellow forum member...Thanks Dan!

The plan is to install the intake, cam, carb, new headgaskets and then start obtaining my pieces i need to do the turbo...MSD box with boost timing, Turbo, Truck manifolds, carb hat, wastegate, blow off valve, and all the plumbing. Plus all the little things that will rear their ugly heads while doing this build.

On a positive note, the car runs great and most all the electronics work. Ill need to pull the switches for the rear glass and lock but so far that's all that doesn't work on the car.

This will be a pretty slow build and on a tight budget. But I have a goal and I will obtain it. Whish me luck!

 

[PurpleBeeper]

You do know that you'll have to build the bottom end of the engine (rods, crank, pistons, etc, etc) for turbocharging, right?

I do think that's a great project wagon.... very cool

 

[chademinent]

You do know that you'll have to build the bottom end of the engine (rods, crank, pistons, etc, etc) for turbocharging, right?

I do think that's a great project wagon.... very cool

Not necessary, I will be running low boost 7-8psi. Its not a drag car, just a cruiser. These motors are such low compression that they will accept boost no problem. Plenty of small blocks out there running boost long term on stock internals.

 

[Budnicks]

Cool concept...

Good luck with the build...

 

[Rick Carson]

Welcome from Canada, what rear end is in it? being a wagon with a/c,it could be an 8 3/4. If so, it may have heavier axles,I know c body wagons did

 

[chademinent]

Welcome from Canada, what rear end is in it? being a wagon with a/c,it could be an 8 3/4. If so, it may have heavier axles,I know c body wagons did

Its a stinkin 8.25 Rear end. I can work with it for now, but Ill be needing an upgrade later on.

I know the 8.25 on my Jeep took some real abuse, but i wasn't putting a lot of power to it either.

 

[chademinent]

So its been about 8 months since i last worked on the wagon, and have since changed direction with it a little bit. I am still doing a full top end rebuild, already got my 360 heads rebuilt with Hughes Engines performance springs, still doing the RPM Air Gap intake, but now going with an Edelbrock 650 AVS2 carb and will NOT be going turbo. I plan on making it a strong runner and putting her up for sale. I've also gathered up Patriot headers, a Mancini Racing Kick-down Cable kit, and Powermaster Mini Starter to go along with the MOPAR double roller timing kit, and Hughes Whiplash cam.

 

[chademinent]

Got it up on the lift last Saturday and pulled the motor, tore it down and ran into a bit of a problem.

2 of my cam bearings are total junk. Is replacing these going to be a pain in the butt because they are missing so much surface area? Do i need to replace my bottom end now too? oil pump? There wasn't much metal in the pan, most of the large chunks were in the valley. This was supposed to be a "cheap" build so i can make a little profit on this car when i sell it...

Here you can see the bad bearing.

 

[69sunfireGTX]

Cam bearings are cheap. I would be a little worried about the cam journal being shot.

 

[chademinent]

Cam bearings are cheap. I would be a little worried about the cam journal being shot.

Im pulling the bottom end and taking it in to the machine shop for new bearings and a hot tank. Then new rod and main bearings and rings. If there is a problem with the cam journal they will be able to catch it.

 

[chademinent]

Its been a while so I'll catch you up on whats happening. Finally got around to pulling the bottom end and sending the block to the machine shop for bearings, a hone and hot tank. They called me a day later to let me know that the block i pulled was indeed a 273 NOT a 318! They measured the bore's and found them to be small. I never looked closely at any of the stamping on the block so that was a fun little moment of "zen". After an hour of swearing at myself I managed to procure a complete 318 from a 78 truck for 100 bucks, he even pulled it for me and delivered it at that price. So, i spent a few days last week tearing down, cleaning and rebuilding the top end of the 318.

 

[wagonman]

I am partial to wagons myself. That thing Begs for a Big Block for Motorvatin over the Hill. Good luck with the build.

 

[chademinent]

I am partial to wagons myself. That thing Begs for a Big Block for Motorvatin over the Hill. Good luck with the build.

Im still wrestling with the idea of keeping it or selling it. Also I still want to boost this thing with a turbo...Im poor so these things take time lol

 

[chademinent]

Getting ready to break in this new camshaft tonight. Any pointers?

 

[chademinent]

Got it running! I've since installed mufflers from a Hellcat to somewhat stifle the noise. This is with open headers and not much tuning.

 

[wagonman]

Love It, gonna scare some Old Ladies small Kids and cats and dogs. Keep the Patina.