New here with a 1973 charger

[trc54]

New to the forum. Well I've got a 73 charger se and have a few questions. It's a 400BB 2B auto. Its my senior year in Highschool and want to do sometjing with the car. I've looked at 440 source and I think the 470 is the best bet. If you guys havr any interesting ideas for the car please share. I would like a quick car that can drive across country.

 

[Wookie316]

My 400 is taken out to 512. It makes 513hp with 608 ft/lbs torque. I didn't go with a 440 source kit and opted for a Callie's crank and used Chevy rods. Reason being I'm told is that this way you can keep the oil ring out of the pin area and have an engine more suitable for the street. A little more cost this way, but I am hoping it will pay off in the long run.
Congrats on the car!

 

[alleyoopmgv]

Welcome to FBBO!

 

[moparstuart]

Welcome

 

[Pistol Pete]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Ron 73]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Doright]

Quick car able to drive cross country Senior in Hi school HMMMM

400 2 barrel


OK
Paint car make look good add go wing spoilers work on make interior nice
add nice stereo.

To make faster if 400 runs good leave it alone add a cam maybe and a 4 barrel but a building a 470-500+ cube engine that will get 4-6 mpg on a kids budget is not going to be a doable cross country car.

Matter of fact I would leave engine alone entirely 2 barrel and all.
Its a V8! that's more than all your friends Rice burners have. and your car is a classic already it has nothing to prove why do you need to prove any thing by building a billy bad *** engine for it?

Just add headers and dual exhaust on it that will add 20 30 hp leave engine alone original cam and carb add a shift kit to tranny be happy you have a car that runs good sounds good spins and chirps tires freely be happy. It will also get fairly good gas mileage as it still has original two barrel and cam. Believe it or not that's all any of us Old timers would have done back in the day and we would have been happy.
(Short of adding a 4 barrel all of us would have done that back then but gas was cheap then like less than 80 cents a gallon now its $4 a gallon that two barrel looks good to me! Back in the day a Bad *** engine had forged Hi compression pistons and a steel crank and modified rods for full floating pistons There wasn't any giant Stroker kits back then or a bunch of cheap H beam rods from China.)

I had a 71 charger 318 car when I was a kid I went through all kinds of engines in that car drag racing it, In the end, In the very end when I grew up a little and stopped racing the car the best engine I ever had in it was an all stock 318 2 barrel engine with headers ran good made good power for what it was and got excellent mpg! It also had a Wonderful little all original 904 tranny in it with a Lock up Torq converter dam car would cruise at speeds far exceeding the nations speed limits all day long if you let it. and it would smoke the tires and it sounded good with dual exhaust.

You don't need 500 cubes to have a nice car or a fast car or to have fun, you already have 400 cubes that's a lot as is, Just add headers and dual exhaust add a shift kit to the tranny and add a lock up torq. converter tranny for better gas mileage. spend your extra money on making the car look good and on your girl friend, and Drive the hell out of it & have fun.
Too many guys get caught up in the Cube war building huge engines with Giant cams & huge carburetors only to have an Unreliable car that's a pain in the butt to drive on the street and gets shitty gas mileage that they can only afford to drive once a week its sad that's not having fun to me or a kid that wants to drive A LOT sorry.

Too many guys have forgotten what Hot Rodding is really about.

OK I get off my soap box now

 

[Bruzilla]

Welcome to FBBO. Allow me to tell you a short story that has guided me since the 1970s. A young man walks into a performance shop and asks the owner "how fast can my car go?" and the owner says "how much money ya' got kid?" When it comes to these cars, performance = money at every level, and it's really easy to get focused on going faster and losing focus on everything else. I'm sure every person on this forum knows someone who's fallen prey to this phenomena, or done it themselves, with the universal outcome being an ad that reads in effect "project car for sale. Lost interest. Make offer." Usually "lost interest" means they ran out of the time, money, or spousal support after not developing and following a sound plan for getting their car where they want it to be.

Unless you've got loads of cash to burn, forget talking to folks like 440 Source or other top-line suppliers. I don't care where you live in this country, you're not far from some Mopar gearheads who can help you out 100 times better than the folks at 440 Source and for a fraction of the price. Best of all, most of these folks like nothing better than helping along a newcomer to the hobby and will bend over backwards to help you out, as you'll quickly find out by using this forum. I learned a long time ago that benefiting from the experience of others beats the Hell out of paying out the nose to gain your own experience. Seek out the Mopar gearheads in your area and you'll me much happier.

 

[trc54]

:Is 400rwhp possible? Is there a reasonable priced 5 speed that will work,
Sent from history class :headbang:

 

[pabster]

X2- what Doright & Bruzilla said. I've got a 74 Charger 318 2bbl, all stock except for dual exhausts. I've gotten some grief from people who say, "Oh man, you gotta put a 440 in it, your car is so slow..." Sure, my Charger isn't going to set any speed records. But it gets above 15mpg on the highway, runs smooth, never lets me down. If you're going cross country, the more you leave your car alone the happier you will be in the long run. Headers and a dual exhaust on a 400 is enough. Trust the people on this board, they have been around the block a hell of a lot longer than you (or me) with Mopars. IMHO, the best thing about driving an old Mopar is that wonderful contented feeling you get when your car is rumbling along the open road, and all is good with your world. If you mess with your car too much, you will not experience this feeling because you'll be too busy trying to make the car work with all the crazed modifications.

If you really need to go fast, many motorcycles under $5000 will blow almost anything on the road away.

 

[Ron 73]

If you would like to know a little more about the 400, here is a link you can familiarize yourself with them. I agree with whats said here and all i have is a 318, i do have a 73 400 engine in my garage but it or any other BB will never be under the hood of my 73.. 318 runs and has enough power to do what i do, there not great on TQ but have some different gears going in this winter, lower and no more peg leg burn outs! racing one is a different story... mine does have a 4 barrel and headers but it came that way.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7552864_mopar-400-big-block-specifications.html

 

[trc54]

I want a 12 second daily driver that can hop on the highway and be reliable.

 

[YY1]

Hey, the kid wants 400 RWHP...it can be done.

There's a 425 crank HP (about 350-375 RWHP) 400 for sale on this site for $4500 plus shipping.
That's a pretty good deal.

If he can afford to fill up his tank at $90 every 60 miles..more power to him.
Literally!

 

[Bruzilla]

I bet every one of us were TRC54 when we were younger. Then that bully Reality comes along, punches us in the face, and when we regain conciousness we're laying in a ditch, our car is gone, and our wallets are empty. You gotta love getting older!

I've been scoping out 440s since I bought my 74, but then I pass the next gas station and see those price signs and say "maybe next year".

 

[Wookie316]

If your serious about going big. Go as big as you can. Costs the same so build it big. My original plan on my motor was a cam, headers, carb and aluminum heads on my 400. The project grew. My aluminum head selection limited me on the HP but the torque is up there. I know with the bottom end I built I can swap the cam, heads and intake and probably be well over the 600 HP. But like anything you have to draw the line at some point.
Where my build is at is easily 150 HP over anything I have ever owned. I know I will be very happy with it when it is home.
I tell you time is standing still right now. Every day drags. Just like a kid waiting for Christmas day.

 

[trc54]

I've done fast bikes and cars, thats all I'm going to say. A twelve second car would not be close to the fastest thing I've been on/in. I have an 05 sxt magnum that is my daily driver. The charger would be my fast fun weekend ride. It needs to have highway ability because I'm going to ASU and its a pretty spread out town. I want to build the car myself because I will most defiantly appreciate it more then a bought car. That's why I'm here to learn from the mopar gods. Haha

 

[Bruzilla]

Hey trc, here's something else I learned from a wise old racer back when I was your age. He told me the secret of his success wasn't his car, horsepower, timing, or mechanical skill. It was that he always assumed that everyone else was a better racer, had a faster car, knew more, had better experience, and had their **** together more than he did. He never assumed, or presumed to be, better than anyone else. That mindset allowed him to always keep an open mind and pick up on any minute piece of information or observation that could help him win. More importantly, it enabled him to quickly gain the trust and confidence of the people who could best help him win, and he would put what he gained from them to good use. Back then I didn't understand how a guy who won just about every race every weekend, and had the fastest car around, could feel that way when I would be bragging my *** off if I were him. Now I know better.

The only reason I mention this is I read your last post. I guarantee you whatever you think you've done that's great or awesome isn't nearly as great or awesome as what many folks on this forum have done, so there's really no benefit to mentioning it. Also, there's no better way to ensure you're going to fail at whatever you're going to do than to start thinking you've already largely accomplished it. Keep thinking more along the lines of "Its my senior year in Highschool and want to do sometjing with the car" and less on "A twelve second car would not be close to the fastest thing I've been on/in. I have an 05 sxt magnum that is my daily driver" and you'll be much better off both with your car and with life in general. Hopefully you'll be passing this information along to some 18 year old when you're 50.

 

[trc54]

I know first hand that there will always be someone faster I know that. I said a twelve second car so it could do track days and etc. There will ALWAYS be someone faster and I'm not out trying to be tye fastest. Twleve seconds is my goal but it is not mandatory I will be so thrilled to have a car that runs and drives that I built and helped get there.

 

[Wookie316]

Hope to have it next week. 400 out to 512 running in the car.

Recommendations I can make to you that I didn't do, better heads and intake. seriously think about fuel injection if it is in your budget, I know with how the bottom end is built I can always add the heads and the fuel injection. Could go bigger cam, but for the street the .545 Xtreme energy cam I went with growls very nice and puts up great numbers.

Click on the image to hear it running!

 

[71ChallengerSE]

I would throw on a 4bbl and maybe a cam in it, don't go crazy with engine swapping as it could snowball and you won't have anything to enjoy driving your senior year in HS. I should know I drove a slant six my senior year in HS because I went full resto with my Challenger and my other Dart.