What have you done with your Charger lately?

[el dub]

Got my dash in and all wired up, door knobs on.

[Laxy]

After being off the road since January after I detonated the 727 on the dragstrip, I finally completed the trans swap last week and took it for a run to a car show and to the beach on Sunday. 



It looks like the rear sprag let go, smashing the extension housing and causing the the front uni to fail also. It was an unknown trans that came in the car in 2008, it did a lot of miles (and burnouts!) so I had a good run with it.





Randomly a bloke 15 mins up the road from me had a fresh TCI crate trans and converter he was willing to part with, yes I've heard mixed stories about them (mainly bad) but this was just too convenient to pass up.



Old gearbox, meet new gearbox... 



Been meaning to install a hoist for a very long time, changing the 'box seemed like a damn good excuse. This thing is a godsend, all those years lying in carports and driveways - now I can work in luxury.



New 'box in along with new tailshaft - found a crack in the old one so had a brand new 3.5 inch tailshaft made up. This was just one of many delays, the converter threads had to be re-tapped, we didn't have the converter far enough onto the input shaft the first time (rookie error), starter motor dust cover got caught in wrong position and had to pull everything apart again, dipstuck tube leaked like a siv and took me a couple of tries to sort (plus a lot of lost fluid), missed a bolt on the shifter and had major adjustment issues for a while there, now the trans cooler line is leaking at the 'box (need a new fitting as thread is suspect on existing one but struggling to locate one online to buy?).

[myk]

20 years later and I finally got a console-yippee!

[Ghoste]

You've been driving that car for 20 years without a console?

[Musicman]

Got my dash in and all wired up, door knobs on.

Progress, it's a good feel'n isn't it 

After being off the road since January after I detonated the 727 on the dragstrip...

Ouch!

Been meaning to install a hoist for a very long time, changing the 'box seemed like a damn good excuse. This thing is a godsend, all those years lying in carports and driveways - now I can work in luxury.

Nice! 

You've been driving that car for 20 years without a console?

What's the problem with that 

[Ghoste]

It's no problem.  I'm just surprised because a) I couldn't let it go that long personally.  But more importantly, b) I had no idea Myk has had the car for that length of time.
I thought it was a far far more recent purchase than that.

[twenty mike mike]

I did the spindle conversion, as well as new upper and lower ball joints and new steering arms

Looks great, nice job! 

Thanks!

Those are some mighty fine splices you've done on your floor. Many wouldn't bother to go to that much effort.

[myk]

You've been driving that car for 20 years without a console?

Well, I bought the car in 1994 after working my butt off at a McDonald's the entire summer.  When I got the car it had 2/3ds of the console; the part after the storage bin was gone, broken off.  I soon learned that the console wouldn't support a human being  and it literally disintegrated and ruined the evening, if you get my drift. 

Back then there was no internet, no ebay or anything like that, so finding a replacement console, even for the ridiculous prices that they sell for today, was impossible.  So, I started planning to design a console of my own that would be, in my opinion, more attractive, functional and....able to support a member of the opposite sex, lol.  But, like most people with car projects, some things never come to fruition, so here I am with yet another OEM console, ha ha.

Believe you me though, Ghoste; not having a console for so long has always bothered me.  Maybe that's why I'm willing to forgive many of this console's faults...

[el dub]

Thanks Musicman, yes it is.

[1974dodgecharger]

bought a pusher/puller fan setup with controller setup.  Will set this up as a pusher fan (front of rad) so my temps dont climb during idle somewhere to take pics.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/-16-Eletric-Fan-3000-CFM-W-Iinstall-Kit-Complete-Thermostat-40-AMP-Relay-/400585263095#ht_1200wt_1125

[Bob T]

Good effort Laxy, a big summer cruise-o-rama coming up then  
Nice shed and hoist too mate, I see its keeping the old hardtop company.

Dragged my Charger in the weekend, best was 15.1 @ 97.25, bit slow, would've expected around a second quicker, but at least nothing broke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk43ACGmisg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUTZO-tnGWQhWW4DTs-hgMDg

[cdr]

Good effort Laxy, a big summer cruise-o-rama coming up then  
Nice shed and hoist too mate, I see its keeping the old hardtop company.

Dragged my Charger in the weekend, best was 15.1 @ 97.25, bit slow, would've expected around a second quicker, but at least nothing broke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk43ACGmisg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUTZO-tnGWQhWW4DTs-hgMDg

your mph is good for a 13.80 et,with the right gear,converter,TRACTION.

[Bob T]

Good effort Laxy, a big summer cruise-o-rama coming up then  
Nice shed and hoist too mate, I see its keeping the old hardtop company.

Dragged my Charger in the weekend, best was 15.1 @ 97.25, bit slow, would've expected around a second quicker, but at least nothing broke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk43ACGmisg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUTZO-tnGWQhWW4DTs-hgMDg

Cheers Charlie, definitely the 3.23's are hurting the e.t. ,but I get more fun out of cruising than drags, do enjoy dragging it though.
. Having a few probs with the performance/dizzy, I put a thread up in engine, chime in if you've got some tips please  

[roger440]

Gave it a polish and took it it to classic car show at the NEC (uk).

Not the best photo, but it was very busy.

[WHITE AND RED 69]

Gave it a polish and took it it to classic car show at the NEC (uk).

Not the best photo, but it was very busy.

Sweet color!

[Musicman]

 

[nvrbdn]

oh man, i love that color combo. i sure do want to see more.

[Fred]

Love that shed and hoist Laxy.   

[Fred]

oh man, i love that color combo. i sure do want to see more.

Yep great combo. 

[Laxy]

Thanks guys, shed went up about 18 months ago and has been a bit of a dream come true, basically was the main reason we bought our house because it had the room and proper rear lane access so I could build what I wanted.

Bob, awesome to see yours at the drags, traction didn't look too bad but I guess the 60ft times must be letting you down big time? I too would have expected a high 13/low 14. Now mine is back together a trip to the dragstrip is a high priority, my hardtop runs a 14.95@92 mph but the Dodge feels a lot quicker. I'm hoping for a 13.

Never raced it before (the dragstrip run where it blew the 'box was an untimed cruise/burnout session) as it's always had a 2.77 open centre, at the start of the year I installed a 3.23 489 LSD centre which has woken it right up (and is back on topic for this thread  ).

[Laxy]

In line with the thread, a few pics of dropping the old 742 2.77 centre out and chucking the 489 3.23 LSD in - found for $750 locally in great condition which is unheard of around here, I was beginning to look at importing one.

2.77 gears looked in perfect nick, surprising given all the single wheel burnouts I have done! Looked like it had never been apart. Gasket took a good couple of hours to get off the housing though.



New centre:





New green bearings while I was at it, existing ones looked stuffed:



Annnnddd... obligatory shed pics!    

[bill440rt]

Finished up this...

[bill440rt]

Now on to this...

Starting stripping the dash to re-do the dash trim bezels.
Back in the '80's I restored them with Bare-Metal Foil. Over the decades it's slowly discolored & turned a little yellow. I think after all this time it deserves a facelift. 
Back then my dad & I also installed an A/C pad and vents. As a newbie back then we thought it might be a good idea to install A/C, little did I know at the time the whole firewall was different. That project was ditched.
So, I found a replacement non-A/C pad & lower trims I'm going to swap back in. I'll keep the A/C stuff anyway, who knows as I'm getting older an aftermarket A/C setup may be in the future someday.

[Fred]

Thanks guys, shed went up about 18 months ago and has been a bit of a dream come true, basically was the main reason we bought our house because it had the room and proper rear lane access so I could build what I wanted.

I see you've got a real VH too. 

[Lord Warlock]

Today, I removed all of the front brake lines, distribution blocks, pulled the wiring harness off the firewall, unbolted what could easily be removed from the firewall that was still attached to the engine harness and moved it out of the way,  then decided to prime and paint the firewall, something i'd chosen to leave original when i painted the car, as it would prove to anyone that cared what the original paint color was on the car, (left the underside of the trunk original too) but when removing the brake lines, i realized there were spots of rust around some of the firewall bolts as well as around the bendable loom holders, so decided i wanted the engine bay to look a little better than I did two years ago when i started the paint work.  So, the firewall is now painted, the blower motor and power booster is repainted black, bought a new valley pan gasket for the intake, repainted both valve covers hemi orange, as well as the pieces that hold the valley pan in place.  Then with the leftover paint in the touch up gun, i painted the inner fenders, shock towers and radiator support structure.  It came out pretty well, not as awesome as some i've seen here that did it with the engine out of the car, but i don't have the energy to pull the motor again, doing what i can with what i've got. 

Will try to remove the rest of the brake lines to the rear drums (that runs along the side of the body/frame) and the lines for the drums this weekend, and replace with all new lines.  Then get to figure out the fuel lines, remove the gas tank.  Have to do what i can while time is available to spend on it.  Currently out of work again, but that won't last too long, will end up getting something new in December or January if lucky.