Hello all! I decided it was time to part out my my WRX that I've built over the last 9 years and get into the Charger game. I've always been a Charger fan and I had the opportunity to pick up a 71 this weekend and plan on restoring it with my dad, since it is also his favorite car.
It seems to be in pretty decent condition, I was told it's been sitting since 1978. The owner I bought it from, got it from an auction a year ago and has started the process. I'm still trying to figure out what all I have and am going to need to do but ideally I'd like to drive it at least once this summer. The motor has already been pulled and he's labeled most of the wiring. This week's goal is to get the shop cleaned up a bit before the snow so I can get it inside.
I'll keep this thread up to date as we progress.
(http://imgur.com/Hkrx7wU.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/iT94rDG.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/lh3iAdW.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/DcD6ZKl.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/2m1Vwvv.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/Ryz01mK.jpg)
*edit* - Hopefully fixed images. :2thumbs:
*edit 2* - Updated title. I'll keep this thread updated as my build thread.
Welcome and Congrats ! :2thumbs:
You will find TONS of resource knowledge on this site.
Looks to be a pretty decent starting point, keep us updated as you go !
I can't see the photos...strange.
Welcome to the site, looking forward to seeing the pictures.
Thanks everyone! I've been a lurker for awhile now, I love all the information available. I've updated the first post, hopefully the images are fixed now.
Welcome aboard :2thumbs: :2thumbs: :2thumbs:
Pics are visible to me.
Nice 71 :cheers: :cheers:
Nice car, looks good just the way it is :coolgleamA:
Thanks! It's in surprisingly good shape for sitting so long. From what I was told it was in a lean-to off of a barn so it was mostly protected from the elements. Mice definitely got inside but most of the wiring looks intact. I'll be able to tell more once we tear into it, for the price and the condition, I couldn't pass it up.
hello & welcome :2thumbs: :cheers:
Welcome man, looks like a nice clean starting point. Several guys here have built Chargers from much worse beginnings.
What's your plan for the car? Restoration? Modified? Fun driver?
Welcome aboard. Nice 71 :cheers:
I'm looking forward to more of this. :popcrn: :popcrn: :popcrn: Nice car and cute kid. :cheers: :yesnod: :2thumbs:
Hello & :2thumbs:
X2, :2thumbs:.
Welcome...enjoy the project!
You will have to keep after it, won't be long before you Daughter asks to drive the Charger.
Awesome! Congrats and welcome! :cheers:
Those are some serious deep dish wheels. :o
welcome ,love the 71's :2thumbs:
Welcome to the site. Nice car looks really nice and solid.
No Engine ?
Thanks everyone! My daughter loves it already, maybe even more than I do haha :2thumbs: I'm thinking more of a modified project, originally I was thinking more of a restored original but after deciding to sell my WRX for this I'll need something to replace the race car in my life.
This one came with the 318, the previous owner already pulled it out. I've got a line on a 440 that's somewhat built, need to verify the transmission that is currently in the car first though. Previous owner said it was the 727, fender tag says it should be the 904 so I'm not sure. Checking that out today once we get it in the shop, need to hurry the snow is coming!
Quote from: Dino on February 21, 2017, 09:20:51 PM
Awesome! Congrats and welcome! :cheers:
Those are some serious deep dish wheels. :o
Agree. I would like to know the back spacing on those Cragars, especially the ones in the front.
904 Transmissions only fit small blocks. Some small blocks did have 727's but if it was hooked up to small block, it won't work on a big block.
nice plain jane 71!... those are the nicest to custom builds
That's what I was reading....With my goal of driving it this summer, for now I think I'll stick with the 318 until I can find a motor/tranny combo. Since it was sitting so long I plan on ordering the front suspension rebuild kit and wiring harness. I've got a 318 rebuild kit already so once we've got room in the shop I'll start with that.
My dad and I plan on finishing organizing the shop, then stripping the car down and sand blasting it, to see what we're working with. Once we get that done, we'll try and fix what we can and take it to a couple local shops to get pricing info. I don't know if we'll be able to get the whole body fixed before this summer or not, but at least we'll know what we're working with. Budget isn't super high right now as I'm parting out my other race car but we've got a decent start.
I'll keep this updated as we go, here are the newest pics now that we've got it in the shop.
(http://imgur.com/7st7Emn.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/0iYhFfU.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/860cWPn.jpg)
Not saying the plan isn't solid, but while waiting on the body to be done why not find yourself the engine and trans that you want? There's loads of them out there. I personally wouldn't spend a dime on the 318 unless you want to go back to stock, but it doesn't sound like you do. Park the 318 or sell it along with the 904 and build yourself a serious drive train. That's just my :Twocents:
Quote from: Dino on February 23, 2017, 02:25:58 PM
Not saying the plan isn't solid, but while waiting on the body to be done why not find yourself the engine and trans that you want? There's loads of them out there. I personally wouldn't spend a dime on the 318 unless you want to go back to stock, but it doesn't sound like you do. Park the 318 or sell it along with the 904 and build yourself a serious drive train. That's just my :Twocents:
That might be a better idea. I don't want to go back to stock, I thought about keeping the stock motor and selling it with the car, if I ever decide to sell it down the line but I dunno. I've looked around locally and found a 440 but haven't had much luck on the trans side. I haven't done much research on this yet, so I'll definitely start now, but if I find a 727 trans from a big block car, what all will I need to swap it in?
Quote from: kingdustin on February 23, 2017, 03:01:47 PM
Quote from: Dino on February 23, 2017, 02:25:58 PM
Not saying the plan isn't solid, but while waiting on the body to be done why not find yourself the engine and trans that you want? There's loads of them out there. I personally wouldn't spend a dime on the 318 unless you want to go back to stock, but it doesn't sound like you do. Park the 318 or sell it along with the 904 and build yourself a serious drive train. That's just my :Twocents:
That might be a better idea. I don't want to go back to stock, I thought about keeping the stock motor and selling it with the car, if I ever decide to sell it down the line but I dunno. I've looked around locally and found a 440 but haven't had much luck on the trans side. I haven't done much research on this yet, so I'll definitely start now, but if I find a 727 trans from a big block car, what all will I need to swap it in?
I'm not sure to be honest. The K frames used to be the same for sb and bb but I think that changed down the line somewhere and I'm not sure where. I'm wondering if you need the 727 crossmember as well. Someone will chime in who knows all that though and all these parts are easily found. Place a wanted ad on the board here and you'll find what you need. I'm close to Detroit so I constantly trip over 440s and 727s. Maybe someone close to you may have one for sale so it's always good to ask here. Craigslist works well too.
welcome!
:cheers:
Quote from: Dino on February 23, 2017, 03:43:13 PM
Quote from: kingdustin on February 23, 2017, 03:01:47 PM
Quote from: Dino on February 23, 2017, 02:25:58 PM
Not saying the plan isn't solid, but while waiting on the body to be done why not find yourself the engine and trans that you want? There's loads of them out there. I personally wouldn't spend a dime on the 318 unless you want to go back to stock, but it doesn't sound like you do. Park the 318 or sell it along with the 904 and build yourself a serious drive train. That's just my :Twocents:
That might be a better idea. I don't want to go back to stock, I thought about keeping the stock motor and selling it with the car, if I ever decide to sell it down the line but I dunno. I've looked around locally and found a 440 but haven't had much luck on the trans side. I haven't done much research on this yet, so I'll definitely start now, but if I find a 727 trans from a big block car, what all will I need to swap it in?
I'm not sure to be honest. The K frames used to be the same for sb and bb but I think that changed down the line somewhere and I'm not sure where. I'm wondering if you need the 727 crossmember as well. Someone will chime in who knows all that though and all these parts are easily found. Place a wanted ad on the board here and you'll find what you need. I'm close to Detroit so I constantly trip over 440s and 727s. Maybe someone close to you may have one for sale so it's always good to ask here. Craigslist works well too.
All 68-72 Chargers will accept any engine without any modifications. Your free to choose 318 on up to a 440.
That is good to know, thanks! :cheers:
Looks like I'll be picking up the 727 bb trans this weekend and the 440, hopefully next. :2thumbs: Now to research what other parts I'll need to complete the swap.
Good looking 71!. Ive got a 74 charger with a 400 block stroked to a 512 ci and its a serious street monster. ive also got a 440 in a 73 charger drag car, but it is also very streetable. Both engines make 600 hp. They both cost me around $8,000 each, just starting with bare blocks. Well worth every penny! how wild of a driveline are you wanting to build? I have manual valve bodies in my 727s and they are totally awesome. If you don't mind shifting your automatic manually, I think you would love it
Thanks! That is pretty awesome, I'd love to build a big power one eventually, but nothing too wild right now. I'm really hoping to drive it this summer. It will take a lot of work, including finishing our shop, but I think it can be done. The 440 I'm picking up is partially built and I'll probably just rebuild the 727, just to get it all in there and moving. Then this winter we're going to try and do a lot of the body work.
Welcome here, Kingdustin.
Great starting point for a custom build. I'm diggin' those Cragar mags also although I might be a little biased. Happy you found a BB 727 and a 440 engine as you can make it as streetable or track-worthy as you would like. All you have to do is rub enough money on it !
Keep at it and keep posting pics here as we all like pics !
Thanks! It's going to be a fun father/son project. My dad has always wanted a Charger, and at the price I couldn't pass this one up. I'm parting out my WRX to fund this so hopefully we'll have a decent starting point budget wise. I'll definitely keep this updated withe new pics and status updates as we go. This weekend's goal is to build a loft in the shop, move all the extra parts I have up there and start organizing the shop. If I get some extra time, I might start stripping it down a little bit.
Father Son Project ? You and your son ? or you and your dad ? :scratchchin:
Haha, my dad and I :2thumbs: My daughter might help a little, but she is a tad bit young still. She does like to sit in it though :lol:
K member to SB and BB changed in 73
Quote from: Nacho-RT74 on February 26, 2017, 12:25:56 PM
K member to SB and BB changed in 73
Yep, and I did not include those years. Hope all is well amigo.
I put a 400 in a 74 that was a 318 car and just had to change motor mounts is all
Quote from: 400sforever on February 26, 2017, 04:31:23 PM
I put a 400 in a 74 that was a 318 car and just had to change motor mounts is all
Locally in Vzla lot of ppl makes it, but shumacher services sell the engine mount adaptor to this change for some reason...
I think if using regular BB mounts On an SB Kmember, will compromise the driveline alignment.
Quote from: ACUDANUT on February 26, 2017, 01:38:13 PM
Quote from: Nacho-RT74 on February 26, 2017, 12:25:56 PM
K member to SB and BB changed in 73
Yep, and I did not include those years. Hope all is well amigo.
LOL
Welcome as well!
Great project and keep us posted...
Your daughters shirt in front of the car is priceless :2thumbs:
I picked it out for a reason that day :lol: :icon_smile_big:
Picked up the transmission this weekend, looks pretty clean actually but I'll rebuild it while it's out. The guy I picked it up from got it from a swap meet awhile back and he never installed it. Any recommendations on rebuild kits? I've looked at a couple that seem to be pretty similar in specs and prices.
(http://i.imgur.com/HyFaoVo.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/Ifk5J7E.jpg)
And to update on all progress, I picked up a sand blaster and parts washer this weekend, but we didn't get the loft built in the shop yet. We're hoping to get that built on Wednesday so I can start moving parts up there and unpacking the new tools. Once it gets nice out, we'll start stripping the car and roll it out to sand blast everything. I'm hoping to fix the bad stuff ourselves and then I may actually be able to trade my partially parted out WRX for some body work and a paint job. :icon_smile_big:
Welcome to the forum. Congrats on getting a nice platform to start with! Just a word of caution....... When you say you are going to sandblast. I wouldn't sandblast any exterior body panels that you are going to keep. Sandblasting can warp panels pretty easily! I would resort to using a different media, preferably soda. If you do sandblast, keep a healthy distance from the surface. It will help reduce the chance of warpage.
:Twocents:
Keep the updates coming! I love to see people bring these third gens back! :popcrn:
Quote from: 71_Charger_R/T on February 28, 2017, 04:52:54 PM
Welcome to the forum. Congrats on getting a nice platform to start with! Just a word of caution....... When you say you are going to sandblast. I wouldn't sandblast any exterior body panels that you are going to keep. Sandblasting can warp panels pretty easily! I would resort to using a different media, preferably soda. If you do sandblast, keep a healthy distance from the surface. It will help reduce the chance of warpage.
:Twocents:
Keep the updates coming! I love to see people bring these third gens back! :popcrn:
That's definitely good to know! We looked at soda blasting too, might have to pick one of those up. No big updates with the Charger, we built the frame for a room in the back of the shop, that will give us more room to organize stuff. Hopefully if it gets nice this weekend we'll roll the car back out and clean the shop some more. Once that's done we'll be able to start tearing it down. I did pick up a couple books on building the 727 and 440, so at least I have something to do when I'm not out at the shop :icon_smile_big:
Haven't had a whole lot of updates recently, been focusing on getting the shop finished, electricity and lights ran, etc. Then we'll be able to get organized and get to work.
I did pick up a 440 from a 76 motorhome and an edelbrock carb.
(http://imgur.com/Egv80yi.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/6AZRLfO.jpg)
(http://imgur.com/GbrrBRF.jpg)
I like that storage room, looks very organized. :2thumbs:
Luke
Is that moss on the 440!!!
Quote from: lukedukem on March 21, 2017, 10:25:33 AM
I like that storage room, looks very organized. :2thumbs:
Luke
Thanks! It's getting there. Now we've got the rest of the shop to do :lol:
Quote from: alfaitalia on March 21, 2017, 12:01:54 PM
Is that moss on the 440!!!
And no haha, it does look it though. It was leaking oil so it's covered in oil/dust. He did have it tarped but it was sitting outside. I plan on tearing it down and with any luck, just cleaning and replacing the gaskets. It was running when it was pulled a couple years ago so I'm hoping the internals are decent enough to drive for a little this summer.
Are you actually Royalty or did you name yourself like King Ezekiel in The Walking Dead? :smilielol:
The K member that you have is actually the same from 1970-72. These are the same for the 318-383-400-440. There was a different K member for the slant six and yet another for the HEMI. Why the hell did they do this? It makes no sense to me at all. They should have stamped out a single K member for all engines and just made the bolt on metal brackets specific to each engine type. Nobody called me to consult on that decision though. I think this began in the mid 60s and even if they had called, I was busy nursing on my mother and trying to learn to speak.
Regarding the topic of "Keeping the 318 in case I sell"....I used to instantly respond to any numbers matching slant six, 318 references as WHO cares about originality with a 318 car sort of tone. Personally I still feel that way but some people do not. Some people either glom onto that lexicon thinking it makes them sound like a "player" in the classic car world OR they really find it special to have an original engine regardless of the performance.
Me? I yanked the original 318 from my Charger to swap in a 440 in 2001. I sold the engine with zero regrets. To me, the car is worth more with a performance engine than it is with a 318. There are exceptions and this may be an opinion that isn't shared by many: A LOW mileage car in excellent condition, AKA a Survivor will likely always garner more money and attention if kept original.
Quote from: Kern Dog on March 21, 2017, 09:55:05 PM
Are you actually Royalty or did you name yourself like King Ezekiel in The Walking Dead? :smilielol:
The K member that you have is actually the same from 1970-72. These are the same for the 318-383-400-440. There was a different K member for the slant six and yet another for the HEMI. Why the hell did they do this? It makes no sense to me at all. They should have stamped out a single K member for all engines and just made the bolt on metal brackets specific to each engine type. Nobody called me to consult on that decision though. I think this began in the mid 60s and even if they had called, I was busy nursing on my mother and trying to learn to speak.
Regarding the topic of "Keeping the 318 in case I sell"....I used to instantly respond to any numbers matching slant six, 318 references as WHO cares about originality with a 318 car sort of tone. Personally I still feel that way but some people do not. Some people either glom onto that lexicon thinking it makes them sound like a "player" in the classic car world OR they really find it special to have an original engine regardless of the performance.
Me? I yanked the original 318 from my Charger to swap in a 440 in 2001. I sold the engine with zero regrets. To me, the car is worth more with a performance engine than it is with a 318. There are exceptions and this may be an opinion that isn't shared by many: A LOW mileage car in excellent condition, AKA a Survivor will likely always garner more money and attention if kept original.
Hahaha it's an old nickname from high school actually. That's good to know, my summer goal is still to drive it, it won't be pretty but I'm hoping it will run.
That does make a lot of sense. I'm really not trying to restore to factory specs or anything. I'll be using a lot of new (or new to me :lol:) parts. Is there a decent market for the 318s? I thought about rebuilding it first but if it's not worth the money then no sense in that. Same with the trans too.
With the abundance of 318s, it has become popular to swap in stroker cranks to get around 390 inches! The 318 seems to fit in everything so that is pretty cool. Guys want silly money for .040 340 blocks while the 318s are often free if the owner just gets tired of storing it.
One day I might build a 318 stroke mill with Magnum heads. That could be a 400HP engine that idles nice while still scaring the passengers!
Welcome Dustin! Good to see some younger blood around. I'd swap in the 440 with no regrets as well.
But.. I'll agree with KD about the 318's. They are under appreciated. There was a fella back in the late 70's - early 80's making stroker 310's the hard way - welding up cranks. Bob Mullen, Mullen and Co? There was a book about Chrysler engines that mentioned it. He would select 72 and earlier 319's and bore them 070" to 090" over, not sure where displacement ended up. Friend of mine built a regular 75 318 with more compression and a TRW reproduction 340 cam. Man, it ran like a 440 with a manual trans in his Dart.
Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread. ;D :angel:
A 318 has a bore of 3.91. If the block is solid and sound, you can take it out to 4.00 which is the same as a 360. Add a 4 inch stroke crank and BOOM shakka-lakka, you have nearly 400 inches.