Projects
Project : The Devil made me do it
This is all about Ray's Final project. At least that's what he says, but you never know with Ray. He changes his mind quicker than the weather over here in the Netherlands and as you might know, some months we can have all four seasons just in one day. This 1970 Dodge Charger started life as a Dark green 318 powered non-musclecar with automatic transmission and a 8 1/4 Rearend with highwaygears. Since Ray had a 440 powered 1969 Satellite you can understand that this charger will get a 440 big block too but than even faster. He's following the same rules as Erik, If you replace something on your car, don't replace it for the same or less, but replace it for faster or better parts instead. So the charger will get a 440 Big block .040 over with new Keith Black dome pistons, a radical MP purplecam, an edelbrock Torker Intake and a Holley 750 Dp to start with. The transmission will be a rebuilt and upgraded 727 Automatic with a 3000-3500 10" stall converter. And the rear axle is already replaced for a 8 3/4 with 430:1 gear ratio.
But.... for now it will be a lot of work to get this baby back on the road again. When Ray bought the charger with help from Hans and Bianca (www.usa2ned.com), who shipped it to the Netherlands, it was as good as junk. It probably came from somebody's backyard where it has been sitting for about 30 years or so. Many pieces were missing or too damaged to use. There was no engine or tranny, and all of the floors were rotten. But the framerails were in great shape. So new floorpans were bought and most of all the other parts were found somewere on the internet or at www.Drmopar.com
The car was at www.avdhorst.nl for a new paintjob. Ray's dad has spend all of his spare time to get the car ready for it's new paint. He's a proffessional when it comes to bodywork. The guys at www.avdhorst.nl have done the paintjob, the color is Pepper Grey metallic with a black bumble bee stripe around the trunk.
Right now I'ts home !!!
Just check out the pictures to see the progress.
"The Challenge"
Once there was a old forgotten MoPar muscle car that was spending its life at the junkyard,..... But... Those days are over now !! Thanks to Michael who could't stand the fact that this baby was going to the crusher some day. When he bought the car, he immediately bought all the new sheetmetal that was needed for a compleet ground up restoration. Only a week after he bought the car the challenger was ready for the new parts. Too bad that shipping to the Netherlands takes a long time, but in the meanwhile he's cleaning up the parts that came of the challenger and puts them away in storage, so when all the body work is done the assembly will go smooth and clean. His engine is already finished. It's a complete overhauled 318. But plans for an engine swap after the restauration are allready on the table.... But that's another story.
Just look at the pictures to see the progress.
To "Bee" or not to Bee !
Working on the Superbee is a fun job to do, the car appears to be in a much better shape then expected. This old racer was stripped from all it's goodies, like the engine tranny and rear end and left for dead many years ago. Because the rear end was missing the car do has some rust damage at the rear framerails and lower quarter panels, due to laying in the wet grass for a long time. Other than that the car is pretty solid.
Small Overhaulin 383 HP
This used to be Ray's engine, but since Erik blew his smallblock transmission at the races in June 2008, he decided it was time for not only a rebuilt transmission, but also for more power. So the plan was made, and since they already had done some work on this 383 HP engine it was the perfect candidate for Erik's Challenger.
After inspecting and measuring the engine, All it needed was new bearings and piston rings.
So after we purchased new race bearings, piston rings and all the hardware that was needed to rebuild the engine, we cleaned everything and started assembling.
A 383 HP engine like this was capable of delivering 300+ horsepower when it came out of the factory in 1968. Of course the time and mileage had taking there toll on this old bigblock and a lot of those horses ran away or just died of old age. To make sure the engine will run like a young stallion again a bigger cam, aluminum race heads with roller rockers, and a tunnelram setup with a Big holley 850 Double Pumper are being added. Also the original exhaust will take place for a set of full lenght headers. An aluminum electric waterpump was added for better cooling, and saves a couple of horses doing it. Of course the oilsystem was upgraded with a high volume oilpump and a new oil pickup.
A Bigger Bang
There's been some movement in Mark's shed too, the heart transplant of his little Dart is nearly finished. He's soon going to install a brand new MSD ignition and everything else to start his new powerplant. The old engine was a slant six with 130 Hp. The new engine is a freshly rebuilt 383 V8 with a lot more horses. The transmission is a 727 automatic with a shiftkit to bring all the horsepower correctly to the 8 3/4 rearend. This is going to be a sweet little dart that's going to scare many other cars and drivers by hard launches at the traffic lights.
Check out the startup video here
From 60 to 0 Mph in 2 seconds
It's a long time ago that Eriks challenger saw the streets, but now he's back, and how! Erik replaced his old 7 1/4" rearaxle with 2:76 highway gears for a stronger 8 3/4" with more racefriendly 3:55 gears and a suregrip differential. To make sure this rearaxle will hold the torque of the 500+ horsepower engine that Erik has planned for the near future, he also welded a brace on it. The traction bars that are on the car are handmade by no one else then himself and they work great! To make sure that his car will stop just as fast as it takes off, Erik mounted a set of Wilwood front- and rear disk brakes. Also a linelock system was added to save his rear discs from suffering during the burnout. He also added edelbrock shocks and tubular upper control arms to his ride to improve handling and performance. While busy he replaced a lot of the rubber suspension components for better and improved new ones.
Just take a look !
Power Upgrade
Erik's 1970 Dodge Challenger came from the factory with a 318 smallblock. At the races in June he blew his transmission. But instead of rebuilding his tranny, he bought Ray's 383 bigblock and rebuild a bigblock transmission. He says: don't replace broken parts with the same shit, replace them for bigger or faster parts instead.
Here are the pics,
