1973 Dodge Challenger
For Mark L's 73
Challenger, we built the engine, transmission, swapped gears from
4.10's to 3.55's,
pimped out the front suspension so it's got more caster, installed
DynoMax Ultraflo's, and mounted up a set of 17" Mickey Thompson Street
Radials.
The motor is a 10 to 1
496" 440 with Edelbrock Victor heads CNC ported by Jeff @ Modern
Cylinder Head, Indy intake, 750 ProForm carb, and a solid, flat tappet
cam with .567 lift on the intake with 264 degrees advertised duration
and .579 lift on the exhaust with 270 degrees advertised duration.
The car's first time at the track it made 1 pass and on M/T Street
Radials, on pump gas,
through the muffs, before I did any of the suspension upgrades, it
boiled the tires to an 11.66 @ 119MPH.......and that was with small
tube headers,750 carb, and with 3.55 gears!!!........I actually had to
pedal it in second gear because it was spinning the tires so
badly........
Since then, it's had a set of QA1's, heim joing strut rods, and heim
joint
tubular upper control arms installed.....Now it's got 4 3/4" of front
end travel from rest all the way up to the bump stops and the
suspension moves freely now....
so we took it to the track again.......On the first pass, I'm very
hesitant to hammer on it in low, since it was such a handful the first
time.....so I slowly roll into
the throttle and I finally get wide open about thirty feet out and it
runs 11.39 @ 121.49 with a 1.86 sixty foot time........1/8 mile time
was a 7.37........From past experience, I
know that on the typical high 10second/low 11 second car, that if you
add exactly 4 tenths to the 1/8 mile, that number will equal your 1/4
mile time........so a 7.37 lines right up with the 11.39 it'd
run.......
So, now I'm on a mission to run 6.99 or better in the 1/8......Next
pass I basically do the same thing except
this time I'm wide open about twenty feet out and it sticks and runs an
11.22 @ 121.69 with a 1.76 sixty foot time.....1/8 mile time was a
7.21.......
Next run I get wide open throttle about ten feet out and it sticks
again and runs 11.04 @ 122.39 with a 1.65 sixty
foot time........The 1/8 mile time was 7.05...........At the ET shack
the guy tells me that he got a call from the tower wanting him to make
sure I have a roll bar.......and I don't......so I'm told to either
slow down or
go home......I told him I'd slow down..........
Now my plan is to just run it to the 1/8 and try to get a 6.99 or
better number......Mark, the owner of the car just now gets to the
track and he wants some pics of the car launching......I tell him that
I can't run it out the back door until we get a roll bar in
it.........I stall it up to about 3K as usual and I get it wide open by
about
five feet out and it sticks again and runs 6.94 to the 1/8 while
shutting it off early slowing to an 11.82 @ 83
.....It ran a 1.59 sixty foot time!!! Now I know it'll run 10.90's to
10.80's........
Well, this is the last pass of the day so I decide to go for it and run
it out the back......There have been a lot
of street tired cars running between now and my last run......I get
about five feet out, go wide open and it spins,
so I lift a little to recover, get back in it, and it runs 11.16 @
122.33 with a 1.77 sixty foot time and 7.17 to
the 1/8.........
Mark and I are really happy with the performance........Later we all
hang out
around the camp fire and sing while holding hands and drinking Mountain
Dew and eating Skittles.......
Did you notice that the 440 with raised port Edelbrock heads and tall
Indy intake all fits under the stock hood with
the air cleaner in place??? That's because we've installed 1" spacer
between the K-frame and body to lower the engine in the car.......
.
The cars is a blast to
drive......It will
make a newbie passenger hang on for dear life.......Car's got a 9.5
inch 5,300 Dynamic converter, steel front drum, and CRT reverse
pattern, full manual valve body with engine braking in low........
This car is a BEAST, so
Mark's been nicknamed The Keeper of the Yellow Beast........
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