MM Muscle - 1971 Dodge Challenger

[WRXtranceformed]

Oof for a couple hundred bucks I dunno if I would have pulled the trigger on that hood...it would have been like $50 to get the dent fixed in the other one right? either way if you didn't care about burning the cash and the work that had to be done I guess it's all good.

[MRicci]

Yay I tied the votes 1-1

But I vote no R/T hood. Its not an R/T, so don't give it little ticks and tacks of the R/T. It's just like when my dumb friends try to put tons of m3 badges on their 325iss, it just isn't right IMO.

[Jeff]

Oof for a couple hundred bucks I dunno if I would have pulled the trigger on that hood...it would have been like $50 to get the dent fixed in the other one right? either way if you didn't care about burning the cash and the work that had to be done I guess it's all good.

I actually ended up getting the flat hood fixed for free. He knocked the dent right out of it. I was really surprised it was that easy. Naturally that got done AFTER I got the new hood but I am going to move forward with it anyway. See the one thing I have going for me is I have people here to fix body issues. I can get body work done at no out of pocket expense. So I would rather save $250 off of a new aftermarket setup and have to fix a few small things to end up with an overall better result. The OEM hoods are (supposedly, I don't know this from personal experience) much thicker and better made then the ching-chong-china stuff you will get if you order the aftermarket. I was a little dissapointed when I got back and in the day light the flaws were more obvious then they had been at rainy dusk the night before but its sorta whatever. Its a 40 year old hood that has been around...what do I expect?

Yay I tied the votes 1-1

But I vote no R/T hood. Its not an R/T, so don't give it little ticks and tacks of the R/T. It's just like when my dumb friends try to put tons of m3 badges on their 325iss, it just isn't right IMO.

This hood was also called the "Rally" hood and was optional on any trim level of Challenger if you want to get technical. There are also R/T cars with flat hoods...like the one featured in that vintage road test video I posted on the last page.

[JustinG]

meh with muscle cars its a different story in regards to saying something it isn't.....not like a 325 with an M3 badge. Most guys take all the good from a muscle car and add it to their own. especially considering the millions of combinations cars came in back in the day. Unlike today where you have to have X to get Y to get Z. Plus its not like hes throwing a hemi badge on it when its got a slant 6 under the hood.

[Jeff]

OH MY GOD I LOVE SWAY BARS


(more to come later...)

[Jeff]

OK so to bring you guys up to speed I gave the Chally a HUGE handling upgrade by adding Hellwig Motorsports sway bars front and rear. The front bar is a 1 1/4in hollow tube bar and the rear is a 7/8in solid bar. They were pretty easy to install and it was all done in about 2.5 hours by myself.

On the lift. Had to be done weight on so lucky I have a 4-post.


The rear bar clamps to the axle tube with U-bolts.


There are 3 holes on the rear to allow for adjustment of the stiffness of the bar. There was a warning saying "use the first (lowest) setting for your initial drive until you are used to the change in handling."


Had to drill a hole in the unibody.




Sleeve was then cut of flush with the large washer.


Front bar pics.








Had to drill lower control arm for bar connection.


Painted up my front brakes.


My LSD!


Then late last week I decided to bring the car home (yes to my house) to change out the intake manifold. I just wanted to see how the "other half lives." Never again. I am not sure how you people do this stuff without proper tools.






Aluminum next to cast iron. At least a 20 lb weight difference.


It is back together but I am fighting a leak at the thermostat that I just can't seem to stop! It is driving me crazy!

[ScottyB]

damn that car looks good.

what is that thing attached to the suspension leaves on the right? some kind of bump stop?

[Jake]

What I would give to have a lift and a wider/deeper garage...

I love sway bars too. They were one of the first mods I did on the Miata and they help drastically with body roll IMO.

[Jeff]

damn that car looks good.
what is that thing attached to the suspension leaves on the right? some kind of bump stop?

Thanks for the kind word. Are you asking about the blue thing? If so, that is a Snap-On magnetic lamp that I LOVE.

[Goodspeed]

Awesome progress Jeff. I'm still blown away by this progress. I imagine the sway bars on this car is akin to my old Supra, which was a monumental difference :lol:

[ScottyB]

Are you asking about the blue thing? If so, that is a Snap-On magnetic lamp that I LOVE.

yep...that is pretty sweet, i might need to snag me one.

[Jeff]

Are you asking about the blue thing? If so, that is a Snap-On magnetic lamp that I LOVE.

yep...that is pretty sweet, i might need to snag me one.

The non-Snap-On (Its actually under the BluePoint name) version of the same exact lamp is made by Ullman.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.toolking.com/ullman-devices-corp-rt-2lt-rotating-magnetic-led-work-light">http://www.toolking.com/ullman-devices-corp-rt-2lt-rotating-magnetic-led-work-light</a><!-- m -->

Oddly, I am not sure I didn't pay less for the Bluepoint one. $24 sticks out in my mind.

[Jeff]

My 3.23 ring and pinon came in yesterday. I will post some pics of that project as I get going on it next week. I also need to get some pics of the new hood. I have stripped and sanded the bottom only to leave it for a week while I was in Europe so now it is sorta all rusty again. Nothing a little POR-15 won't cure.

[JustinG]

THIS THREAD SUCKS UNTIL SMOKEY BURNOUT YOUTUBE VIDEOS ARE POSTED!!!!

[Kaan]

THIS THREAD SUCKS UNTIL SMOKEY BURNOUT YOUTUBE VIDEOS ARE POSTED!!!!

+11tybillion

[Jeff]

Last week I discovered this...



That was new green coolant. That floating on it is ATF. So my trans cooler in my radiator has gone fucked. So naturally I did the sensible thing, I ordered a big-block aluminum radiator that will cool 1000hp.



The old rad was small (22in) the new one is HUGE (26in) and 3-core. Bawler.




Bottom of the new radiator was to thick for the radiator support so I had to reshape it to make it fit. That was a bit of a bitch but we got it done. Notice the bends in the metal. That was from the flexing to bring it down far enough to fit the new rad. I then painted it all up nice. I also had to make a spacer for the driver side.







Fan and fittings mounted. I plan to get it in the car tonight.





Also, just to share, my brand new Snap-On Classic 96 roll cab. I could not turn down the retarded trade offer the Snap-On man made my on my little blue box. I love this thing, the work space is fantastic. Under that cover on top is my disassembled LSD...

[Jeff]

For the Lulz this is what the trans fluid looked like. 27qts of fluid worth of flushing and changing later it looks pretty good.


Car runs better then ever now. I am working on getting the hood sorted out and on sometime before forever goes by. To many other fish to fry these days.

[Jeff]

LONG TIME NO UPDATE!

So the car has gone to a few shows, won one trophy, caused a little stir and overall has been a great fun time. Now to make it better. Going into winter I plan to spend a lot of time on the junk in my truck and build a honest custom truck treatment getting me back to my custom stereo roots. Other then that I am hoping to get a modern style chin spoiler and a few other things figured out before next years show season.

The biggest new change is the addition of that Rallye hood I got a few months back. The paint and prep for that project took place over the past few weeks and I have snapped some pics along the way. Most of the ones I have to post today were taken on my new smarty phone today so the quality might be down a bit but heck, it gets the job done. The hood has been coated on the bottom with sprayed on bedliner and the top obviously in Plum Crazy. The hood was originally equipped with hood pins and I have acquired an NOS set for the car. I also had all the holes welded up from the various name plated and emblems that were on the hood to get it a clean look.


I had to make my own lanyards for the pins. That was the only part of the kit I did not get from a long time employee who stashed it away back in the day.


Hood this morning...




Hood on stand


Scoop inserts painted this morning going in tomorrow.


Getting ready to take the flat hood off.


SHAZAM






Obviously it will look a little better with the inserts but that will have to do for now. I think it makes it look tough as shit. Now I want that chin spoiler and I am even thinking about a rear spoiler.

[WRXtranceformed]

Dang I hope my Mustang turns out half that clean someday. Looks awesome man, everything is very tasteful on your car.

[Jeff]

Dang I hope my Mustang turns out half that clean someday. Looks awesome man, everything is very tasteful on your car.

Thanks man! I have had a blast doing this project and I hope I can make it even better over the winter.