This winter I concentrated on making my "dream motor" reality, so I started to build 500 cid stroker from my 440 block. The goal was to build a torque monster with some serious potential for the future upgrades. Engine ended up to be exactly that. It won't pull much above 5000 rpm, but has humongous amount of torque right from the idle.
Having a engine like this one required some upgrades to the brakes. The manual drums just were not up to the task. I ordered new booster and master cylinder from Master Power Brakes, and installed 1980 Dodge Aspen front spindles and disk brakes. The proportioning valve is also from Aspen. Originally I had plans to use Aspen booster and master cylinder, but the diameter of the booster was too big to fit into the Charger. The E-Body boosters are also too big. I decided not to gamble with safety and ordered completely new ones.
I did some "minor" work to the interior also. I removed the dash and painted it, fixed the leaking wiper arm pivots and installed new carpet. I also installed new front seat buns and fixed the broken springs inside the seats. Finally I installed white faceplate instrument panel.
New wheels and wheel lip moldings give all new looks to the car. Now its ready to face yet another summer...
My Dodge Charger -68 Current specifications
Click images for larger image
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Winter 2004-2005 - Brake Upgrade |
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Old front drums just weren't safe enough.
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Old drum drops out from upper and lower ball joints. The Aspen spindles bolt right in.
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Even the brake hoses from Aspen fits perfectly into the original linings. The bolts that connect spindle into the lower ball joint must be the original ones.
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New booster and master cylinder from Master Power Brakes. Fits and functions as good as it looks!
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Winter 2004-2005 - Dash and instruments |
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Started removing the dash...
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...and finally all gone. Quite a lot of work to remove everything.
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This was my "Dodge Simulator" I ran at my living room. It was easy to check that everything is working correctly. I even fixed the ignition light delay relay.
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White face instruments looks gorgeous. Note the Street Hemi Orange instrument needles...!
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| Winter 2004-2005 - Building the stroker |
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Nice potpourri of different parts that went into the engine.
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Bottom end is ready. It is very close fit, and requires some grinding of the block to make room for the rod bolts. It was a mistake to use larger Hemi oil pickup, since there was no room for it. I had to "modify" it just a little bit to make it work...
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Ross Flat top Racing pistons are in.
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I painted the engine without the heads, since I want to retain heads unpainted.
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Aluminum cylinder heads give engine some "race" look. (and performace)
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Stroker going in...
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And there it is, just waiting for the summer 2005...
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| Winter 2004-2005 - Other stuff |
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New seat buns from YearOne. Installation was not difficult, but required lots of work and took a long time.
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Centerline Convo Pro is just beautiful, and really add to the looks of the car.
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