- Started out life as a 318 car
- Leave the body 100-percent Charger
- Re-engineer everything between the front and rear
Exotic in appearance
The Dodge Charger is an iconic American Muscle Car and in particular the 2-generation 1968-70 versions are long-time favorite body shapes with enthusiasts. Featuring a beautifully sculptured "coke-bottle" shape, this Mopar "B-body" intermediate ran on the same 117-inch wheelbase as the less-flashy Coronet line however the lines of the body of the Charger gave it a look that was exotic in appearance.
The Charger was a unique car as it had such a performance look to it that most thought all versions were high-performance machines right out of the factory, and while they could be equipped with440-cid wedge engines and 426-cid Hemi engines ("R/T" optioned cars),the standard Chargers however came with lowly 318-cid V8 engines as standard equipment, with 2-bbl and 4-bbl 383-cid wedges as optional equipment.
This Charger started life as a 318 car and with the talents of the builder, it today is a totally different animal than anything anyone would have thought possible in the late 1960s!
Finding the donor car for the project was easy enough, as a number of examples were available and the decision was made and a car was selected, appearing to be a nice, clean vehicle that would make a great starting point.
Once the car was stripped down, it was discovered there was some previous damage done to it, in particular the right-side rear quarter panel, and the repair work was not up to standards...so a brand new quarter panel had to be properly fitted. This was something that wasn't apparent until the paint was removed and things were closely inspected.
Live and learn!
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The theme of "all pure Charger" for the outside appearance
From the start, the general idea was to leave the body 100-percent 1969 Dodge Charger, as it retains the door handles, the outside mirror, the emblems, the stock bumpers, the grille unmodified, and no sheet metal changes. Dana figures the stylish Charger body has earned its mark as being a classic design, and there was no reason what so ever to mess with the original lines.
The owner was ready to go all-out in the engine, power train and basically everything else when it came time to re-engineer everything between the front and rear bumpers, including a set of trick sequential LED tail lights.
The thought was to build up a "426 Hemi" like what was available in 1969, however the decision was made to use the modernized Gen III Hemi 6.1L engine
Then have it bored and stroked, enlarged to obtain the desired 426-cublic inch displacement via a 4.090-inch bore, coupled with a 4.050-inch stroke. A call was put into Indy Cylinder Heads (www.indyheads.com)for a complete engine, built with upgraded components (including Diamond10.75:1 pistons, Compstar stroker crankshaft, Compstar H-beam rods, and a Comp Cams roller hydraulic cam, .575-inch lift, .244/.248 duration, and Milodon oil pan and wintage tray. The cylinder heads were from a 5.7 Eagle Hemi, fully CNC ported and fitted with 6.1L rocker shafts, with 2.05-inch intake, 1.55-inchexhaust valves, and Manley valve spring and retainers.
Rather than run carburetors the move to fuel injection was made, via a TWM Induction 8 Stack Fuel Injection system equipped with Cook Enterprises custom air filters. The system is controlled and calibrated by FAST XFI and VIM computers.
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In an unusual move to the Mopar world, rather than run a Torqueflite or modern Tiptronic transmission, a race-prepped GM 4L70E unit was chosen and can be operated with either fully manual shifting, or standard 4-speed auto shifting, with "A" and "B" button on the dash for shifting style selection.
Hemi cars back in the day came with the big beefy Dana 60 rear axle(with 9.75-inch ring gear) and because this car was cranking out mega horsepower, the decision was made to step up to this heavy-duty differential, and a set of 3.90:1 gears were selected.
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XV Engineering incorporates aluminum bodied coil-over shocks, tubular steel upper control arms, aluminum lower control arms, sealed-bearing hubs, quick ratio variable rate rack and pinion steering with adjustable bump steer, and splined tubular sway bar, all held together by a mandrel bent aluminum k-member.
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The engine was secured via a set of Magnum Poly-Loc mounts, featuring polyurethane mounts that were unique as they have an internal interlocking feature, designed to prevent the engine from moving around by limiting expansion of the driver's side mount, and restricting compression of the passenger's side mount, to best deal with the natural torque of the engine rotation.
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The standard Chrysler leaf spring rear suspension was replaced by a XV Level II Rear Suspension System, using a pair of aluminum bodied coil-over shocks, a 3-link mounting arrangement, aluminum trailing arms, aluminum lower control arms, adjustable Panhard bar, and splined tubular sway bar.
The braking system consists of 6-piston Corvette caliper discs with 13-inch diameter front and12-inchdiameter rear, and a Hydra-boost assist booster, which used the power steering unit as the means of generating hydraulic pressure rather than relying one ngine vacuum for power brake boost.
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Dana did the build on the car, including the design, the wiring, the pre-build, final-build, and the details that are involved, which actually is quite extensive when you notice the extreme detail of this car up close.
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A six-point roll cage was constructed to increase chassis rigidity plus to offer driver and occupant protection, and the interior was treated to comfortable Recaro seats, Schroth competition belts, Auto Meter dash logger with digital read-out gauges, an 8-inchAlpine head unit, push-button start button, back-up camera, and power windows.
To keep the interior isolated from the exhaust heat and for noise suppression, the floor was given two layers of Dynamat, one layer of kill mat gold, and a layer of carpet padding followed by custom-fit Mercedes carpeting.
A totally reworked set of instruments on the dash and small-diameter road-race style Momo steering wheel (with NGR quick release hub)quickly gives the viewer that this vehicle has been given a lot of specialized attention in the interior! A Vintage A/C system was also part of the revised interior, along with a GPS-controlled speedometer and state-of-the-art Alpine head unit that includes a backup camera.
After the car was finally finished after four years, it took 12 additional months to get the bugs worked out of it. All that said, the Charger wasn't built to be just a "show car". The car was built to be driven with tons of usable power and it handles like a slot car!
The paint choice was House of Kolor and the hues were Cocoa Pearl with Root Beer Pearl, with the pin stripe done on True Blue color. The paint has a two-tone look to it and the design on the rear quarter panels has a "bumble bee" theme that has been modified to a much wider stripe, actually more on tune to the winged"Daytona" Charger also from 1969.
Five years in the making, the Charger is a show-quality vehicle but built to run cross-country at a moment's notice. It can effortlessly do long burnouts yet drive and run like a brand-new luxury car from the factory, it's got a mean sound when that Hemi is opened wide-open throttle!
