Dad's 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T: Update

The way she's sat since fall 2001.

The ball is now rolling. This past Saturday we went down to visit my parents. While my wife and daughter spent the day shopping with my mom, dad and I had other plans. I had loaded up my engine hoist, jack, some tools, and a plan to get the engine, transmission, and driveshaft removed from the Challenger. Having never pulled an engine from a Mopar, I was hoping there wouldn't be too many surprises.

We started with the obvious, removing all the accessories, hoses, and anything else that needed disconnected. We discovered the usual multiple washers used as spacers here and there, though have to say that I was somewhat surprised to find pieces of copper pipe used where a larger spacer was needed. Copper being the soft metal that it is probably isn't the best choice for a spacer.

Those are actually charger seats, came in the car. I think we'll likely go with a more modern/more comfortable style seat for the fronts.

My dad's tool collection, as it stands, leaves a lot to be desired. I bought him a Craftsman set of metric wrenches for Christmas or birthday a few years ago, but it's down hill from there, and metric wrenches would be of little use on this project. The standard wrenches he had weren't shorty wrenches, but they were far short of full size, and gave up much in terms of leverage. Hey, I didn't build my collection of tools over night, and I also learned the hard way that cheap/Chinese made ratchets and sockets aren't going to last more than a few uses. That said, we made due with what we had, and improvised when needed.

Backseat storage.

My biggest concern was removing the exhaust from the manifolds. My dad just purchased a quality Craftsman Professional 60 gallon air compressor, though hadn't removed it from the crate, installed the cord, and bought a hose. Not to mention, he lacked air tools and I didn't bother bringing mine. That's ok, as I quickly concluded a Milwaukee Sawzall would prove quicker and easier any way, and since we weren't reusing the exhaust, the smarter play. One other small obstacle was the mounting pad for the shifter mechanism on the side of the transmission. The attaching bolts were larger than your typical allen head, and my suspicions were correct, a few sizes bigger than what our tool box had. As an alternative, I simply removed the transmission crossmember, which will be replaced by a new one for the 5 speed any way.

Extra storage.

With the accessories, driveshaft, exhaust, and lines/hoses removed, we were ready to remove the engine. I must admit, this engine slid out WAY easier than my Camaro engine, which fights us every step of the way, and makes for a very difficult 1 man job lining up the bolt holes. By comparison, I'm predicting we'll be able to drop a new engine into place upon first attempt.

That's not an extremely low profile intake, I "borrowed" the carb a few years ago.

Dad is sold on going the crate engine route, and upsizing from 383 cubic inches. After some searching, I found a place in Lansing, MI specializing in just what we were looking for, Mopar stroker motors! I'm thinking a stroked low deck, which to the eye will look like the 383 we pulled, all while sporting an extra 120 or so extra cubes. Backed up by a 5 speed and either the 3.23 gear in it, or something slightly better, like a 3.55 or 3.73, this car will have gobs of power, and be fun to drive down the highway.

Out comes the 383 and 4 speed trans.

Dad plans to order up my list of parts through Year One by year's end, in order to receive the 30% off offered right now. Unfortunately, all those parts won't go on the car until it's painted and ready to go back on the road. That said, it's either save $900 now, or pay $900 more in the future. Aside from stripping the rest of the underbody and Por-15-ing it, the next logical steps will be suspension (Hotchkis), brakes (Wilwood), and wheels (American Racing). With those three major components out of the way, all that will be left is the new powertrain, body work/paint, and a few interior odds and ends. The goal will be to be on the road cruising by summer 2013, possibly entering it in the 2013 Detroit Autorama!

Ready for something bigger and badder!