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On the Cover: PRESSURE COOKER

YOU WANT NUTZ? We got nutz with a ’67 turbo big block Dart that blasts out over 1200 horsepower to the tires. Serious racecar for the street or a ridiculous street car for the track. Take your choice. If you think this Mope is fast, it’s nothing compared to how fast the build budget went from 15 grand to 110 big ones.

MAXIMUM MOPES 20 BEATING THE ODDS After touching on the background of the Charger 500, Zooman spins a yarn about a real 500 that now packs a Hemi and tours the quarter-mile in 11 seconds. Here’s how this classic revitalized Charger came to be and why. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat, so be careful not to fall off and break something.

30 SAWZALL REDEMPTION This 1974 sadmouth Challenger story will put a smile on your face—once you read it, that is. It’s a torrid tale of how this Chally was slated to be cut up and thrown away but was saved by a chance phone call. See how this E-body was transformed into a really cool 3G Hemi-powered cruiser with custom touches from earlier model Challengers. Better red than rad.

42 TRUCK ’N’ TRAVEL Boy-oh-boy, do those Dream Garage folks have a nifty giveaway for this issue. Not only are they offering up a customized 2021 Hellcat RAM TRX worth over 90 grand, but they’re throwing in at no extra charge an all-expense-paid hunting trip to South Africa complete with guide, the world’s best straight-pull bolt action rifle, and... bullets.

46 CHALLENGING PURCHASE

What’s an issue of Mopar Action without a mystery article? Our mystery for this issue centers around a 2011 Challenger that proved to be a possible prototype package that never was released. Read about all the detective work that went into solving the mystery. Was it ever solved? You’ll have to read it to find out.

MOPAR ACTION

52 HEMICEPTOR Sixties British sports cars meant looking good but moving with the speed of your eggplant ex-mother-in-law, and with an even worse electrical system. Except for Jensen. Their Interceptor model was fitted at the factory with a big-block from Ma Mopar for a hard to beat combination. But one shop did manage to beat the factory package by swapping in a 6.1 Hemi as part of a 9-year project. The result is a killer sportscar that’s a mind-blowing sleeper.

62 SUBURBAN FLIGHT Here’s a 1960 Plymouth that’ll beat your stopwatch to the 10-second mark by clocking 9.30s. Either this Mope is ridiculously fast or you need a new watch. Check out the important and not so important details of how this Mope was built and all of its speed secrets.

70 READY FOR FREDDY How would you feel if Freddy Krueger dropped by for a visit? Nervous? You needn’t be as we found ol’ Freddy to be a mellow dude with long nails. His ’19 Redeye Challenger caught our eye and that’s what this feature is about. You’ll never see another Mope like this and you’ll know why once you turn to page 70.

76 DUALLY NOTED Take one 1978 Dodge D300 dually and add 707 horsepower in the form of a supercharged 6.2L Hellcat Hemi and whadda got? A ’78 Dodge with 6 wheels and a Hellcat motor. But there’s much more to this amazing custom that runs 12s. A good read when you’re cuddled up inside the doghouse after your wife kicks you out.

46 26

LET’S GO, BR… EBOOGER!

FEATURE FROLICS

36 ACID TEST

26 HOLIDAY IN VEGAS

Overcoming an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction, Ebooger and his stunt double Jacques Orphe delve into the fascinating realm of battery tray restoration (say what?) Yup, that’s what we said. And to give you even more bang for your buck, the booger comes back with some nifty battery charging tips to keep you cranking longer than you ever believed possible.

56 PIPE HYPE Finishing a rousing rendition of a Bach Toccata on his monster pipe organ to a standing ovation, Ebooger quickly swaps his concert clothes for his shop duds to commence on this rousing tech article for hacking exhaust pipes for more sound and power. Try not to lose any fingers as you follow along this how-to. When done, feel free to stand, applaud, and send flowers.

80 LASH BASH Lash Bash is the latest in our series of brilliant tech articles with catchy titles such as Cam Slam, Wheel Deal, Gear Schmear and Spark! The Herald Engines Sing. So, you think you know all there is to know about adjusting your valves, eh? Well, Mr. Know-ItAll, learn a few things from our techmeister, who demonstrates how to cop a feel with feeler gauges, and other important stuff you didn’t know.

Don’t let the title fool you, covering 2021 was no holiday. We’re lucky when they give us New Year’s off. Check out the result of all our hard work covering the SEMA show as we highlight the coolest rides from the factory and customizers. If you weren’t one of the 100,000 people attending, here’s what you missed—crowds—in living color no less.

50 YEAH, BRING IT! We’re not talkin’ peanuts or popcorn here, although snacks are always appreciated. What we’re talkin’ about is the Don Carlton Reunion at Mooresville Dragway. Turned out to be a really wild show as some of the great legendary Mopars of yesteryear and the year before, showed up for some toe-curling side-by-side racing. “Hey, man, did you bring the toe uncurler and the Cracker Jacks?...”

66 THE DOCTOR IS IN Hemis never die, or so it seems at the 20th running of the SS/AH Dodge Hemi Challenge. Here’s all the smoke, sound, and wheels up and up action that you won’t find anyplace else (unless you look). If you love Hemis, you’ll love this. If you love us, you’ll subscribe.

NEW WORDS AND PICTURES 4 EDITOR’S NOTES 6 ZOOKEEPER’S DIARY 8 CREC’S CORNER 10 TECH TOPICS

12 RESTO TOPICS 85 MOPE OR NOPE 86 COOL STUFF 95 BLAST FROM THE PAST MOPAR ACTION

ACTION

MANAGING EDITOR Geoff Stunkard* MAzookeeper@yahoo.com ENGINEERING EDITOR Richard Ehrenberg S.A.E.* rehrenberg@yahoo.com SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Anthony “Crec” Crecco* FEATURE EDITOR Jim Koscs* CONTRIBUTORS Al Dente*, TheBruntBros* INSTIGATOR Scott Longman* HOT SHOE Kevin Wesley* HYPERSONIC ROCKET SCIENTIST Mark C. Grubelich* ART DIRECTOR John Flannery* ON THE COVER: Insane ’67 turbo Dart and Freddy Krueger’s Redeye Terror Challenger by TheBruntBros*

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PRESIDENT, CEO Chuck Allen CFO/TREASURER Mary Lee Vanderkooi CORPORATE ADDRESSES New York: 60 E. 42nd St., NY, NY 10165; 212-478-1910 Nashville: 2451 Atrium Way, Suite 320 Nashville, TN 37214 800-284-5668 SUBSCRIPTIONS /SINGLE COPIES 800-284-5668 subscriptions@athlonmediagroup.com ONLINE STORE outdoorgroupstore.com MOPAR ACTION™ (ISSN 1059-0692) is published bimonthly by Athlon Sports Communications, Inc., 2451 Atrium Way, Suite 320, Nashville, TN 37214. Single copy price is $7.99 in the U.S.A. and $8.99 in Canada. Subscriptions are $23.97 for a year in the US. Periodicals Postage paid at Nashville TN and at other additional mailing ofﬁces. POSTMASTER: send subscription requests to: Athlon Media Group, PO Box 292167, Kettering, OH 45429. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Mopar Action, PO Box 292167, Kettering, OH 45429. Submission of manuscripts, illustrations and/or photographs must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. The publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Copyright © 2022 by Athlon Sports Communications, Inc. All rights reserved under international and Pan American Copyright Conventions. Reproduction in whole or in part, via electronic or any other means, without written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. Printed in the U.S.A. Athlon Sports Communications, Inc. is licensed to use MOPAR, a trademark of FCA US LLC, in the title of the magazine MOPAR ACTION™. No other connection with FCA US LLC is expressed or implied. The editorial opinions are those of the publisher and do not necessarily represent the views of FCA US LLC. Volume 35 Issue 2. Mopar Action Magazine adheres to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. For more information about your rights as a California consumer or to opt out of the sale of your personal information, please visit MoparAction.com/ccpa

*Consultant

MOPAR ACTION

BY CLIFF

GROMER

It’s ba-a-a-a-ck—the Direct Connection!

EDITOR Cliff Gromer* cliffgromer@yahoo.com

DIRECT RESPONSE ADVERTISING VP, OPERATIONS & STRATEGY MARKETING & PROGRAM MANAGER

Editor’s Notes

your other hand to call for advice or sympathy. ’Course, as we know, DC evolved into Mopar Performance. But as old things become new again, Direct Connection 2021-22 and beyond comes at ya’ with a full line of 3G Hemi factorytuned parts, including DC “Tuner” and “Stage” kits so you can install these Back in the day, Direct Connection provided readyfactory-tuned, 50-state-legal stage kit to-run performance parts to help racers compete and win with the Direct Connection logo plastered calibrations yourself. The Direct Conon their vehicles. Paul Rossi hooks ’em up! nection Stage II kit can unlock nearly 100 additional horsepower, while a T’S A THING. Carmakers reaching back Stage III kit is under development to into the past, blowing the dust off iconic unlock even more. And we can’t wait for models of yesteryear and revamping them Stage IV which is all great for the street to modern standards. Ma Mopar has done to bop those hapless Bow-Ties and Blue that with Challenger and Charger, Chevy Ovals. with Camaro, and Ford with Mustang. All in Now, DC isn’t just about horsepower, as all, it’s been a formula for success. At least their offerings include suspension and drivethe companies didn’t have to spend wholine upgrades for a balanced and durable knows-what to come up with new model package so you’re not spritzing all those names. new parts all over the place. Well, Dodge has just gone beyond revivBut what about you track junkies? Not to worry, DC has factored you into the equaing classic model nameplates. They’ve restion. You want race-ready parts for the Chally urrected a classic performance program— Drag Pak? DC’s got ’em. You wanna build Direct Connection. your own Drag Pak? DC will sell you a bodyOld-timers will remember the kickoff in-white plus the engine and driveline to put of the original DC program back in 1974, in it. No more waiting for Ehrenberg to show which itself was simply a cooler name for you how to do it in Tech Topics. “Special Parts Services” run by Chrysler’s The Direct Connection rollout is backed Brian Schramm. SPS/DC was an industry up by an additional program that Dodge first, offering Mo’fans a huge selection of calls “Power Brokers.” This is a network of ready-to-run, test-proven performance elite dealerships with staff trained to deliver goodies that were available through their performance-focused customer service. local dealer. Dodge backed it up with howThese guys will have to know their stuff to performance upgrade guides that they about high performance parts and instalcalled performance recipes. Sorta like a lation as well as motorsports programs. cookbook based on hot sauce. The program Dodge says that only dealerships with a also included the Direct Connection Hotline, proven track record of delivering a high so if you found yourself trapped between a level of customer service are eligible for timing chain and sprocket, you could use Dodge Power Broker status. Power Broker techs can talk about the The original 1974 various upgrades available for your ride, Direct Connection give you installation tips and solve probparts catalog. lems you may run into, or you can buy Dodge’s reintroduction of Direct a turnkey dealer performance upgraded Connection will model which maintains your factory warinclude a new ranty and helps keep your shiny new

parts catalog, a performance parts website and technical information telephone hotline.

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Zoo Keeper’s Diary

BY GEOFF

STUNKARD

Build Back Better

that we are always seeing somebody upping the ante on that front as well. The IHI blower gets swapped for a Whipple, nothing a little Big Daddy Don Garlits KNOWS Build Back Better—2014 in the museum garage area. 350-shot of nitrous can’t fix, twin turbos… you name it. And let’s be honest, when these EOPLE WHO KNOW ME and have chatted with me at 3G experiments go awry, yes…Build Back Better! length sometimes come away with the sense I might Then there is blown fuel drag racing, my lifelong sport of be a little conspiratorial. As Steven Stills once crooned, choice. Spend long hours and big bucks to create something “There’s something happenin’ here, what it is ain’t exactly to be driven for a couple of seconds in a quarter-mile on a clear...” Actually, conspiracy is not really the best word. In short fuse. Nitro, baby. It eats billet cranks, splits blocks in half, speaking with his global Warroom audience, Steven K. Banburns the car to the ground. Want to win on race day? After the non wryly notes almost every day that there are no conspiracarnage, you get a mere 45 minutes to Build Back Better. cies, and there are no coincidences. So, yeah, that’s the ticket, Truth be told, anybody who has ever screwed an engine I just don’t buy the idea of coincidences, that’s all. together knows the rush of what E-berg called “First Fire” a Anyhow, as I write this, there is a push by the esteemed few issues back. The anticipation, the careful check-over, the leaders of Beltway USA to spend trillions of dollars on a big moment of truth when that first spark hits the incoming fuel government program called Build Back Better, and in the true charge and boom! It runs! I’ve experienced it with street cars and watched it happen in the racing world like these images spirit of bipartisanship, I wanted to show my approval for that. of Don Garlits and Swamp Rat 8. You should have smelled it After all, we hot rodders are the first serious recyclers, taking when it was running inside the building! stuff from junkyards and reusing it. In fact, when we do anyAnd it’s not just engines, of course. We Build Back Better thing, we Build Back Better. the entire car. Tranny, diff, suspension, brakes, etc. all work in I mean, let’s consider even a basic restoration. Most people unison. When I was a younger guy, the crowd I ran with lived would agree, the stuff flying out of on speed parts first, Bondo and spray cans of primer second. Hamtramck or Lynch Road back in Today, I must say I am much more refined about things that the day never looked so good as require laser-straight sheetmetal, multiple layers of base/clear, what we see at shows now. Even and spit-and-polish. Our cars remain the stars, and we all executive and press cars did not appreciate the effort that is made. get the level of detailing and paint So, I am all for Build Back Better. Sweat equity. Time well perfection. That’s BBB again. Want spent. Pride in craftsmanship. I commend every owner and an even Better Back? Age it, masshop who has gone the distance to do it. sage it, and change it to look like a As for the other deal, oh, well, NASCAR season’s here… I Monday morning’s first shift after need to go… (yelling behind me) “Let’s Go, Bran…!” a holiday weekend. If you want it See you in 60… authentic, that’s the Build. Now, let’s go to the street machines. While some could legitimately argue that today’s big-HP Mopes don’t need more, we find

MOPAR ACTION

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Crec’s Corner

BY ANTHONY

CRECCO

Nothing’s Real in “Reality TV”

Darnell (from the movie “Christine”)—everyone’s favorite shop owner.

HE IDIOT BOX/TV and the automotive world are two places that have yet to reach common ground. You guys and gals walking into a shop daily know exactly what I am talking about. Dealerships? No, you guys are excluded since there are way too many rules, regulations, and customers to contend with. Also, you guys are so boring that no dealership, with the exception of Mr. Norm, is interesting enough to have its own show. Crec? Get to the point… Ok, here goes. How many shows out there are carrelated? The answer? Too many! How many are actually relatable? None. A ton of these storylines are the same stuff. A crew hunts down a car, finds a car, fixes it, and flips it for big money, with some minor-to-overplayed issues along the way. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you seen one, you’ve seen em’ all. Hey, Hollywood! Show me something I can sink my teeth into that makes me say, “Now, these guys get it!!” For instance, on every show, these crews are getting along and are so very chummy. This is not the case anywhere. I don’t care where you are on this planet, there is no way in hell you will get along with everyone doing anything automotive related. Body shop, machine shop, parts… at some point, you’re gonna go head-to-head with a coworker. It’s inevitable, especially since there are pranks, ribbing, and the verbal gut punches to keep things interesting throughout the day.

MOPAR ACTION

Let me see the TV shop owner tell two guys who don’t get along to go and settle it in the storage lot, because he’s even tired of hearing the BS of “conflicting personalities.” Where is the realism? I wanna see the leaky GOJO bottle by the slop sink. Show me some bolts snapping and a guy doing surgery involving a torch, extractor, a helicoil, and a tap/die set etc. I wanna see the frustration and smell the PB Blaster while I am on the edge of my seat seeing how it all plays out for someone else for once. Let me see where the head tech loses his mind, and a full set of wrenches is airborne. Or, let me see a good accident that isn’t staged for the fans. In the real world, “stuff happens” and in a shop, things go south hourly. I have had other customer cars roll into ones I was working on, guys setting things on fire by accident, shutz gun explosions, and car jockeys driving onto the frame machine too fast while me and the old timer jump out of the way for dear life. Or the cars that jump into gear while being worked on and then go rolling into the currently under-construction break room. These are examples of the stuff that happens that you never get to see on TV. Does anyone get fired? Is that even a thing anymore? If they do, it’s all downplayed, politically correct where “they part ways.” My old boss wanted to “part” a guy’s skull when he canned ’em. The same goes for all these “levelheaded shop owners?” Think about a time when your boss used another vendor for a service and got screwed. I betcha’ it didn’t end peacefully, did it? Besides, where are these shows filmed? Too many places are way too clean and organized to be taken seriously. In all honesty…. not one empty beer from an afternoon happy hour? Come on… that is one of the perks that kept everyone out of a holding cell. Collared shirts? Seriously? Some of these guys look like they are modeling for the Snap-On calendar. First shop I was at had no hot water or toilet. I will leave it at that. You guys get the point, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness all of the examples mentioned and lucky enough to be here to talk about it. One more thing. There are no commercial breaks when you wrench in the real world, either! –Crec

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Tech Topics

BY RICHARD PHOTOS BY

EHRENBERG, S.A.E.

RICHARD EHRENBERG, OR AS CREDITED

Does extended idling cause fouled spark plugs?

Despite dire warnings online, any grade DOT brake fluid is miscible with any other. Silicone fluid, actually, however, does not mix, no matter how you stir, shake, heat, or freeze, it separates out (I personally tested it). This, however, causes no problems whatsoever, it does not gel, goo up, etc., it simply does the job. It is also basically incompressible, as with any other liquid. It is crazy how good the internet is at spreading false rumors.

FLUID FOIBLE In your brake article in the last issue, you recommended DOT5 silicone fluid. I have heard that the entire system must then be drained, flushed with alcohol, the refilled with the silicone fluid. Why didn’t you mention that? Adam Conklin Los Angeles, CA Adam– Mainly because it is hooey. Sure, flushing with isopropyl alcohol on a used system can’t hurt, but it is not necessary. Think of the potential problems if Joe Blow from Kokomo mixed fluid types that were incompatible: The manufacturers would be sued, etc., and there would be warning labels on all brake fluid—generally, there are none. The story is that the mixture will gel (it does not, and it never actually mixes, either). The other BS story is that silicone fluid is compressible. More baloney. For all practical, real-world purposes, all liquids are incompressible, the intermolecular spaces are very, very small. EG: Water, at ~1,500 Psi, can be compressed 4700 parts per million, or less than ½% (volume). Silicone fluid molecules are probably even more tightly packed, i.e., less 10 MOPAR ACTION

Until recently, DOT5 silicone fluid containers gave no warning about “not mixing.” Then the liability lawyers got involved. Note that for the last few decades, silicone fluid has had added purple dye for surefire ID.

compressible. Real-world example: Every Mopar I’ve ever wrenched on has had silicone fluid from the day it became mine. The brake pedal (with manual brakes) feels like a rock, very confidence inspiring. The protection against corrosion, and freedom from paint damage, along with the very high boiling point, sold me on this stuff 40 years ago. Dodge pickups sold to the US armed forces all left the factory with DOT5 silicone. More info: See photos above.

While it is not impossible that the gauge itself is faulty, I’d give 10:1 odds that the sending unit is the problem, which could be mechanical (incorrectly angled float arm) or electrical (rheostat out of spec). I have covered this (test procedure) so many times that I’ll just say: Swap it. Try one from different vendor. While they are all imports these days, some seem to be better than others. Test it hanging externally before you install it.

TANKED UP My ’69 Dart’s fuel gauge reads full when tank is full, but when it starts dropping, it drops fast. By ½ tank, it reads empty. I put in a new voltage limiter, still the same. Looks to be a condenser with limiter but can’t find any replacement listed and I have no idea what specs are for it. Terry Bartz Massillon, OH Terry– The capacitor (condenser) you describe is only there for AM radio noise suppression, so that’s not your problem.

The 5-volt IVR (b), if bad, will affect all gauges. The AM radio suppression capacitor (a) cannot cause inaccurate gauge readings, if in doubt, take it out.

HOW TO GET HELP: Address all queries to this address:

RICHARD EHRENBERG PO BOX 302 MARLBORO NY 12542 Best bet: Online submission form at moparaction.com GROUND RULES: • If you want to submit your question via e-mail, please use the on-line submission form at www.moparaction. com. If we ask for more info, send back all existing text, or else! • Snail-mail must include a SASE and/or a cash bribe. • All letters, electronic or otherwise, must include a full name and a least your city and state. You can request that it be withheld, however, and, if we had any the night before, we might even honor your request. • “20 questions” letters instantly get shredded and the scraps forwarded to Mopar Muscle. So – ask one clear question please, we’re a sleazy magazine, not an encyclopedia publisher. We won’t tell you step-by-step how to swap a 2022 Hellcat Redeye Hemi into your 1914 Dodge. • Remember, we have one old geezer tech editor (when he’s awake and sober) and well over 100,000 readers. We do the best we can with our meager resources. Our reply rate does at times approach 50%, but it varies with our “real” workload at the moment. • All letters are subject to editing to make us look like we know all the answers. Thanks, Rick

HOT RODS Rick– Why did Chrysler go to the heavy conrods in the 1970 and newer hi-po 440 engines? I never heard of a problem with the 1969s, even in the Six-Pack and 6-Bbl cars. Phillip Brown Somersworth, NH Phil– I asked this question of the lead engineer (now long retired), even he can’t remember. My guess: Just the usual Chrysler abundance-of-caution over-engineering. There’s no question that, as long as the strength is adequate, a lighter weight continued on page 90

RestoTopics

BY RICHARD PHOTOS BY

EHRENBERG, S.A.E.

RICHARD EHRENBERG, OR AS CREDITED

WhatÕs a Mayflower? Wanna submit a resto question? Please follow the instructions on page 10.

MAKE IT UP Mr. Ehrenberg– I am having an impossible time trying to find the hose that runs from the air cleaner to the breather filter in the right valve cover for my ’77 Newport (400 CID), Do you know anywhere I could find this little monster? Mine gave up after 44 years. William Stewart Hammond, IN Bill– That’s the make-up air hose. While many were molded, a length of 5/8ʺ silicone heater hose works just fine. Regular heater hose will also work but will soon turn to mush.

The ’56 Chrysler 300B’s optional high-compression 354 Hemi was rated at 355 HP. First engine with 1 HP per CID!

RED RUG Rick– My neighbor just inherited a 1975 Dart Sport, it is all red, red interior. It is a typical 318, column automatic. What gets me is the carpet: It is dark red shag. I know shag was “in” back then, but do you think this is original? Mark Griffin Tallahassee, FL Mark– Almost certainly. As one of the typical “sales bump” spring-intro packages, Then, for 1957, The DeSoto Adventurer had a 345 CID Hemi rated 345 HP. And this was standard equipment!

SHIVVY SCHMUCKS Dear Mr. Ehrenberg– Please help clearing the muddy waters of fact concerning the first factory engine (production issue) producing one horsepower per cubic inch. Chevy claims the ’Vette and some Ford guys say the T-bird. David Colburn Ontario, CA Dave– Shivvy and Phord guys are both smoking their underwear; no news there. Yes, the waters may be a bit muddy, but it’s Mopar versus Mopar.

The 1956 Chrysler 300B’s optional engine produced 355 horsepower (at a then-stunning 5,200 RPM) out of 354 cubic inches. It wasn’t until 1957 that the ’Vette’s crude mechanically fuel injected optional 283 supposedly produced 1 HP per cubic inch. Within a year, however, Chrysler was producing Bendix multi-point electronic fuel injected big blocks—the real deal. In 1957, the DeSoto Adventurer’s standard-equipment 345 CID Hemi was making 345 HP. So, by any measure, Chrysler Corporation takes the crown. Both, actually.

Red shag carpet! Yes, it looks like it should be in a French house of ill repute (and might well be in this photo), but it was actually a stock component of the A62 spring special package on 1975 Dart Sports. continued on page 93

12 MOPAR ACTION

400 I 440 ENGINES AND CYLINDER HEAD KITS 572" Bracketmaster

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380 HP 415 Torque 4.020" bore 3.580" stroke

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INSANITY IS MY CO-PILOT DEPT

A ’67 turbo’d 440 Dart like no other on the planet. by AL DENTE photos by TheBRUNTBros

TREET CAR OR RACECAR… call it what you will, but this one-of-a-kind build owned and operated by Paul Swigart is all totally outrageous. By skating really fast, we caught up with this guy at a red light during the Mopar Nats to get the lowdown on this gnarly ride. “I’ve been street racing motor cars since 1984,” says Paul. He pauses for a minute to collect his thoughts, which are strewn about inside the car. “That all started when I turned 16 and was looking for a car—a Chevelle or a Camaro. I didn’t even know what a Dodge Challenger was. A friend of mine took me to his cousin’s house where she was selling a Challenger. It had been parked for years and wore a T/A hood with a tree growing out of the scoop. So, I had a choice: drop the car on the front lawn as a planter or try to get it running. We got out the chain saw, harvested the tree, installed new plugs, air filter, fresh gas, and a battery. It cranked right up, and I commenced to smoke the tires through second gear. I bought it for a grand.” Paul drove and street-raced the Dodge all through high school until he finally blew the 383 and sold it. Shortly afterward, an AutoTrader came out with a similar car and Paul learned

14 MOPAR ACTION

PRESSURE

COOKER Paul never leaves home or his car without his beloved steering wheel. Gromer, on the other hand, never leaves home without his beloved teeth.

This over-the-top Dart started its second life as a ’67 shell that Paul converted to look like the ’68 he always wanted. Hood, fenders and decklid are ’glass. Turbo poking through the grille puts a unique spin on this custom and can be used to mix drinks.

MOPAR ACTION 15

 PRESSURE COOKER

Chassis is a custom build by Aaron Stapleton. Rear discs came with the Moser rear. Dart rolls on 15˝ Weld Draglites—3.5s up front while the 10s out back protected by 325-50 M/T drag radial rubber rape the tarmac.

Ahhh, the beauty of it all. A work of art by Aaron as he packaged the turbo’d 440 creatively into the Dart’s engine compartment. The intake charge squeezed to 25 PSI (even more than we squeeze Ebooger to produce his tech) spun a hub-mounted dyno to a self-satisfied smirk of 1,221 ponies at the tires on race gas and a street tune.

16 MOPAR ACTION

that his former dark green Chally with the Gator Grain roof cover was said to be one of 60 produced. Oh, well. Paul cycled through a number of cars after that—no Chevelles or Camaros though, as he was now hooked on Mopes. The cars were simply drivers, nothing memorable as he remembers. Some years later, Paul got the itch for a project, and getting a nod from his understanding wife, he picked up a ’69 Barracuda that he figured to be a cheap undertaking. ’Course, as with all our stories in Mopar Action, one thing always leads to another, and “cheap” almost always turns into “expensive” (in this case a “very expensive”) full-on build. The low ET ’Cuda was sold for a down payment on a no-ET house. Time for another project. This one was a ’67 Dart that Paul picked up as just a shell. “I always wanted a ’68 Dart,” says Paul. “I really liked the small package with a big motor. Back in 2008, before the economy crashed, you couldn’t find a ’68 Dart for sale anywhere in the country. I looked for months. Then suddenly this ’67 Dart pops up, not even 30 miles from my house. So, I go over and buy it for $2,000 and convert it from a ’67 to a ’68, and then the economic crash hits and, all of a sudden, everybody and their half-brothers are selling ’68 Darts.” Paul says that updating the Dart wasn’t all that difficult. Changes include grille, side marker lights, and bumpers, plus door panels from Legendary. That’s about it. He mentions that he already had a ’68 grille and paid to have it restored before it was cut up for the mods to come. Plan A was a $15,000 budget build: 440 motor 0.030”-over, nice rods and slugs. Paul already had a mint stock crank. Punch it up with a 300 HP shot of squeeze, bolt up his 727, and use the brand-new 3.73-spooled Moser Dana 60 that UPS dropped off on his front porch. The porch wasn’t going anywhere, so Paul popped it in along with Caltracs under the Dart to make it a roller. Wait! A spool on the street? “Spools creating problems on the street are old wives’ tales,” insists Paul. “I’ve driven them for years, and as long as you’re not

s u o i r e S e m o S e Mak

Cylinder Heads

making hairpin turns, it’s fine.” Your old wives’ tales may (and will sez Ebooger) vary. Paul already had the block and tranny, so he was well on the way with his budget build. “Then the economy tanked, and I put the Dart on ice for two years. The body done by me in primer was ready for paint. But I didn’t have the dough to go forward. It was terrible,” he laments. Eventually, Paul picked up where he left off and the next step was to get a roll cage installed. He was figuring low-10s, high-9s with his juiced 440 for street ‘n strip. But then something happened that sent Plan A spinning into outer space. A buddy of his with a Mustang buys a 302 pushrod motor out of a junkyard ’88 ’Stang and shows up with a $1300.00 turbo kit picked up off eBay. He wants Paul to help him install it. Installed, his bud goes to the track and turns a 10.40. This gets Paul’s attention. “The guy had maybe 2 grand into his drivetrain, and if he can run a number with that garbage, what could I do with a nice turbo’d 440? I’m not talking about an 80 grand motor, just a ‘nice’ 440.” And just like that, Paul’s budget build was blown out of the water, replaced by hits to his Gold Card to the tune of about 110 grand. Yeah, he was gonna show that Mustang no matter what it took. So, let’s see where all that coin went—one place it didn’t go was for 2 lifetime subscriptions to Mopar Action. The 440 built by Automotive Machine and Performance in Lawrence, Kansas starts off with a cast iron World block

the box when used with our 500+ inch stroker kits, these have the potential to make 650-700+ Horsepower with port work. Also available fully CNC ported. Call us or check our web site for details. B & RB Stroker Kits, up to 543CI. All forged parts rated 1000+ Horsepower complete with Clevite bearings and Total Seal Rings.

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 PRESSURE COOKER

Neat interior looks like something out of a boiler room, with tubes and piping running fore and aft and consuming a goodly chunk of real estate. Paul did manage to squeeze in a couple of Jazz race seats so he’d have someplace to sit. Imagine all this getup with a stock Slant-Six under the hood.

topped by out-of-the-box Edelbrock RPM aluminum heads. Inside are Icon hi-boost application slugs with tool steel rings swinging on Manley Pro Race I-beam rods. Scott Brown spec’d the custom ground hydraulic roller cam.

Compression is a mild 8.2-to-1. Paul runs an Edelbrock Pro Flow+ EFI intake with a Holley Dominator EFI managing the whole shebang which includes the MSD 7AL2 Plus ignition. Holley 160# matched injectors squirt the gas where it does the most good and are kept supplied by an Aeromotive 5 GPM brushless pump. The all-important turbo is a 94mm CEA Precision unit. Aaron Stapleton of Fast Forward Race Cars in Des Plaines, Illinois scienced and fabricated the entire package from engine compartment to interior to undercarriage. Paul kept saying “Remember, $15,000 budget.” Aaron just shook his head “yes,” and kept sending the bills. Aaron fab’d the entire stainless exhaust. The headers face forward and feed into a collector underneath the turbo. The 3˝ exhaust from the turbo splits and runs down each side of the car to

exit at the rear of the doors. The turbo itself serves as the muffler—probably just under cop-ticket threshold. Inside the cabin, you’ll find an air/water intercooler in the back seat. The water is cooled by a trunk-mounted chiller filled with ice water and is motor-circulated by a rollbar-mounted switch. The nowcooled air is ducted forward inside the cabin through the firewall and into the throttle body. Intense but tidy. Two Scirocco radiators flank the turbo for engine cooling. (You following all of this?) Paul says he would have used a Mopar trans if one was able to take all that torque. But after talking to everyone in the Mopar world, he drew a blank. The high-roller racers in Chicago steered him to a 2-speed GM-Powerglide-based box built by Pro Performance in Woodstock. It packs a 3500-stall PTC converter, Reid case, and a billet adapter to mate up to

Gauges? We don’ need no steenkin’ gauges, not when we have that wonderful Holley 12.3 Pro dash. Well, on second thought, maybe we do need some steenkin’ gauges—boost, trans temp and gas.

18 MOPAR ACTION

PHOTO: CLIFF GROMER

the RB mill. The Chicago boys swore that the trans could handle up to 3000 HP. To prevent the unibody Dart from ending up like an Auntie Anne’s hand-baked pretzel, Aaron fab’d a complete frame out of 15/8˝ tubing—same as the 10-point roll cage, which is 8.50-ET certified. He also fab’d the coilover front suspension with Strange aluminum GT struts, while the rear relies on a combo of the Moser diff, Caltracs, Assassin traction bars, a fab’d anti-roll bar and Menscer race shocks. Inside, while the backseat might be tight for anything but a hamster or gerbil, Paul stretches out in style on front Jazz buckets with Racequip harnesses. He has a removable steering wheel that plugs into an Aaron-fabbed column ’cuz he’s that kind of guy. The dash is equipped with the Holley 12.3 Pro touchscreen that can switch tunes for the Dominator EFI in 30 seconds. Strapping this beast to a hub-mounted dyno and upping the boost to 25 PSI on race gas registered 1,221 HP to the wheels, and that was with the standard street tune. The Holley race tune should up the ponies even more. So far, Paul has

Editor’s-eye view of rear (he took the photo standing up) shows all kinds of stuff—Danastyle Moser, Caltracs, Assassin traction bars, an Aaron-fabbed anti-roll bar and Menscer race shocks. Note the fan that cools something above it.

been able to make one pass—98 octane, 12 PSI boost, trans brake on 4 PSI boost. He ran 6.21 @ 115 MPH in the 1/8-mile with a 1.54 60-foot time. He says he has too much gear for a ¼-mile pass. Outside the track, the Dart travels locally and hits

the car shows. Coast-to-coast runs might be possible if Paul was led by a truckmounted jet fan blowing air through his radiator and followed behind by a fuel tanker truck. But that would really knock his budget out of whack.

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STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS DEPT

Boiling the mini-hides at Atco Dragway, Bill Atwell gets ready to make another 11-second run in this 500-CI Charger 500.

20 MOPAR ACTION

BEATING THE ODDS This real Charger 500 now has a Hemi, a history and a pile of 11-second time slips

by GEOFF STUNKARD

T WAS LATE 1968, and Dodge was…losing. People loved the new 1968 Charger styling, for sure. But get one up over 170 MPH and two things happened. The inset grille was a giant air scoop, lifting the nose, and air rising from the flying buttress inset rear window wanted to pull the differential up. If you wanted brown underwear, even as a he-man NASCAR hero, this was the way to do it. So Dodge boss Bob McCurry told his guys to figure something out. They did. They put in a ’68 Coronet grille and a flush rear window and, voila, problem solved. They called it a Charger 500. Except the Torino Talladega and Cyclone Spoiler showed up soon after, and FoMoCo won at Daytona in 1969. McCurry was really pissed now—the result was the Dodge Charger Daytona. But you knew that already. Ironically, the late ’68 debut meant few mags tested the standard 1969 Charger, and lots of 500s appeared in print if little elsewhere. The 500 package soon went away, too, as they were required to meet any rules that applied to the Daytona as well. So the fact a real one is still racing in 2022 is pretty cool, right? That is thanks to owner Tom Tarzwell and wrench/driver Bill Atwood of Old Saybrook, CT. Bill is no stranger to Mopes, and even has a ’65 altered wheelbase Plymouth he plays with. But the chance to rework the already-restored Charger 500, a 440-CI / 4-speed R/T combo when it left Creative Industries in the fall of ’68, was a new challenge.

MOPAR ACTION 21

 BEATING THE ODDS

The Charger 500 was a 1969 model developed to help win races in NASCAR. After the legal batch was built, the design was immediately discontinued. Subcontractor Creative Industries reworked assembly-line 1969 Charger R/Ts to convert them. This one was a 440 Magnum / 4-speed / Dana 60 combo new, is Hemi / auto / 8¾ now.

Looks old-school, but this one is full of tricks. 499-CI engine, CNC-ported heads, trick intake and carbs, 14:1 compression and a creative cam by Cam Dynamics put 650 HP on the dyno. However, thanks to tire size, it cannot all work at once.

22 MOPAR ACTION

“Tom is a friend of mine, and we had already put a Street Hemi in the Charger when he came to see me,” says Bill. “He wanted something faster than the Duster he was racing, and says, ‘Bill, let’s just make this into a racecar.’ This car was rebuilt for stockappearing (F.A.S.T.) race classes, and I wanted to push it deep into the 11s.” To that end, it would mean more than a little bit of change. The four-speed came out so a worked T-flite (with a column-mounted shifter, too) could go in, which could work better without having sticky race tires. The Dana gave way to an easy-swap pumpkin-type 8¾˝ rear, and the stock Street Hemi ended up on a display stand. “This one’s a stroker, but everything has to look stock on the outside,” Bill notes about the new engine seen in the car now. “You must run factorystyle manifolds, you must run cylinder heads with a correct casting number. You need a block that meets the standards; the early Mopar megablock

MoPower to You. Trick Flow PowerPort 190® cylinder heads are the new standard for small block Mopar engine builds. Improvements over stock: A356-T61 aluminum castings; enhanced intake ports; CNC Street Ported runners; stronger rocker arm shaft bosses; and 3/8" pushrod clearance. There’s also standard features like bronze alloy guides, ductile iron seats, 11/32" stainless valves, PAC Racing springs, steel locks, and chromoly or titanium retainers. PowerPort 190 heads ﬁt all non-emissions, LA and Magnum 318-360 engines. That’s right, Magnum owners can now— bonus!—use LA parts on their builds using these heads. What a great time to be a small block Mopar owner! Dyno Results

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PowerPort 190

Lift Value

Intake Flow CFM

Exhaust Flow CFM

.100"

.200"

134

121

.300"

200

181

.400"

248

213

.500"

281

231

.600"

293

237

.700"

301

240

Test Engine: 10.92:1 compression 365 c.i.d. LA-series engine with Trick Flow PowerPort 190 cylinder heads (TFS-61417802-C00), custom hydraulic roller camshaft (230°/236° duration @ .050"; .577"/.572" lift; 110° lobe separation), Trick Flow roller lifters (TFS-21400010), Trick Flow Track Heat® intake manifold (TFS-61400111), a 750 cfm carburetor, Trick Flow billet aluminum carburetor spacer (TFS-2141501B), Hooker Super Competition headers with 13∕4" primaries, 3" dual exhaust with Flowmaster mufﬂers.

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Retro-Fit Hydraulic Roller Lifters These affordable retro-fit roller lifters permit roller camshaft conversions to be made to engines originally equipped with hydraulic flat tappet cams. The lifters are manufactured to factory tolerances for an exact fit and to provide precise oil control to keep your engine running smoothly.

Track Max® Harmonic Dampers Put Trick Flow’s advanced engineering to work for you with a Track Max harmonic damper. Engineered for safety and power, these SFI 18.1 rated, carbon steel dampers contain an injection-molded, bonded elastomer and removable counterweights. They also have engraved timing marks for easy adjustment and a corrosion-resistant black powdercoat ﬁnish.

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2204MATF

Tests conducted at 28" of water (pressure). Bore size: 4.000"; exhaust with 17∕8" pipe.

 BEATING THE ODDS is allowed. And where we race, the tire is limited to what the car was delivered with. For instance, you can put on F70-15s if it was delivered with them new, and you can then go one size larger, G70s, than the car could potentially have had. Still not much!” So, since Bill has a repair shop and has been a full-time mechanic his whole adult life, he is no stranger to spinning wrenches. The motor he built is now 499 cubes that dyno-pulled 680 horsepower. An Eagle crank, forged rods, 14:1 CP pistons, ARP fasteners, and Total Seal rings In addition to the grille, the rear window was brought flush by adding a plug, which also fill up the shortblock, meant a very narrow deck lid not suitable for carrying Aunt Mabel’s steamer trunk. 500 by Center Auto balanced graphics were a final touch. The car was already painted in correct EV2 when purchased. Machine. The cam is from Cam Motion—Bill says solid lifter with bumps, you will get no other info – with Comp lifters, Barton rocker arms, and a set of OEM iron heads CNCported by Modern Cylinder Head working the valvetrain safely to 7500 RPM. Dave Dudek gets credits for the OEM inline intake and AFB setup, while the lube comes up from a Milodon pan and spark flies thanks to an combination of visible (Mopar) and not visible (MSD) ignition pieces. Oh, and Bill dials that in with an MSD grid screen and Racepak sportsman setup as well. No, it ain’t ’69, baby… The trans is an A727 tweaked on by Randy J, coupled with a reverse-pattern manual valve body and 2500 RPM Ultimate converter. The car uses a 4.10 ring by US Gear and a spool to keep it hooked. Speaking of hooked, remember that comment earlier on brown underwear? “Well, there’s several tricks,” says Bill about going 11-seconds in 1320 feet with a 3800-pound B-body on skinny tires. “Mainly, it’s really ankle control toward the end of it. We have been dabbling in some electronics to slow down the car by retarding the From a 4-speed / Dana combo to the A727 / 8¾ diff meant you timing. The control box could save a few pounds by moving the shifter to the column and lets me take some timing tossing the C16 console out. Car still tips scale at 3800-plus big out for the first-, secondones, and manual-valve body means column handle has to be or second-and-a-half of pulled to make shifts. the launch to keep the Up in the glove tires from smoking. box, what’s this? A “You find in this class, the Racepak and MSD more power you make, the pieces allows the more you need a crutch, driver to briefly because a human can’t do remove timing at the same thing over and the hit, preventing over again. So, for instance, the skinnies from the big-block Corvettes broiling away. The running in the class that are burnout is crucial to doing what they’re doing, getting what little traction is possible. they’re doing that with a ton Bill Atwell and the 500 face. of electronics.” 24 MOPAR ACTION

Now, we know real men throw gear shifts, and though the automatic is there to be able to go rounds, it is still a manual valve body. Losing the clutch isn’t an issue. Bill’s goal is winning, not whining. “Yes. A four-speed can be run in the class and it does work, but it’s one more element to being able to be competitive. Being able to put the car into the timers and have a reaction time and then finesse the clutch and throttle at the same time, you’re really starting to spread yourself thin at that point.” Truth be told, Bill has had his fun with the Dodge to this time, and these changes were really done getting it ready for Tom, who, like the Boss, is not getting any younger. The idea is to make racing it easy and fun, so Bill has gone to the edge with an 11.07 at 125 MPH best (at US 131 in Martin, Mich.) and is now dialing it back a little to keep it consistent when Tom is back in it. Bill himself, well, he is now racing in Dudek’s notorious black Hemi Road Runner thanks to its current owner, Scott Goodspeed. “The challenge is trying to figure out how to get that power to the ground,” he says about the stock supercar racing

Tires’ tracks show the effort of getting through the gear shifts. Rain Man says K-mart has underwear on sale…on Tuesdays…

series, “and it’s definitely a lot of fun figuring out when you do get it. A real large sense of pride, you know, and we’ll do six to eight races a season, which is just about as much as I can handle. I don’t want to turn it into a job.”

The Charger 500 was a limited model for a limited time. This one is still making the grade long after its original reason for being has long faded away. Beside, most of the time under 170 MPH, the whitey tighties stay that way.

THE ODDS SAY WE’RE BACK DEPT

HOLIDAY IN VEGAS Celebs like Jay Leno and car enthusiast / music star Keith Urban are part of what makes the event a big part of each year. Jay Leno headlined the SEMA Show New Products Breakfast (extra syrup on the pancakes, please).

(top left) One of the biggest displays of the 2021 year, a slew of cars and mods were in the Mopar Stellantis display. The reemergence of Direct Connection to service the late-model vehicle industry was the brand’s biggest news. Seen in the inset is the Matt Hagan funny car, which finished second in NHRA 2021 points. Matt’s being sponsored by Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage for 2022. He joins Leah Pruett and Tony Stewart as a new team for 2022.

(opposite page-lower) A Scat Pack with Shaker was part of this display for 2CRAVE wheels. The late model Mope contingent was well represented as always here.

26 MOPAR ACTION

Steve Strope and his Pure Vision Designs business executed this 1972 Scamp for ARP’s Bob Florine, displayed at the brand’s booth. The Air Grabber equipped Plymouth hosts a 340 under the hood. We were digging the big custom steelies, poverty caps and wide-tread blackwalls.

A-bombs and 3G mills make SEMA ’21 a roarin’ good time. STORY BY GEOFF STUNKARD PHOTOS BY DAN GALLO

NYTHING CAPABLE of slowing down Las Vegas is a big deal, and when the entire SEMA trade show was actually canceled due to the Wuhan lab subversion last year, we knew things had gotten profoundly serious. A year later, the Las Vegas Convention Center flung its doors wide open for the first time since 2020, as over 100,000 people showed up for the 2021 SEMA Show. This marked the first full capacity event on its calendar, and SEMA’s parts and party extravaganza returned with a vengeance for the city’s first big gathering. So the MA faithful could take a peek at the latest and greatest, we sent Dan Gallo out to Nevada on a red-eye flight, as the Brunts were back in quarantine again for traveling out of state against the governor’s orders (yes, the kielbasa in north Jersey was worth it). Since Dan can handle a camera as well as helping us keep the lights on each issue, we knew he would be in the right place at the right time to tell the SEMA story. He did not disappoint. For most of us, SEMA annually marks the advent of new products and great appearances. Filling out a large area was the Mopar Stellantis display, with new concepts and the announcement that Direct Connection is coming back (see the Boss’ editorial on p.4 for our take on that). Various manufacturers showed off their latest products, but what was really evident was the number of worked A-bodies on display, and a continued and growing interest in putting modern mills into vintage iron, something we have been focused on with features in the ’ol fish wrapper we put out for you every 60 days. Everyone else is finally catching up! So, with all that said, enjoy this visual look at the high-rollers in ’Vegas. And tell the Brunts, “oh, well, maybe next time.”

This Duster’s changes includes a swap to a 1967 Valiant grille, something pretty unique in our twisted minds. Eberg was impressed with the blackout treatment. Under the hood here was a 6.1 3G mill.

MOPAR ACTION 27

 HOLIDAY IN VEGAS

In the NAPA booth was a ’63 Plymouth with mild mods. In the busy overall shot at left, NHRA funny car driver Ron Capps can be seen at center signing autographs. Winner of the 2021 NHRA Funny Car championship, Capps will run his own AA/FC team for the ’22 nitro wars.

This ’75 Duster in the CFR Performance products display was another high-quality modified Mope with blown 3G Hemi power. Lots of sponsor’s products help make these cars special, but the quality of the build speaks for itself. Thumbs-up on this one.

Escaping from the set of Fast & Furious 9 was this ’68 Charger with a mid-engine Hellcat. While a Jimmy through the hood is always eye candy, this one by Speedcore deserved a second, third, etc. look.

In the booth for the OldRide auto reseller mag was the only Hellephant we saw this year. The car is a 1973 Road Runner, again with a number of outside cues to point out its changes. Would you have believed we’d have 1000-HP crate motors when these smogged-up beepers first appeared on the scene almost 40 years ago? 28 MOPAR ACTION

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SADMOUTH STORIES DEPT

SAWZALL

This 1974 Challenger would rather be red than rad. by AL DENTE photos by TheBRUNTBros

’74 Challenger Rallye gets a new look with a mix oldand new-school parts. Howard wanted to retain the classic look but with modern power and chassis mods.

30 MOPAR ACTION

REDEMPTION I

T STARTED WITH A PHONE CALL. Larry Weiner of the Mr. Norm’s connection was building a ’68 B-body and was looking for a Rallye dash frame from a ’68 Charger to replace the one he had, which featured that long speedo that they used in taxicabs. He found one on eBay located in a boneyard in New Mexico. The guy sent photos and it looked perfect. There were no nasty surprises when the frame was delivered a week later. Larry calls to thank the guy for his honesty, and the guy says that if Larry is into Mopars, he has something that Larry might be interested in. “Like what?” “I’ve got this ’74 Challenger Rallye sitting here. It’s a complete rust-free car. I’m going to part it out and cut up what’s left for scrap.” “No, no, no! Don’t do that. Email me some photos so I can see what it looks like.” The guy sends the pix, and indeed it is a complete car, original paint—down to the strobe stripe on the door. Larry tells the guy to hold off while he makes some calls to find the Challengers a new home. Back about 30-40 years ago, Mo’folks didn’t value Challenger built after 1971, so many were just tossed. ’Course, all that’s changed today

The Challenger as originally delivered.

MOPAR ACTION 31

 SAWZALL REDEMPTION tured in a previous issue, so the Chally gets stashed in his garage for some 10 years. Howard, now some 10 years older and we presume wiser, arouses the slumbering Challenger, confiding his vision for the new project. Baby, it’s a restomod this time around—a car that rides and handles like a new Challenger with the classy classic look. The Chally seems unimpressed. Doesn’t honk its horn or flash its lights in approval or pop a coolant hose and soak Howard’s sneakers in disapproval. OK, how about a show car? Still no reaction. Not one to be put off easily, Howard forges ahead. Out goes the stock motor and in goes a new dealerbought 392 Hemi. Howard test-fits the Hemi in the engine bay to make sure it (duh!) fits. It does, but there’s interference with the stock suspension. So out goes the factory suspension and in goes one from RMS which includes motor mounts. The Hemi now bolts right in along with a Bouchillion Performance oil pan kit and AGR Performance power rack and pinion. 3-Gen 392˜ Hemi is controlled by an Arrington management system and To keep those eight pistons hopping up and down in uses a Hotwire engine wiring harness. Headers and exhaust are TTi runproper quick time, Howard taps Arrington Performance for ning through Dynomax mufflers. their engine management system while Arrington taps Howard’s Gold Card. Hotwire Auto supplies the wiring harness. First on Larry’s call list is his cousin, Howard Brook. Howard Still, Howard wanted a functional fresh air hood. He got the is retired and a home-based enthusiast, always up for a possible idea from a die-cast Chally that had the airbox located in the project. Larry sends him the pix and the details, and Howard middle of the radiator. “I couldn’t do that,” says Howard, “so buys the Challenger cold based on Larry’s recommendation. I moved the airbox over to the side.” A little welding here and Next, the car journeys from New Mexico to Howard’s garage in a little fabing there, and then gluing a sheet of aluminum to upstate New York. Turns out it is a rust-free survivor, but has colthe hood underside with openings to mate to the modified air lected its share of dings over the years. “There was something cleaner box and Viola! Fresh air hood. But that plain, underhoodgoing on in every corner,” says Howard. At the time, Howard mounted aluminum sheet looked a little too er, plain, so Howard was working on a blue ’71 Satellite restoration that we’ve feahad an “angry Ram” metal emblem made for a little dress-up. Rear shows the small backlight from the ’71 Chally SE. The factory always went with a vinyl roof to cover the seam where the fiberglass window plug

mated with the metal roof. Howard opted for paint. Rear anodized trim is chrome plated. Gas tank houses an Aeromotive in-tank pump.

 SAWZALL REDEMPTION The 6-speed didn’t fit with the stock crossmember, so Howard had to fab one from scratch. Since Howard didn’t want to cut the stock tunnel, the wide tranny also hits against the bottom of the car, which created a poor pinion angle, which in turn results in some vibration. He says the smaller 5-speed Tremec would have bolted right in, with no pinion angle or crossmember issues, and adds that you don’t need 6th gear anyway unless you’re cruising over 90 MPH. So, keep that in mind for your own swapola. Bodywork and painting were handled by Aero Collision and Fabrication, and everything else is Howard’s own handiwork. He cleaned up the bumpers by tucking them in and shaving the bumperettes and bolts. He also wanted chrome on the front and rear fender lips. The rear was simple—just chrome the stock anodized trim. Up front, though Howard had to deal with the stock, painted fiberglass insert that surrounds the grille and headlight bezels. Howard cut the chrome bezels and fender lips from a ’70 Challenger, then modified the stock ’74 insert to accept the ’70 bezels. The result looks factory. Borrowing cues from earlier Challengers, Howard molded in side scoops from the 1971 model. He liked the small backlight from the ’70 SE model, so he molded in the factory plug with the small window opening as well. The SEs always came with a vinyl roof to cover the seam where the plug mates to the roof. Howard wanted paint so the bodywork had to be dead-on. If, down the road, a problem should occur at the seam, a vinyl roof would hide the flaw. The cabin is upgraded a couple of notches with the addition of an overhead console, aftermarket steering wheel, and white face Tachman gauges. The car now has cruise control which was easy Stock dash features Tachman white-face gauges. Legendary stepped up for the interior. peasy with the 6.1 Hemi electronics. Legendary stepped up with the seat covers while Just Dashes gets credit for the dash pad. Howard dyed everyRather than go with a big aftermarket aluminum radiator, Howard thing red that was not available originally in that color, such as wanted one that looked like a stock new car rad. He found that a the overhead console. 2008 rad bolted right in with the help of some spacers. No trailer queen, this Chally is driven. With the engine details all tidied up, Howard needed a transmis“It really puts a smile on my face,” says Howard. sion—a logical move at this point. A Tremec Magnum 6-speed gave Now, if he could only put a smile on that sadmouth grille. him bragging rights, as he puts it, in transmission bragging sessions, but it turns out not to be the wisest choice, as we’ll explain later (just to keep you in suspense). Back at the rear, where it belongs, is an 8¾˝ Sure-Grip churning 4.56s suspended by the RMS 4-link setup that Howard modified for a more “aesthetic” look with show duty in mind, for folks who like to get down low for an undercar peek or for the vertically challenged who To replace the factory painted front face with a chrome upgrade, Howard cut the chrome bezels and fender lips from a ’70 Challenger, and modified the stock ’74 fiberglass panel to accept the ’70 bezels. have to stretch to see above the bumper. 34 MOPAR ACTION

NUTS & VOLTS DEPT

A bonanza of battery info from tray restoration

OME TECH ARTICLES take many months to plan and execute. Project cars, which can encompass years’ worth of tech, tweaking, testing, and road trips, can obviously take even longer. There’s another category, though, which pops up occasionally: Tech that just sort of happens. What you’re about to delve into falls into that latter category. Mopar Action’s first

conceals a moderately tweaked 451 stroker 400. With the massive RV2 “Thumper” cast iron Airtemp V-twin air conditioning compressor, and no attempt at weight reduction, it’s never going to be a serious track car. Still, down through the decades it has proven to be a reliable, fun, good handling cruiser. The paint, sprayed on nearly 25 years ago by our own Tony “Little Ant” Crecco, has held up well—with one somewhat annoying exception: battery acid has eaten away both paint and primer on a large portion of the battery tray, and the now-bare-and-exposed steel was pretty rusty and nasty looking. Butt-ugly, in fact. The plan was to remove the tray, clean it up, and find some reasonable touch-up paint solution (after all, it’s a battery tray, not the middle of a door or hood.) Still, this would be an ideal way to test the validity of online claims from companies that purport to sell exact-match paint in pressure-packed shaker cans. Supposedly, if your car is a stock color, all you need to give them is the year and paint code, and a few weeks later, a package arrives in the mail with aerosol cans. Sounds too good to be true, but we’ll find out.

36 MOPAR ACTION

If you’re nervous about painting your battery tray, Ebooger will create a one-of-a kind signed painting of it and frame it in a Louvre Museum gallery quality heirloom frame to be enjoyed by you and future generations. Price on request (not cheap).

Like all 1972 Chrysler products, our car was Lynch-Road painted in single stage acrylic enamel, which is not very different from what Crec laid down when he repainted it circa late 1990s, with one exception from the factory process: not having a toaster oven quite large enough to fit a 1972 Road Runner, Tony added a chemical catalyst (“hardener”) to the brew to speed cure time. We unbolted the tray—a 2-minute process if you are slow. Removed, and once the roofing felt was scraped off, its condition was way worse than it appeared at first blush—corrosion scars were deep and covered the inside almost totally. While it could have, no doubt, been repaired if there was no alternative (think: Bondo), reproduction trays are inexpensive, so we whipped out the gold card and had a new one in a short time.

 ACID TEST We shaker-canned it, a process that was quite different than what we expected. Rather than repeating ourselves, we’ll let the process, shown in the nearby cell phone photos, be explained by way of the accompanying wordy captions. Once reassembled, we then began to think about why this had happened. Despite our best-laid plans to line the tray with said roofing felt, the long-term outcome was less than desirable. Experience has shown that there’s only one reason why any lead-acid battery releases corrosive acid: overcharging. While our winter storage regimen has, for 20+ years, included a precise voltage-regulated charging regimen, designed specifically to prevent overcharging (and extending battery life by negating sulfating), somewhere down the line, this had clearly failed. Turns out that the fault lay with the Mopar Performance “reproduction” voltage regulator, which produced charging voltage which far exceeds FSM parameters, and, likely, is not temperature regulated, a real no-no for any street use. The fix also turned out to be quite different than what we expected and involved some literal twists and turns. So, follow along, then, as we put the paint to the metal—and the amperes to the acid.

Held against the radiator yoke, it was a decent match—certainly good enough for a battery tray, but maybe not for an exterior panel touchup / blend job.

It smelled like lacquer. We tested it with daub of lacquer thinner. Lacquer it is, sad to say. Corrosion on the battery tray, which had been painted with the car (correctly) ’bout 25 years ago.

It didn’t look too much worse with the battery out, but then...

Of course, it hadda be painted. We ordered an “exact match” (1972 paint code FE5) from AutomotiveTouchup. The first hint of trouble was the designation “basecoat” on the label. We had assumed, wrongly, that when you order paint for a 1972 car, it would be single stage. We made an executive decision: proceed anyway. We peeled the labels off the repop tray and cleaned it up with solvent.

... we removed it and scraped up the roofing felt. The logical fix: A repro tray.

38 MOPAR ACTION

Nothing to do but try it. We sprayed some on a piece of white cardboard and let it dry.

The stuff did cover pretty well. But, as we feared, it dried to a virtually flat finish.

We hadda order a can of their clear, which did the trick.

The fender apron paint was fine, so we basically just wiped it down,

Next, we turned our attention to the root cause of this problem. We began by cleaning off the battery with a baking soda solution.

No matter how you slice it, the difference is profound. Another color match comparison. Not too shabby. With a 100 Ampere load, the battery still showed 10.8 volts, not too shabby for a...

Acid had also done in the hardware, so we shaker-canned new screws.

Installed. The clock has been spun back 25 years in an hour or two.

...6+ year old battery.

MOPAR ACTION 39

 ACID TEST

...the FSM’s chart.

We jerry-rigged it (case must be grounded), and set it for...

We bolted it right back in. Lookin’ good. ...the only thing that can cause this: An out-of-spec voltage regulator.

We wire brushed the terminals, greased ’em up, and hooked it up. All good.

With the engine at fast idle, and an ambient temperateure around 75°, the voltage was over 14.9. There’s the trouble! Overcharging, as proved by...

40 MOPAR ACTION

...13.9 volts. This will drastically increase battery life. We tried s slew of NOS regulators, and a few aftermarket cheapies. While they were within spec., they were all on the high end of the acceptable range (14.2–14.4 V.)

So, we found an adjustable regulator on eBay, from seller mcgworld_1.

We added a piece of Scotch 88 electrical tape to weatherproof the potentiometer, then mounted it to the firewall. Done!

BATTERY BASICS ALL LEAD ACID CELLS, regardless of any other construction details (type, size, etc.), produce 2.1 volts fully charged. Link six of them together AGM batteries (left) have numerous in series, and you advantages over “old school” liquid acid have a 12.6 volt battery, exactly what batteries. The one shown here are all made by East Penn Mfg., who operates every Mopar built the world’s largest battery plant in—you between 1956 and guessed it—Pennsylvania—the small 2022 came equipped town of Lyon Station (pop. 478). I have with. The basics of had very good results from their prodlead-acid batteries ucts, what are also sold under various has not changed “store bands” (Diehard, Duracell, etc.) since French physicist Gaston Planté invented these in 1859. Today, there are two basic subsets of lead-acid batteries available for our Mopars: First are Most cellular phone towers use banks of the usual standard AGM batteries for backup. liquid sulfuric acid batteries, most of which are semisealed, but all of which can spill acid in a collision, or explode due to overcharging. The second is known as AGM – absorbed glass mat. In this design, the acid is completely absorbed into the plate separators, which are made of fiberglass. I have used this type of battery with great success and longevity. The first brand I bought, in the 1980s, was Chloride. They had a full lifetime warranty, and, while they did not last my lifetime, they were amazingly reliable, and were replaced under the warranty when needed. These have been my go-to battery for the last half-decade. They are only, on average, maybe 50% more expensive than liquid acid types, and worth every penny. They can even be safely mounted in any position, and, even if punctured, produce near-zero safety risks. Today, we now have a third choice, which we examined in last issue’s “lightweighting” tech series: Lithium Titanate. We tried one from XS Power, and it blew us away with cranking performance only dreamt about heretofore, and the weight reduction was incredible. The downside is cost, but you get what you pay for. Lithium batteries are clearly the way forward. This XS Power Group 24 has performance almost beyond belief, and is super-safe, and super lightweight.

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LIVING LARGE DEPT

Win Dream Giveaway Garage’s 2021 Hellcat TRX and adventure of a lifetime in an epic giveaway and getaway.

42 MOPAR ACTION

BY AL DENTE PHOTOS BY DREAM GIVEAWAY

A one-of-kind custom TRX Hellcat. What’s not to like—especially if you can drive it home tax-free.

HAT?? You don’t drive a truck? How’re you gonna haul all that stuff you wanna haul and still have room for the kids? Sure, it’s nice to load up everything to set off over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house you go. But maybe you wanna go over the woods and through the river to granny’s because you’re that kinda guy. Try that with your Hellcat Chally. Never mind that granny is just two exits down the freeway, you wanna take the scenic route, so you’ll need a serious 4-by. OK, we hear you. We know what new trucks cost these days—even used ones—even broken ones. We’d even be lucky to come up with the scratch for a down payment on a used ’91 Dodge Dynasty with four tires and a fat payment book let alone a truck. So, what’s a Mopar Action reader/subscriber to do? Our first suggestion is to keep on reading… (we’re still trying to come up with a second suggestion.) (Cue cavalry bugle and thundering horse sounds here) It’s the Dream Giveaway Garage to the rescue! You’ve heard of them, no? Over the past 14 years, these nice folks have given away over 90 really great one-of-one customs in their support of worthy charities. To enter their Giveaways, all you do is make a donation to the charity and then wait for the drawing to pull your winning number. Easy peasy— even Ehrenberg can do it.

The raffle is not sponsered, endorsed or affiliated by Athlon Media or Mopar Action.

MOPAR ACTION 43

 TRUCK ’N’ TRAVEL

Check out that ammo green full wrap with “Dino” smiling at ya’ covering the Black Crystal Pearl-Coat factory paint.

So, let’s take a look at the current giveaway. It’s no less than a 2021 Hellcat-powered Ram TRX Crew Cab 4x4, so you can pack in the entire crew. If you happen to find yourself in deep stuff as some off-roaders do on occasion, you have a 702 HP/650 TQ Hellcat Hemi underhood to claw you

Lighting Trendz adds a helping of razzle dazzle with their custom lights.

44 MOPAR ACTION

out. Plus, we’re not looking at a base model here. The DG folks always go top-of-the line, so check out the factory options in the sidebar. Add ’em all up and you’re looking at a sticker price on this baby of $91,605. And that doesn’t even include the dinosaur-themed ammo green wrap over

Included in the truckload of factory options are the Trailer Tow Group, Bed Utility Group, RamBar and Trailer Reverse Steering Control.

TRX Factory Extra Cost Options Included: • Technology Group (a $1,095 extra cost) • Trailer Tow Group (a $195 extra cost) • Advanced Safety Group (a $995 extra cost) • Bed Utility Group (a $845 extra cost) • TRX Carbon-fiber package (a $1,295 extra cost) • TRX Level 2 Equipment Group (a $7,920 extra cost) • Dual Pane Panoramic Sunroof (a $1,495 extra cost) • Off-Road style Running Boards by Mopar (a $1,195 extra cost) • 19 Speaker Harman Kardon Premium Sound (a $1,195 extra cost) • Bed-Mounted Tire Carrier (a $995 extra cost) • Trailer Reverse Steering Control (a $495 extra cost) • RamBar by Mopar (a $1,895 extra cost)

into an alternate award of a small salad with your choice of 2 dressings at a local McDonald’s. As a special bonus to our Mopar Action readers and subscribers and even for you freeloaders leafing through this mag at the newsstand, we’ve arranged for you to get DOUBLE tickets on your donation of $25 or more when you log onto https://www.dreamgiveaway.com/tickets/ trx?promo=PQ1221R. The TRX giveaway runs until July 26, 2022, with the winning ticket will be drawn on August 11, 2022. So…what are you waiting for?

the Diamond Black Crystal Pearl-Coat factory paint which alone would cost you 5 grand. And it doesn’t stop there. DG adds their own custom goodies from Fab Fours and Lighting Trendz in addition to the full body wrap to make this truck even more unique. And it doesn’t stop there. DG will pay the 25 grand tax bill that comes with the truck. Now say you already have a 2021 TRX, or you’re just happy with your Neon, thank you, or you’re not a truck person. DG will award you with an alternate prize of 35 grand. And don’t worry, they have plenty other Mopes in their stable for future giveaways. And it doesn’t stop there. Let’s say that you want to truck on down a few freeway exits past granny’s house—like to Africa, for example. No problemo. DG has teamed up with Recoil magazine and Silver Mist Safaris to pack you and a guest of your choice off on a 7-day hunting trip in South Africa. You first fly from the US to Johannesburg, South Africa, and then be transported to Silver Mist Safaris located in the Umkomaas River Valley where you’ll spend 7 days at a fine hunting lodge in KwaZulu Natal located on the Umkomaas River and have the opportunity to hunt four, free range, plains game species using a Strasser Evo 14, the world’s best straight-pull bolt action rifle, which will be yours to keep. Even if you’re a newbie at hunting, you’ll be brought up to speed by Recoil’s editor-in-chief who will be your concierge on the trip. OK, so you may not be into hunting, and you’d rather see a Yankee game in The Bronx than hunt wild game in S. Africa. And you don’t eat meat. The DG folks are looking

702 HP 6.2 supercharged Hemi remains factory stock to avoid any emissions and dealer service hassles.

Hard to improve on the sweet factory interior, so DG didn’t try. TRX comes with the optional Technology Group to give all you techies something to tinker with in traffic jams.

MOPAR ACTION 45

MOPAR MYSTERY DEPT

ED JINKS JR’S 2011 CHALLENGER PROVED TO BE A POSSIBLE PROTOTYPE PACKAGE NEVER RELEASED.

Challenging Purchase story and photos by GEOFF STUNKARD

“HEY, I know what that is! What is it?”

A statement like this can sometimes be heard uttered when amidst the crowds at a car show. Even we have learned the hard way to “never say never.” When Ed Jinks, Jr. bid in an online auction on this Challenger with a broken engine, the price was right, but there were a lot of questions. The car was a standard 5.7L model with an aftermarket hood, a swappedover supercharged 392” Hemi with operating issues, and a funky-looking blower. “I wanted to get it running again, and meanwhile was looking for information about it. I thought the blower was something Mopar had done.” This compact supercharger tucked nicely underhood with a trademark-style M logo milled into the housing. It was actually a one-off 2300cc unit done by Magnuson, and it turns out that one of the shop guys at Arrington Performance had built the car up with the idea that perhaps the combo could be recreated in volume as a possible Dodge dealer package. Ed didn’t know anything about Arrington, however. After a couple of high school era Mopes (a ’68 Barracuda and ’72 Cuda), he had gotten up on two wheels. Motorcycle wheels. He had been racing 8-second drag bikes and wasn’t doing any serious car stuff again until the new Challengers came out. A truck driver by trade, he was familiar enough with tools Ed Jinks, Jr. and his 2011 Challenger. Car came from eBay seller well “broken-in” and Ed has spent 5 years getting it ready for action again.

46 MOPAR ACTION

MT stickies on Weld-derived beadlock Hellcat wheels get hook. Driveline parts upstream have paid dearly for it, are now almost bulletproof.

MOPAR ACTION 47

 CHALLENGING PURCHASE ronment, with a 2800 stall PPP converter and the OEM diff with 3.08 rear gearing and the G-Force axles. Suspension changes out back are Lakewood Demon Killer springs. Lakewood also supplied the front shocks, but the rest is pretty much stock. The topper was the set of Hellcat-type wheels with M/T skinnies up front and beadFactory car came new with 5.7, now locked 305/45/17 M/T drag sports Arrington 426 CI with custom radials at the back. Magnuson huffer and one-off intake. “That was funny,” says Pump gas engine is actually close to Ed. “I’m cruising around a stock, with stroker bottom end, Hellcat cam and blueprinting. Boost is 12 car show at Indy with my pounds, 10.7 quarters are the result. cousin, and we come up on this Hellcat. I tell him, ‘Hey, that he figured he could sort out the broken car’s problems. those are the exact wheels I want!’ The guy with the car hears As he learned more about the G3 aftermarket, he called the me and says, ‘those wheels are for sale, dude.’ He gives me a Arrington shop, as there were some unique items like the custom price and so I came back the next day and bought them right upholstery with Arrington’s name prominently showing. from him. Solved that problem!” “I asked if they had built this Mopar supercharged car, and The paint was already done, with the stripes applied over the the guy said, ‘well, what kind of supercharger?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t factory 2011 pigment; Ed added the 426 identification once the know, it looks like this, and it’s got this Mopar M on it.’ And he engine was upgraded. The interior likewise had been customized goes, ‘wait, is that a blue Challenger?’ I said, ‘yes,’ and he says, before he bought it. Ironically, when first bought, the Challenger ‘how’d you get that car?!?’ was set up more like a road racer. Once back at their shop from Indeed, there were even pictures of the first build still on their Ed, Arrington focused on the quarter-mile with a mill that pushed website, and, as the chat continues, Ed realizes he now knew 697 ponies on the dyno with 12 pounds boost. Internals inside the who would get the engine back together for his project. 392 now include the forged stroker crank and assembly, a Hellcat “Oh, I wanted it to be a 426. After all, Mopar and 426 means a cam, and blueprinting the rest of the OEM parts package underlot, and then I could tag it that way, too. So that’s what I wanted, neath the one-off intake. Corsa handles the exhaust. Ed admits I sent them the car, got it built, got it back, and a month later, I the supercharger size is now the weak link with the increased discaught my wife cheating on me!” placement, though the car has clicked off 10.70s at 130 MPH at Ouch. his home track, Edgewater Raceway near Cincinnati. He drives it That discovery and the subsequent fallout delayed the prothere and back when he races. cess of getting serious about the car’s potential for a while. Ed “For me, more blower would maybe be a Whipple 3.0, or did street drive it, but he is a racer at heart, and that meant tires. Kenne-Bell 4.2, but I might lose my hood scoop with that, and Sticky ones. And that meant parts. Broken ones. I like the way the car looks now,” he says. “Of course, I’d like “You got to do a little, find the weakest link, and I couldn’t to get it to 9-seconds, 1000 HP. This racing deal is like a super write the checks for all of it at once,” he says. “Arrington warned drug, though, and you gotta control it!” me that the 426 would be a lot for the transmission that was in it. Thanks goes to daughter Brooke Cresap for help on the It lasted a year. First, I bought axles, then I bought a driveshaft. car, and Ed’s car first caught our attention as we were walking Then I went through two transmissions. So finally, I bought a through the staging lanes of the Mopar Action-backed drag proParamount, which is in now.” gram at Holley Moparty in 2021. The hood was up… The Paramount build is a factory 5-speed reworked for the envi“Hey, I know what that is! What is it?” Nice interior is also close to stock, with Arrington name stitched into Katzkin seat backs. Factory shifter works built Paramount Performance Productsbuilt tranny. Potential future 9-second will mean it’s cage time.

View from above and behind shows off clean lines and factory profile after custom stripes were applied. Corsa tips are nice touch on car.

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BACK IN BLACK DEPT

Yeah, Bring It! The Don Carlton Reunion at Mooresville Dragway shows off Mopar cars of yesteryear. STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF STUNKARD

HE SOUNDS of big-inch, normally-aspirated, gas-powered race engines at the launch of a 1/8-mile match race contest is pretty intense. RPMs rise to crescendo levels that rattle the windows. The launch comes from a tight final gear that momentarily pulls the RPM down, yanks the nose of the car upward, and the rear tires then jettison it forward. Pro Stock drag racing’s former popularity was based on this dramatic formula, and it still works. Jeff Rudisill and Gena Ellis host one of the more unique exhibitions of this past one day a year, when they honor the memory of the late Don Carlton, Don Carlton Jr. in the ÕCuda. the factory Chrysler driver 50 MOPAR ACTION

who lost his life in a 1977 testing accident. A number of real and tribute Mopars and other vintage Pro Stock cars always join together for this Southeast Nostalgia Pro Stock event each October at Mooreville Dragway. The fans witnessed the cars doing long burnouts and running side-by-side down the Armco-lined asphalt. This year, the racers chose to run matches rather than an eliminator, going against a different competitor in each of the three rounds rather than a 2-of-3 best. This mixed it up a little for the fans and led to some great side-by-side runs as well as a few “gather it up before it hits the guard rail” passes as well. The track, located near the area’s numerous NASCAR shops, retains an old school feel and is a great place to witness historic cars in action. Regional event sponsors like Appalachian Metal Works, RPM Motor Coaches/Hickory Enclosed Trailer Sales, Younger Auto Sales and Bobby Houston Trucking help as well. So, rather than drone on about how much you missed, sit back on that throne in your corncob room and take a look at these pictures. See you in ’22!

Ron Teague’s Duster ran a 6.76 to round out the Mopar contingent this year.

There may only be one place on the planet to see an original Hemi Plymouth Volare wheels-up under power. Kurt Huntington of Statesville, NC came in the 1979 Jim Kinnett machine and showed why we love the past so much.

The family of the late Mike Whitaker had his tribute Duster to the Billy The Kid Stepp era on display and he was honored on the starting line. Coolest surprise was the show’s first-ever appearance of the 1972 Motown Missile ‘Cuda owned by Mark Williamson and Teresa Merritt since it was restored. Though Mark was stuck north of the border, members of the original crew and restoration team displayed the car, with Jeff and Gena seen at left.

Larry Snead, driving the Eddie Hall-owned Eddie Ratliff Dodge Demon, broke a wheelie bar and still took the win over Mike Ruth in a Bob Glidden Fairmont when both drivers had to lift. The Carlton Missile was rolled out on the starting line in memory of the storied local driver. This was the first time the car had been to North Carolina since being restored.

MOPAR ACTION 51

BLIMEY! DEPT

This 1970 British Jensen Interceptor hits our Insanity list with pro-built 6.1 Hemi after a big-buck 9-year build.

by SCOTTY “INSTIGATOR” LONGMAN

EMEMBER THE 1960S “BRITISH INVASION”? Probably started with the Beatles, but it also morphed into British sports cars—Triumph, MG, Lotus, and a whole bunch more. Most of them were comically underpowered, running four-cylinder motors where all fifty horsepower had been snatched out of a tractor. Oh, there were a couple of quality departures (that dude Shelby built some modifieds), but generally, Sixties British sports cars meant looking good but moving with the speed of your eggplant ex-mother-in-law, and with an even worse electrical system. Except for Jensen. Jensen didn’t give a good rat’s whisker: they devised a sports/Grand Touring ride that they christened the “Interceptor,” and just went ahead and did it. And the “it” was taking this beautiful bunch of sheetmetal, then giving a transatlantic call to none other than The Excellence in Engineering Boys at the Chrysler Corporation. (Allegedly) Them: “The only thing that sucks worse than our motor industry is our dentistry.”

Jensen Interceptors were GT cars hand-built in West Bromwich, England from 1966–76. The cars came from their factory with Chrysler 383 V8s with a choice of the A833 manual 4-speed or 3-speed TorqueFlite auto. Jensen upped the ponies from ’71–’76 by stuffing the 440 into their svelte 4-seater. The RB package came in either 4-Bbl or Six-Pack trim (of which only 232 were built). The Jensen body was designed in Italy by Carrozzeria Touring. Powered by the 383, the Jensen could click off a 0-60 MPH time of 7.5 seconds and top out at 135 MPH. The car tipped the scales at 3500 lbs. Distinctive huge backlight serves as a hatchback.

17˝ Enkei wheels are shod with 235/55ZR17 Goodyear rubber. Drilled and slotted Wilwoods at each corner help keep things from going sideways.

MOPAR ACTION 53

 HEMICEPTOR!

6.1 Hemi is pro-built by Bradford Balance and Machine and gets instructions from a FAST 2.0 XFI system, with a 92mm throttle body. Hemi hooks to a built NAG1 5-speed automatic.

Chrysler: “Get to the point. We are busy working on the 440 Six-Pack.” Them: “We want Mopar big blocks…And floss.” What resulted was a whole bunch of high-perf 383 motors sailing their way eastward. The outstanding problem with Jensen was the same problem with Britain’s health care, which was it just systemically sucked. Their “electrical systems” were designed by

Jensen was an upscale brand, and the updated interior displays all the creature comforts from its gray leather upholstery to an Ididit tilt wheel, A/C, power windows, power locks, remote door locks and rear hatch openers, and an AM/FM/CD stereo with USB and Bluetooth. Gauges are classic Jaeger with not-so-classic digital odo.

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dyslectic starfish, and “rust prevention” meant enthusiastically spraying a bottle of Windex on the passenger mirror. But let’s say you saw the car and never got over it. You love the grille, the body lines, the backlight, the whole Mopar motor thing. You have posters of it. It’s your phone lock screen. Maybe you even have a nice, framed picture of founders Alan and Richard Jensen next to your teakettle. Right, mate! What to do? Easy. Get a miraculously-not-too-rusty Interceptor specimen, hoist it up in the air, and remove anything with a “Jensen” label on it, except for the sheetmetal and the glass. And we DO mean everything. How everything? Like everything everything. The Mopar motor was the best part of the original car, so it tells you something if that was the first part they dx’d. It’s outta here with a big splash into the Loch Ness, where that scary monster thing can go deal with it, at least if it knows about Carter four-barrels. Replaced with a fresh 6.1 3G Hemi, pro-built, with 11:1 Wiseco pistons, and a full blueprint job, this one runs a FAST 2.0 XFI system with a 92mm throttle body. An early dyno tune shows that it’s north of 475 horses and might have more. It’s all belted up with a March serpentine system. How about the trans? Launched, gone to the Isle of Man, where nobody ever goes including the people who live there. The owner has saved a bloody fortune in disposal taxes. Now, it’s replaced with a Benz-based Chrysler NAG-1 unit, beefed up by Southern Hot Rods, good for 800 HP, with a high gear with a .83 overdrive and a trans cooler. Original exhaust? Now swanning around someplace in the English Channel. Eels’ nest, you know. Meanwhile, new custom stainless extractors pick up the hot gasses from the mill and route it directly to prime minister Boris Johnson’s haircut. Rear end? Yep, right straight into the Thames Estuary, along with a millennium of empire and denial, replaced with a complete Independent Rear Suspension. Fuel system? Last seen bobbing around in the Atlantic shipping lanes like a floating mine. Replaced with a fuel cell and stainless braided everything. Now, even if you favor backsides more than frontsides (hey, we are talking about modern Britain here), it does seem a waste to have done the stern without the bow, so in comes Art Morrison, with a full custom front end, as the original system ham-

mers in just outside Exeter with a resounding splash. Brakes? Drums, shoes, and apportioning valves went blasting through the atmosphere, to go cause a brief panic in Bitchfield and Crotch Crescent, which, believe it or not, are real names of British towns. A good Kentucky rifle and Lexington, anyone? Anyway, now replaced with a drilled, slotted Wilwood system all the way around. And the suspension? Need you ask? There’s Rear suspension is a Factory Five IRS a quiet little island just offshore called Gruinard, setup with an 8.8˝ Ford diff spinning 3.55s. The rear coilover shocks are which is uninhabitable because the Brits pulled The entire original front suspension has been from Strange Engineering (purchased some home-made biological weapons tests replaced with an Art Morrison Engineering through Art Morrison Engineering) and there. To this day, you still can’t dock on the Sport IFS front clip that includes a Detroit as is the case with the front coilovers, island. Presumably, the original suspension is Speed Engineering power rack. are adjustable. An adjustable swaybar resistant to anthrax. and Wilwood discs boost handling and How about the in-car electrics? Many Brit cars braking power. used a Lucas system, and Lucas is well known as the “Prince of Darkness.” Here, all that underfrom sucking is to completely remove everything British about sized, corroded and hairball-knotted wiring was launched crossit and put in a good ’ol Hemi. Now, if only they’d employ that channel at Calais, in the accurate theory that the French won’t approach for the whole remainder of the United Kingdom! know any different. Okay, so enough vitriol against Europeans. Well, almost DISCLAMIER: To any offended European readers: We don’t enough. This car spent its life in the wonderfully warm and call Longman the Instigator for no reason, mate. dry environment of Arizona. One guy bought it and started the process, but it got passed off to another guy at the shop where the work had been started. And, MADE IN of course, he went flat out. We THE USA mean nine years and $160k worth of flat out. What he came up with was, we hate to say it…simply magnificent. Every square centimeter of the entire car has been replaced, heattreated, nickel-plated, clear-coated, seam-welded, deck-honed, wetsanded, laser-measured, and carnauba-waxed, all at the same time. With the new modern suspension and lighter mill, it handles like no other Jensen. With the four-wheel discs, it stops like no other Jensen. With the built 6.1L Hemi, it accelerates like no other Jensen. And with MAGNUM 500 CHRYSLER RALLYE O.E. CHRYLSER the new electrical system, it actu54 SERIES 56 SERIES 63 SERIES ally runs, like no other Jensen. STARTING STARTING STARTING So, the only thing remaining of AT AT AT the British car is the British body, $ $ $ right? Plot twist! In crowning irony, the British didn’t design the only thing that mattered: they farmed it out to the Italians at Carrozzeria SHOP NOW! Touring, who obviously have a SCAN CODE WITH PHONE CAMERA sense of style. Italians are really good at making stuff that looks good, but doesn’t work, which includes the Andrea Doria, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Mona Lisa, and Sophia Loren. In sumCUSTOM POWDER COATING & BACK SPACING AVAILABLE mary, the way to keep a British car

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TORQUE OF THE TOWN DEPT

Adding a crossover exhaust tube for sound and power.

PIPE

Ebooger plays the sound and power of Bach on the pipe organ before hacking pipes to play more sound and power from your exhaust.

56 MOPAR ACTION

HYPE A

BY RICHARD EHRENBERG, SAE

LL CHRYSLER V8 ENGINES have the firing order: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. So what, you ask—you already knew that. Yet, there’s food for thought in those 8 digits. Two combustion events take place sequentially on each bank: 8 then 4 are both on the right bank, resulting in the exhaust gasses from cylinder #4 being force-fed in the right-side exhaust system while there’s still back pressure lingering from cylinder numero 8. This can result in cylinder #4 being shortchanged a bit on torque and HP (from incomplete cylinder scavenging). The same artifact affects cylinders 5 and 7 on the other side. The factory, obviously, was well aware of this. Street Hemis and 440 1967–’70 B-bodies were all equipped with an H-pipe, which was a balance tube upstream of the mufflers. Minimizing this effect made more power and torque. It also, to most people’s ears, made the exhaust sound more melodious. Speaking of exhaust tone, many people are not crazy about stock E-body (non-Hemi) exhaust sounds. This is apparently due to the modified exhaust system the factory fitted into the E’s reconfigured floor pan dimensions. The “resonators up front” setup produced what some find as a harsher tone. This was, no doubt, worse on larger displacement engines due to the lack of a crossover. Not long ago, we installed a flawless-repro complete stock system from Accurate, Ltd., in a 1971 383 E-Body, with one upgrade request: We wanted 2½ʺ head pipes (standard 440 size). Accurate complied, and the result was very positive and noticeable. This was no surprise, because in the late ’60s Chrysler surreptitiously installed 2.5ʺ pipes on many pressfleet (“road test”) 383 loaner cars. Why not, we reasoned, install a crossover (balance tube) on this system? We did, and the results were overwhelmingly positive, both in throttle response and a smoother exhaust note. The cost was minimal, and the entire job took only a couple of hours. We devised a slick, neat way of fabricating this. As usual, you can follow along as we put the MiG to the metal.

’67–’70 440 B-bodies all had a crossover (H-pipe) as standard equipment, as did Hemi B- and E-bodies. This was costlier, since fabrication tolerances were tight.

Even better is an X-pipe, as in this killer TTI system. Not easy for duffers like us to fabricate, though.

MOPAR ACTION 57

 PIPE HYPE

Drill using a hole saw with the same diameter as the pipe. This might seem counterintuitive, but it results a really neat job. Hang on!

All other performance-era Mopars had isolated (L/R) dual systems. E-bodies, shown here, were weird: Resonators were up front, mufflers were in the rear, this was necessary due to the unique “sports car” floor pan proportions. Some say this setup resulted in a less-pleasing exhaust tone.

Theory dictates placing the balance tube at the hottest location found on the pipes immediately after a hard run. Reality, however, will require the pipe placed for convenience and freedom from obstructions. In our E-body, this meant placement as shown. As long as the tube is installed anywhere forward of the “first” muffler or resonator, it will do the job.

58 MOPAR ACTION

We began with a scrap length of pipe the same diameter at the current system (in our case, 2.50˝), long enough to bridge the gap between the installed system (in our case, less than a foot was necessary). Scribe a line parallel to the centerline, centerpunch a dimple, then drill a small pilot hole in the center. Drill a second hole exactly opposite the first—do your best to locate this accurately.

This is the result of the first surgical incision.

Clamp the pipe in a vise equipped with pipe jaws. This is a must.

Rotate the pipe 180° and drill the second hole. The pipe will now almost be totally bisected. Cut off the resulting tabs in the center of each (hacksaw).

This is the result. Note HD 2.50˝ flanges we bought on eBay. These are strictly to make installation, and future servicing, easier.

Pipe-on-pipe trial fit: Like a glove.

We cut and trial-fitted the short lengths to be snug between the stock pipes…

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 PIPE HYPE

Now we drilled through each head pipe, making each hole slightly smaller than the pipe’s diameter, in this case, 2 3/ 8˝.

…and traced the outlines using a marker.

The pipes had to be unbolted from the manifolds to allow complete drilling, so we protected the gravel pan with cardboard (we were too lazy to remove it). Next, we welded the flanges to the short lengths of pipe.

Bolted together, we made a final fitment check.

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Here we’re tapping the assembly into position just prior to welding.

We tacked each half into position...

...then lowered each pipe again for access to the top area for final welding.

We bolted those flanges together using 3000° F. rated pure graphite gaskets. After you use these, nothing less will do. We also used these on the manifold flanges.

Done deal. Note that we also took the opportunity to install an 18mm O2 sensor bung for future tuning exercises.

MOPAR ACTION 61

WAGON HO (HOHO)! DEPT

Texan Dave Schultz goes big (fins and fast) with his 9-second ICH wedge ‘60 wagon.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF STUNKARD

“THE ’60 PLYMOUTHS have the tallest fins of any American production car. I’ve loved them since I saw my first one back in ’59!” For fans of the Forward Look models, 1960 did prove to the apex of the Virgil Exner styling era. The decade’s changeover year also found the Chrysler Corp. floundering due to executive malfeasance and changing tastes. The following two model seasons, with cars designed by committee after Exner’s efforts were rejected, would be a struggle from a sales standpoint. However, for fin fan and racer Dave Schultz, this car, a 1960 Fury Suburban station wagon, became the perfect basis for his current racecar. Known on the “the Old Hippie” on social media, Dave is also one of us, a long-time Mopar guy who, as men-

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tioned, recalls the ’60 fins he saw as a kid. He has owned everything from V-code Six-Pack SuperBirds to late 1970s Dodge Magnums, but his vintage Mope interest is still strong, with machines like a ’58 Dodge pickup, a ’59 Desoto Adventurer, Chrysler 300 and Imperial convertibles, and many ’60 Plymouths. But he is still a drag racer (we ran a 1972 Demon of his on these pages years back), so when this big’un showed up for sale in 2002, its past life of grocery getting would be over. “This car originally a 4-door, 3-on-tree with the “Leaning Tower of Power,” says Dave, who hails from Beasley, Texas. After taking the car all apart, Ken Presley from Hemi-Time Restorations media-blasted the car and sprayed it in primer. Dave next took the car to Mark

Air Force veteran and “old hippie” Dave Schultz at the NMCA race in Bradenton with his redone 1960 Suburban wagon.

Capable of 9.30s, the big wagon scales at 3500 pounds thanks to homemade fiberglass parts, Lexan glazing and good F/R weight distribution. That includes Dave...

 SUBURBAN FLIGHT

Front end of 1960 models were big, with new unibody design offering a lot more foot room and versatility for riders. Two-door wagon model is part cop car thanks to B-pillar area swap by Mark Artis.

Interior is nicely done, solid safety stuff, high PPP shifter handle. Gauges and dials mounted up on dash look like “Back to the Future” stuff.

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Artis at Texas Thunder in Frisco, Texas for the serious upgrades—cage and 4-link— and major body mods when Artis welded the center of a 2-door sedan 1960 Plymouth Texas Highway Patrol car into the center area of this car to create the present 2-door layout. It was still pretty hefty, so the next step was to pull a set of molds off the 1960 hood, rear gate, bumpers, Engine is a 580-CI Indy MegaBlock in iron and front fenders, which with aluminum heads, Rat Roaster intake, were replicated in that ’ol AFB carbs. Bullet Cams custom roller, Molnar Corvette miracle muck, bottom end, 14.1 Diamond pistons and MSD fiberglass. All the clear ignition. Pushed dyno needle to 900+ ponies. “glass” has been replaced with polycarbonate as well. “I started racing the car in 2006 as the Texas Whale. It was a red car with a Killer Whale on the sides. I won the 2014 NMCA Championship in this car, after getting close for the four seasons prior.” After tripping all those lights fantastic, the Suburban was getting worn out, so after 11 years, Dave tore it apart again in 2017 to get it to what is shown here. The factory unibody chassis was disassembled, blasted, rebuilt and painted red, with the body underside sanded smooth and painted with POR15 Silver before reinstalling the components. A new Fuelab fuel system with AN-12 braided lines, 00 gauge battery cable, and new brake lines also went in. He redid the metal in the rear, which was repainted with green spatter paint and cleared and, once the body was prepped, it was taken to a shop in Indiana to be wrapped in vinyl to a woody design Dave had sketched up. The car was also rewired for a second time during its re-restoration, and Dave dyed the formerly black seats in red and recovered the door panels with diamond-padded vinyl for a custom car look. “I bought a 5-gallon aluminum fuel cell and Aerospace Components sponsored me for two battery hold-downs for the pair of 16V batteries as well. I fabricated the two aluminum

weight boxes; rules allow for up to two ‘loose weight’ boxes secured with four ½˝ high-grade bolts, and the boxes can weigh no more than 100 pounds each (when loaded). They’re used for weight distribution and to slow the car down to my index.” Index as in 9.75 quarters for the C/ FX index on the NMCA Nostalgia Super Stock program. That means horsepower. The car uses an engine built by Damon Kuhn at Diamondback Engines in Needeville, Texas. This is a 580-CI Custom wood side treatment is via wrap by wedge motor that pulled 903 ponies on Lisa of Evansille, Ind., that Dave designed the dyno. It starts with an Indy Mega himself. Fins were highest ever in ’60. block featuring cross-bolted mains and an almost-square 4.560” bore / 4.50 stroke. A Molnar crank stays happy though 7500 RPM, with Molnar rods and 14.1 compression Diamond pistons. and for exhaust—well, Dave says, “We don’t need no steenkin’ exhaust!” The top side is an Indy 2X4 Rat Roaster intake hosting a pair of inline AFB type 850-cfm carbs (thanks to the rules’ limitations), while the bottom is covered by a custom pan fabbed to clear the long 4.50 stroke. Sparky gets called on via the MSD 7AL2 box, MSD billet distributor, 8mm wires and side-clipped Autolites. The gearbox is a T-Flite A727 put together by Dallas Schultz, with an 8-inch ATI converter, Griner valve body and CSR shield to keep the toes and jewels safe. Up top is a PPP KwikShift I shifter. There is a Strange 9” diff stuffed with a spool and tight Richmond Gear 4.68 ring to finish it up, with a 4-link to allow adjustment for track conditions. Afco shocks let it bounce, or not. Finally, for wheels, Prostar 15x12s use 33˝ M/T 10.5-wide slicks with tubes out back for hook, with skinny rims and tires by the same brand are up front for lift. And lift it does, as the images show. “The car currently weighs 3580 full of fuel and my 260-pound fat ass in it,” laughs Dave. He says on his tech sheet he’s a former exotic dancer. We think he still moonlights. In the end, the wagon climbs the pinion at launch to run mid9s (a 9.30 at 143 is best), and the Old Hippie smiles as he trips to another big win. The strange crochet bird on the passenger seat was made by his 86-yearold mom and it is Dave’s lucky charm. Thanks goes to Fuelab, Aerospace Components, and ATI (for sponsorship), son Dallas (occasional crew and help), Doug Duell (racing series knowledge), Bruce Lang (tuning) and wife Deb Schultz for sammiches (you’re on your own there, dude…)

Remove ’glass rear gate to see battery boxes, weight boxes, fuel cell. Sorry, kiddies, rear-facing back seat is gone now.

HEMIS NEVER DIE DEPT

After clocking an .001 light in the semifinals, Steve’s cautious .079 put him behind Jimmy Daniels’ .040 in the final round, but a fat 8.364 to the Dart’s 8.423 gave Comella the stripe by .020 seconds, five feet.

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THE DOCTOR IS IN 2nd Generation Racer Steve Comella Wins the 20th Anniversary Dodge Hemi Challenge. story and photos by GEOFF STUNKARD

“I got lucky against things popping up that should’ve knocked me out on the way,” noted Steve Comella, seen here in the winner’s circle celebrating at the 20th Anniversary Dodge Hemi Challenge during NHRA’s Dodge U.S. Nationals. His dog, father Chuck (right), and Mopar rep David Hakim (left) are in the foreground. That’ll be 15 grand, pal!

O RACER SHOWS UP at Indy with the idea they will leave before the final round. 2021 marked the 20th running of the SS/AH Dodge Hemi Challenge, traditionally held on the Friday of the NHRA Dodge SRT U.S. Nationals during Labor Day weekend at Indianapolis. The class is reserved only for the 1968-release Hemi Darts and Barracudas and was even part of this year’s television package. For Steve Comella, preparation was a big part of getting ready for that evening final of the legendary “race within a race.”

Steve Yantus was ready to follow up his 2020 crown when electrical issues made him forfeit in the semifinals. However, the car’s new paint scheme got the team “Best Appearing Car” honors at the event

“Yeah, I would drive over to the shop at night, put on my suit and helmet. and sit in the car,” Steve laughed in the winner’s circle as he stood next to the Comella family’s 1968 Super Stock Barracuda. “Sometimes I would turn on the practice tree and make just one “pass” each time, doing the drill over and over, just thinking about how I would do it in the final round.” Steve, who works as an anesthesiologist as his day job, was no stranger to the possibility of being here, as he was in the darkness for the final last year against Steve Yantus, who won the 2020 title. This year, it was a familiar name in the other lane beside Comella. Jimmy Daniels, who advanced to the money round yet again following his uncharacteristic first-round loss in the Ray Barton shop-backed Dart last year, has won 4 of these titles. At the green in ‘21, Daniels got a .039-second lead at the start, but Stevie C’s red Barracuda chased him down and won the race by only 5 feet a quartermile further, 8.364 at a big 161.17 MPH to the Dart’s 8.423 at 158.02. “We tested in Michigan all this week, and I couldn’t sleep at all, so

WANT TO SEE ALL THE SS/AH CARS FROM THE 2021 DODGE HEMI CHALLENGE! Go to moparaction.com!

MOPAR ACTION 67

 THE DOCTOR IS IN Jack Peterson came out from South Dakota for this event in one of the old Mr. Motech cars. He didn’t get past round 2, but did burnouts like we have not seen since the 1990s.

Slate Cummings, in the Drag Pak owned by the Johns family, got everyone’s attention, including his own, with this monster wheelstand during Stock class eliminations on Thursday. He carried it out almost 200 feet, landed without problems, and still won; the Chevy boi redlit.

Ron Capps sealed his position going into the playoffs with a runner-up here at Indy in the NAPA Dodge Charger funny

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it’s been a long week,” said Comella. “I knew it was close, because when I got into fourth gear, I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him.” This car is one Comella and his father Chuck have been racing for a couple of seasons. Father Chuck has been seen in Mopar Action on occasion for many years, as he bought a 1968 Hemi Dart brand-new. After decades of racing it in the northeast (and this factory car still makes occasional appearances in NHRA competition), the father-son team got very serious about winning the Hemi Challenge after Steve started driving in 2012. Building this Barracuda from the ground up, the hot-red Mope is set up as a four-speed package. In addition to the $15,000 and unique 42.6pound cylinder head trophy from Dodge, bragging rights were on the line as well, since the team uses Wescott power, while Daniels runs Ray Barton’s finest. The final had come from five rounds of action this year, with 17 of 18 cars making the call for round 1. Comella had dominated qualifying, running an 8.431 to go to the top. Stephen Yantus’ Carolina ’Cuda Plymouth was second at 8.480, Daniels third with an 8.503, and the event’s first-ever winner from 2001, Bucky Hess in 4th at 8.525 with his Jason Line-powered Psycho ’Cuda. In 5th at 8.565, Big Jim Pancake made it 2 Darts and 3 Cudas. When the first two rounds were over, these were the only five cars still standing as well. That quarterfinal found Yantus clocking a wheels-up 8.42 single, Comella dropping Hess with an unexpectedly-slow 8.52 to Hess’ troubled 8.69, and then Daniels serving up a “yeah, I’m here” 8.400 to Pancake’s 8.91. However, the semifinals would end up as two

car. When the season had ended, he finished !st, Matt Hagen was 2nd and Leah Pruett came out at 7th in Top Fuel.

singles when Yantus had to forfeit the call due to an electrical issue he could not resolve in time in his Anthony Rhodes-owned car. There was some quiet talk that the semis could be the final instead, but both Daniels and Comella agreed they would each be happier making their singles, especially Comella. Steve and Chuck had found a problem with the timing system wiring after pulling the dash from his car between rounds. So, Daniels drove alone to an 8.41, while Comella clocked a telepathic .001 reaction time and his day’s best 8.386 in the repaired car to set up the final. Daniels had been even quicker at 8.380 in the first round of the actual overall Super Stock eliminator, and Comella admits the close-to-red reaction time affected the final. “That .001 light in the semis was really tight, and it was in my head, that I could beat myself here in the final. So, a .079 was not great when I normally cut .020s, but we had the power to win. And I will tell you what drives me to do all of this— I hate losing more than I enjoy winning!” And that stated, winning on this 20th Anniversary of the Hemi Challenge was fitting for the team, as Chuck has been involved since the beginning with the legendary Hurst Hemi racecars and Steve’s passion for victory is focused. When it was all said and done, we would say he deserved it.

OTHER INDY NOTES Just before the first qualifying session at the Dodge SRT U.S. Nationals, Matt Hagan was announced to have contracted the Chyna virus, so Tommy Johnson, Jr. would be driving the DSR Mopar-backed Charger here. However, a mechanical problem prevented his first effort on Friday night, and when rain eliminated the final two qualifying rounds Saturday, the SRT funny car was a DNQ at the brand’s own event! However, Johnson would win for Hagan at Maple Grove Raceway the following weekend, and Ron Capps’ final-round appearance at Indy in the DSR NAPA Parts Dodge put himself and Hagan atop the nitro funny car points. At season’s end, the Dodge duo finished 1-2 as well. Both have now went their own way from the Don Schumacher Racing camp for 2022, with Capps fielding his own one-car team and Hagan joining Leah Pruett and her husband Tony Stewart in a new fuel drag racing enterprise as well. The new NHRA season will be interesting...

2021 Dodge Hemi Challenge Qualifying 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18.

Steve Comella, Webster NY Stephen Yantus, Charleston SC James Daniels, Yardley PA Bucky Hess, Bunker Hill WV Jim Pancake, Cardington OH Eldon Baum, Wellsville PA Eric Bell, Chandler AZ Tony DePillo, Dayton OH Gary Wolkwitz, Whhouse NJ Steve Kent, Belle Rose LA Richard Locker, N.Royaltn OH Rick Johnson, Wayzata MN Russ Campbell, Springfld MO Stephen Hebert, Westlake LA Marlin Bogner, Kearney NE Jack Peterson, Hartford SD Benny Kimberly, Springfld LA Harold Leiter, Troy OH

’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Dart ’68 Barracuda ’68 Dart ’68 Dart ’64 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ‘68 Dart ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda ’68 Barracuda

8.431 8.480 8.503 8.525 8.565 8.582 8.626 8.654 8.660 8.679 8.684 8.702 8.730 8.743 8.933 9.242 11.78 12.06

159.04 156.64 155.83 155.78 155.22 155.13 152.14 154.26 152.23 154.32 151.66 152.38 153.49 155.17 146.81 145.27 96.58 121.23

CELEBRITY CARS DEPT

Freddy’s really an OK guy. He just got a lot of bad press. He signed a few autographs and checked out the drag racing.

The Challenger is a monster hit at car shows, art exhibits, horror shows and cemetery cruise-ins. It makes the rounds on Never Sleep rubber on darker bronze powder coated wheels. The claws and scratches on the side of the car, Freddy’s eyes, and all dripping blood have a reflective overlay, so they pop at night when hit by lights. Check it out by taking the mag into a dark closet and shining a flashlight on the page. Nyaahahahaa!

70 MOPAR ACTION

If you’re wondering what kind of car Freddy Krueger drives, we found the answer. by CLIFF GROMER photos by TheBRUNTBros

SO HERE I AM, hangin’ out at Muscle Cars at the Strip basking in the 106 deg. Sunshine, trying to get some color on my pale white bod when who should roll by in a 2019 Challenger Hellcat Redeye but my old bud, Freddy Krueger a/k/a Mopar Freddy. Haven’t seen him in ages. Used to play stickball with him and the boys over on Elm Street back in the day. That was before he got a little…let’s just say, weird. “Yo, Freddy! How’s it going? Nice wheels, what’s the deal?”

MOPAR ACTION 71

 READY FOR FREDDY Freddy tells me how he’s been crashing with Kathy and Terry Rezac for a while. “I’m really popular at Halloween, and they send me to the door whenever those vacuum cleaner salesmen and Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking.” He goes on to say that the Hellcat belongs to Kathy, but she allows him the keys. “It’s a real hoot at the McDonald’s drive-thru. Really freaks ’em out,” Freddy chuckles. I’ll bet. “I figured it’d make a splash here at the MATS event,” he adds. Freddy blends right in with the Mo’fans at the show, doesn’t even get a second look save for the occasional “Hay, Freddy, good to see ya!” “Hang in there, Freddy,” and “Watch those nails, pal, don’t scratch my paint.” They shoulda set up an autograph table for him. Kathy previously had owned a 2017 Hellcat Challenger, but she wanted a Redeye with certain options—tan leather, sunroof, Harman Kardon sound system and orange calipers. She

Huge hood graphic features Freddy at the dentist.

Here a plug for Kathy’s real estate biz. Maybe our ad director can hit her up for a big spot in Mopar Action.

72 MOPAR ACTION

Horror Hall of Fame’s “Last Supper” features all your favorites: “Leather Face, Chucky, Alien, Ehrenberg, Michael Myers, Jason Ward and Pinhead, with Freddy at the center. Wonder what was served as the main course. Blood pudding?

An iconic scene from the movie.

finally found one at a dealership in Texas. Amid the usual protracted price haggling, Kathy motioned for Freddy to join the negotiation. Freddy sat down, looked the salesman in the eye, and started drumming on the desk with those long nails of his. The deal was wrapped up in 27 seconds. In addition to all of Kathy’s desired options, the Chally came with the backseat delete which was fine as Kathy and Terry haven’t used backseats for quite a while, not since they got their house. It also allowed her to install rear seat harness bars—great for restraining unruly passengers. ’Course, the thing that makes Kathy’s Redeye different from all the others out there is the unique wrap. Freddy said that Kathy could give me the scoop on that, and he punched her up on his cell phone. “Growing up as a kid, I was always into horror movies,” Kathy explained, “and Freddy Krueger was my favorite, even though he scared me to death back then. So, when I got my Wide Body dream car, I knew I had to do something with Freddy, and also work in my real estate business.” So, on one side of the car, she worked in the

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Level 3 kit includes: • CNC Frame Connectors • Front & Rear Torque Boxes • Core Support Brace • Inner Fender Braces • Rear Spring Relocation Kit • Mini Tub Kit MOPAR ACTION 73

 READY FOR FREDDY Rear shows Vicrez diffuser and blood dripping from someone who got squished by the decklid. According to the numbers guru, this Redeye Horror Hellcat edition is one of only 5 produced with the back seat delete option.

Stock Redeye Hemi is dressed up in riveted boiler room Steampunk hydrodipped graphics.

words, “Don’t let just, any realtor put you on Elm Street.” The other side of the car shows, “There’s an Elm Street in every town.” Kathy is killing it selling houses on Elm Streets. Don’t know how well she does on Main Streets or Avenue A’s. The wrap was created by Christina McKay of Curvaceous Wraps in Portland, Oregon. She specializes in custom car wraps. The execution is the work of Wrapsesh in Phoenix, Arizona. Kathy arranged a 3-way Zoom conference to hammer out the details. She said that she wanted something outlandish. “I wanted my Redeye to be different from all the other Redeyes out there” (yeah, she actually said that.) The result is… well, you can see for yourself. It’s all done up in a Steampunk boiler room motif. If you’re still into Alan Freed ’50s Rock ’n’ Roll, you’ll have no idea what we’re talking about.

Stock tan leather interior has rear seat delete option and added harness bar and belts. Steering wheel has custom “Here’s looking at you, kid” insert.

74 MOPAR ACTION

MA Boss Gromer (right) and Mopar Freddy share a big hug and reminisce about old times before going out for a couple of biers.

Kathy left the drivetrain stock. She didn’t want to go any faster than the factory 797 horsepower allowed and have those magnificent graphics get lost in a passing blur. The engine compartment has been hydrodipped by Hydrographics in a riveted Steampunk look, we imagine to tie everything together. Other custom touches include powder coating the stock wheels in a darker bronze, installing AAD adjustable control arms, Eibach lowering springs, and a Vicrez rear diffuser. As of this writing, Kathy has owned the car for some four months, and she says that she’s just getting started on additional modifications—brighter wheels, underglow lights, illuminated sill plates, you know… In the meantime, if you would like Freddy as a house guest or are looking for that house on Elm Street, maybe you can reach out to Kathy at projecthj@yahoo.com. She also says that Freddy can give you a backscratch that’s second to none.

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MINE’S BIGGER THAN YOURS DEPT

Paul Terlosky takes a vintage Dodge hauler to a Hell-cat of a build

STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF STUNKARD

USTOMIZING has been a way of life for as long as people have owned machines. You can customize your car, your chopper, your lawn mower. You can customize your dogs or racehorses with selective breeding. Some guys with money even customize their wives, but I digress. When we saw this monster on display, we thought to ourselves, “now, that’s something you don’t see every day!” Truth be told, it’s not something anybody had seen before builder Paul Terlosky dreamed it up. Our story begins with Paul, who runs a custom shop he calls House of Mouse, located in Macedonia, Ohio.

76 MOPAR ACTION

We didn’t ask about the mice, as the truck was taking up all our attention. The other part of our story begins with people who can’t drive. That was how this 1978 once-440-powered Dodge D300 duallie ended up with a Hellcat under the hood. Seems Mr. Nodriva had totaled his fresh 2018 Challenger, which Paul scored to scavenge for goodies. “I built the Hellcat Hauler to do the show circuit with Dodge in conjunction with their introduction of the new TRX Hellcat truck,” says Paul “Also, for the Hot Rod Power Tour and Motor Trend events, and places like here at Holley Moparty.”

Paul knows his truck is big, brings along his big Mopar chair to ensure people understand it. Biggie from ’78 now runs 12s thanks to careful build and stock 707-HP 6.2L engine from salvaged Chal-Cat.

Now, Paul coulda been like us and tried to pull a fast one by buying a new Ram for the swap job and beating Dodge at their own game, but instead he went chasing the past and came up with this solid, all-original, highly-optioned, rust-free D300 out of Arizona. The work to the clean machine began with disassembly and doing body and chassis changes, which he handled almost single-handedly in his 2-car garage, though his wife, Darcy Angell, was on hand for design collaboration as well. “OK, first I custom-fabricated the new dually fenders. They are wide, tall, and long. I built the front and rear roll

pans, molded the Hellcat side marker lights into the factory sheetmetal, and swapped in a dechromed ’75 grille. All exterior lighting is converted to LED, plus a ’17 Jeep fuel door with the ’19 Challenger fuel filler neck, and finally some slide-out towing mirrors.” Pretty impressive but this big Bertha needed color. Instead of paint, Paul created the ideas that then went onto a full-body wrap done by a secret agent named Wrapped By SB (Twinsburg, Ohio). Actually, he may not be a secret agent—we made that up so you’d stay awake. The name Hellcat Hauler covers the Club Cab body sides, with streaks of color going in all directions.

MOPAR ACTION 77

 DUALLIE NOTED

Hellcat Challenger provided engine and peripheral parts. Engine is nearly stock with custom tune, MP harness, Jeep SRT exhaust, Milodon pan, Bouchillion Performance mounts. Inner fenders are reworked and wiring hidden. We did not ask how tailgate stamping ended up on hood underside…

The inside was not overly-redone, with leather buckets and center fold-down console being a boneyard item. Dash is redone with Dakota Digital and modern screenbased audio/visual unit, and Club Cab model provides ample storage behind seats.

The body was fully wrapped by Wrapped By SB, helps highlight retro rear quarters which were hand-fabricated. Tonneau cover hides gooseneck trailer hitch.

The stance comes from custom lower control arms and a 4-link / Watts link rear layout that Paul fabricated, and an air ride setup from AirBagIt.com, plus other suspension parts courtesy X2 Industries and Viking Performance shocks. Wheels are Cali Off-Road Brutal style 20x8.5 Dually models wearing Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 275/50ZR20 rubber, and, yo, just double that order for out back. “The engine is all-stock from a wreck,” notes Paul. That statement is relative, as getting

it mated to its new home was more than a drop-in. It started with an Milodon oil pan and motor mounts from Bouchillion Performance, and a wiring harness from Ma Mopar. Tanks Inc., supplied fuel pumps that work with a tank that they supply, while SRT8 Jeep headers, 3˝ pipes, and Magnaflow mufflers get the fumes and sound out. "I was able to reuse parts from the donor ’18 Challenger—the intercooler, its pump and reservoir; the radiator and its reservoir; the engine oil and power steering coolers,” says Paul. "The fan shroud is modiCool tag brings back name of all the classic Chrysler trucks. fied to accept an electric fan and A/C condenser, and all of it is installed with wires and hoses hidden for the clean look. Oh, yeah, and I also modified and raised the inner fenders to clear the tires and keep the factory look of the engine compartment.” Sure, if Hellcat motors were around in ’78, maybe… Anyhow, so much for the wiseguy stuff. The tranny is a Gearstar-built 4L85E 4-speed automatic, coupled to the engine via the Gearstar Transmission tri-clutch 2500-stall converter. This is followed by a Henderson Driveline driveshaft and a big Dana 70 diff with 4.11 gears. Oh, the axles, stock… but quartermile testing put a 12.69 on the clocks despite the 5400-pound curb-weight. Hemi Tuner Performance did the engine computer, and a Compushift controller runs the Gearstar tranny. It’s nice inside, too. “I used a set of ’14 Silverado leather buckets with the belts and fold-down console. I retained the Since 1979 stock column shifter and steering wheel, but after that it starts to get modern. Gears | Pumps | Conversions | Pitman Arms | Hoses | Seal Kits The factory gauge cluster was modified to accept Dakota Digital gauges and a Our custom rebuilt gears customized to your personal feel. Touchscreen media center, so I have with Choose: Stock, Modern, Sport or Rally Navigation, Bluetooth, Satellite radio and a back-up camera.” Other touches include Vintage Air, remote locks, power 1000 Barnett Rd. Columbus, OH 43227 heated mirrors, and Bluetooth control of the transmission and of the air ride system. Behind the front seats is a padded custom deck for sitting or sleeping. One side of this deck houses the 1500-watt stereo system and the other raises up and slides back revealing a large storage 62-76 Chrysler Dodge Plymouth A-B-C-E-Body Parts. compartment. Oh, and need to carry more Original, NOS, and Reproduction. stuff? Under that bed cover is a factory Big Block, Race Hemi and Max Wedge. receiver and gooseneck hitch. Chrysler Factory Race cars and Parts. Paul tells us custom fittings and line New and Used Trim, Weatherstrip and Chrome. sets came from Pirtek, all the little stock Max Wedge and Race Hemi Quality Hoods and Scoops. things were via Gust & Adolf, and all the Legendary Auto Interiors custom things came from Summit RacAMD Sheet Metal ing. And he thanks Darcy for, “feeding me, parts running, and putting up with New items listed weekly at our Visit our Facebook Page my sh*!” Kramer Auto E-Bay store: 724-285-5566 Don’t customize her, pal… stores.ebay.com/kramer-automotive-specialties info@kramerauto.com Kramer Automotive Specialties, Butler, PA

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FEELER GAUGE FROLICS DEPT

LASH BASH Valve lash basics or, clackety clack—better look back. BY RICHARD EHRENBERG, SAE

IGHT THROUGH 1980, many Mopars were factory equipped with “solid lifters,” also called a “mechanical cam,” etc. Regardless of any BS floating around, this was done for one reason: Cost savings. Hydraulic lifters were already well-known (and reliable) by the early 1950s. In addition, many Mopars equipped originally with hydraulic (self-adjusting) lifters have been, while being rebuilt for significantly upgraded performance use, converted to “solids.” For the purposes of this article, however, we’ll concentrate mainly on the dead-stock setups, many of which are afflicted with a very noticeable valve clatter. Amazingly, quite a few owners, and/or their mechanics, aren’t even aware of the existence of solid lifters, much less the fact that they need periodic adjustment. This group will be our target audience. How often should you lash your valves? On a stock 273 2-Bbl or Slant-Six, say 10,000 miles. On a high-RPM engine with increased spring pressure, it may well need lashing much more often. When the very faint click typical of well-adjusted solids becomes a clatter, or one or two clicks become a clack, it is definitely time to investigate. What, exactly, is lash? It is the free play in the valvetrain, usually measured between the valve tip and the rocker arm pad. It is required to ensure that a valve is never held just-barely open, which would result in an overheated, burned valve. Not good. Hydraulic lifters basically automate this process every time a valve opens. Few (if any) FSMs, even back in the day, described the procedure for setting valve lash, as it was assumed that every mechanic knew the drill. Back in the day, they did! As you’ve come to expect, we’ll show the procedure via a series of photos. Get lashin’! 80 MOPAR ACTION

You’re a sitting duck

in a gun-free zone Public safety is a critical part of the education campaigns of the Second Amendment Foundation, and with good reason. Without a self-defense option, we are all at greater risk. The facts support our concerns about gun-free zones. The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) recently finished updating a list of mass public shootings worldwide. FACT: Over the course of 18 years, 1998 to 2015, the CPRC found 2,354 attacks and at least 4,880 shooters outside the U.S. and 53 attacks and 57 shooters within this country. The study found the U.S. makes up 1.49 percent of the murders worldwide, 2.20 percent of the attacks, and less than 1.15 percent of the mass public shooters. FACT: Most gunmen are smart enough to know that they can kill more people if they attack places where victims can’t defend themselves; 98 percent of mass public shootings since 1950 have occurred in places where citizens are banned from having guns. In Europe, every mass public shooting in history has occurred in a gun-free zone. And Europe is no stranger to mass public shootings. In the past eight years, it has experienced a per-capita casualty rate 50 percent higher than that of the U.S. FACT: The U.S. is a relatively safe place from these shooting attacks precisely because so many attacks are thwarted by legally armed good Samaritans. FACT: The evidence shows that gun-free zones are not the answer. Truth is, they are an added danger because they prevent legally armed citizens from defending themselves and their neighbors. It’s time to get rid of gun-free zones. The U.S. has tried them for more than 20 years and evidence shows that gun-free zones actually increase the danger. Nobody wants to be a sitting duck in a maniac’s shooting gallery.

The Second Amendment Foundation 12500 NE Tenth Place • Bellevue, WA 98005 • 425-454-7012 www.saf.org

 LASH BASH Warm up the engine, then remove the valve cover(s). Before the lashing process begins, you must know the position of the camshaft. Begin by removing #1 spark plug. Hold your finger over the hole while rotating the engine manually (breaker bar). When you begin to feel positive pressure, you’re on the compression stroke. Stop when the timing mark is at zero (TDC). Then, if you have a V8, use this chart:

POSITION

SET INTAKE CYL. #

SET EXHAUST CYL. #

TDC #1 CYL, COMPRESSION

ROTATE 90º CLOCKWISE

ROTATE 90º MORE (BDC)

ROTATE 90º MORE

ROTATE 90º MORE (TDC)

ROTATE 90º MORE

ROTATE 90º MORE (BDC)

ROTATE 90º MORE

f you rotate 90º more, you’ll be back at #1 TDC compression. In each instance, the cam will be on the base circle for the valve you are setting. This is a must, if you are anywhere on the lobe, your lash setting will be who-knows-where.

A SOLID LIST THE FOLLOWING STREET MOPARS were factory equipped with flat-tappet (solid lifter) camshafts:

ENGINE

TYP. OEM LASH SPEC (USUALLY HOT)

FLATHEADS (ALL, 6 AND 8-CYL)

(WE’LL NOT GET INTO THESE)

SLANT 6, 170, 198, 225, 1960–’80

0.010 ˝ I / 0.020 ˝ E

POLY V8, THRU 1966 (AND ’67, CANADA ONLY)

0.013 ˝ I / 0.021˝ E

273 LA, 1964½ THRU 1967

0.013 ˝ I / 0.021˝ E

426 STREET HEMI, 1966–’69

0.028 ˝ I / 0.032 ˝ E (COLD)

There are two types of feeler gauges: The standard type (top) is just a precision-thickness strip of hardened steel. The fancier style has a short section of the tip ground 0.001 to 0.002˝ thinner, producing a “go– no-go” gauge. This style makes setting lash a bit easier for inexperienced hands.

THE SLANT-SIX was the last standard production Chrysler engine built without hydraulic lifters. The factory’s conversion to hydraulics in 1981 is a whole ’nuther story!

This illustrates the two-step feeler procedure clearly.

82 MOPAR ACTION

The actual clearance setting is easy, you turn the adjusting screw until the gauge just slips in snugly (if using the basic type gauge set). Some factory rockers, and all aftermarket rockers, used a jam nut to prevent unwanted movement of the screw. Tighten it after adjusting. Many factory screws had no jam nut, they used interference thread screws for vibration resistance.

If you have a performance setup (needing frequent lash adjustments), investing in a combination adjuster / locknut setter is money well spent.

 LASH BASH What happens if one (or more) valves are way out of adjustment? Something’s wrong! A bent pushrod is not uncommon. If you are lucky (very), there’s no other damage.

Adjustable Hydraulics? A FEW—VERY FEW—Mopars were equipped with adjustable hydraulic valvetrains. Shown is a W-1 340 (T/AAAR), a similar setup was used on 1970–’71 Street Hemis. Adjustment is similar to solids, since when adjusting a rocker, the cam must be on the base circle. The difference: You adjust for zero lash, then tighten ½ to ¾ turn more. This can be tricky, especially finding the zero-lash starting point, since the lifters are not “solid.” The surest bet: Remove the intake manifold and observe the A very few Mopar engines had adjustable hydraulic lifter plunger cap. When it just begins to lifters. Shown is a 340 W-1 engine (340-6) move (depressed), that’s your zero-lash point, continue the extra ½ to ¾ turn. Remember, just as with solids, the cam lobe for the valve you’re adjusting must be on the base circle (see main story for more). ÐR.E.

Adjusting hydraulics: Tighten the adjuster until all lash is taken up between the pushrod and lifter plunger cap (shown), then tighten ½ to ¾ turn more, actually depressing, and preloading, the lifter. This will result in quiet running combined with maximum anti-pump-up operation for maximum RPM.

84 MOPAR ACTION

Checking for a bent valve requires only a straightedge (with rockers removed). All valve tips should be at nearly equal heights. One’s much lower? Valve’s bent!.

Finally, a wiped cam lobe, or wiped lifter, is really bad news. All this chewed-up steel is now in the oil pan—or worse. And you will be needing a lot more tools than just the feeler gauges…

Mope or NOPE!

Rides from readerland.

EDITED BY PHIL

DEPAGES

LOOK SHARP, FEEL SHARP, BE SHARP ANYBODY FROM GILLETTE, WYOMING, should know that jingle for Gillette Blue Blades by heart. Jeff Winemiller may or may not be the exception, as we didn’t bother to find out. Jeff picked up this ’68 GTX in Spanish Fly… er, Fork, Utah, in March 2016. He says it is a matching numbers piece but needed work. He replaced both rear quarters, both front floor pans, trunk floor, and right-side wheelhouse among other body panels. The Plymouth had been blessed with 7 coats of paint. Jeff didn’t indicate what color(s), but he said the Geetex was in “bad shape” (also the usual state of the MA staff). Jeff’s dad—a bodyman and painter—helped Jeff along with the resto. Jeff said that he rebuilt the front end and sent the engine and tranny out for rebuilds. The project ate up 23 months of Jeff’s life. The final paint—the original Burgundy Metallic was sprayed by a local body shop. Don't ask Jeff about brake fade, though.

GREEN MACHINE

TONY ROMITO (city and state withheld by request) didn’t have much to say about his ’70 GTX show car, but he made up for it by sending a lot of photos (each one worth 1000 words, which works out to about 15 pages worth). Tony sez he dropped 100 large on this project, which was built in a 2-car garage in Bethlehem, Pa. Under hood is a 650-horse 440-8 stroked to 508 cubes. The big-block is hooked to a Hemi 4-speed crashbox whilst the Dana 60 spins 4.10s. Wilwood discs up front work with factory 11ʺ drums to provide stopping power while maneuvering on the show ﬂoor. Those snazzy wheels measure 18x10 up front with 12s out back. We take it Tony doesn’t want anybody sitting in his seats.

Want to see your car, dog, parakeet, or windmill (for Netherlands readers) on this page? Send good, sharp photos, or hi-res digital images of your toys, along with some information that we can bizarrely distort into a story to cliffgromer@yahoo.com—Don’t want to see your ride here? Even easier: Don’t send us nothin’.

MOPAR ACTION

Cool Stuff

The Latest Products for MoFans! SEE COV. 3!

LIGHTER & QUICKER 20:1 MANUAL STEERING BOX

MOPARS WITH MANUAL STEERING of the 1960s and early 1970s came with a 24:1 ratio (standard equipment) or the close ratio 16:1 steering box. PST is now giving you the best of both worlds by designing a steering box with a 20:1 ratio. This box requires less rotation of the steering wheel from lock-to-lock as seen with the 24:1 and less effort to turn unlike the 16:1 ratio, offering the advantages of both boxes. For racing, PST’s new production 20:1 steering box gives weight savings and added horsepower by eliminating the power steering box and belt-driven pump from the front of the car. PST’s manual 20:1 Mopar box is available for A, B, and E body Mopars like the Dart, Valiant, Charger, Coronet, Road Runner, Barracuda and Challenger. Other benefits are better feedback through the steering wheel, allowing for better feel of what the front wheels are doing and more room for engine swaps or header clearance. For more information visit www.p-s-t.com or call 1-800-247-2288.

TRIM AND FIT

SEE PG. 65!

1968-70 CHARGER DOOR UPPERS LEGENDARY AUTO INTERIORS, LTD. is pleased to feature our 1968-70 Charger Padded Door Uppers. Manufactured “As Original” with a vacuum-formed PVC material on foam and stamped metal parts, with guaranteed fit and quality due to perfect front to rear alignment, plus correct door panel clip hole placement as well as as-original contours and features. These are also available in all factory colors and grains and are backed by our limited lifetime warranty. To order visit our website at www.legendaryautointeriors.com or call us at 1-800-363-8804.

WELL SHIELDED

SEE PG. 83! METAL AIR FILTER DUST / WATER SHIELD THIS IS A NEW DUST SHIELD/WATER SHIELD for oval base plates on non-fresh air cars. The air cleaner base plate on 1970 Hemi and 6-packs models had this stepped-up metal shield at the front. Sitting in the front of the base plate, it protects the open air filter from all sorts of dust, water, rocks etc. Never before available. This shield is correct in every way. Contact Tommy the Chryco Inc., www.tommythechryco.ca 1-866 -893-2547 or 647-525-4268.

86 MOPAR ACTION

Contact Dan Gallo, Advertising Director

TOOL UP

SEE PG. 73!

SEE PG. 41!

ARP PRODUCT GUIDE FOR CHRYSLER GEN III HEMI

GEN 3 HEMI TO K-FRAME STAND ADAPTERS NEED TO ROLL YOUR GEN 3 HEMI and transmission around your shop while waiting to drop it into your Hot Rod? USCT Motorsports now has adapter brackets so you can use the USRT K-Frame Stand to securely hold your GEN 3 Hemi and transmission when moving it around. Get USCT7M5016 K-Frame Engine Mount Adapters for 5.7L, 6.2L, and 6.4L GEN 3 Hemi and USCT7M1001 Mopar K-Frame Stand Drivetrain Restoration Tool. Find a pair for YOUR GEN 3 Hemi at USCTMotorsports.com. Our web store is open 24/7! Phone: 919855-8200.

UP TO DATE

NUTS & BOLTS

SEE PG. 49!

MID MOUNT ACCESSORY KIT FOR 3G HEMI SWAPS

ARP has released a free Product Guide detailing all the company’s offerings that fit the “Gen III” Chrysler Hemi engine. These highperformance fasteners provide increased clamping force and an extra margin of safety not found in factory TTY (Torque-To-Yield) bolts and are engineered to be re-used (the OEM bolts are yielded by design and should not be put back into service). Chrysler’s 5.7L, 6.1L and 6.4L “392” engines are addressed in the Gen III Product Guide, which includes critical internal engine components (head studs, main studs, and rod bolts) as well as key driveline and accessory bolts. This includes a convenient Engine & Accessory Fastener Kit that contains polished stainless steel or black oxide finished 8740 chrome moly bolts for a dozen applications ranging from the intake system to the oil pan available with both hex and 12-point heads. ARP’s Gen III Hemi Product Guide is available free for downloading and can be found on the company’s website, www.ARP-bolts.com. A printed 128-page fullline catalog is also available upon request. Technical assistance can be obtained by calling 800-826-3045.

MODERN CONVENIENCE

SEE COV. 2!

REMOTE STARTER KITS

HOLLEY’S COMPLETE, MID-MOUNT ACCESSORY SYSTEM for Gen III HEMI engines takes the headache out of late-model Hemi swapping for your vintage Mopar. Holley’s setup pulls the accessories tighter than factory drives, making for an easy fit into narrow, classic engine bays. At the heart of the system is a “bracket-less” design (patent pending) where accessories bolt directly to the timing cover. All accessories are included—water pump, A/C compressor, alternator, P/S pump with reservoir, crank damper, pulleys, belt, and even heater hose and power steering fittings, and an alternator pigtail makes the cut. Easy assembly, a perfect fit, and modern performance make Holley's Gen III Hemi Mid Mount Front Drives an easy choice. Contact Holley at 866-464-6553. www.holley.com.

WANT TO WARM OR COOL YOUR VEHICLE before a drive? Like standing near the tailpipes when that awesome motor roars to life? RockAuto.com now has Remote Starter Kits that enable you to add remote start using factory OE Mopar parts! Find Remote Starter Kits in the RockAuto.com online catalog under “Ignition” for your specific Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or RAM vehicle. RockAuto.com

MOPAR ACTION

Cool Stuff GET ’EM WHILE THEY LAST

SEE P9. 79! 1963 DODGE PLYMOUTH VALANCES OFF DISCONTINUED BY the manufacturer, Kramer Automotive Specialties is now offering the remaining stock of 1963 Dodge B-Body Rear Valance (960-2463), 1963 Dodge B-Body Front Valance (125-2463) and 1963 Plymouth B-Body Front Valance (125-1463). In stock now, and show delivery is available. Phone: (724) 285-5566 , info@kramerauto.com

NOT THE SAME OLD GRIND

SEE PG. 5!

SUMMIT RACING PRO RING FILERS PROPER PISTON RING GAP is crucial to building horsepower, especially for race engines and engines with a power adder like a turbo or nitrous. The Summit Racing Pro Ring Filers helps you gap rings like a, well, a pro. Made in the USA, the filers make it easy to set consistent gaps for a complete set of rings, something that’s tough to do with a manual ring filer. A precision dial indicator lets you accurately set the desired gap in .001-inch increments—once you set up the tool and verify you have proper end gap on the first ring, just use that same setting to gap the rest. The unit includes a deburr wheel to clean up the ground edge of your rings, plus a dressing tool to clean and square the three-inch diameter grinding wheel. Your choice of filers with a 110V or 220V electric motor and one of 10 powder coat colors. Summit Racing Equipment, www.summitracing.com 1-800-230-3030.

LAUNCH PAD

SEE PG. 59!

STRAIGHT AND NARROW

SEE PG. 35!

1962-76 MOPAR HIGH PERFORMANCE TIE ROD ADJUSTING SLEEVES

DANA 60 PINION SNUBBER FIRM FEEL, INC. makes new Dana 60 pinion snubbers for Mopar 1966– 71 Dana differentials. These are new heavy-gauge steel stampings with new rubber snubbers. Make your Mopar launch with the greatest of ease! Firm Feel, Inc. www.firmfeel.com (360) 546-3633. 88 MOPAR ACTION

A GREAT WAY TO IMPROVE the strength of your steering system and add a high tech look, these high performance tie rod adjusting sleeves are designed for 1962–76 Dodge and Plymouth A, B & E Body cars. Precise adjustments can be made easily, and the double jam nut design ensures no movement in alignment settings. Made in the USA! Part #: HPAS319. Performance Online, Inc., www.performanceonline.com 888-315-8092.

WANT TO BE COOL? SHINEY STUFF

SEE PG. 83!

Contact Dan Gallo, Advertising Director (845) 505-7479. dgallo@moparaction.com

CREAMPUFF

SEE PG. 75!

ZOO’S UNFINISHED PROJECT CAR—BRING A TRAILER

CUSTOM PLATING SPECIALIST RESTORERS AND BUILDERS, Custom Plating Specialist, Inc. is an award-winning chrome restoration company, accomplished in pot metal, specializing in the restoration of metal parts. Not just cars, but motorcycles, bikes, boats, old antiques of all kinds. Call today 920-756-3284. https:// customplatingspecialist.com.

EMBLEMATIC

SEE PG. 29!

MOST PEOPLE DON’T REALIZE that Stunkard has worked for nearly every major Mopar magazine during the past 30 years, some which closed under his watch (oops). The 1971 Dodge Dart Swinger that was partially under construction when Mopar Enthusiast shut down forever has been in storage since 2011. Powered by a built LA-series 392 stroker smallblock using some of the best stuff, A904 tranny with shift kit and factory 3.23 8 ¾, the car is now being offered as the building it is stored in must come down. Not running due to electric issues, see page 75 for more details. Lots of minor upgrades but having some body rot, this project may be a better source of pieces for your own car than to complete it. Contact the Zookeeper at qmpsales@quartermilestones.com. Car is east Tennessee, near zip 37682.

NEW BUMBER FOR OLD CHARGER

SEE PG. 19 & COV. 4!

CHROME FRONT BUMPER FOR ’68–’69 DODGE CHARGER

CHALLENGER CHARGER RETRO 392 HEMI EMBLEM FROM YEAR ONE NOW FROM YEAR ONE. Created for hood, Shaker, or fender in your choice of chrome or silver with Hemi orange highlights, this new 392 HEMI emblem is made of injection molded plastic with an adhesive backing. These are designed for use on newer Chrysler products using the vintage font and colors of the ’60s–’70s emblems and are also great for cars with Gen III Hemi Swaps. The emblem measures 6˝ long x 5/8˝ high on the numbers x 3/8˝ tall on the word HEMI. Get yours by going to yearone.com ph. 1-706-658-2140.

AUTO METAL DIRECT is at the fore front of premium muscle car and classic truck body panels and restoration parts. Their latest release is aimed at a triedand-true contender in the muscle car world, the Dodge Charger. Arguably one of the most popular muscle cars of all time, AMD has completed development and now offers Front Bumper Replacements for the ’68–’69 Dodge Chargers with all new tooling. Known for top quality OE style sheet metal, AMD bumpers are made from heavy gauge steel and feature OE quality chrome finish. All parts feature, depending on application, correct holes for turn signals or back-up lamps. Installation is fast and easy as all parts are designed to be a direct bolt-on utilizing OE bumper brackets and hardware. These OE quality components from AMD are the perfect touch to your restoration. Call 1-877.575.3586 today for full details or visit us online at www.AutoMetalDirect.com. Mopar Official Licensed Restoration Part

MOPAR ACTION 89

 TECH TOPICS

continued from page 11

block distributor rotates opposite to that of a big block! You now have a paperweight or doorstop, your choice. If your buddy is still speaking to you, it could be shortened again to fit a 383—and work correctly. I’m tempted to quote the old adage: “There’s pharmaceuticals and therapy to fix crazy, but you can’t fix stupid.” I’m a nice guy, of course, so I won’t.

Hotter heat range spark plugs can reduce (or eliminate) cold fouling. But... ...understand that the hotter the plug, the greater the likelihood of running-on and/or detonation. Modern plugs have wider heat ranges, so the extra buck plugs (platinum, iridium) can be money well spent.

reciprocating assembly is good for both performance and longevity. Magnaflux (crack) testing of any used conrods, and using new hardware, is cheap insurance.

IDLE TIME I have a 440 1971 Challenger. Car fouling plugs when starting infrequently (but not driving), I was told to drive more, is prolonged idling fouling plugs? How long should it idle? Andrew Badiavasy Dumont, NJ Andrew– Assuming the engine is stock, you are likely running a fairly high percentage of the time with the choke on to some degree. Choke on = rich running = fouled plugs. This is not good for the overall health of the engine: Oil dilution, bottom end, rings, carbon buildup, etc. Extended idling is also murder on the cam and lifters. Anyway, the direct answer to your question: Yes. Hotter heat range spark plugs (J14Y), and/or fine-wire plugs (Iridium, etc.) are good ideas (see info above). Also set the curb and fast idle speeds up considerably and be sure the choke is opening fully. Not? Suspect bad (stuck/seized) exhaust heat control valve or plugged (carbon choked) crossover passages in heads and/or intake manifold. If this is the case, the quick fix: Wire the choke open. Proper de-coking involves removing the cylinder heads.

DIZZY DIST Richard– I have a 1971 Duster 340, and a complete Mopar Performance ignition kit from approx. 1995—which I never got around to 90 MOPAR ACTION

installing in my 1970 GTX 440 (long gone). I noticed that the 440 distributor was only a bit longer (the shaft) than my original 340 points-type one, so I had a machinist friend of mine shorten the shaft to the same as the small block one. It fit right in easy. The car started right up, and I set the timing to 10 degrees before, and took it for a ride. It idles fine, but it has become a real pig, in fact, with the vacuum advance hooked up it will virtually die out sometimes. Is the box or the distributor bad? How can I tell? Name and address withheld (out of pity)

Nameless– Yup, a 440 distributor with both mechanical and vacuum retard will make your 340 into a real dog. Duh—a small-

Yes, RB (426/440) distributors have only a slightly longer shaft than one meant for an A/LA (small block); but they rotate in the opposite direction! Swapped, it will retard when it should advance, and visa-versa.

CHALLENGED 2009 Challenger R/T. On the speedo directly below the compass heading is the number “925”. One dealer told me that someone may have tried to re-program the cluster. I didn’t think that was possible. As per build sheet, she also has push button start that, despite replacing all modules and the keys, refuses to work. Is there a relationship between these issues? VIN 2B3LJ54T79H577XXX. Help me, Obi-Wan, you’re my only hope. Mike Lentino Tempe, AZ Mike– Since my Modern Mopar computer/PCM/ flash skills are a bit rusty, I sent this to our late model Mopar expert, Kevin Wesley. “Sounds like he may need to reflash the Body Control Module since that is what would control the display and what the car would recognize as options. Possibly replacing the BCM as well. I’ve seen random stuff show up on the display after the battery in the car completely bricks, dead. I’ve also heard about people getting into the BCM and changing what shows on the display, but I’ve not dug into that one at all. Make sure the key is programmed properly to the car. If not, the RF module won’t recognize that the key exists.” I’ve had something similar to this happen on my 2013, which would be the same dash style, pre U-connect. Display quit working on some selections, push button start quit working. Left the car in the garage for a few months and the battery bricked. Replaced the battery and everything on the car was fixed with the display and the key fob. Maybe just disconnect the battery and let it sit for a night. It could very well be that simple.

need to prove it! Temporarily disconnect the vacuum advance hose and plug or cap the carb fitting. If that solves the problem, keep reading, if not, ask the publisher for a refund on the price of this issue (don’t hold your breath!) Here’s what’s happening: To get enough air into the engine for this to idle (with the now-lumpier cam), the idle speed screw needed to be cranked up enough to uncover the transfer slot (see pix). So If you find that your vacuum advance is functioning at now, vacuum is supplied idle (it must not), you’ll need to admit more air without to the chamber and diacranking the idle speed screw. Solution: Drill small holes phragm on the distributor, in primary idle blades. I usually begin at 1/ 8˝, these wound and this advances the up needing to be even larger. Went too big? Just solder ’em timing. As the timing is up, no biggie. advanced, the vacuum and RPM increases, and CAM SHAFTED? this process repeats itself until the vacRichard– uum chamber is maxed out. I recently rebuilt the original 383 from my This fix is really pretty easy: Supply 1970 Coronet 500. I was going to do it some additional air for idle without opendead stock, but then I read your series ing the throttle with the speed screw. on taking weight out, and one thing led to Unbolt the carb and drill 1/8” holes another. Here’s the complete list: anywhere in each of the primary throttle • 30 thou overbored, hypereutectic pisblades. Reinstall, and try again. Better, but tons, moly rings not 100%? Enlarge holes! • 440 Source Stealth heads I will keep this short: I see questions • TTi headers, complete TTi system such as this very frequently, but I can’t • Edelbrock Performer RPM manifold repeat this in every issue! Also, my 3-part and 800 CFM AVS carb “tuning from scratch” series, now online • Comp K21-223-4 cam and lifters, stock at moparaction.com/2020/09/10/carbrockers tunes/, delves thoroughly into this. • Mopar Performance electronic ignition Thank me very much! kit, installed around 1980. It runs extremely well. Amazing, actually, I’d swear it has picked up at least 100 HP! The problem I have is idle. I can idle it down to where it wants to stall if I put it in gear (it has the original 3.23s), if I speed it up, it slowly seems to crawl up higher. How can I fix this? 1970-up LA water pumps came in 2 flavors: The standard variety, John Slattery which has a small bearing and shaft, is instantly identifiable by Towson, MD the series of “holes” in the bearing area. These are junk, and John– I am pretty sure I know what’s wrong, but we

should not be used, at all, ever. The “cop” (HD) pump, which was introduced around 1977, can be spotted via the scalloped bearing areas. Use this in any and all ’70-up LA engines. Always. Or else.

PUMP AND DUMP I’m currently refurbishing a 1977 Valiant Regal with a 318 / 904 combo. Australian V8 Valiants fitted with the Thermal Control Fan Drive (a/k/a viscous fan drive) use a heavy sintered steel fan hub, as opposed to the normal pressed steel fan hub. The workshop manual states “the fan hub is made from sintered steel and cannot be reused.” It continues on to describe how to fit a new hub to a replacement water pump shaft. I am having difficulty locating a new water pump fitted with the heavy sintered steel hub. Do you know the rationale for fitting the heavier hub with viscous fan drives? Are there any issues or risks with fitting a viscous drive to a normal pressed steel fan hub? Are you aware of any suppliers of water pumps fitted with the sintered steel hubs? Roy McPhail Wodonga, VIC, Australia

 TECH TOPICS

PHOTOS: PATRICK FINNEY

1962–’69 TURN SIGNAL SWITCH WIRING

Pre-1970 cars (and later trucks and vans) had individual wiring pins for the turn signal switch. You must manually snap each into the connector, diagram shows the pinouts.

Roy– The bigger worry is the shaft and bearing in the pump. I suspect that the HD pump had the better hub, and the hub is the identification. • Water pumps with “holes” around the bearing area are junk. • Water pumps with “scallops” have a much larger shaft and bearing, for an example, see: ebay.com/ itm/224731382636. I have had the noncop ones snap the shaft, result: Fan, literally, “ate” the radiator. Not fun!

diagram and photo nearby. When pulling the old wires out with the switch, attach a piece of wire or string, drawn up through the column jacket, use this to pull the new wires down and into position.

THERMOQUESTIONS

Mr. Ehrenberg– You may have been asked this at least a trillion times. I have never replaced a turn signal switch and wiring on a ‘67 Plymouth Belvedere, floor shift, manual steering column. Do I have to pull the steering column to complete this task? Johnny Johnson Savannah, GA

Richard— I have a 1968 Charger, and I enjoyed the recent ThermoQuad article as I am trying to knock off punch list items as I can afford to. Problem is I am now confused on what I have. This T-Q was on the 1978 motorhome 440 I picked up. I saw in your article that truck engines were exempt from the emission laws at the time so I thought “great, maybe what I have will work.” Numbers seem to say it is a 1972 carb for a 400 CI so how did it end up on the ’78? Also, the fuel inlet seems to be wrong if it is a ’72 carb. Could it be a Frankenstein carb? Patrick Finney Toone, TN

John– No, just the wheel. You will also have to reuse the molded plastic insulator that the wiring pins snap into. It will be pretty obvious, but I recommend cutting the wires off an inch or two from the connector, then releasing and snapping in the new wires and pins in one at a time, this avoids errors by leaving some colorcoded wire for ID. In trouble? See the

Pat– From the pix you sent (above), it sure seems to be one of Mary Woolstonecraft Shelly’s creations. The air horn is definitely later, yet the throttle body is surely a 1972 piece as you describe. Who knows how or why it came to be this way, but does it really matter? No. The good news is that the air horn (upper casting) is definitely a non-emissions piece,

SWITCH HITTER

92 MOPAR ACTION

Reader Finney scored an 850 CFM T-Q that appears to have been built from various and sundry parts. It might be just fine, presumably the motor home it came off of ran OK. It is surely worth a try.

from a later HD truck (if 1978, from a truck w/ GVWR of 6,501 lbs. or more). For the price of a kit, and a gallon can of carb cleaner, it is surely worth a shot. Where else can you get an 850 CFM carb that has instant throttle response, and the best possible (from a carburetor) fuel economy, for a single Ulysses S.? (And, OK, a few hours of futzing around).

NEED MORE TECH?

LOVE TECH Q&A? Can’t get enough? Check it out: There’s new Q&As posted weekly online at www.moparaction.com! That’s the best place to submit your tech question from, too. Heads up! You can now browse and search a super tech-article index, order back issues and the awesome 7-volume Tech Special CD-rom, at www.moparaction.com

RESTO TOPICS

continued from page 12

this one was probably in what is called the “Decorator” package. The data plate (a/k/a “fender tag”) should show A62 if I am correct. It would also have the same carpet on the lower door panels, and was available with red, silver, white, or

black exterior, with red bring the “preferred” color.

MAYFLOWER LOGO Mr. Ehrenberg– What does the symbol on the hood orna-

The USPS commemorated the landing of the Mayflower at Plymouth, MA, twice: 1920, and again in 2020. This is the ship that inspired the name Plymouth and the company logo.

Hood blackout paint treatment specs for 1968 Road Runners (option code 361) and GTXs (code 508).

ment on a 1936 Plymouth represent? I saw one at a car show, but I could not find the owner to inquire. Ted Goldberg Los Angeles, CA Ted– The Plymouth logo was the Mayflower— the ship that brought the Pilgrims from Plymouth, UK, to the Plymouth colony, near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in November, 1620. The United States Postal Service commemorated this event with a Mayflower stamp, first in issued in 1920, then again in 2020. After disuse for a few decades, in the ’90s, Plymouth division resurrected and modernized this logo, see left for the final incarnation.

BLACK IN THE HOOD

1936 Plymouth hood ornament featured a stylized version of the Mayflower.

By 2001, Plymouth’s final year, the Mayflower was thoroughly modernized.

Rick– Do you have one of your factory blueprints showing the exact borders of the hood blackout paint for my ’68 GTX? I have seen several varying details, and I really want to do this right. Walter Miller Binghamton, NY Walter– Yes, I was able to come up with this one. Lots of little details often not done quite MOPAR ACTION 93

 RESTO TOPICS Power brake boosters are easy to assess—on or off the car. Hook up a handheld vacuum pump and go to town. Because of the huge volume disparity, it will take at minimum 50 strokes to pull a decent vacuum. Then set the pump aside for a few minutes, then pump again. If the vacuum has not dropped significantly your booster is fine.

DIAPHRAGM PLAN Sorry if this has been covered before. Can’t find it in my archives. Is there a reliable way to bench test a power brake booster to make sure it’s functional before assembling the master cylinder, lines, etc.? The one in question is on a car that has been

sitting for 15+ years (my ’72 Road Runner). Also, what’s the correct factory finish for these? Mike Pryor Huntsville, AL

for details on the procedure. There were several vendors for boosters, the majority were semi-gloss black enamel. Some were yellow cadmium. You’d know if yours was.

Mike– Simple: Rig up a handheld vacuum pump (Mityvac, etc.) to the inlet valve and be sure there are no leaks (vacuum drop). See photo, above left,

CENTER CAP RAP Richard– I friend of mine showed me a 1970 Dodge Challenger dealer fact book where is shows Challenger wheels for

1970. It says that the only 15ʺ wheels available were rallye (“styled road wheels”) and the book shows trim rings, but no center caps. Were the caps optional? Is this true? I have never seen this. Toby Jones Metairie, LA Toby– The book is just plain wrong. See scan above for the straight scoop. ➧➧➧

ACTION

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2021

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right, as you mentioned. See the factory diagram on p.93

Not all factory publications are correct. The 1970 Challenger dealer album “wheel” page is very wrong. Obviously, 15X7ʺ steelies were available, and rallye wheels (both 14 and 15-inch) all had the bolton cast aluminum center applique (in light argent for 1970 only).

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94 MOPAR ACTION

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Al Dente’s

BLAST!

from the Past

Could This Car Have Saved Plymouth? Plymouth’s new Mini-MINI OULD THIS CAR have saved Plymouth? We think so, if the price of gas gets back up to over $4/gallon. And, even if it doesn’t, we predict Mo’fans will be beating dealers’ doors down for this nifty little car. Built in secret during the DaimlerChrysler period under the code name Schmadt Kar (but rebadged after the split to the more catchy “Short Sport”), this little honey seats two and has tons of luggage room (relative to its size, of course). The plan was not only to build the car on the line, but to have conversion centers (new car dealers, muffler shops etc), where you could drive in with your big gas-guzzling minivan or SUV, and, in a matter of a couple of hours, drive off in a stylish, svelte mega-mileage machine. Neat, eh?

The Short Sport featured here is based on a ’92 Plymouth Voyager. After cutting 58-in. of useless mileage-degrading sheet-

metal, seats, doors, carpeting, etc., the now “green” van is reduced to 10 feet, bumper-tobumper, and bounces along on

a 5-ft. wheelbase. It’s nearly invisible to semis on the open road, but watch that gas mileage soar.

Since all the cutting was done in the middle, the Sport retains the stock hatch, so you can still pile in the 4´x8´ plywood, provided you have them cut into thirds.

This highly detailed scale model, used for a presentation to DCX execs in Stuttgart, shows the car with the hatch closed. Talk about restyling, the Short Sport sets new standards in form following function.

MOPAR ACTION

PHOTOS BY THEBRUNTBROS

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DUALLY NOTED

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SUBURBAN FLIGHT

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BEATING THE ODDS

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