SAWZALL REDEMPTION

REDEMPTION

The Challenger as originally delivered. IT 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

3-Gen 392˜ Hemi is controlled by an Arrington management system and uses a Hotwire engine wiring harness. Headers and exhaust are TTi running through Dynomax mufflers.

First on Larry’s call list is his cousin, Howard Brook. Howard is retired and a home-based enthusiast, always up for a possible project. Larry sends him the pix and the details, and Howard buys the Challenger cold based on Larry’s recommendation. Next, the car journeys from New Mexico to Howard’s garage in upstate New York. Turns out it is a rust-free survivor, but has collected its share of dings over the years. “There was something going on in every corner,” says Howard. At the time, Howard was working on a blue ’71 Satellite restoration that we’ve featured 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. To keep those eight pistons hopping up and down in proper quick time, Howard taps Arrington Performance for their engine management system while Arrington taps Howard’s Gold Card. Hotwire Auto supplies the wiring harness.

Still, Howard wanted a functional fresh air hood. He got the idea from a die-cast Chally that had the airbox located in the middle of the radiator. “I couldn’t do that,” says Howard, “so I moved the airbox over to the side.” A little welding here and a little fabing there, and then gluing a sheet of aluminum to the hood underside with openings to mate to the modified air cleaner box and Viola! Fresh air hood. But that plain, underhoodmounted aluminum sheet looked a little too er, plain, so Howard had 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.

Rather than go with a big aftermarket aluminum radiator, Howard wanted one that looked like a stock new car rad. He found that a 2008 rad bolted right in with the help of some spacers.

With the engine details all tidied up, Howard needed a transmission—a logical move at this point. A Tremec Magnum 6-speed gave 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 have to stretch to see above the bumper.

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 everything red that was not available originally in that color, such as the overhead console. No trailer queen, this Chally is driven. “It really puts a smile on my face,” says Howard. Now, if he could only put a smile on that sadmouth grille. 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.