My '71 Charger build

[71ChargerMike]

This will be a thread that I continue to update as I get things done. The plan with this car is not to do a 100% frame off restoration but to make this car mechanically safe as a driver. Will it win any car shows? Most likely not but that's not the point to why I go to car shows. If I can share stories with other people who once owned this body style car or bring someone a great memory then my job is done!

I bought this 71 Charger Hardtop with my dad in 2007 for $4000. Had to put in a ballast resistor and new distributor cap/rotor to get the car home. Had a little stop light race against my dad in his 4.7L powered '00 Dakota Quad Cab with the 318 Powered 2bbl '71 Charger. That's when I learned the Charger had an open rear end and still had enough power to keep up with the truck and pull up side by side. After getting the car running reliably with new spark plugs, distributor cap/rotor, fuel pump, ignition coil, new 2bbl carter carb, the engine will fire up with 2 pumps of the gas pedal every time. Went to about 10 car shows between 2007-2009 and took home a 3rd or better each time the car was entered in a project class or diamond in the rough class. In 2010 I lost interest in the car because of life in general. Work, family, and lack of interest from my dad caused me to just put it on the back burner.

I'm starting with the mechanical parts of the car ie. brakes, front suspension, exhaust.

The '71 Charger I'm starting with. This photo was right after installing rechromed front and rear bumpers, new American Racing Outlaw 2 wheels (14x6 front and 15x8 rear) and a detailing of the front grills.




After a few years of the car sitting I sold my project/show truck '03 Dakota Sport Club Cab for $7k I cleaned out my garage to make way for the charger. Did an oil change at my parents house before even thinking about starting the car. Car ran awesome on the drive home.


1st thing I had done on my charger was the exhaust. Full system installed using Hedman painted headers, 2.5" mandrel bent tubing with H-Pipe, and dual Flowmaster 40 series mufflers. No exhaust tips for now, I plan to install a dual tip rear valance in the future. This was the only thing I planned on having a shop do, very thankful I did too!




Then it was onto removing the front drum brakes, spindles, upper control arms. I have to say that I'm very surprised that EVERYTHING came apart with very little fuss. Makes me wonder what kind of hell I'm going to see with everything going back together in a few weeks.

The car going on jack stands, you might see the drums are off already. I didn't feel the need to take a picture of every step.


Left front with the drum removed. No idea how many miles are on those front shoes but they still had a while left on them.


Got to this point here when I ran into my 1st stump, it wasn't until doing some research and asked a few questions before I learned how to get the lower ball joint out. Thanks to those of you who posted in my thread in the brakes section!


Once I got the spindle off and the ball joint removed I also removed the upper control arm to leave only the lower control arm and strut brace. The bushings on both sides aren't showing any movement and they don't look terrible either so I'm leaving them alone. Torsion bar suspensions scare me! No pics of passenger side, looks identical though.


I got the front shocks out when I got the front suspension removed but got the rear shocks out yesterday in about 30 minutes time. These look to be like the original shocks but I could be wrong. Someone was telling me that Monroe Shocks used to be a metallic blue but couldn't remember how long that was.


Next on the list of things to do is to remove the brake booster, free up the rear bleeder nipples, and clean the rear brake drums and hardware. Once those are done then I'll start putting the front end together.

More pictures and updates to follow! Thanks for looking.

[chargd72]

Found it!  Great start and solid get for 4K.  Keep it going!

[71ChargerMike]

I plan on building the 318 up some. It's a strong engine already and with the proper work put in on it the 318 can do 400hp at the flywheel. I'm not going that crazy. Just a 4bbl intake setup with 360 heads port matched and hopefully sleeved so this 318 can run pump gas without the lead additive I'm currently having to use. I also plan on running a cam on the higher end of mild. I also plan on changing from points to electronic distributor. Update the original radiator to an aluminum 2 row. Add an electric fan and a engine dress up kit. Oh while doing the cam I'll install a new timing chain set. Those are all plans for either next summer or the summer after that.

[chargd72]

Sounds like a good plan.  The 360 heads are bitter sweet though.  They can flow better but they will lower your compression even more unless you have a closed chambered design.  Once my 408 is swapped I will be selling my cast 302 swirl port (closed chambered) heads with enlarged valves (1.88/1.60).  The valve seats are hardened as well with a 3 angle cut.  I also will be getting rid of a 340 resto cam and matching springs.  The timing might line up to when you're ready to buy. 

[Pete in NH]

X2 on the 360 heads. The 302 heads are a better option as they will not lower your compression ratio like the 360 heads will. The full part number is 4323302 and they can be found on mid to late 80's 318's in cars like the Dodge Diplomat. These heads were closed chamber swirl designs that were about the ultimate head development for the old style LA engines. If you find a set in a junk yard, check them carefully as they are known to develop cracks.

[71ChargerMike]

Great tips guys! Really appreciate that info as it will help in the long run. The last thing I want to do is spend money for something that won't do what I'm looking or asking it to do.

[rt green]

looks like the brake shoes are on backwards. big shoe goes on rear

[71ChargerMike]

Some more progress.

I had a few hours Monday and removed the brake booster then to finish up the night I installed the 1st new suspension component this car has seen in probably 20 years, rear shocks.

The booster came out with very little fuss, seems like everything on this car just wants to get off the car. Hopefully everything will want to just jump back on the car.

The booster removed, you can see that it was leaking for quite some time. I'm fairly sure this is the cause of my weak brakes allowing air into the brake lines, oddly enough the rear chamber was constantly losing fluid which happened to be the front brakes! Before the new booster can go in I need to clean up the firewall.



Then before I wrapped up the night I decided to install the new rear shocks and try to break free the bleeder nipples on the rear drums. Installing the rear shocks were fairly easy and the 1st new suspension component installed on this car in probably 20 years! I went with the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks front and rear with the advice of a friend who owns a '69 El camino who's been running on these shocks for quite some time.



I wasn't planning to do much with the rear drums but after breaking the bleeder on the driver rear I will now be doing all new hardware, shoes, and cylinders.

[71ChargerMike]

Alright. Spent another 1.5-2 hours on the car today on probably one of the best days we could ever have in November! High in the low 70s this time of year is awesome. So today I got the lower ball joints, upper control arms, both spindles, and both front shocks all installed. Everything went in just as easily as it came off.



As for the brake booster, more work is required before that can go in. On the factory booster there was a rubber boot that is just fine but there is a plastic washer that is sandwiched between the booster and firewall that is broke in half. I'm not sure if I can get that part or even where to get it! I also have to reuse the bolt studs in the original booster, not a big deal just won't be happening today.

[71ChargerMike]

Not a lot of time available especially with the holiday season just getting started but I was able to make a little progress on Tuesday night before I was called to help my wifes co-worker. I was able to get the brake booster mounted in the car but not fully bolted down though. Depending on how I feel after work tomorrow I'll try to at least get the booster bolted in, push rod in and adjusted, and brake lines on the booster under the hood. I'm not too far from getting this car back on the wheels but I'm also not in any hurry since I have a lot of winter left yet!

[71ChargerMike]

Tonight I got the booster bolted up, push rod in, adjusted, and bolted to the brake pedal, also got the brake lines on the new booster. Then I started getting the brake discs mounted on the spindles. So far only got the passenger side disk on and torqued down. Still a lot to do yet but that shouldn't take too much to get it done.

This photo shows the shiny new brake booster, nothing too substantial but progress!


This photo shows the car starting to actually look like a car again with the brand new brake rotor on the passenger front:

[ACUDANUT]

?

[ACUDANUT]

Some more progress.

I had a few hours Monday and removed the brake booster then to finish up the night I installed the 1st new suspension component this car has seen in probably 20 years, rear shocks.

The booster came out with very little fuss, seems like everything on this car just wants to get off the car. Hopefully everything will want to just jump back on the car.

The booster removed, you can see that it was leaking for quite some time. I'm fairly sure this is the cause of my weak brakes allowing air into the brake lines, oddly enough the rear chamber was constantly losing fluid which happened to be the front brakes! Before the new booster can go in I need to clean up the firewall.



Then before I wrapped up the night I decided to install the new rear shocks and try to break free the bleeder nipples on the rear drums. Installing the rear shocks were fairly easy and the 1st new suspension component installed on this car in probably 20 years! I went with the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks front and rear with the advice of a friend who owns a '69 El camino who's been running on these shocks for quite some time.



I wasn't planning to do much with the rear drums but after breaking the bleeder on the driver rear I will now be doing all new hardware, shoes, and cylinders.

Nice clean Charger. Hate the Color but it does look rust free. So, Um, where is the booster ?

[71ChargerMike]

Some more progress.

I had a few hours Monday and removed the brake booster then to finish up the night I installed the 1st new suspension component this car has seen in probably 20 years, rear shocks.

The booster came out with very little fuss, seems like everything on this car just wants to get off the car. Hopefully everything will want to just jump back on the car.

The booster removed, you can see that it was leaking for quite some time. I'm fairly sure this is the cause of my weak brakes allowing air into the brake lines, oddly enough the rear chamber was constantly losing fluid which happened to be the front brakes! Before the new booster can go in I need to clean up the firewall.



Then before I wrapped up the night I decided to install the new rear shocks and try to break free the bleeder nipples on the rear drums. Installing the rear shocks were fairly easy and the 1st new suspension component installed on this car in probably 20 years! I went with the KYB Gas-A-Just shocks front and rear with the advice of a friend who owns a '69 El camino who's been running on these shocks for quite some time.



I wasn't planning to do much with the rear drums but after breaking the bleeder on the driver rear I will now be doing all new hardware, shoes, and cylinders.

Nice clean Charger. Hate the Color but it does look rust free. So, Um, where is the booster ?

The booster might be the master cylinder? I get them mixed up. In that photo you quoted, it's missing. The new one is in my last post showing the new rotors. The color wasn't something I liked at 1st but now I rather like it. It's one of those grow on you kind of things. As for rust free, yeah this car is fairly rust free. There are a few spots that will need special attention but for the most part it's a solid car.

[71ChargerMike]

I was able to put in another hour or so into the charger tonight. I have everything on the car but the flex lines. I plan on getting those on tomorrow night, if not, no big deal really. While working on the driver side brake I noticed the whole steering assembly had movement so since I already have to do an alignment I'm going to replace all the components in the steering rack little by little. I'm way ahead of schedule, as if I ever had a schedule though.



Next on the list, pair of front tires, steering assembly items, rear brake hardware and cylinders. Hopefully by the time all of that is done it'll be spring and almost time for the charger to come out of hibernation. I plan on doing engine work after next July consisting of: heads, cam, 4bbl intake, 4bbl carb, new timing chain, electronic dist. I'd like to see what the car in its current form will do on a dyno before I do any major engine work like I have planned.

[71ChargerMike]

I have a updated photo of the front suspension/brakes completed but no reason to show it. It's the same as the one above with just a brake line added.

I decided that I would move on to the steering components so I ordered new outer and inner tie rods, also a new idler arm. Still looking for a pitman arm to replace the worn out part on the car. Will also be ordering new rear brake cylinders shortly as well.

There's not too much more to be done before the Charger is ready to hit the road.

[71ChargerMike]

Nothing new to show but I made a little more progress last night. Decided to install new inner and outer tie rods on the driver side front. Still need to do the passenger side and idler arm. Still a lot of winter left and no real hurry as of right now to get stuff done. I'll keep updating.

[ralley72]

before you know, you'll have that car back on the road. keep the updates coming.

Mike

[ACUDANUT]

I still am amazed that there is zero rust on this unrestored Charger.  Someone really took great care of it. 

[71ChargerMike]

There's more rust then what the pictures show. I found a rather large spot on the passenger wheel well in front of the right rear wheel. Inside the wheel well there's a tennis ball sized spot and it goes to the outside sheet metal. There are also several spots that show rust. Overall though, there really isn't a ton of rust on the car though. Maybe I'll get some shots showing the rust that I can see.

Thank you for the great compliments!

[71ChargerMike]

I lost the ambition to work on my Charger this winter but we just recently had a decent weather warm up and got the ambition to start doing more work on my 71 Charger. In the last couple days I installed new inner and outer tie rods on both sides and got the driver rear wheel brake cylinder replaced. Went to do the passenger rear wheel cylinder and broke the brake line so I'll have to order a set of rear axle brake lines. If doing one side I might as well do them both, looks to be pretty easy to do.

[tan top]

 

  be a good idea to replace both rear wheel cylinders & replace any suspect lines  , even the rubber flexi  ,  while your at it , especially if its the original or  over 10 years old 

[rt_bigblock]

Mate spend the extra spend your money, Rear disc kit they cheap for you U.S.A Guys,  just you can pull up when some idiot cuts in front of your,  Awesome charger . Make Shure you replace the 3 old rubber lines out the back end a Must .
they expand when there old , even if you keep drums ..cheers ...

[Bronzedodge]

It is hard to keep the motivation going sometimes.  Hot Rod magazine had some advice on that - just spend some time in the garage every day, even if you just clean your tools or get organized.  Love the 71, nice car!   

[71ChargerMike]

I looked over the rest of the brake lines and they don't show any signs of rust and the rear flex lines do show some age but no bubbles or cracking. Will be looking into rear flex lines shortly. Meanwhile I received the new axle hard lines yesterday along with the timing chain gear set but I'm still waiting on the electronic distributor. I'm thinking the reason why my car stumbles leaving from a stop light/sign is due to a bad vacuum diaphragm on the stock distributor.

Anyway, just a few hours of solid work and the charger should be road worthy.

[71ChargerMike]

Okay. I now have the brakes completed front and rear. Last thing to do is to bleed the braking system. I also have an electronic distributor and timing gear set to install shortly. I just ordered a new OEM styling radiator tonight. Once I get the new radiator I'll start that work in a few weeks. It'll be nice to have this car on the road again after all the work that's went into it.

[Lighthorseman]

    

[71ChargerMike]

So tonight I started doing some other work. Still need to bleed the brakes yet. Tonight I pulled the radiator, a couple hoses, water pump, fan, and the rest of the parts that are associated with the pulley system. I still need to pull the fuel pump, crank pulley, harmonic balancer, couple bolts and I'll get to the timing chain. This job is a bit more involved then I thought but with some time and patients I'll knock it out in no time. Meanwhile I just ordered new radiator hoses, alternator/fan belt (still looking for the power steering belt), gasket kit for the front end of the engine, by pass hose, and a small stock in hose clamps!

I'm a bit nervous about getting this engine back together about it leaking. Any tips??

The current condition of my 318:

[71ChargerMike]

So in the last couple weeks I have successfully removed the entire front end of the engine. Tonight I painted a few parts to help with the look some and installed the new timing gear set. Tomorrow I plan to start reassembling the engine. Wednesday I pick up the rebuilt 3 row radiator. The stock radiator was clogged up solid, so bad the radiator shop couldn't do anything at all. Lots of corrosion and stop leak was found. New one is rather pricey but so was a suitable OEM replacement.

I'm hoping to have the car running again by the end of next week. Long as I have enough time to play around with it.

[71ChargerMike]

Okay. 2 months behind schedule but the charger is up and running 95%. I had trouble with getting the engine to seal up. It took 3 tries to seal up this engine from oil and coolant leaks. I was able to bleed the brakes without issue and the rear end of the car is once again back on the ground. I'm trying to find hub centric rings for the front wheels because the American Racing Outlaw II wheels that I found have a bigger center bore. I don't think these are lug centric but I could be wrong.

Today I'll be getting legal plates and hopefully get the car on all 4 tires with a test drive later this afternoon.

[Troy]

For whatever reason it seems like all my cars leak something so as long as it's not pouring out I usually just say "screw it" and drive. I put cardboard or a drip pan under them when I park...

Troy

[ACUDANUT]

For whatever reason it seems like all my cars leak something so as long as it's not pouring out I usually just say "screw it" and drive. I put cardboard or a drip pan under them when I park...

Troy

X2

[crj1968]

For whatever reason it seems like all my cars leak something so as long as it's not pouring out I usually just say "screw it" and drive. I put cardboard or a drip pan under them when I park...

Troy

X2

X3 

[TPR]

For whatever reason it seems like all my cars leak something so as long as it's not pouring out I usually just say "screw it" and drive. I put cardboard or a drip pan under them when I park...

Troy

X2

X3 

X4

[71ChargerMike]

Alright. I started this 71 charger mechanical restoration project in Nov. 2015. 10 months later and roughly 50 hours of work I now have a 71 charger that I have a lot of confidence in driving now. After replacing shocks, rear wheel cylinders, front drums to disc, new axle steel brake line, upper control arms, upper and lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, new radiator (used the factory tanks with a new 3 row core), new radiator hoses, double roller timing chain, ET Street american racing outlaw 2 15x6 front wheels, and finally an alignment. This car fires up on the 1st attempt without having to pump the gas pedal after sitting for a while, something this car has never done before.

So I missed out on the car show season with my charger this year and while that is a bummer I'm not mad about it. I entered my 2015 Dodge Dart GT in every show and took home a trophy in 2 out of 3 events. I did take the charger out to its 1st cruise night last Tuesday and got lots of attention. Just about everyone there came to check out the car. A lot of people say they didn't even know what it was. It was worth the wait!!

I really can't wait until next years car show season now, it's going to be a very fun season! I do have a current picture, I'm just waiting for it to upload.

[71ChargerMike]

Here is the most recent photo.



As you can see the car looks completely the same as the very 1st photo because all the work went under the car and under the hood. I'm thinking about starting the exterior after next year. Right now I just want to enjoy the car and I still would like to replace the steering box and install an aftermarket temperature gauge. The gauge in the dash does not work and could be as simple as just a loose or broken wire but I have an aftermarket ready to go in.