Pro Street build-up question

[IllCharger]

I have a 74 Charger that I am pro streeting.  Car is in the shop now being mini tubbed, roll cage install, and rear suspension set-up (ladder bar with coil overs).  I eventually want this car to be a 8-9 second street car.  I have a mild 440 powering it right now.  I want to either go the blower or twin turbo route as the main source for power adder.  What kind up set-up would best get me to where I am trying to go (engine power adder combo)?

[Blown70]

I have a 74 Charger that I am pro streeting.   Car is in the shop now being mini tubbed, roll cage install, and rear suspension set-up (ladder bar with coil overs).   I eventually want this car to be a 8-9 second street car.   I have a mild 440 powering it right now.   I want to either go the blower or twin turbo route as the main source for power adder.   What kind up set-up would best get me to where I am trying to go (engine power adder combo)?

Ummm well an 8-9 second car can be run on the street but usually not a good expericence.

I will tell you this you WILL need an after market block for the engine to handle the HP you are going to need.  NO stock block will handle the Horsepower needs you will need to get this under 9 sec in a 1/4.
A stock 440 can do 690 maybe 750 max.  I know you could run about 800 for 5 seconds before it will split in two

I do not like turbos myself and of course would suggest a supercharger, ROOTS type for the application... However there is a lot of info you will need to know about the.  I would personnally not just call BDS and order one without doing some reasearch.

Tom

[Chryco Psycho]

either will get you there , you have to weigh out which you like better

[IllCharger]

I am new to the Mopar world.  I recently saw a video of a purple 71 Charger (The Haze).  I know it is a twin turbo setup that he is running.  Are there other cars that run simular numbers on this board that are street driven two.  I also have a heavily modded 98 Camaro Z28.  I got alot of ideas on the setup from that car from Camaro message boards (looking at others combos and taking what works for them).  I would like to see other Charger combos (engine and suspension) to help guide me to building my car.  Thanks for the replies.

[Blown70]

Well If I did not have the chassis that I have I would not be going so radical. 

If you are truely going to street/strip the car  I suggest a 4 link.  Great for the track and better overall for street driving,

you will want a locker rear and not a spool for the street.

Make a car fast drop as much weight as you can.

Mine will not be done for some time but I am sure I can get into the 9's

Tom

[IllCharger]

Well after the chasis work the car will get the needed body work done.  I will drop some weight with a fiber glass hood, fiberglass front and rear bumpers, and I was tossing the idea of fiberglass fenders/or a fiberglass one piece front end, but I don't know how well a one piece front end will work on the street and all.  I would like to see other street/strip combos to see what has worked.  No sense in reinventing the wheel ya know.  I'll do some research to compare a 4 link vs. a ladder bar w/coilover setup to see which way would be better for me.  Thanks for the replies and keep the info coming please.

[Chryco Psycho]

personally I like the ladders better o nthe street , on both of my cars I left the leafs in place & used floaters , this way if a rod end fails nothing  moves , the other benefit was a 3" diameter rear sway bar 

[IllCharger]

With the coilovers will I feel every bump in the road or will it be okay. 

[Blown70]

With the coilovers will I feel every bump in the road or will it be okay.  

Well that depends on the spring rate and the shock and recovery. You could ultimaltely have a street set and a track set, unless you have adjutable ones

Tom

[Chryco Psycho]

I agree, to hook up you need soft rear shocks & about 140 springs so it Should ride nicely

[IllCharger]

Well with the suspension in pprogress I need to look at my power setup.  What proven setup can I go with that will get me into the 9's-10's.  If I poke and stroke my 440 with a blower will that be enough to get me there with a little Jenny Craig help.  What do you think.

[Blown70]

Well with the suspension in pprogress I need to look at my power setup.   What proven setup can I go with that will get me into the 9's-10's.   If I poke and stroke my 440 with a blower will that be enough to get me there with a little Jenny Craig help.   What do you think.

I do not know if you read my post above but you may need to consider that you will not do it with a stock block....  You realize again a stock block is good for only 700 horse.  you go more it is a time bomb....

You can get into the 10's with a stock one high 10's I would think,  Esp if you want to street the car.  You will not need aftermarket heads with the supercharger.  So you will save some $$ there.

With proper gearing and drive line  I say you can make it into the 10's.  You know you willl NEED a very good TRANNY to handle the horse right?

Tom

[Chryco Psycho]

I did a 71 GTX all steel with a stock block 440 & a 8/71 , it had 3.55 gears , 727 tranny & a heavy duty 2500 stall converter , we never revved it past 6000 RPM & it ran 10.0 at 4000" for 3 years no probs

[Blown70]

I did a 71 GTX all steel with a stock block 440 & a 8/71 , it had 3.55 gears , 727 tranny & a heavy duty 2500 stall converter , we never revved it past 6000 RPM & it ran 10.0 at 4000" for 3 years no probs

See that is good to know.  How much horse do you expect that motor made.  Sounds like it would have been at the upper limits of what the block could handle.?

Tom

[IllCharger]

Tom I did read that and am definately factoring that into my decision.  A stroked 440 with a 8-71 blower is what I was thinking.  If I can get into the low 10's high 9's I think that is as far as I want to take it right now.  I have friends with full out race cars that are in the 8's and 9's.  If I can run high 9's or low 10's and still keep it on the street I figure that I will have the best of both worlds.

[Blown70]

Tom I did read that and am definately factoring that into my decision.   A stroked 440 with a 8-71 blower is what I was thinking.   If I can get into the low 10's high 9's I think that is as far as I want to take it right now.   I have friends with full out race cars that are in the 8's and 9's.   If I can run high 9's or low 10's and still keep it on the street I figure that I will have the best of both worlds.

Ok, well the reason I have my car is someone tried to overdo a 440 and did not want to buy and aftermarket block.... So I have the car now.

I think you will be fine esp, if you used fiberglass bumpers  I do not know it would use a different front end  ie, fiberglass for what you want to do.  Also, check over the bumper brakets without the bumper weight you will not need as much strength,  just do not hit anything.

Tom

[IllCharger]

Tom, Down the road I may look into a aftermarket block with moore cubes.  I will go with the glass front and rear bumpers and hood for weight benefits.  Car will only be driven on the street on the weekends so I will roll the dice on that one. 
r

[Blown70]

Tom, Down the road I may look into a aftermarket block with moore cubes.   I will go with the glass front and rear bumpers and hood for weight benefits.   Car will only be driven on the street on the weekends so I will roll the dice on that one.  
r

Again if you need to support the front you can always use carbon fiber rods and Carbon fiber flat (they make different thickness).  Lighter than Alum and stronger than steel...

If you need a place to buy pre made lmk,

Tom

[Chryco Psycho]

I did a 71 GTX all steel with a stock block 440 & a 8/71 , it had 3.55 gears , 727 tranny & a heavy duty 2500 stall converter , we never revved it past 6000 RPM & it ran 10.0 at 4000" for 3 years no probs

See that is good to know.   How much horse do you expect that motor made.   Sounds like it would have been at the upper limits of what the block could handle.?

Tom

Depending how you calculate it , using the MPH & weight it was making 725 RWHP , I believe the key was keeping the RPM down to limit the stress on the block

[Blown70]

I did a 71 GTX all steel with a stock block 440 & a 8/71 , it had 3.55 gears , 727 tranny & a heavy duty 2500 stall converter , we never revved it past 6000 RPM & it ran 10.0 at 4000" for 3 years no probs

See that is good to know.   How much horse do you expect that motor made.   Sounds like it would have been at the upper limits of what the block could handle.?

Tom

Depending how you calculate it , using the MPH & weight it was making 725 RWHP , I believe the key was keeping the RPM down to limit the stress on the block

I was going to suggest you would need  to.  As that would be the limit of a stock block.  OF course you would know this.

Bet is was a fun ride

[71Charger500]

Well on the Cuda-Challenger site Blowfish, a cuda with a 528 aluminum hemi with a huge blower thats probabaly weighs about the same as your car making 1050 horsepower on racing fuel runs a 9.6, so you'll probabaly have to go with a different engine.  I don't think people realize what a 9 second quarter mile is.  People believe after watching the fast and the furious that a dime a dozen honda civic runs 9's and 10's, and thats very misguiding.  I know a friend who's dad runs a 10.5 in a 700 horsepower Camaro.  10's might be a good time to strive for.

[IllCharger]

Well on the Cuda-Challenger site Blowfish, a cuda with a 528 aluminum hemi with a huge blower thats probabaly weighs about the same as your car making 1050 horsepower on racing fuel runs a 9.6, so you'll probabaly have to go with a different engine.  I don't think people realize what a 9 second quarter mile is.  People believe after watching the fast and the furious that a dime a dozen honda civic runs 9's and 10's, and thats very misguiding.  I know a friend who's dad runs a 10.5 in a 700 horsepower Camaro.  10's might be a good time to strive for.

In the my camaro runs high 10's with with stock cubes (346) with a heads and cam package.  I know I can run 9's 10's with a 440 and a blower.  I don't know whats been done to my 440.  I know it has cast iron heads.  Once i get it back from the chasis shop I will take it to the track to see what numbers it runs and then start adding mods till I get to where I want to be.  I have been reading about cam selections and so far I like what I am hearing about the 528 cam.  I will do more research though. I

[Rolling_Thunder]

Well...      I am with blown 70 on this one....   You will need ALOT of power to get there....    My boss's Hemi he's having built is based on a Mopar Performance Hemi block - he is expecting 1100+HP and about 900tq...      that is with a 528 Hemi and a 10-71 blower....     It will be a pump gas motor so it is possible to get it built - just costs money

[Mike DC]

A few thoughts on this . . .


--  Streetability:
   Most of the decisions about this project will probably hinge on how much "street driving" you really want to do.  If you haven't really made up your mind about how streetable this project should be yet, then don't move on the project until you have decided this stuff.  (How comfortable should the car really be?  How tempermental of a motor can you live with?  Does the car just need to be state-inspected to keep you from getting arrested, or does it need to be able to survive the occasional rain or traffic jam that you might get from ACTUALLY driving it around?)


--  Mechanicals:
   If you're not being limited by a certain drag-race class or something, then I say build a huge-inch motor and use really huge tires.  Yeah, people get into the 10-second range with 400-inch motors, but it's usually not because they WANTED to run a motor than small.  And people take 10" slicks into the 8s, but that doesn't mean it was the easiest way to do it. 
   If you run a basically huge motor and basically huge set of rear tires on this project to start with, then you won't have to absolutely max-out every other nut & bolt on the car just to make it go fast.  That ultimately means less headaches & less broken parts.  (And the huge motor & tires might seem expensive right now, but just talk to someone who is replacing parts all the time trying to keep the smaller motor & tires working in a drag-race series.) 

--  Fiberglass fenders: 
   Some people love 'em, other people say they hate them because they crack & sag all the time.  I think 'glass fenders are theoretically fine, but the problem is that the factory built the fenders as more of a "sub-assembly" than just an outer skin piece.  What I'm saying is that the 'glass is plenty strong to be the outer skin of the car, but Mopar had designed the front grille assembly & stuff to hang from something more substantial than that.
   If you built yourself some glass fender skins but they retained the metal bracing & stuff from the old steel fenders underneath, you'd probably eliminate 90% of the problems with 'glass fenders and still lose some weight compared to full-steel ones.  This is how modern cars with 'glass fenders are being built.

.

[IllCharger]

Thanks for all of the replies guys.  All of this info is what I need at this point.  Right now the car is in the chasis shop which is my starting point.  I will eventually go with a big cube motor that is pump gas friendly in the HP range of 1000 with the blower.  Once the car is driveable I will run the 440 motor until it blows or until I get the money freed up to do the big cube thing.  It will take a little time but I will get there.  My Camaro will sit in storage for a year or two which will free up money to play wit the Charger.  I will keep everyone updated.