It Has Begun!!!

[Magnum Matt]

Did a little bit of work on the 73' today.  Pulled off the headers, starter, changed the oil.  Found out why the front left corner is leaning down.  Got a broken tortion bar under it.  Gonna pull the engine, and all the windows out in the next week or 2 and steam clean the car.  Then start pulling the floor pans out.  Just ordered a Year One catalog.  Also we decided to go ahead and keep the 400 in the car.  The 383 that we were looking at is a deal that we have to buy the whole set.  That is where the 66' dad was looking at came into play.  We aren't getting that one.  We just found a guy that lives about a mile down the road from us that got 2 1st Gen's about 3 weeks ago.  1 of them is a 66' with a 400 from a 73 in it.  And the other is just a frame and beat up body of a 67'.  I just do not like the way that the first gen's look.  They don't look like Chargers to me... 

Oh and I have a question about speed.  Does anyone know what the 400 Magnum ran in a quarter?  I was thinking about a 13.5, but dad said his stock 65' Baracuda ran a low 13 high 12, and he only had a 271 in it.  He told me that ours should run about a 11.5-12?  Is this right?  Is the Charger really THAT fast?  I ask because there is a guy in my town that has a 06' GTO that runs a 12.4.  He's got about 460HP and he says that he will dust my ass in a race...  I really don't know if I should just kinda ignore him, or laugh at him and tell him he can't bring the front end off the ground on take off.  And one more thing.  I have always heard and believed that the Hemi Cuda was a 10 second car from the factory.  But my buddy Kyle thinks that is bullshit because his 636 Ninja can only run a 10.8...  And there is NO way that a car can outrun his bike...

[TheGhost]

A stock 400 magnum is a smogger engine, so it won't have as much power as a comparable engine from the mid to late 60s.


And even in the light 65 Barracuda's, no 273 should run a low 13 stock.  They were high 13 low 14 engines at best.  My 273 powered Barracuda is a solid 17 second car, with the 2 bbl.


The only 10 second "factory" Hemi cars were the 68 SS/AA A bodies.

[dukeboy_318]

A stock 400 magnum is a smogger engine, so it won't have as much power as a comparable engine from the mid to late 60s.


And even in the light 65 Barracuda's, no 273 should run a low 13 stock. They were high 13 low 14 engines at best. My 273 powered Barracuda is a solid 17 second car, with the 2 bbl.


The only 10 second "factory" Hemi cars were the 68 SS/AA A bodies.

I agree, with that amount of wieght and the power of a stock 400, you might be able to get it into the high 13s, but not likely, i'd say mid 14s constently.  Turn it into a 451, then you'd be talking low 13s

[HDCharger]

5000ib car with a low compression 8.2-1 motor.  I wouldn't race that new GTO.  Get the compression up or stroke it to 451 or 470 and put it on a diet and you will be in business.  Don't sweat it, you have a classic car with good looks that will only increase in value.  No telling what your car will be worth in 10 years but I'd bet my paycheck it will be worth more than 2 of those GTOs.  Besides there Ugly.  Dave

[BigBlackDodge]

Given the same amount of money that he has in his GTO you could make your car fly too!

I've never understood why people compare brand new cars to ours. It's like saying saying your restored '73 is way faster than some stock '40 pontiac.............well duh!

Drive and enjoy the car for what it is........a classic!  


BBD

[Challenger340]

Shouldn't admit to this, but, I used to enjoy taking $$  from the bike guys !

Used to street race the "bigmouths" with the yearly, next, great, fastest,  bikes every year up until the early 90 's.

Dunno how they'd compare to todays crop, they were advertised as 10 second stuff, V-65 magna's, Suzi 1100's, even CB900R's.

Although the mag's said the bikes were 10 second stuff, I believe it was more with a professional rider, at a professional track, with professional tuners on hand.

I used to street drive my '70 swinger W/ BB wedge power, and it was only good for 10.8 at the track, probably only 11.5 ? on the street ? and it used to make the "superbike" guys really poopy pants !

Long story short, YES, some of the A body HEMI stuff was capable of running 10's way back when.

As for racing buddies GTO, which stands for "Get Tools Out", turn your 400 into a 451, gear appropriately, etc. and the "goat" ain't much problem, IMHO.

But really, WHAT FOR ??

[Silver R/T]

why not build a 452 from that 400?

[Magnum Matt]

Oh, trust me the 400 aint gonna be stock.  We are getting it bored 30 over for the Comp Cam Pistons that were in the trunk.  And have a competition roller cam going into it.  It should be about a 451 by the time we are through with it.  But I honestly don't care if he can beat me or not.  I mean he has a GTO that has 400 HP stock!!!  So he diddnt have to do much of anything to get it to 460.  So basically he is gloating over what Pontiac has achieved....  And all he did does is push a gas pedal...  Hell its not even a stick, so he doesnt have to use any skill in shifting... 

[moparguy01]

Oh and I have a question about speed.  Does anyone know what the 400 Magnum ran in a quarter?  I was thinking about a 13.5, but dad said his stock 65' Baracuda ran a low 13 high 12, and he only had a 271 in it.  He told me that ours should run about a 11.5-12?  Is this right?  Is the Charger really THAT fast?  I ask because there is a guy in my town that has a 06' GTO that runs a 12.4.  He's got about 460HP and he says that he will dust my ass in a race...  I really don't know if I should just kinda ignore him, or laugh at him and tell him he can't bring the front end off the ground on take off.  And one more thing.  I have always heard and believed that the Hemi Cuda was a 10 second car from the factory.  But my buddy Kyle thinks that is bullshit because his 636 Ninja can only run a 10.8...  And there is NO way that a car can outrun his bike...

your looking probably at a high 14 or low 15 second 1/4 at best with these cars in stock form, and thats assuming they have the short rear gears. the 400s were plagued by low compression and crappy cams. they need work to make them better. That gto will demolish you. and he must have stuck quite abit of money into it to get 460 HP out of those cars, they only had around 350 hp stock, and ive never seen one in person who is running faster than a 14 second 1/4. another thing, real racers try to keep their front end on the ground. you dont want to waste your motion going up instead of forward.
a hemicuda was at best a high 13 second car. with slicks you might break into the 12s.

i've seen many bikes that have run 9 second 1/4 mile times, and many more that are in the 10s. BTW I work as a announcer at the dragstrip so beleive me, I've seen a few vehicles run the 1/4. haha