My New 68 Charger!

[Evoking]

Hey guys,

So after months shopping various Mopar beasts I finally pulled the trigger on a gorgeous restored 68 Charger. It was originally a 318 car optioned with R/T heavy duty suspension and power steering. It now has a well built 360 engine - which runs and sound stupendous! Will post a clip.

The car is ultra straight, tight and no rust. I am in love! I am thinking this car might steal my heart strings from the much newer and more advanced toy ;-)
I plan to do the following over the next couple months:

1) 16 or 17" forged wheels with meaty tires that nicely fill the fenders
2) New 14" Steering wheel
3) Tighten suspension perhaps with coil overs and thick sway bars
4) Add A/C
5) Put a built 440 with 500hp+ and new tranny (existing 727 flange won't bolt to BB)
Speaking of the tranny here is a question... If I'm doing a tranny anyhow is it relatively easy to move to 4spd?

Anyhow, here are some pics...

[lukedukem]

 

Pics dont work

Could you get a 318 car with heavy duty R/T suspension?

Luke

[lukedukem]

i found some.....

Luke

[Evoking]

A few more...

[crj1968]

Congrats on your new Charger!   

If you're gonna do a manual tranny swap you may as well step up to a 5 speed.   

[Kern Dog]

Great looking car. The 68 model is a favorite for many.
Transmission?  I'd be tempted to keep the small block 727 for the simple reason that it fits to the 2002- present HEMI engines!
I bought my 70 in 2000 as a 30 year old car. It was still easy then to find 440s in junkyards so i just went with what was available. If I were to build another Charger, I'd be really tempted to run a carbureted 5.7, 6.1 or even a 6.4.

Coil overs? Yeah, some choose to go that route. Be advised though that for about half the money, you can upgrade the factory suspension to perform and ride far better than stock. The main advantage here is that the OEM setup was designed with 100,000 mile durability.

Wheels:  Depending on your tastes, the availability of styles and sizes vary widely. The 17" to 18" diameter seems to have the widest selection in both wheels and tires. A  trend that I have noticed is that many people are replacing their tires due to AGE rather than them being worn out. My point: If you think that you may be driving 3000 miles per year or less, why not go with some tires of a softer compound for better grip? I was in this situation. My Nitto tires (Model 555 with a 300 treadwear)  were at about 50% tread after 12 years and while they still looked great, the advice was to replace them for safetys sake. I went with a softer compound (Model NT-01 200 treadwear)  that grips better and actually rides a little smoother. These may still get replaced  due to time rather than wear but they will give better performance until then.

[Evoking]

Great looking car. The 68 model is a favorite for many.
Transmission?  I'd be tempted to keep the small block 727 for the simple reason that it fits to the 2002- present HEMI engines!
I bought my 70 in 2000 as a 30 year old car. It was still easy then to find 440s in junkyards so i just went with what was available. If I were to build another Charger, I'd be really tempted to run a carbureted 5.7, 6.1 or even a 6.4.

Coil overs? Yeah, some choose to go that route. Be advised though that for about half the money, you can upgrade the factory suspension to perform and ride far better than stock. The main advantage here is that the OEM setup was designed with 100,000 mile durability.

Wheels:  Depending on your tastes, the availability of styles and sizes vary widely. The 17" to 18" diameter seems to have the widest selection in both wheels and tires. A  trend that I have noticed is that many people are replacing their tires due to AGE rather than them being worn out. My point: If you think that you may be driving 3000 miles per year or less, why not go with some tires of a softer compound for better grip? I was in this situation. My Nitto tires (Model 555 with a 300 treadwear)  were at about 50% tread after 12 years and while they still looked great, the advice was to replace them for safetys sake. I went with a softer compound (Model NT-01 200 treadwear)  that grips better and actually rides a little smoother. These may still get replaced  due to time rather than wear but they will give better performance until then.

Interesting perspective on the 727 transmission.  Given that I went old school to have the full old school experience I don't think I'd want to go with a new Hemi.  Although a new one with carburetor is an interesting thought...  But I wonder if knowing its a new motor might be less psychologically satisfying... 

[tan top]

hello & welcome 

[Bad B-rad]

WOW! Nice car. Good luck and congrats!!!!
Is that your car collection in the background?

[Troy]

My advice: drive it. Drive the wheels off it! If you want to work on something buy a project.

I say this as a guy who has turned a whole bunch of drivable cars into long term (several year) projects. If you do want to swap some parts make sure you have everything beforehand and do it over a day or two. There is nothing worse than having people ask "so where's your car?" when it's stuck on jack stands waiting on a $2 bolt that you broke off of something important and can't be reached with a drill. I just finished a 4 year steering and suspension upgrade on one of my cars and a 2 year carb rebuild and exhaust upgrade on another. Got both of them done just in time to put them away for winter - in which something else is bound to go bad.

If you do want to start upgrading... read the tech sections here. Wheels and tires are easy. Coil overs are overkill. You can get a long way with upgraded factory style parts (larger torsion bars, sway bars, leaf springs, tie rods, strut rods and *GOOD* shocks). If you stiffen the suspension too much you'll find that these bodies flex *a LOT*. Stiffening the body requires welding so if your paint is nice that will hurt. A 4-speed swap with stock parts is relatively easy - but not necessarily cheap. You will have to weld a bracket on to the frame rail (again with the paint). You'll need to cut a hole in the floor - which is easy (use the cover as a template) but, again, you need to protect the paint. Your car is currently a column shift so once you put in a 4-speed there will be some extra bits that will look out of place. The only solution is a different column. Don't add the A/C before you swap engines because all the brackets and such are different. The factory wouldn't sell you a car with a 440 (or Hemi) and 4-speed with A/C and they probably had a good reason (too much shock, too much RPM?). The engine swap is easy enough on a 68 - motor mounts, transmission, engine wiring harness (or just lengthen a few wires) and probably a radiator and hoses. The A/C cars came with a large 26" radiator from the factory which is enough for big blocks but the other choice is a 22" (which technically worked for a stock big block but probably not for a stroked/built 440).

Verify what you have (suspension and brakes) before making too many assumptions. An R/T had larger torsion bars, rear springs, and brakes to handles the power and weight of the larger engines.

I also have a 318 column shift automatic 68 Charger that will eventually be a 440, 4-speed R/T clone with a Hotchkis suspension and disc brakes. I started it 11 years ago. I've had several small block cars that were absolutely great drivers and, if I were smart, would have kept them all untouched and put thousands and thousands of miles on them.

Troy

[Dans 68]

My advice: drive it. Drive the wheels off it! If you want to work on something buy a project.

Troy makes good sense. I have a '68 driver and a '68 project so I'm covered.  

Enjoy it for a good while before you start disassembling it.  

Dan

And Welcome!

[JR]

Welcome, beautiful car!

I agree, I would drive it for a while and get to know the quirks and weaknesses before you take it apart. Taking apart a solid driving car and having it sit a long time is discouraging. I've gotten where I don't start a mod on mine without having all the parts on hand first to minimize downtime.

Does your screename mean you also have an Evo? If so, that's awesome. Best of both worlds.

[Johnnymopar]

Sweet car man, a stunner.  I really like the 17" Year One Ralleye knock-offs, though more year appropriate on the 1970's up.  The 17" Magnums are ok too, but the Ralleyes really look good.  Btw is the '70 Charger in the background for sale? Or the black 'cuda?  

[Dino]

Sweet ride! My first one was a 68. I agree with what's been said. Stick with the easy bolt on mods such as wheels and drive the hell out of it. Drive it whenever you can, wherever you can. If it doesn't behave well on the highway then swap the rear gears and just drive it drive it drive it. I'd love to have a manual trans as well but with the tall tires and 3.23 gears it is a blast to drive in town and on the highway even with the 3 spd auto. I wish I didn't do so many mods to it all at once because I haven't driven it since August 2015 and I won't have it back on the road for at least another year and a half. There's little joy in owning a car like this if you can't take it out. But that's just me.

[Homerr]

What Troy said.

[Evoking]

Good suggestions.  And it sounds really really good to boot.  What would you say are the top sites/sources for products like suspension?  Also is a new steering wheel a simple DIY for a non-wrencher?

[JR]

PST suspension

Hotchkis suspension

Magnum force racing

QA1 shocks.

There are MANY more, but those are good businesses to start with if you're researching suspension components.

I'd highly recommend better tires, adjustable upper control arms, subframe connectors, and fresh polyurethane bushings to start with.

[Dino]

Good suggestions.  And it sounds really really good to boot.  What would you say are the top sites/sources for products like suspension?  Also is a new steering wheel a simple DIY for a non-wrencher?

Yes, it's easy to swap a steering wheel. You can rent or buy a puller, it's around $25, and the new wheel should come with an adapter kit to make it a straight bolt on.

[Evoking]

Car should arrive here this weekend.  Btw, here is a clip...

Video Clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijlsdzxUWbg

[1974dodgecharger]

LEAVE IT ALONE ITS BEATIFUL AS IS, MATCHING EVERYTHING?

[Evoking]

LEAVE IT ALONE ITS BEATIFUL AS IS, MATCHING EVERYTHING?

No.  Originally a 318 car. Now 360.  If it was #'s matching I would definitely leave it alone!

[Kern Dog]

What that car needs is a 7 foot rear spoiler, some 28" wheels, a set of curb feelers and fuzzy dice.   

[Evoking]

LOL

[VegasCharger]

Please, please put on some wheel well trim on that beauty.

[alfaitalia]

......and on the grounds of balance and lack of bias.....please don't....they look so much better without!!