1973 Charger

[FLASH80]

My friend posted on another forum, but it turned out it wasn't really the proper venue.  

We just picked up a 1973, with a 400 CID, with an AT, that needs some work; first where is #1 cylinder? Isn’t it the first in the front of the car, on the passenger side? What should the timing be set at, 8 BTD? It has an MSD. How many inches of vacuum should it be pulling, I would think at least 15 inches: it has the stock cam, but it does have a performance Edelbrock carb on it. In lower speeds, it’s like a pig, once you get going, after about 30, it wants to move.

To quote my friend "I should be able to really romp on this thing and make it squeal, I don’t drive that way actually, but for crying out loud this is a Charger, and my 1959 Rambler could actually beat this car off the lineâ€"really!"

Now you know, a Charger should not be being beat by a stock 59 Rambler.   ;-)   The car seems to need a lot of little things, but starting off with getting the timing set would really be good.   I hope some amazing person out there can provide a little help or at least a really good resource for us to refer to.

Thanks!!!!

[golden73]

You probably have highway gears in that. I am assuming 2.76 or so. Put some 3.91's or 4.10's in there, and you will be smoking the tires!

No way a rambler would take you off the line then.

[RD]

you have to realize that a 1973 charger with a 400 was not built for HP.  It roughly has 7.8 or 8.2 to 1 compression, stock manifold, stock heads, and a single exhaust.  His car, unless it had a HP engine, was probably a 2bbl rated at 175 hp from the factory.  Couple that with the nice "highway" gears it probably has and you have a high speed car, not a 1/4 mile car.  Like gold said, swap in some steeper gears.  My guess is that you have a 8 1/4 rearend, so he will probably want to do an 8 3/4 rearend swap.  That car was made for better fuel economy, not racing.  So tell your friend that there is great potential there, but he can thank the higher emission standards and higher insurance rates of 1972 for the car he has now.

All is not lost though.  There are stroker kits for that 400.  the 400 block has the biggest bore of all Mopar engines.  You put a 4.15 crank in there along with a .030 overbore and you have 497 cubic inches.  The kits start out at $1400 at 440source.com 

[Chryco Psycho]

#1 is front left
left side is 1-3-5-7
right is 2-4-6-8
timing should be 36-38* total at 3000 rpm or so , measure 2 3/8" clockwise on the damper & put a line there , that is 36*

[NHCharger]

Check the housing on the rear end. You might find a small metal tag attached to one of the bolts. That tag will have the gear ratio for the rear end.

[FLASH80]

#1 is front left
left side is 1-3-5-7
right is 2-4-6-8
timing should be 36-38* total at 3000 rpm or so , measure 2 3/8" clockwise on the damper & put a line there , that is 36*

Thanks for the info.  This will at least get us started on getting the engine to idle smoothely. 

I hear what all you guys are saying with regard to the engine performance. We'll have a lot of work to do just even figuring all the mods that have been done to the car already and I am sure we're in for some surprises.  While it may not beat anyone off the line, frankly, I am really looking forward to making it reliable and clean.  But who knows what the future will hold.  As funds dictate, I may want to tweak the performance in more significant ways.  I am keeping notes of all your suggestions so Thanks again!