General recommendations

[Calif240]

Hey guys... trying to solicit some general advice while I'm resto-modding my 1969 Charger. I'm young and new to this, so trying to get all the advice I can. I'm wanting to build a Charger that looks pretty stock from a distance, no hood scoops, no scatter pipes, etc. However, I'm wanting to build a mean street-racer. What I mean is that my priority is that I am able to drive it without having too many issues with the performance side. BUT, I'm willing to spend some extra to put a nasty suspension, engine, and transmission so that I can destroy other cars on the street. Ideally, I'm thinking 10 sec 1/4 mile (definitely under 12 sec). Here are some general thoughts:
Aluminum 440 (shave some weight off the front so it handles better and higher power/weight ratio)
Hotchkis or O'Reilly front suspension.
Four-Link Rear suspension
Dana 60 Rear
3.55 -3.90 gears (not sure yet, ideas?)
Overdrive addition
727 High Performance

What do you guys think of this combination? Are there any concerns that I should be aware of at this time? Also, I was looking at doing the differential first, followed by Transmission and then engine (it has a 340 in it, so I'll have to switch the case when the 440 goes in). Anything else I should be thinking of? I've got 8 1/2 rims on the back (currently with 295s mounted). Also, what HP should I shoot for if I want to get under 12 sec?

Any other suggestions, ideas?
Thanks,
Terry

[Charger´69]

If you want to have 10 sec Charger in 1/4 mile, you will need to do LOT and use money big time. It means that you have to first get something +1000hp from engine that you´ll able to drive 10 sec times in quarter mile.

But if you do 12 sec Charger that´s much easier. Something like +550hp should do it. You can imagine yourself how big difference is in suspension etc. when comparing 550hp vs. 1000hp car. Those 2 seconds are pretty expensive..... 

Chargers are great muscle cars, but if you really want it go really fast in quarter mile, it is long and expensive road ahead..... 

[Calif240]

How much weight can I pull off the car easily without adversely affecting looks or performance? Aluminum engine, fiberglass hood, composite glass??? Where should I focus those efforts?
Thanks,
Terry

[Troy]

These should help answer your questions:
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?topic=63848.0
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?topic=75313.0

Troy

[Mike DC]

 
You're talking a lot of money here.  With all due respect, when young guys talk like this I have to question whether they're serious or just pipe-dreaming. 



If you're building a street car then I suggest you forget about any specific time or HP number that you HAVE to reach.  Just figure out what compromises you want to make in money/driveability/etc and then see where the chips fall.  The truth is there will always be someone with a faster car.  It's because there is always someone willing to spend more money and drive a car more uncomfortable & impractical on the street.

An aluminum 440 block makes about a 100-lb difference or so, which is significant especially off the front end.  But it's not a very economical way to spend $5000 even for weight loss purposes.  Think hard about whether a stock block would do the trick. 

Fiberglass hoods and truklids, even bumpers . . . okay.  But I would skip the fiberglass front fenders.  The stock fenders on these cars carry some loads and making them strong enough out of fiberglass will render them pretty close to original weight.  The more common scenario is that fiberglass fenders just aren't strong enough and they start sagging & cracking. 

 

[Calif240]

Very good point. I think I'm just trying to figure out what balance I need to have with driveability, performance, and cost. In the end, I'm expecting the car to be $40k-50k when it's all said and done. I don't want to get much more cost in the car than that. However, I want to be sure that I don't waste money purchasing something that doesn't need to be purchased... "do it right the first time" in other words. I've got about $16k in the car thus far, disc brakes all the way around, painless wiring, working on replacing body parts that are rusted. The car drives fine right now with the 340. I'm figuring about $5k for suspension, $3k for tranny, $3k for Moser-60, and another $15k or so in the engine. The remainder would be misc items and parts. Am I off base here? I was hoping to get north of 600HP and under 12 seconds. (Pipe dreaming of under 10...haha)

I've found Aluminum 440 blocks for just under $4k from World Products. Most 440 aftermarket blocks are around $2k - 2.5k that I've seen. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for your advice, MikeDC/Tom/Charger '69.

[elacruze]

When it's all done and over, I expect I'll be into mine for about $50k. You could get pretty close to what I've done within your budget, if you do the work yourself and don't concern yourself with perfect bodywork and paint (read that as 'factory quality') Here's my thread. I think my build falls close to what you're looking for, and there is a lot more performance available if you trade off some of the comfort and driveability I've built in.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,66411.msg744819.html#msg744819