Greetings from Southern California!
My name is John and I have had this Challenger nearly a year now. The last Dodge I had was in 1974, and I never should have given that one up, 69 Charger 440 6 pack...too many tickets oh well.
When I got this car the body was good, what you see is pretty much the way I got it. Originally the car was a 318 AC car with a 904 trans. By time I got it had a low compression (8.0) 440 smog motor with a slipping 727 transmission! Not that I will ever install it, but I do have the original engine and trans also. Anyhow, over the winter I rebuilt the motor to 1970 specs and got the compression to 10.25 and reworked the transmission adding a 2400 stall converter and shift kit. The rear end had just been replaced with a Strange Engineering Posi 3.23:1. I also added HD sway bars to the front and rear, made a huge difference! Of course added a decent cam, carb, headers, Flowmasters and also opened up the scoops on the hood and made a somewhat functional fresh air intake! Also added a pistol grip shifter, it is so cool.
I live about an hour north of San Diego on the edge of a desert. In the summers is can regularly get over 100 degrees so cooling issues were a huge concern for me when I did the motor. I drive the car every week, and I had to have reliability. So I did not overbuild to help keep the engine cool. I do actually use the AC when it is warm, even with the top down! I did add 2 electric cooling fans in addition to the HD fan on the motor. So far, so good.
I like to take the car to local shows and cruise nights. If you are ever in San Diego area on a Friday night, I am usually at Crusin Grand in Escondido!
You can also visit my website at 70Challenger.com for more pictures.
Thanks
