Grasshopper,
From one newbie to another (pay no attention to the junior member label) - great work so far. I just scrolled through the entire thread (when I should have been working - took about an hour
) and I'm very impressed by the work you and your friend have done.
A couple of notes about the questions you asked back in January about the interior that I don't think anyone answered.
Installing the four speed will require a new hump. The four speed hump is different from the automatic hump. How do I know? Because some previous owner of my car cut holes in the floor to install the linkage, which is on the driver's side of the tranny. Part of my restoration will be to cut out the old hump and install a four-speed hump. If you decide to go with the Keisler 5- or 6-speed, the hump comes with the kit, as does all the linkage. My
- if you're determined to row your own gears, get the Keisler kit, so you don't have to hunt for parts. If you want the 4-speed, you might check Passon Performance or Brewers Performance for all the parts, but so far as I can see, they don't sell a kit, just components.
If it were my car, I'd leave it an automatic. I like to work a clutch more than most people, but converting the car on a limited budget will eat up a lot of money. Plus, if you're going to use this as a cruiser, especially at the local cruise night, an auto is easier to drive in traffic. The penalty in performance is negligible. If you want to shift gears, take the Viper.
If you haven't already bought your dashpad, one of the vendors in the new vendor section, Az-Nick is currently offering a group buy on Ultimate Rides restored dashpads that will save you about $150 over the cost of buying from someone like Year One. The offer is for a limited time - it ends in early April. I'm going to be working on a more limited budget than you are - about $5000 with the goal of making my car move again in two months. Even still, I felt that it was such a good deal that I spent the money anyway. I received my pad this week and the quality, on first glance, is very good. Plus, Nick is excellent to work with - communication is outstanding. If this sounds like a deal to you, here's where to go:
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=43220.0Looking forward to seeing more of your progress when the weather warms up.
Greg
Topic: THE RETURN OF...THE guy who knows nothing about cars... 1973 Challenger Project (Read 38312 times)
